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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 1, 2 January 1996
CONTENTS
[1] NO DELAY IN HANDOVER OF SERBIAN SUBURBS.
[2] GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER LINKS AID TO COOPERATION WITH TRIBUNAL.
[3] BOSNIAN SERBS RESCUE U.S. HELICOPTER CREW.
[4] DID SARAJEVO SERBS SEIZE 11 CIVILIANS?
[5] SERBIAN PRESIDENT PROMISES RECONSTRUCTION IN 1996...
[6] . . . WHILE MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT PLEDGES UNITY.
[7] RUGOVA AIMS FOR DIALOGUE.
[8] CROATIAN PRESIDENT GRANTS AMNESTY TO 455 PEOPLE.
[9] MELESCANU ON ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN PARLEYS . . .
[10] . . . AND ON FOREIGN POLICY OBJECTIVES FOR 1996.
[11] BULGARIAN PRIVATIZATION TO START NEXT WEEK.
[12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT'S NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS.
[13] AMNESTY IN ALBANIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 1, Part II, 2 January 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] NO DELAY IN HANDOVER OF SERBIAN SUBURBS.
IFOR commander Admiral Leighton
Smith said on 30 December that he has no authority to grant the 80-day
extension to the deadline for the transfer of the Serb-held Sarajevo
suburbs as requested by the Bosnian Serb leadership. The BBC said he
wrote parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik that IFOR would nonetheless
provide security for the Serbs. The broadcast called Smith's decision "a
major setback for the Bosnian Serb leadership." -- Patrick Moore
[2] GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER LINKS AID TO COOPERATION WITH TRIBUNAL.
Klaus
Kinkel issued a statement on New Year's Day saying that reconstruction
aid to the various sides in the Bosnian conflict should be tied to their
willingness to assist the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia based in the Hague, international media reported. To date,
seven Croats and 45 Serbs have been indicted, the most important of whom
are Bosnian Serb civilian leader Radovan Karadzic and his military
counterpart, General Ratko Mladic. Kinkel added that "reconstruction aid
must if necessary be linked to legal action taken against war criminals
who, if they fall into the hands of the troops of the NATO peace
Implementation Force, must be arrested and handed over to the relevant
authorities. For the establishment of a stable and lasting peace it is
important that justice be done [on behalf of] the victims of war crimes
and that the latter appear before a tribunal as defendants. Maintaining
the accused in their present jobs would jeopardize the peace process."
-- Patrick Moore
[3] BOSNIAN SERBS RESCUE U.S. HELICOPTER CREW.
IFOR has not written off a
possible threat from foreign Islamic fighters still in Bosnia, but the
Serbs, Croats, and Muslims have been going out of their way to be
helpful. Reuters reported on 28 December that Bosnian Serb villagers
from Sibovska in northern Bosnia provided a U.S. helicopter crew and
guards with heat and shelter that saved them from a brutal blizzard
after the helicopter landed because of transmission problems. The
Americans declined offers of local plum brandy but praised the Serbs as
"heroes." One Serb said he hoped the encounter on Christmas Day would
show foreigners that the Serbs are not "the barbarians we are made out
to be," while another added that "we are civilized people and we act
like normal people." -- Patrick Moore
[4] DID SARAJEVO SERBS SEIZE 11 CIVILIANS?
Bosnian government minister HasanMuratovic on 1 January said that Serbs from Ilidza, a Serb-held Sarajevo
suburb, have in the past week seized 11 civilians who were traveling on
roads around Sarajevo opened recently by NATO, Reuters reported. Their
fate is not known. NATO said it knew nothing about the incidents and
noted that civilian police authorities were responsible for launching
investigations. Muratovic called for a change in the IFOR mandate that
would allow the force to deal with terrorism. He added that the Bosnian
government may ban its citizens from passing through Ilidza until those
captured are released and IFOR gives guarantees of safety, the BH news
agency reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] SERBIAN PRESIDENT PROMISES RECONSTRUCTION IN 1996...
Slobodan Milosevic,
in his New Year's address, has promised the public that 1996 will usher
in a period of economic stability and renewal, AFP reported on 30
December, citing official Tanjug reports. "Peace has been achieved. . .
. I expect the next year to be a year of economic revival, increased
employment, and an increase in the standard of living," he said.
Milosevic added that 1996 will witness a crusade against "criminality"
and a crackdown on those elements that have profited from violating
sanctions. Hinting at how Belgrade will deal with the question of
refugees who flooded into the rump Yugoslavia, he said "I expect . . .
[the refugees'] return will become especially intense following the
first free and democratic elections in the Serbian Republic and the
Muslim-Croat federation." -- Stan Markotich
[6] . . . WHILE MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT PLEDGES UNITY.
