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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 5, 8 January 1996
CONTENTS
[1] IFOR UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK IN BOSNIA.
[2] BOSNIAN SERBS LAUNCH PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN.
[3] WILL INTERNATIONAL POLICE DEAL WITH ISLAMIC FIGHTERS?
[4] BOSNIAN FACTIONS AGREE ON SETTING UP MILITARY LIAISONS.
[5] GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTERS DECIDE TO RETURN BOSNIAN REFUGEES.
[6] SERBIA'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUPPORTS SARAJEVO'S SERBIAN COMMUNITY.
[7] KOSOVAR CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS REJECT AUTONOMY COMPROMISE.
[8] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT MAKES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE SINCE ATTACK.
[9] PROTESTS OVER MISTREATMENT OF MOLDOVAN JOURNALISTS.
[10] MOLDOVAN, RUSSIAN EXPERTS DISCUSS WITHDRAWAL SCHEDULE.
[11] NEW WAVE OF MASS PRIVATIZATION STARTS IN BULGARIA.
[12] SEVEN DIE AS BRIDGE COLLAPSES IN BULGARIA.
[13] U.S. SPECIALISTS COMPLETE ALBANIAN RADAR STATION.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 5, Part II, 8 January 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] IFOR UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK IN BOSNIA.
Reuters on 8 January reported that
NATO officials have become increasingly worried about the security of
their troops after a series of firing incidents. An Italian soldier was
shot near Sarajevo last week. British troops on 5 January were attacked
by Bosnian Serbs near Sanski Most. A French plane on 7 January was hit
by bullets near Sarajevo airport; and British troops were attacked again
in central Bosnia next day. An IFOR spokesman in Sarajevo said the
attacks did not cause serious damage or injury and that fire had been
returned in most cases, Hina reported on 7 January. In another
development, Lt.-Gen. Michael Walker, who is in charge of IFOR land
forces, warned that NATO troops in Bosnia lack the manpower to ensure
the free movement of civilians across ethnic front lines, Reuters said.
He was responding to charges by the Bosnian government that NATO has not
fulfilled its duty to ensure the safe passage of civilians under the
Dayton peace accord. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[2] BOSNIAN SERBS LAUNCH PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN.
Bosnian Serb Vice President
Nikola Koljevic appeared on Greek TV on 7 January to launch a new
publicity drive, the BBC reported. It appears to be part of the campaign
to promote Serbian interests by political means, which Bosnian Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic first announced after the Dayton agreement was
signed. The latest installment involves a fundraising effort to
transport 15,000 Serbian schoolchildren from the Sarajevo suburbs to
stay with relatives in Bosnian Serb territory, in Serbia, or in Greece.
Koljevic said the Bosnian Serb authorities wanted the children to spend
the rest of the school year away from Sarajevo because of the current
"period of uncertainty." Meanwhile in Kragujevac, Bosnian Serb Prime
Minister, Rajko Kasagic, told a radio audience that he is "determined"
to apply the Dayton accords. He suggested that the treaty was necessary
in order to free Serbia from the sanctions. -- Patrick Moore
[3] WILL INTERNATIONAL POLICE DEAL WITH ISLAMIC FIGHTERS?
The slowness insetting up the international police force for Bosnia is having
repercussions in Podbrijezje, near Zenica, AFP noted on 5 January. The
area witnessed sharp fighting during the Croatian-Muslim war of 1993,
and now Turkish peacekeepers keep a sometimes difficult truce. One
problem is the presence of the Islamic fighters, who must leave under
the terms of the Dayton agreement. In departing the Croatian village,
they are now carting off everything they can. Local Croats fear that
many will come back, since they are not foreigners who are obliged to
leave but rather Bosnian young men who became Islamic warriors in the
course of the conflict. -- Patrick Moore
[4] BOSNIAN FACTIONS AGREE ON SETTING UP MILITARY LIAISONS.
The parties to
the OSCE-sponsored talks on confidence-building measures in Vienna
agreed on 5 January to set up military liaisons at each other's military
headquarters within 10 days, international agencies reported. The
Muslim-Croatian federation and the Bosnian Serbs also provided
preliminary military data on the number and location of certain weapons
and factory sites but failed to agree on the type of weapons and
military units that would be subject to inspection. Meanwhile, at the
talks on arms control in Vienna, the parties agreed to provide complete
data on their armed forces and weapons when they reconvene on 16
January. -- Michael Mihalka
[5] GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTERS DECIDE TO RETURN BOSNIAN REFUGEES.
The
Conference of German Interior Ministers on 6 January decided to return
refugees from Bosnia by mid-1996, AFP reported the following day. German
Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel is expected to discuss the issue in talks
with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic, and Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey in Sarajevo on 8
January. Some 320,000 refugees would be affected by the decision, which
has been strongly protested by the German opposition and refugee
organizations. -- Fabian Schmidt
[6] SERBIA'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUPPORTS SARAJEVO'S SERBIAN COMMUNITY.
