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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 3, 4 January 1996
CONTENTS
[1] END TO MUSLIM CRISIS IN SIGHT?
[2] PERRY ON NATO IN BOSNIA.
[3] ITALIAN SOLDIER WOUNDED IN SERBIAN SUBURB.
[4] MONTENEGRIN POLITICIAN ON "REAL WAR HEROES."
[5] OSCE TALKS ON ARMS CONTROL BEGIN. OSC
[6] ROMANIA REJECTS DNIESTER REFERENDUM.
[7] SECURITATE FILE ON ROMANIAN SECRET SERVICE HEAD PUBLISHED IN NEWSPAPER.
[8] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS PRESIDENTIAL ACCUSATIONS.
[9] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST QUARRELS CONTINUE . . .
[10] . . . WHILE OPPOSITION WANTS NO CONFIDENCE VOTE.
[11] COUNCIL OF EUROPE DELEGATION IN ALBANIA.
[12] REPLACEMENT OF GREEK PREMIER IMMINENT.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 3, Part II, 4 January 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] END TO MUSLIM CRISIS IN SIGHT?
The crisis over the Muslims held byBosnian Serbs has developed into a Serbian test of NATO's will. NATO
Secretary-General Javier Solana said the matter was "a harsh blow . . .
[but] we are prepared to tackle highs and lows." Bosnian government
minister Hasan Muratovic told Reuters on 4 January that he is satisfied
that NATO is taking things seriously after he received a letter from
IFOR's commander, Admiral Leighton Smith. Nasa Borba noted that Bosnian
officials were using terms like "pure terrorism" to refer to the
incident. On 4 January, three of the detainees were released and
Belgrade's Radio Politika reported from Pale that all 16 would be freed.
The BBC said, however, that the Bosnian Serbs wanted to treat the
Muslims as prisoners of war and exchange them for Serbs later. --
Patrick Moore
[2] PERRY ON NATO IN BOSNIA.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defense William
Perry, speaking in Sarajevo on 4 January, said the NATO-led peacekeeping
force in Bosnia will not act as a "police force." He was responding to
Bosnian government complaints that NATO is not doing enough to protect
Muslim civilians. Perry said that while NATO has the responsibility to
ensure freedom of movement, he felt that the issue of the Muslims held
by Bosnian Serbs would be better handled by the international UN
civilian police force, which is expected to arrive in Bosnia later this
month. He added that in the meantime, NATO "will do what it can to
assist." -- Michael Mihalka
[3] ITALIAN SOLDIER WOUNDED IN SERBIAN SUBURB.
News agencies reported on 4
January that an Italian man was involved in what might be the first
deliberate attack on NATO troops. The incident took place before 5:00
a.m. in Vogosca. Meanwhile in Mostar, the UNHCR suspended its convoys
after local Croatian officials tried to impose a tax of 50 kuna ($10)
per truck. The Herzegovinian Croats have been notorious for such
activities in the past, and the incident serves to recall that de facto
check-points continue to exist, including in Sarajevo. During the night
of 3-4 January, Muslims in Mostar attacked Croatian vehicles, but Hina
said nobody was injured. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman arrived in
Sarajevo on 4 January for brief talks with Bosnian leaders. Finally,
Nasa Borba reported that telephone links have been restored between
Sarajevo and Belgrade after a break of over three years. -- Patrick
Moore
[4] MONTENEGRIN POLITICIAN ON "REAL WAR HEROES."
Nasa Borba on 4 Januaryreported that Srdjan Darmanovic, vice president of the Social Democratic
Party of Montenegro, has come out strongly in favor of legislation
granting an amnesty to all those who fled the former Yugoslavia to avoid
serving in the Balkan conflicts. "We believe that the youth who fled in
the wake of mobilization [campaigns] are the real war heroes . . . and
not those who actually participated in this filthy war. . . . These
were the people who were right not to want to fight in a senseless
conflict," Darmanovic said. He added that any objectors wishing to
return should be encouraged to do so. -- Stan Markotich
[5] OSCE TALKS ON ARMS CONTROL BEGIN.
OSCE talks on arms control and
confidence-building measures got under way in Vienna on 4 January,
international agencies reported. The negotiations fulfill requirements
laid down in the Dayton peace accords. Hungary's Istvan Gyarmati is
chairing the talks on confidence-building measures, which are scheduled
to finish on 26 January. Vigleik Eide from Norway is presiding over the
talks on arms control, to be completed no later than 6 June. At a news
conference in Vienna on 3 January, Gyarmati said the first aim of the
confidence-building talks is to exchange military data and set up
military liaisons between the Bosnian Serbs and the Muslim-Croatian
federation. He added that this task would prove "politically and
psychologically difficult." -- Michael Mihalka
[6] ROMANIA REJECTS DNIESTER REFERENDUM.
Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Sorin Ducaru on 3 January rejected a referendum supporting the creation
of an independent state in Moldova's breakaway Dniester region, Radio
Bucharest and Reuters reported. According to Ducaru, the "pseudo-
elections" and the 24 December referendum were staged by "illegitimate
authorities" and contravened the Moldovan constitution. The spokesman
added that Romania backed Moldova's territorial integrity and would
continue to participate in the search for a peaceful solution to the
conflict in eastern Moldova. -- Dan Ionescu
[7] SECURITATE FILE ON ROMANIAN SECRET SERVICE HEAD PUBLISHED IN NEWSPAPER.
Evenimentul zilei on 4 January continued to publish excerpts from the
Securitate file on Virgil Magureanu, head of the Romanian Intelligence
Service. The file, which was put at the daily's disposal by Magureanu,
shows that he was recruited as a Securitate "resident" in the Banat
region in 1963 and put in charge of supervising local informers. One
year later, he was dismissed for "inefficient work." Adevarul warned
that Magureanu was about to "open a Pandora's box" in a country where
ordinary citizens are still denied access to their Securitate files.
Meanwhile, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, leader of the extremist Greater Romania
Party, announced he would publish Magureanu's complete file, which, he
said, showed that Magureanu continued to work for the Securitate after
1964. -- Dan Ionescu
[8] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS PRESIDENTIAL ACCUSATIONS.
The Moldovan
parliament has rejected recent accusations by President Mircea Snegur
that the parliament and its chairman, Petru Lucinschi, have attempted to
block talks between Chisinau and Tiraspol aimed at restoring Moldova's
territorial integrity, BASA-press reported on 2 January. The parliament
noted in a statement that it is not true that Lucinschi failed "to react
adequately to the unconstitutional [24 December] elections in
Transdniestria." In late December, Snegur described as "irresponsible"
Lucinschi's appeal to the Dniester population to support "conciliatory
forces" in the region. Local media argue that both Snegur and Lucinschi
are trying to make political capital out of the Dniester crisis in
anticipation of the December 1996 presidential elections. -- Dan Ionescu
[9] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST QUARRELS CONTINUE . . .
Political differences within
the governing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) have become increasingly
apparent, with Bulgarian newspapers on 4 January publishing statements
by BSP leaders criticizing Zhan Videnov's government. BSP Deputy
Chairman Georgi Parvanov, in an interview with 24 chasa, called on
Videnov to reshuffle his cabinet and replace some of his advisers, but
he declined to name anyone. Standart reported that the reformist
Alliance for Social Democracy (OSD) within the BSP has demanded the
resignation of Agriculture Minister Vasil Chichibaba because of the
ongoing grain shortage. The daily quotes OSD member Chavdar Kyuranov as
saying "there are objective preconditions for corruption because of the
concentration of economic power around the prime minister." -- Stefan
Krause
[10] . . . WHILE OPPOSITION WANTS NO CONFIDENCE VOTE.
Union of Democratic
Forces (SDS) caucus leader Yordan Sokolov has said his faction will
introduce a no confidence motion on 5 January because of the
government's failure to deal with the grain crisis. Demokratsiya quoted
Sokolov as saying the SDS motion will ask for a no confidence vote in
the cabinet as a whole, not just in Prime Minister Zhan Videnov or in
individual ministers. The motion will be discussed in the parliament on
12 January, and the vote will most likely take place on 17 January, 24
chasa reported. The daily also said that the no confidence vote will be
supported by all opposition parties. Meanwhile, Zemya, citing unnamed
sources, reported that Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Kiril
Tsochev will hand in his resignation on 17 January. Tsochev opposes the
government's decision to extend the export ban for grain until the end
of 1996. -- Stefan Krause
[11] COUNCIL OF EUROPE DELEGATION IN ALBANIA.
A delegation of members of the
Council of Europe's Legal Affairs and Human Rights Commission and
Political Commission arrived in Albania on 3 January. Gazeta Shqiptare
reported. They met with representatives of political parties and the
speaker of the parliament. They are expected to hold talks with the mass
media, the prosecutor-general, and members of the Lawyers' Association.
A meeting with President Sali Berisha is also scheduled. Meanwhile,
Reuters reported on 4 January that Berisha will visit China from 16-19
January following an invitation by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. --
Fabian Schmidt
[12] REPLACEMENT OF GREEK PREMIER IMMINENT.
Leaders of the governing
Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) have publicly called for Prime
Minister Andreas Papandreou's replacement, Reuters and AFP reported.
PASOK Secretary-General Kostas Skandalidis on 3 January said the party
will start the procedure to replace Papandreou, who has been in hospital
for seven weeks. Skandalidis said a PASOK Central Committee meeting
scheduled for 20 January will find a solution to the "political problem
caused by [Papandreou's] illness." The decision was taken at an eight-
hour meeting of PASOK's Executive Bureau, the party's highest political
body. Following the meeting, leading PASOK members declared an "acute
political crisis." Meanwhile, the latest medical bulletin on 3 January
said a "kidney biopsy showed extensive damage." -- Stefan Krause
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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