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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 246, 20 December 1995
CONTENTS
[1] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER PLEDGES TO HELP IFOR.
[2] NEW SIGNALS TO SARAJEVO SERBS.
[3] U.S. OFFICIAL CRITICIZES BELGRADE ALLEGATIONS ABOUT ATROCITIES AGAINST MUSLIMS.
[4] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS RECOGNITION OF CROATIA ON HOLD . . .
[5] . . . BUT GRANTS AMNESTY TO DISSIDENT WRITER, MUSLIM LEADERS.
[6] LJAJIC REGARDS SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT AS "POLE OF OPPOSITION."
[7] HEAD OF MACEDONIAN PRIVATIZATION AGENCY FIRED.
[8] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HE DID NOT HIJACK 1989 REVOLT.
[9] UZBEK FOREIGN MINISTER CONCLUDES ROMANIAN VISIT.
[10] MOLDOVAN OFFICIAL ON RUSSIAN ELECTIONS, INDEPENDENCE.
[11] BULGARIAN FORMER PREMIER THREATENS VIDENOV AIDE.
[12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT LAMBASTES NATIONAL MEDIA BOSSES.
[13] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR GERMAN AID.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 246, Part II, 20 December 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER PLEDGES TO HELP IFOR.
New Bosnian Serb Premier Rajko
Kasagic delivered his first public statement on local television on 19
December, AFP reported. He told his audience that the Serbs "should
cooperate with IFOR to ensure that they have peace and security, because
our future will depend on such cooperation." Kasagic also made it clear
that his men would help IFOR in keeping law and order and that stealing
vehicles belonging to international organizations would stop. Bosnian
Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has called the Dayton agreement
"disastrous" but said that the Serbian cause will now have to be
advanced politically and not with weapons. -- Patrick Moore
[2] NEW SIGNALS TO SARAJEVO SERBS.
The VOA's Croatian-language service
reported on 20 December that the Serbian mayor of Ilidza, which is due
to pass to Bosnian government control, has urged his people to stay. It
appears to be the first public statement by a Bosnian Serb official in
Sarajevo that it might be possible for his people to live under the new
authority. Nasa Borba quoted the speaker of Pale's parliament, Momcilo
Krajisnik, as also holding open some possibilities other than
resettlement for the Serbs in the Sarajevo suburbs. He told a local
audience that "the people who defended this city have a right to stay in
it" and that "at this moment there are a significant number of arguments
that point to a favorable solution." Krajisnik indicated that the Serbs
would have to have their own authorities and police. -- Patrick Moore
[3] U.S. OFFICIAL CRITICIZES BELGRADE ALLEGATIONS ABOUT ATROCITIES AGAINST MUSLIMS.
Reuters on 19 December reported that U.S. Ambassador to the UN
Madeleine Albright has criticized allegations by Belgrade that Bosnian
Muslim forces were responsible for atrocities against fellow Muslims in
Srebrenica in July, when the enclave fell to advancing Bosnian Serbs.
Albright said charges made by rump Yugoslav representative to the UN
Vladslav Jovanovic in a letter to the Security Council were "a big lie"
(see OMRI Daily Digest, 19 December 1995). "I just hope Mr. Jovanovic
was acting without instructions as it goes beyond my understanding of
what he would gain by sending such a preposterous letter that has
basically insulted the intelligence of the Security Council,'' Albright
said. In a separate development, Tanjug reported that same day that
Belgrade will honor a pledge to allow NATO forces to transit through
rump Yugoslav territory. -- Stan Markotich
[4] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS RECOGNITION OF CROATIA ON HOLD . . .
Politika
and Nova Makedonija on 20 December reported that Momir Bulatovic,
speaking at a press conference the previous day, said Belgrade's
recognition of Croatia will be withheld as long as Zagreb continues to
control a small strip of coastal territory known as Prevlaka peninsula,
flanking the Bay of Kotor, the base of the rump Yugoslav navy. He noted
that Croatia agreed at Dayton to give up Prevlaka in exchange for
territory near the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. "We do not wish recognize
the Republic of Croatia . . . as long as it does not fulfill the
obligations it agreed to. We will not give up our interests," Bulatovic
commented. -- Stan Markotich
[5] . . . BUT GRANTS AMNESTY TO DISSIDENT WRITER, MUSLIM LEADERS.
Bulatovic
on 19 December granted an amnesty to well-known writer Jevrem Brkovic,
who is living in exile in Croatia, as well as to 82 other people,
including leaders of the mainly Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA),
Hina reported. Bulatovic told reporters that he wanted "to stress
symbolically the significance of the peace accords" by stopping legal
action against individuals and groups on the basis of their political,
ideological, and religious beliefs. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[6] LJAJIC REGARDS SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT AS "POLE OF OPPOSITION".