Meanwhile, Momir
Bulatovic has stressed that relations between Montenegro and Serbia were
sound at the close of 1995, Montena-fax reported on 31 December. Serbia
and Montenegro "have to build on their unity . . . ; some 90% of our
citizens want Montenegro to be in the [rump] Yugoslavia," he said.
Bulatovic, who previously outlined the benefits of autonomy for
Montenegro, seems intent on further backtracking from policies that
might lead to conflicts between Podgorica and Belgrade. -- Stan
Markotich
[7] RUGOVA AIMS FOR DIALOGUE.
Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova
said he is working intensively on establishing a dialogue with Belgrade,
BETA reported on 29 December. He commented that the U.S. will have to
play a key role in solving the Kosovo conflict and that Tirana also
supports negotiations taking place under an independent mediator. At the
same time, he admitted that there are differences between the Albanian
government and the Kosovar shadow-state but added that these are
"insignificant." Albanian President Sali Berisha has called for a
solution that recognizes international borders, while the Kosovars have
unilaterally declared independence from Belgrade. -- Fabian Schmidt
[8] CROATIAN PRESIDENT GRANTS AMNESTY TO 455 PEOPLE.
Franjo Tudjman marked
the holidays by granting an amnesty to 455 persons who were arrested
during and after Operation Storm in Krajina, Novi list reported on 2
January. They were released from prisons on 31 December. Those amnestied
had not been charged with war crimes, while another 244 arrested at the
same time were not included in the amnesty. The same day, 88 Croatian
citizens were released from a prison under a separate amnesty. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[9] MELESCANU ON ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN PARLEYS . . .
Romanian Foreign Minister
Teodor Melescanu, speaking at a press conference in Bucharest on 29
December, said Hungary's response to President Ion Iliescu's proposals
for a "historic reconciliation" includes some aspects that were not part
of Bucharest's original proposal. He added that as a result,
implementation may be delayed. With regard to the Hungarian-Romanian
basic treaty, Hungary insists on including Recommendation 1201 and a
more detailed definition of autonomy based on ethnic criteria and
collective rights, Radio Bucharest reported the same day. -- Michael
Shafir
[10] . . . AND ON FOREIGN POLICY OBJECTIVES FOR 1996.
Melescanu also said
that Romania's main foreign-policy objectives for this year are the
country's integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, consolidating
relations with the EU and neighboring countries, and concluding basic
treaties with Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, and the former Yugoslav
republics. He noted that parleys with Russia will not be influenced by
that country's December elections, adding that Romania continues to
insist that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact be condemned in the treaty with
Russia. With regard to Ukraine, he said the dispute over Serpent Island
was about the delimitation of territorial waters and should not be seen
as constituting a territorial claim on Ukraine. -- Michael Shafir
[11] BULGARIAN PRIVATIZATION TO START NEXT WEEK.
Bulgarian newspapers on 29
December reported that the mass voucher privatization program is
scheduled to start on 9 January. One million vouchers have already been
printed and will be sold in post offices throughout the country. For a
registration fee of 500 leva ($7), adults can obtain vouchers with a
nominal value of up to 25,000 leva ($354) that can then be exchanged for
shares in 1,300 state enterprises totaling about 200 billion leva ($2.8
billion). About half the enterprises are in industry, while most of the
remainder are in tourism, agriculture, and construction. -- Stefan
Krause
[12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT'S NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS.
Zhelyu Zhelev, speaking to
Bulgarian citizens on 31 December, called for, among other things, a
crackdown on crime and a program of land restitution whereby farmers
would become "truly free and economically independent." Zhelev called on
the parliament to pass legislation on health insurance and the state-run
media. He also told the governing Bulgarian Socialist Party "to stop
being afraid of and threatening others with the word NATO; after all, we
are going into 1996 and not 1956." Trud published the address on 2
January. -- Stefan Krause
[13] AMNESTY IN ALBANIA.
Albanian President Sali Berisha has decreed a New
Year amnesty for 90 prisoners, including Socialist Party leader Fatos
Nano and the widow of late communist dictator Enver Hoxha, international
agencies reported on 30 December. Nano's sentence was reduced by eight
months, which leaves him with more than two years to serve. His 12-year
sentence for the misappropriation of Italian aid funds has been
repeatedly reduced in amnesties and appeals. Nexhmije Hoxha's nine-year
prison term has been shortened by six months. She was convicted in
January 1993 for misappropriating state funds and for abuse of power. As
a result of previous amnesties, she now has only two years left to
serve. Former Politburo member Lenka Cuko, sentenced for abuse of power,
was freed. The remaining 87 prisoners had committed crimes such as
robbery and theft. -- Fabian Schmidt
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
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