Serbia's nationalist opposition Democratic Party on 7 January issued an
appeal to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and federal rump Yugoslav
authorities to press diplomatically for demands made by the Serbian
community in Sarajevo's suburbs, BETA reported. The appeal said that if
the president and federal authorities do not [help] create the
conditions for the Serbs of Sarajevo to safeguard their local autonomy
and safety, more than 100,000 people will flee Sarajevo. Last week, BETA
reported that the DS plans to establish a branch in the Republic of
Srpska. A convention is slated for the end of January, when a party
leadership and platform are to be approved. -- Stan Markotich
[7] KOSOVAR CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS REJECT AUTONOMY COMPROMISE.
Mark Krasniqi,
head of the Kosovar Christian Democratic Party, has rejected the idea of
autonomy for Kosovo, Nasa Borba reported on 8 January. Krasniqi pointed
out that "the Albanian people will not accept autonomy since they called
for an independent and neutral Kosovo" in the recent referendum.
Krasniqi also demanded that Kosovo be demilitarized and made a UN
protectorate. The Christian Democrats received 3.1% of the vote in 1992
illegal shadow-state parliamentary elections and seven mandates in the
125-seat parliament. Albanian President Sali Berisha recently called for
a compromise solution to the issue of Kosovar independence. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[8] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT MAKES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE SINCE ATTACK.
Kiro
Gligorov on 7 January made his first public appearance since the attempt
on his life on 3 October 1995, Nova Makedonija reported the next day. He
attended an Orthodox Christmas mass in Skopje. In an interview with Nova
Makedonija on 22 December 1995, Gligorov announced he would resume his
duties at the beginning of 1996. -- Stefan Krause
[9] PROTESTS OVER MISTREATMENT OF MOLDOVAN JOURNALISTS.
International
journalists' organizations, including the Paris-based Reporteres sans
Frontieres and the Committee for Freedom of the Press, have protested
the alleged mistreatment of two Moldovan journalists by local policemen,
BASA-press reported on 4 and 6 January. The two reporters, a married
couple, were tortured for two hours by four men wearing police uniforms
and were told they would be killed if they continued to write about
police officers involved in a racketeering ring. The couple works for
Mesagerul, a publication of the opposition Party of Democratic Forces in
Moldova. Moldovan Interior Minister Constantin Antoci launched an
inquiry into the incident, which reportedly took place at the end of
December. -- Dan Ionescu
[10] MOLDOVAN, RUSSIAN EXPERTS DISCUSS WITHDRAWAL SCHEDULE.
Russian and
Moldovan military experts have met in Chisinau to discuss the
implementation of the 1994 withdrawal treaty, ITAR-TASS reported on 6
January. Lt. Gen. Valerii Yevnevich, commander of the Russian troops
stationed in the Transdniestr region, said the Russian and Moldovan
delegations agreed that some military equipment would begin to be
withdrawn in late January. He added that the question of the full
withdrawal of Russian troops could be resolved only by the Russian
government. -- Constantine Dmitriev
[11] NEW WAVE OF MASS PRIVATIZATION STARTS IN BULGARIA.
The latest Bulgarian
mass privatization program is scheduled to get under way on 8 January,
AFP reported. Vouchers for the sale of shares in 1,063 companies with a
total official value of 80.47 billion leva ($1.12 billion) will be sold
at post offices throughout the country. Bulgaria's 6.7 million adult
citizens can each buy vouchers totaling 25,000 leva ($348) for a
registration fee of 500 leva ($7). The vouchers can be used at auctions
starting in June 1996. Bulgarians living abroad cannot participate, but
foreigners can take part through investment funds provided they are
registered as a financial institution and have engaged in similar
activities at home for at least five years. Another wave of mass
privatization has been announced for 1997. -- Stefan Krause
[12] SEVEN DIE AS BRIDGE COLLAPSES IN BULGARIA.
The collapse of a pedestrian
bridge in the southeastern Bulgarian town of Elhovo on 6 January claimed
at least seven lives, Reuters reported. Around 80 people--mostly women
and children--were watching the traditional Saint Jordan celebrations
from the bridge when it gave way, hurling them into a river. Two persons
were still missing when the search for survivors was called off late on
7 January; nine people were receiving hospital treatment. President
Zhelyu Zhelev, parliamentary chairman Blagovest Sendov, and Interior
Minister Lyubomir Nachev visited Elhovo the same day the accident
occurred. Nachev said Sofia had asked Turkey to help in the search for
survivors. -- Stefan Krause
[13] U.S. SPECIALISTS COMPLETE ALBANIAN RADAR STATION. U.S.
army specialists
have completed the construction of a radar station in Dobrinje, in the
northern Albanian district of Tropoja, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 6
January. The Albanian army will be given control over the station, which
can monitor air traffic over most of Europe. Meanwhile, Tirana airport
is concerned about safety because of the large number of daily flights
and the poor state of the runway. A Transportation Ministry official
noted that the German company Siemens won the contract to reconstruct
the airport in 1993 but the Berliner Bank has not yet approved a loan
because it is waiting for further guarantees from the Albanian company
Albtransport or the Albanian government, Koha Jone reported the same
day. -- 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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