The
head of the ethnic Muslim Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak (SDA),
Rasim Ljajic, has met with a German parliamentary delegation in
Belgrade, Nasa Borba reported on 20 December. Ljajic demanded the return
of the OSCE monitoring mission to the rump Yugoslavia, which Belgrade
evicted in 1993. He stressed that the SDA is cooperating with the
Serbian Renewal Movement in its fight against reorganizing election
districts in favor of the Socialist Party of Serbia and added that his
party is also ready to cooperate with the New Democracy and the Civic
Union of Serbia. The SDA Sandzak boycotted the last Serbian elections.
-- Fabian Schmidt
[7] HEAD OF MACEDONIAN PRIVATIZATION AGENCY FIRED.
The Macedonian government
on 19 December relieved Miroljub Sukarov, director of the country's
privatization agency, of his duties, Nova Makedonija reported the next
day. Strained communications between the cabinet and the agency and the
former's disagreement with certain agency decisions were cited as
reasons for the move. Sukarov, who had supervised the privatization
process since 1991, will be succeeded temporarily by agency's deputy
director. -- Michael Wyzan
[8] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HE DID NOT HIJACK 1989 REVOLT.
Ion Iliescu on 19
December rejected charges that he hijacked the December 1989 uprising to
seize power for himself and old-guard Communists, Reuters reported. In a
statement read by presidential spokesman Traian Chebeleu, Iliescu
"indignantly" rejected what he described as a "new attempt to denigrate
the Romanian revolution, to distort facts and launch a series of
allegations." Iliescu was responding to recent accusations by Valentin
Gabrielescu, a senator for the National Peasant Party-Christian
Democratic and head of the parliamentary commission investigating the
revolution. Gabrielescu holds Iliescu responsible for some of the 1,200
deaths during the revolt. He said he decided to issue his view of the
events for fear that the commission's report would be ignored. -- Dan
Ionescu
[9] UZBEK FOREIGN MINISTER CONCLUDES ROMANIAN VISIT.
Uzbek Foreign Minister
Abdulaziz Komilov and his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Melescanu, have
announced that the two countries will officially establish diplomatic
relations and work on improving bilateral trade, ITAR-TASS reported on
19 December. During his visit, Komilov also met with Prime Minister
Nicolae Vacaroiu and President Ion Iliescu. -- Roger Kangas
[10] MOLDOVAN OFFICIAL ON RUSSIAN ELECTIONS, INDEPENDENCE.
Parliamentary
chairman Petru Lucinschi on 19 December warned that the Communists'
victory in the Russian elections could jeopardize his country's
independence. In a statement quoted by BASA-press and Infotag, Lucinschi
spoke of "possible attempts [by some Duma deputies] to call into
question decisions concerning Moldova's independence and integrity." But
he expressed the hope that "Russia is not going to base its policies on
emotions and hasty decisions" and that it will continue to respect the
commitments it made within the framework of the CIS. On a positive note,
Lucinschi commented that the State Duma's activities were likely to
become more stable and predictable, which, he said, "perfectly suits
Moldova's interests." -- Dan Ionescu
[11] BULGARIAN FORMER PREMIER THREATENS VIDENOV AIDE.
Nevena Gyurova, public
relations officer in the government's press center and an adviser to
Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, said in a 19 December interview with
RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service that former Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov has
been blackmailing her over the past five years. She said Lukanov has
threatened to publicize her former drug addiction. According to Gyurova,
Lukanov has "intimate information about [former Bulgarian Socialist
Party leader Aleksandar] Lilov and [President Zhelyu] Zhelev." She said
his methods are typical for the former Sixth Direction of the Communist
State Security, which dealt with political opponents. Gyurova said she
turned to RFE/RL because the domestic media are afraid to get into a
conflict with Lukanov. Lukanov is generally seen as one of the country's
most influential politicians with good connections to financial and
economic groups. -- Stefan Krause
[12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT LAMBASTES NATIONAL MEDIA BOSSES.
Zhelyu Zhelev,
during his visit to Lisbon, on 19 December told journalists accompanying
him to Portugal that the governing majority has "brutally usurped" the
national media, Pari reported the following day. He said this could have
consequences for Bulgaria's international standing. "Hardly anyone will
talk to us seriously about EU membership when leading journalists are
dismissed in the national media in such a brutal way," Zhelev said. Also
on 19 December, the Union of Democratic Forces, the People's Union, the
Movement for Rights and Freedom, and members of the Bulgarian Business
Bloc demanded in a joint statement that the Bulgarian National Radio
director-general be dismissed immediately, otherwise they will use all
possible means to defend freedom of speech, Standart reported. BNR
journalists the same day issued a declaration demanding that their
dismissed colleagues be reinstated. -- Stefan Krause
[13] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR GERMAN AID.
Sali Berisha, during
his visit to Germany, has signed an agreement for a DM 47 million ($33
million) aid package for infrastructure projects such as water supply
and sewage treatment plants. The agreement is also designed to secure
foreign investments through a legal framework. Another DM 13 million
pledged to Albania remains to be allocated for future projects,
international agencies and Deutsche Welle's Albanian-language service
reported on 19 December. At a reception of the Association of German
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHT), Berisha said German companies
Krupp and Preussag expressed interest in investments. -- Fabian Schmidt
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to [email protected]
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