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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 33, 15 February 1996
CONTENTS
[01] HAGUE TRIBUNAL TO INDICT MUSLIMS.
[02] IFOR WARNS AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBIAN ATTACK.
[03] U.S. TROOPS FULLY DEPLOYED IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
[04] SERBIAN GENERAL IN BOSNIAN ARMY TO BE SACKED?
[05] SERBIAN RADICAL LEADER TO VISIT THE HAGUE?
[06] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT IN KOSOVO.
[07] UPDATE ON MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT CRISIS.
[08] ROMANIAN POLICE CHIEF RESIGNS IN PROTEST OVER CORRUPTION AMONG JUDGES.
[09] MAJOR ROMANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS.
[10] UKRAINIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER IN MOLDOVA.
[11] BULGARIAN INTELLECTUALS ON ZHELEV'S CANDIDACY.
[12] BULGARIA TO SEND POLICE TO BOSNIA.
[13] ALBANIAN JUSTICE MINISTRY BANS NATIONALIST PARTY.
[14] GREEK MEDIA LAMBASTED FOR COVERAGE OF ISLET CRISIS.
[15] TURKISH ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER IN BRITAIN.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 33, Part II, 15 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] HAGUE TRIBUNAL TO INDICT MUSLIMS.
A spokesman for the International
Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on 14 February said that the
court intends to issue its first indictments against Muslims soon. Serbs
and Croats have charged that the tribunal is biased, since to date it
has indicted 45 Serbs and seven Croats but no Muslims. The spokesman
told the BBC, however, that the reason for the delay is that Belgrade
and Zagreb have not cooperated in preparing cases against Muslims.
Croatia said it wants to press charges against some Muslims who served
in the rump Yugoslav army during its war against Croatia in 1991. Nasa
Borba added on 15 February that the first trial at the court, namely
that of the Serb concentration camp guard Dusan Tadic, is slated to
begin on 7 May. Elsewhere, news agencies reported that the U.S. has
again called on the Bosnian government to release the four remaining
Serbs it is holding, since there are no charges of war crimes against
them. -- Patrick Moore
[02] IFOR WARNS AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBIAN ATTACK. U.S.
Admiral Leighton Smith,
IFOR commander, warned in Sarajevo on 14 February that if Bosnian Serbs
attacked his forces, it would be their "worst mistake," international
media reported. He was responding to Vice President of the Republika
Srpska Nikola Koljevic's threat the previous day of an "appropriate
response" to the "illegal" detention of the Bosnian Serb soldiers by the
Bosnian government. International media reported that Bosnian Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic equated their continued detention with a return
to a state of war. While Smith highlighted the practical difficulties of
NATO pursuing war criminals, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in Brussels
that NATO was considering setting up checkpoints to make it easier to
encounter and detain such criminals. Meanwhile, Senator Bob Dole and
three colleagues have sent a letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton
expressing "outrage" at reports that Karadzic avoided apprehension at
NATO checkpoints over the weekend. -- Michael Mihalka
[03] U.S. TROOPS FULLY DEPLOYED IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
The U.S. has completed
the deployment of more than 23,000 troops in Bosnia and Croatia, U.S.
Assistant Secretary of Defense John White said in Tuzla on 14 February,
international media reported. He stressed that the troops will not
remain longer than 12 months . Speaking earlier in Budapest, he said
that "under the auspices of NATO," U.S. troops may extend their stay
beyond a year at bases in southern Hungary." -- Michael Mihalka
[04] SERBIAN GENERAL IN BOSNIAN ARMY TO BE SACKED?
The weekly Svijet on 8February quoted General Jovan Divjak as saying Izetbegovic is trying to
force him into retirement. Divjak is a Serb who remained loyal to a
multi-ethnic Bosnia throughout the war. Almost one-fifth of the Bosnian
army is non-Muslim, but critics charge that Izetbegovic is trying to
subordinate it to his Muslim nationalist party. Meanwhile, Nasa Borba
reported on 14 February that the Bosnian parliament has passed an
amnesty law for soldiers in all three armies. It covers deserters but
does not extend to war criminals. Its passage is considered crucial by
Serbs who served in the Bosnian Serb army and are now concerned about
their future under the Bosnian government. -- Patrick Moore
[05] SERBIAN RADICAL LEADER TO VISIT THE HAGUE?
Vojislav Seselj, leader ofthe ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and accused war
criminal, says he has applied for a visa to visit The Hague, Nasa Borba
reported on 14 February. Seselj has claimed that he does not fear
prosecution because he is not guilty of crimes against humanity and that
Hague officials have backed him on this point, BETA reported on 12
February. Seselj, whose paramilitary Cetniks are thought to have
committed some of the most heinous crimes against humanity during the
wars in the former Yugoslavia, said he wishes to testify against Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic. -- Stan Markotich
[06] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT IN KOSOVO.
Zoran Lilic has called on the Kosovar
Albanians to "renounce separatism" and stop boycotting Serbian
government institutions, AFP reported on 14 February. Lilic said that
the "Albanians [are] contaminated by separatism [and] should give up
this crazy idea since Kosovo will never secede from Serbia." Meanwhile,
Vojislav Zivkovic, head of the Socialist Party of Serbia's Kosovo
branch, said autonomy should not be restored, arguing it would only
"encourage separatist aims." -- Fabian Schmidt
[07] UPDATE ON MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT CRISIS.
