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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 251, 29 December 1995
CONTENTS
[1] NATO PLEASED WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF BOSNIAN TREATY.
[2] TOP NATO OFFICIAL IN BELGRADE.
[3] WEATHER PROVES TO BE IFOR'S BIG ENEMY.
[4] BOSNIAN SERBS WAIT FOR SMITH'S DECISION.
[5] HUNGARIAN RESPONSE TO ROMANIAN RECONCILIATION INITIATIVE.
[6] MOLDOVA REJECTS TURNING RUSSIAN CONTINGENT INTO PEACEKEEPING FORCE.
[7] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT DEMANDS MEDIA CHIEF'S OUSTER . . .
[8] . . . AND PARDONS CONVICTED COMMUNIST OFFICIAL.
[9] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES BUDGET WITH SMALL DEFICIT.
[10] BULGARIAN ATHLETES OPEN BANK, BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO OPEN ROADS.
[11] BANS ON GRAIN, OILSEED EXPORTS EXTENDED THROUGH 1996.
[12] EU SUPPORTS ALBANIAN INFRASTRUCTURE.
[13] SEARCH FOR TURKISH PILOT OFF MITILINI.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 251, Part II, 29 December 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] NATO PLEASED WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF BOSNIAN TREATY.
The commander of
NATO ground forces, Lieutenant General Sir Michael Walker, said that "it
appears that all parties are demonstrating a spirit of cooperation in
complying with the peace agreement . . . We are [however] in [the] early
days, it is a honeymoon period." He added that the first 30 days would
be decisive because all three sides must disarm their militias and
civilians by 20 January. IFOR commander Admiral Leighton Smith echoed
Walker's optimism, saying that he was "very happy at what has been
achieved in the first week of the mission." The International Herald
Tribune and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung carried the reports on 29
December. -- Patrick Moore
[2] TOP NATO OFFICIAL IN BELGRADE.
NATO commander for Europe, U.S. General
George Joulwan, arrived in Belgrade on 28 December and met with several
rump Yugoslav officials, including army chief of staff Momcilo Perisic
and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Following his two-hour talks
with Milosevic, Joulwan said the meetings were "very productive" and
conveyed "appreciation for the transit of IFOR, particularly American
aircraft here in Belgrade, and allowing forces to transit through Serbia
to Bosnia." Joulwan was accompanied on his visit by 54 U.S. soldiers,
who shall become the first NATO troops to cross into Bosnia from the
rump Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich
[3] WEATHER PROVES TO BE IFOR'S BIG ENEMY.
NATO troops have been having to
deal with threats not from the locals but from the elements (See OMRI
Daily Digest, 28 December 1995). International media reported on 29
December that U.S. efforts to build a 310-meter pontoon bridge over the
Sava River for U.S. troops have been held up by the floods. The waters
also hit their camp at Zupanja after destroying a protective barrier.
Senior U.S. and Croatian army officers have agreed to work together on
the construction of the bridge. Meanwhile, the Czech daily Mlada fronta
Dnes said that American soldiers are preparing for a longer stay than
planned at their bases in Hungary. -- Patrick Moore and Daria Sito Sucic
[4] BOSNIAN SERBS WAIT FOR SMITH'S DECISION.
In accordance with the Bosnian
Serbs' request to IFOR commander Admiral Leighton Smith, asking for
about a year's delay in the transfer of authority of the Serb-held parts
of Sarajevo to the Bosnian government (See OMRI Daily Digest, 27
December 1995), Bosnian Serb Parliamentary Speaker Momcilo Krajisnik
said at Pale that they will wait for the decision until 30 January. "If
[the] response is negative, we'll still have enough time to displace
people, property and state enterprises," Beta quoted Krajisnik as saying
on 29 December. Krajisnik also claimed that an agreement on certain
corrections of Dayton's territorial maps was reached with the "Muslim
side" relating to swaps of some Muslim and Serb villages in eastern
Bosnia. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] HUNGARIAN RESPONSE TO ROMANIAN RECONCILIATION INITIATIVE.
The Bucharest
daily Evenimentul zilei reports on 29 December that the Romanian
ambassador to Budapest, Ioan Donca, has received the Hungarian response
to President Ion Iliescu's initiative for a "historic reconciliation"
between the two countries. No details were provided. The daily also
wrote that Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu sent a letter to his
Hungarian counterpart, Laszlo Kovacs, including Bucharest's response to
the latest proposals made by Hungary on the basic treaty between the two
countries. -- Michael Shafir
[6] MOLDOVA REJECTS TURNING RUSSIAN CONTINGENT INTO PEACEKEEPING FORCE.
The
Moldovan delegation to the Joint Control Commission on 28 December
issued a statement rejecting the proposal to turn the Russian contingent
in Transdniester into a peacekeeping force. The proposal was made
earlier this year by Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Sokolov, deputy commander of the
Russian Land Force. According to Infotag, the statement says the
proposal is unacceptable "due to a certain politicization of the
contingent servicemen and their failure to remain unbiased in the
conflict." -- Michael Shafir
[7] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT DEMANDS MEDIA CHIEF'S OUSTER . . .
