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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 26, 6 February 1996
CONTENTS
[1] BIG MONEY NEEDED FOR BOSNIAN RECONSTRUCTION.
[2] IFOR DEPLOYS MORE TROOPS IN SARAJEVO.
[3] U.S.-EU DIFFERENCES CONTINUE OVER BOSNIAN RECONSTRUCTION
[4] RUMP YUGOSLAV PREMIER ON SANCTIONS, WAR CRIMES.
[5] KOSCHNIK ON SOLUTION TO MOSTAR REORGANIZATION.
[6] SUIT TO BE FILED AGAINST TUDJMAN?
[7] MACEDONIAN TV DIRECTOR FIRED, MINISTER RESIGNS IN PROTEST.
[8] MONTENEGRIN ALBANIANS PROTEST DISCRIMINATION OVER INFRASTRUCTURE EXPENDITURES.
[9] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION SUBMITS REPORT ON 1989 REVOLT.
[10] STRIKES IN ROMANIA.
[11] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT THREATENS TO DISMISS CABINET.
[12] BULGARIAN COURT INVALIDATES KARDZHALI ELECTIONS.
[13] HOLBROOKE CANCELS VISIT TO GREECE, TURKEY, CYPRUS.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 6, Part II, 26 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BIG MONEY NEEDED FOR BOSNIAN RECONSTRUCTION.
Nasa Borba quotes Bosnian
Prime Minster Hasan Muratovic as stressing that Bosnia needs a lot of
money and soon. Muratovic estimates the bill at $3 billion per year for
the next five years, and he quoted a World Bank projection of $5.1
billion in emergency aid for the infrastructure alone. Onasa on 30
January had cited the transportation minister as saying that if he gets
the money, his first priority will be to rebuild the Ploce-Mostar-
Zenica-Doboj-Tuzla road connection and then the railroad that links
Ploce via Doboj to Hungary, Banja Luka, and Tuzla. He dismissed ideas
about building a new railroad system independent of the Republika Srpska
and called for the reconstruction of the prewar route. -- Patrick Moore
[2] IFOR DEPLOYS MORE TROOPS IN SARAJEVO.
IFOR has deployed additional
troops in the former Serb-held areas of Sarajevo to reassure the local
population, international and local media reported. Those areas are due
to be handed over to the Bosnian government by March 20. The decision,
taken by the international community's Carl Bildt, has angered the
Bosnian government. But US Dayton peace accord negotiator Richard
Holbrooke dismissed Bosnian government concerns. Speaking in Davos,
Switzerland, on 5 February, Holbrooke said the issue was not "critical."
Meanwhile, only 215 UN policemen out of the expected 2,000 have been
deployed. -- Michael Mihalka
[3] U.S.-EU DIFFERENCES CONTINUE OVER BOSNIAN RECONSTRUCTION.
The EU and the
U.S. still have considerable differences over the allocation of funds
for Bosnian reconstruction, international media reported. Holbrooke
denied on 5 February that there was a "crisis" in EU-U.S. relations but
admitted that a "funding problem" exists. The World Bank wants donor
countries to confirm pledges for the estimated $5.1 billion needed for
Bosnian reconstruction before a scheduled conference in April. Pledges
for only $520 million were made at a December meeting. Holbrooke also
stressed Bosnia was the "testing ground for what we used to call the
West's post-Cold War foreign policy." -- Michael Mihalka
[4] RUMP YUGOSLAV PREMIER ON SANCTIONS, WAR CRIMES.
Premier Radoje Kontic
has said that Belgrade will cooperate with the International UN War
Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Nasa Borba reported on 6
February. But he has also stressed that Belgrade cannot be held
responsible for the actions of Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and
Gen. Ratko Mladic, since the rump Yugoslavia has "no jurisdiction" over
them. Kontic added that the issue of lifting sanctions against rump
Yugoslavia must not be linked to the issues of war crimes and
extradition. -- Stan Markotich
[5] KOSCHNIK ON SOLUTION TO MOSTAR REORGANIZATION.
Hans Koschnik, the EU
administrator of Mostar, on 4 February met with the president and vice
president of the Bosnian Federation as well as an aide to the
international community's Carl Bildt to inform them of his proposal to
reorganize Mostar into "six municipalities and one central district,"
Hina reported. Koschnik has also met with the mayors of the western and
eastern parts of Mostar--Mijo Brajkovic and Safet Orucevic--to discuss
the issue. The full details of Koschnik's proposal are to be announced
on 6 February. Brajkovic said that the Croatian side cannot accept the
term "district" but would agree to the idea of joint authorities in the
same building. Orucevic told Oslobodjenje that the Muslim side agrees in
principal with the proposal. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[6] SUIT TO BE FILED AGAINST TUDJMAN?
Editor of the magazine Erasmus SlavkoGoldstajn has warned Croatian President Franjo Tudjman that he will file
a suit against him if he goes ahead with his plan to turn the Jasenovac
Memorial Center into a memorial center for Croatian war victims, Nasa
Borba and Politika reported, citing the Croatian weekly. In an open
letter to Tudjman, Goldstajn said that Tudjman's plans are strongly
opposed by the Jewish community in Croatia. He noted that some 17,000
Jews were killed in Jasenovac and that the total number of victims of
fascist terror there amounted to 80,000. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[7] MACEDONIAN TV DIRECTOR FIRED, MINISTER RESIGNS IN PROTEST.
