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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 21, 30 January 1996

From: OMRI-L <[email protected]>

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [1] SREBRENICA WOMEN OCCUPY ICRC SEAT IN TUZLA.

  • [2] ON REFUGEE REPATRIATION TO CROATIA AND BOSNIA.

  • [3] BELGRADE TO RECOGNIZE MACEDONIA.

  • [4] SLOVAK PREMIER IN RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.

  • [5] SLOVENIAN MINISTERS TO RESIGN.

  • [6] ROMANIAN RULING PARTY RESPONDS TO ALLY'S ATTACKS.

  • [7] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT HOSTS PARTY TALKS.

  • [8] HUNGARIAN AND CROATIAN ROMA PLAN EXCHANGES.

  • [9] GREEK-TURKISH DISPUTE OVER ISLAND ESCALATES . . .

  • [10] . . . AS BOTH SIDES STICK TO THEIR POSITION.

  • [11] YELTSIN MEETS BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN.

  • [12] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT INVESTIGATES SOCIALIST PARTY FUNDING.

  • [13] ALBANIAN PARTY LEADER ARRESTED FOR COMMUNIST-ERA CRIMES.

  • [14] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ISRAEL.


  • OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 21, Part II, 30 January 1996

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [1] SREBRENICA WOMEN OCCUPY ICRC SEAT IN TUZLA.

    After a peaceful rally in front of the ICRC office in Tuzla on 29 January morning, angry women refugees from Srebrenica, fearing for the fate of 8,000 men missing after the fall of Srebrenica, occupied local Red Cross offices, Reuters reported. The ICRC has acknowledged 8,000 people from Srebrenica as missing, and most of them are feared dead, for several possible mass graves had been reported in the area. A delegation of 20 women demanded to know the truth about the missing, and to have an IFOR escort on their way back to Srebrenica. Meanwhile, the ICRC Sarajevo office issued a strongly-worded statement denouncing the violent protest, defending its own position, but also calling on the Sarajevo government to guarantee the security of ICRC staff, AFP reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [2] ON REFUGEE REPATRIATION TO CROATIA AND BOSNIA.

    Croatian Foreign Minister Deputy told Vjesnik daily on 29 January that 30,000 refugees are expected to repatriate to Croatia, and 900,000 to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1996, Nasa Borba reported the next day. The Croatian government estimates 57,000 Croats are refugees abroad with some 37,000 in Germany. In Croatia itself there are 187,000 Bosnian refugees, 80,000 of whom have applied to the UNHCR to return. The issue of the return of Croatian Serbs and the problem of Vojvodina Croats will be solved when Croatia and rump Yugoslavia normalize their relations, Nasa Borba cited him as saying. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [3] BELGRADE TO RECOGNIZE MACEDONIA.

    Tanjug on 29 January reported that rump Yugoslavia adopted an agreement on the recognition of and normalization of relations with Macedonia. The report said the agreement will be signed by both Skopje and Belgrade at some as yet "unspecified date." Nova Makedonija on 30 January suggested that the recognition was prompted by the hopes that it could help it to gain European Union recognition of its own state. Meanwhile, Nasa Borba on 30 January reports that recognition of Macedonia under the name of "republic of Macedonia" could place a strain on Belgrade's friendly relations with Greece, which continues to oppose usage of the name "Republic of Macedonia." -- Stan Markotich

    [4] SLOVAK PREMIER IN RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.

    Nasa Borba on 30 January reports that Slovak premier Vladimir Meciar arrived in Belgrade the previous day, where he met Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Meciar's government delegation included members of the Slovak business community, and the purpose of the visit was to restore bilateral ties, particularly economic, in the energy, pharmaceuticals, and tourism sectors. Meciar called his visit a "symbol" of Slovakia's efforts to maintain balanced relations with all Balkan countries, stressing that Slovakia never looked for the guilty party in the conflict but was always looking for peace, TASR reported. According to AFP, Meciar said that Slovakia will support rump Yugoslavia's membership in the UN and the IMF, and its joining the World Trade Organization and CEFTA. He also announced that he had proposed negotiations for the creation of a free trade zone with Belgrade. -- Sharon Fisher and Stan Markotich

    [5] SLOVENIAN MINISTERS TO RESIGN.

    Reuters on 29 January reported that four ministers, who are members of the United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD), will resign from their cabinet posts on 30 January, while "ten of the ZLSD's state secretaries will offer their resignation when new ministers are appointed." On 26 January the ZLSD left the three-party governing coalition, following an inter-party row precipitated by Premier Janez Drnovsek's call for the ouster of Economic Activities Minister Maks Tajnikar of the ZLSD (see OMRI Daily Digest 29 January). The two remaining coalition partners, the Christian Democrats and Liberal Democrats, hold 45 of the 90 legislature's seats, and both Drnovsek and President Milan Kucan have ruled out the need for early elections. -- Stan Markotich

    [6] ROMANIAN RULING PARTY RESPONDS TO ALLY'S ATTACKS.

    The Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) on 29 January responded to attacks by Gheorghe Funar, the leader of the extremist Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR). In a statement read on Radio Bucharest, the PDSR press bureau expressed surprise over Funar's allegations that the PDSR had struck a "secret pact" with the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania for the upcoming local elections. The charge had been formulated in a letter addressed by Funar to President Ion Iliescu. The PDSR further accused the PUNR of trying to make political capital by artificially stirring up tension in Transylvania, where most of Romania's ethnic Hungarians live. The PUNR has several portfolios in the PDSR-dominated cabinet of Nicolae Vacaroiu. Romanian dailies wrote on 30 January that the PDSR-PUNR coalition seems doomed to end soon. -- Dan Ionescu

    [7] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT HOSTS PARTY TALKS.