Zhelyu Zhelev
publicly demanded that Vecheslav Tunev, Director-General of Bulgarian
National Radio, submit his resignation, international media reported on
28 December. Prompting the call was an incident on 18 December, when
seven state radio employees were dismissed by Tunev after alleging that
management was censoring their work and following assurances by Tunev
himself that they would not be fired (See OMRI Daily Digest, 19 December
1995). Zhelev called the firings "an outrage" and added that the one
responsible "should not go unpunished." The president made his remarks
following meetings with members of Free Speech Forum, a journalists'
organization devoted to tracking the conditions affecting the freedoms
of the media. -- Stan Markotich
[8] . . . AND PARDONS CONVICTED COMMUNIST OFFICIAL.
Reuters on 28 December
reported that Zhelev exercised his constitutional prerogative and
pardoned Stoyan Ovcharov, a former Minister of Economy and Planning
under communist dictator Todor Zhivkov. Ovcharov was in the second year
of a nine-year sentence for embezzling funds that went to finance the
education of Zhivkov's grandson. Zhelev cited Ovcharov's ill health, and
said that humanitarian considerations led to the pardon. Former Prime
Minister Georgi Atanasov (Ovcharov's co-defendant) was pardoned in 1994
after serving less than one year of his ten-year sentence. -- Stan
Markotich
[9] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES BUDGET WITH SMALL DEFICIT.
The Macedonian
parliament on 27 December approved the 1996 budget, which will be in
deficit by about 3 billion denars ($79 million), about 4.5% of the GDP,
Nova Makendonija reported the next day. The shortfall will be covered
entirely by credits from international financial institutions. The
budget is based upon a macroeconomic framework assuming 6% inflation, an
exchange rate of 27 denar/DM, 2% growth of social product, a freeze of
salaries in the budget sphere at the level of August 1995, the abolition
of vacation pay, a reduction in the number of social welfare recipients,
and continued reform of the banking system and customs service. In
parliamentary discussions, cuts in agricultural subsidies and social
welfare spending sparked the most controversy. -- Michael Wyzan
[10] BULGARIAN ATHLETES OPEN BANK, BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO OPEN ROADS.
A
group of prominent athletes, including soccer great Hristo Stoichkov,
established a commercial banking enterprise on 26 December, dubbed
National, 24 Chasa reported the following day. Among the first acts
undertaken by management was to offer 101 free shares, each valued at
roughly $1.5, to former communist dictator Todor Zhivkov, in what is
widely regarded in the Bulgarian media as a publicity stunt. It is
unclear whether Zhivkov, under house arrest, has claimed the shares. In
a separate development, Reuters on the same day reported that the
Bulgarian government plans a massive upgrading of the country's
infrastructure over the next three years. Transport Minister Stamen
Stamenov was quoted as saying that they will be able to rehabilitate
some 2,000 kms of roads between Bulgaria and the Middle East by 1998,
which he said would help the country get in line with EU standards. --
Stan Markotich
[11] BANS ON GRAIN, OILSEED EXPORTS EXTENDED THROUGH 1996.
The Bulgarian
cabinet on 28 December extended for another year the ban on the export
of bread and feed grain and oil-bearing seeds and their derivatives,
Demokratsiya reported the next day. The move had been controversial,
even within the cabinet, with Trade Minister Kiril Tsochev (also a
Deputy Prime Minister) against it because it would harm the country's
chances of joining the World Trade Organization, as well as the
interests of producers. The move comes on the heels of this year's
"grain crisis": this year's harvest is the lowest in the last 15 years,
except for 1985, and bread and grain have been scarce this fall. The
cabinet also proposed that the export of meat, coal, and liquid fuels be
subject to registration and that licenses be required for the export of
gold and silver. -- Michael Wyzan
[12] EU SUPPORTS ALBANIAN INFRASTRUCTURE.
The EU and the Albanian government
have signed an agreement providing about 25 million ECU ($32.5 million)
in aid for infrastructure development on 22 December, international
agencies reported. The aid includes a program of 16 million ECU ($20.8
million) for ports and roads and an additional 9 million ECU for roads
along the Adriatic Sea. Since 1991, the EU has provided $671.6 million
in aid to Albania, making it the country's leading donor. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[13] SEARCH FOR TURKISH PILOT OFF MITILINI.
Greek and Turkish military
aircraft are searching for the pilot of a Turkish F-4 jet fighter which
crashed near the Greek island of Mitilini, Western media reported on 28
December. The plane, one of two which Athens claims violated Greek
airspace, crashed due to mechanical failure after being intercepted by
Greek warplanes. Greek and Turkish warplanes regularly engage in mock
dogfights in the Aegean where the two countries dispute the extent of
their respective territorial waters. In February a Turkish F-16 was lost
in a similar incident. -- Lowell Bezanis
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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