Macedonian
Radio and TV Director-General Melpomeni Korneti on 4 February dismissed
the director of the Macedonian TV station Saso Ordanoski, MIC reported
the next day. Korneti argued that Ordanoski was fired for disrupting
scheduled programming and for his editorial policy. He also charged
Ordanoski with failing to uphold the "principle of truthful and
objective information." But the editorial board of Macedonian TV said
Ordanoski's dismissal was "contrary to the principles of freedom of the
press and to international standards...oriented toward a democratic and
free press." Meanwhile, Minister without portfolio and government
spokesman Ismail Gjuner on 5 February resigned in protest at Ordanoski's
dismissal, Nova Makedonija reported. Gjuner said that Ordanoski had been
good not only for Macedonian journalism but also for the country's
"young democracy." -- Fabian Schmidt
[8] MONTENEGRIN ALBANIANS PROTEST DISCRIMINATION OVER INFRASTRUCTURE EXPENDITURES.
Secretary of the Democratic Alliance of Albanians in
Montenegro Muhamet Nikaj has said the current Montenegrin government is
severely discriminating against its Albanian community, the BBC
reported, citing Albanian TV on 3 February. Nikaj argued that Albanian-
inhabited areas near Ulcinj, Plav, and Gusinje have been largely left
out of any plans for infrastructure development. He added that the
Montenegrin authorities are continuing to "ghettoize" Albanians in
various ways. -- Fabian Schmidt
[9] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION SUBMITS REPORT ON 1989 REVOLT.
The
parliamentary commission investigating the bloody 1989 anti-communist
revolt has submitted its report to the Senate, according to Romanian
media on 5 February. Senator Valentin Gabrielescu of the National
Peasant Party-Christian Democratic, who heads the commission, said the
report was incomplete since investigators failed to locate the secret
bank accounts of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Gabrielescu repeated
accusations that Romania's current leaders and other ex-Communists had
"hijacked" the December 1989 popular uprising. The government mouthpiece
Vocea Romaniei on 6 February responded by decrying "fabrications by some
people and publications about the Romanian revolution." -- Dan Ionescu
[10] STRIKES IN ROMANIA.
Some 40,000 coal miners on 6 February staged a one-
day strike to demand better social conditions and higher wages, Romanian
media reported. The strike took place after representatives of miners'
trade unions failed to reach an agreement with government officials. The
miners have threatened an all-out strike on 12 February if their demands
are not satisfied. In a separate development, some 4,500 employees at
the Rodae car plant in Craiova on 5 February went on a warning strike
and announced plans for an unlimited strike later this week in support
of demands for higher pay. The technical staff of Romania's national air
company have also threatened a warning strike if negotiations with the
Labor Ministry over a collective work contract fail. -- Matyas Szabo
[11] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT THREATENS TO DISMISS CABINET.
Mircea Snegur on 5
February said cabinet ministers will be dismissed if no solution is
found by 1 April to pay pension and pay arrears to the population, BASA-
press and Infotag reported. Snegur did not rule out the possibility that
the entire cabinet would be dismissed. He noted that the huge arrears
may provoke mass protests and thus destabilize the country. Snegur's
comments were made during a meeting with cabinet ministers in charge of
economic and social issues. According to the president's office, pension
arrears total 100 million lei ($22 million) while wage arrears amount to
200 million lei. -- Dan Ionescu
[12] BULGARIAN COURT INVALIDATES KARDZHALI ELECTIONS.
The Kardzhali Regional
Court on 5 February invalidated the election of Mayor Rasim Musa and the
city council, Bulgarian media reported. Musa, a member of the ethnic
Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom (DPS), was elected last November
by a margin of 658 votes over the Bulgarian Socialist Party candidate.
The BSP, alleging irregularities such as the casting of double votes and
voting by non-residents, had demanded that the elections be declared
void. The court ruled that there were 1,217 cases of illegal voting in
the mayoral run-off and 827 in the city council elections. DPS Chairman
Ahmet Dogan said his party will recall its mayors and councillors
nationwide and stage protests in Kardzhali. -- Stefan Krause
[13] HOLBROOKE CANCELS VISIT TO GREECE, TURKEY, CYPRUS.
The U.S. State
Department on 5 February announced that Assistant Secretary of State
Richard Holbrooke has canceled visits to Athens, Ankara, and Nicosia,
AFP reported the same day. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, who was
blamed by the opposition for backing down in the recent crisis with
Turkey over an Aegean islet, had made it clear that Holbrooke would not
be welcome in Athens. At the same time, Simitis announced that Athens
will undertake a major diplomatic initiative to win support from
European and NATO partners in its dispute with Turkey. Holbrooke's
visits were aimed at reducing tension between Greece and Turkey and to
lay the groundwork for a possible new peace initiative on Cyprus. In
related news, Greece has protested to Turkey over an incident in which
Turkish coast guard boats allegedly fired on two Greek fishing vessels.
-- 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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