    Romanian President Ion Iliescu on 29 January invited leaders of the political parties represented in parliament to a meeting, Romanian and international media reported. The discussions focused on the upcoming elections, the law on local government, the project on the state budget, and Romania's foreign policy. Iliescu called for a civilized electoral campaign, and expressed hopes that local elections could be held in April and parliamentary and presidential ones in September. He asked the participants to support the privatization process and the country's integration in the EU. The stage of the negotiations over the bilateral basic treaties with Hungary, Ukraine, and Russia were also discussed. The press did not have access to the meeting. -- Matyas Szabo

    [8] HUNGARIAN AND CROATIAN ROMA PLAN EXCHANGES.

    The Ministry of Education and Sport of the Croatian Republic sponsored a conference on Romani education last week in Krizevcima, HINA reported on 27 January. Among those invited were representatives from the Ghandhi high school for Roma in Pecs, who told MTI on 29 January that the Hungarian and Croatian teachers should share experiences in teaching for minorities, and would plan exchanges. The Ghandhi school representative said that many Roma in Pecs and across the border in Croatia are Beash and speak the same dialect, but have been separated since the Trianon Treaty. According to the last official census, there are 6,695 Roma in Croatia, but according to Romani organizations, there are 150,000, 80% of whom are Beash- speaking rather than Romani-speaking. -- Alaina Lemon

    [9] GREEK-TURKISH DISPUTE OVER ISLAND ESCALATES . . .

    The dispute between Greece and Turkey over the uninhabited rock islet Imia escalated on 30 January as both sides sent warships into the southeastern Aegean, international media reported. Turkish frigates and patrol boats crossed between the Turkish coast and Imia while Greece assembled several warships near the island and put all military airfields in the Aegean on alert. Greek Defense Minister Gerasimos Arsenis said a Turkish vessel and a helicopter violated Greek territory. "Imia is Greek and it is the duty of the Greek armed forces to defend it," he added. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis on 30 January met with four ministers, including Arsenis, and Chief of Staff, Admiral Christos Lyberis to discuss the situation. -- Stefan Krause

    [10] . . . AS BOTH SIDES STICK TO THEIR POSITION.

    Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller on 29 January said Ankara will take "all necessary measures" if Greece does not withdraw its troops from Imia "shortly." Athens denies Turkish side claims that at least 12 Greek soldiers are on the island. Turkey will not give up its "national rights," Ciller said, but noted Turkey's readiness to hold talks with Athens about the status of Imia. Also on 29 January, Simitis said Greece's response "to this and every [act of] aggressive nationalism" will be "strong, immediate, and effective." He said that Greece "has the means and will use them without hesitation" and that "we will accept absolutely no questioning of our territorial rights." -- Stefan Krause

    [11] YELTSIN MEETS BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN.

    President Boris Yeltsin met with the Bulgarian parliament chairman Blagovest Sendov in Moscow on 29 January to discuss bilateral relations and NATO expansion, Russian agencies reported. According to the presidential press service, the two agreed that NATO expansion is unnecessary and they both called for strengthening the "traditional friendship" between Russia and Bulgaria. Also on 29 January, Yeltsin had a telephone conversation with Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev during which he underlined Russia's opposition to NATO expansion. Although they two presidents pledged to intensify Russo-Bulgarian cooperation, Zhelev, unlike Sendov, did not endorse Yeltsin's statement on NATO. Sendov was elected to the Bulgarian parliament on the Socialist Party ticket and opposes NATO expansion, while Zhelev favors Bulgarian membership in the alliance. -- Scott Parrish

    [12] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT INVESTIGATES SOCIALIST PARTY FUNDING.

    The Albanian parliament set up a commission to investigate the funding of the Socialists, AFP reported on 29 January. The move follows earlier allegations by Italian journalist Pietro Zannoni that the Serbian government paid about $20 million to the Socialists "to support the return of communists to power," (see OMRI Daily Digest 25 January). The report alleged that Belgrade had acted "under orders from Russian communists," and that the independent daily Koha Jone was similarly financed. Meanwhile, Zannoni in an interview to the BBC, published in Zeri I Popullit on 27 January said that he met an agent of the communist-era secret service Sigurimi in summer 1995 in the house of a high ranking Socialist Party official where he received two documents, proving the charges. Zannoni failed to mention names. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [13] ALBANIAN PARTY LEADER ARRESTED FOR COMMUNIST-ERA CRIMES.

    Party of National Unity (UNIKOMB) leader Idajet Beqiri has been arrested after he was accused with crimes against humanity, committed as a communist prosecutor, international agencies report on 30 January. Beqiri is charged by the National Forum of Intellectuals with ordering deportations in the early 1980s. He is the 31st former communist official to face trial following the Forum's charges. UNIKOMB called the arrest part of the strategy of "tension and violence" pursued by the ruling Democratic Party against the opposition. Meanwhile, in unrelated news, the vans of the independent daily Koha Jone remain blocked by police -- Fabian Schmidt

    [14] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ISRAEL.

    Sali Berisha met with Israeli President Ezer Weizman and Prime Minister Shimon Peres on 29 January, AFP reported the same day. Berisha, who is on a three-day visit is also scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Minister Ehud Barak and Education and Culture Minister Amnon Rubinstein. During the stay Israel and Albania will sign a series of scientific and cultural cooperation agreements. Afterwards Berisha will spend two days on a visit to Malta. -- 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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