Since Prime Minister Branko
Crvenkovski's decision to appoint a new government earlier this week
(see OMRI Daily Digest, 12 February), President Kiro Gligorov has twice
made public statements aimed at saving the ruling coalition. Gligorov on
13 February admitted that the coalition has a poor track record but that
he would continue to act as president on the basis of the coalition's
platform. The new government reportedly will include only Gligorov's
Social Democrats, the Party of Democratic Prosperity, and the
Socialists. -- Fabian Schmidt
[08] ROMANIAN POLICE CHIEF RESIGNS IN PROTEST OVER CORRUPTION AMONG JUDGES.
G
en. Ion Pitulescu on 14 February tendered his resignation in protest at
what he called corruption among some magistrates, local and
international media reported. Pitulescu said individuals involved in
crime and corruption have repeatedly been set free or released on bail
by some judges who drive expensive cars and live in luxurious villas,
which, he said, they could not have bought on their incomes alone.
Minister of Interior Doru Ioan Taracila, reportedly taken unawares by
Pitulescu's statement, said he agreed with Pitulescu over the "system's
failure to fight against offenders." It is unclear whether Pitulescu's
resignation will be accepted. Taracila said he will discuss the matter
with Pitulescu. -- Michael Shafir
[09] MAJOR ROMANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS.
The National
Peasant Party Christian Democratic on 14 February announced it will
submit to the parliament a resolution on early parliamentary elections.
The party leadership proposed that the ballot take place in May,
following the local elections, instead of in the fall. Emil
Constantinescu, presidential candidate of the Democratic Convention of
Romania, said there was a good chance that the parliament would pass the
resolution in view of the legislature's changing structure. But it is
unlikely elections will take place early since the laws on elections and
political parties have not yet been passed by the parliament. -- Michael
Shafir
[10] UKRAINIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER IN MOLDOVA.
Kostyantyn Hrishchenko, on
a three-day working visit to Moldova, said he has a mandate from Kiev to
look for new ways to solve the Dniester crisis and to consolidate peace
in the region, Moldovan agencies reported on 13-14 February. Following
his meeting in Tiraspol with Igor Smirnov, president of the self-
proclaimed Dniester republic, Hrishchenko said that given the large
number of Ukrainians living in the Dniester region, Ukraine was
interested in solving the conflict as soon as possible and in improving
the economic situation in the region. Smirnov said Russia and Ukraine
could become guarantors of stability in the region. Moldovan Foreign
Minister Mihai Popov recently suggested that "Ukrainian blue helmets
might be included in the peacekeeping troops." -- Matyas Szabo
[11] BULGARIAN INTELLECTUALS ON ZHELEV'S CANDIDACY.
Accord for Bulgaria, an
association of Bulgarian intellectuals, on 14 February announced its
support for President Zhelyu Zhelev's candidacy for a second term, Trud
reported. The intellectuals said they are content with the way Zhelev
answered their questions (see OMRI Daily Digest, 14 February 1996) and
will start consultations with all opposition forces for a joint
presidential candidate. The writer Georgi Mishev called the Presidency
"the last fortress against a total seizure of power" by the Bulgarian
Socialist Party (BSP). -- Stefan Krause
[12] BULGARIA TO SEND POLICE TO BOSNIA.
The Bulgarian parliament on 14
February approved dispatching 50 police officers to Bosnia, Bulgarian
and international media reported. The officers will form part of an
international police force under UN auspices and will remain in Bosnia
for up to one year. Bulgaria has also offered to send a 350-strong
pioneer battalion if its mission is internationally funded. -- Stefan
Krause
[13] ALBANIAN JUSTICE MINISTRY BANS NATIONALIST PARTY.
The Albanian Justice
Ministry has refused to register the Party of National Reconstruction,
Reuters reported on 14 February. Justice Minister Hektor Frasheri said
the party's manifesto accepts directly or indirectly the use of force to
achieve its aims, including "liberating" the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
The National Reconstruction Party argued that the ministry has
overstepped its competence, and it denied endorsing violent or non-
democratic means. It will appeal the decision at the Supreme Court. --
Fabian Schmidt
[14] GREEK MEDIA LAMBASTED FOR COVERAGE OF ISLET CRISIS.
The Greek National
Audiovisual Council on 14 February said three domestic TV channels
provided coverage of the recent Greek-Turkish crisis that was "lacking
in journalistic ethics," AFP reported the same day. Mega, Antenna, and
Star--which together account for about half of audience ratings--were
criticized for bombarding viewers with footage of Turkish soldiers
planting their flag on the disputed islet of Imia/Kardak. The commission
said it "did not consider the journalists responsible but rather the
heads of the stations." Parliamentary President Apostolos Kaklamanis
last week accused the stations of disseminating "Turkish propaganda."
Meanwhile, the opposition criticized the government for seeking "to gag
the media to conceal its dangerous fiasco over the Imia crisis." --
Stefan Krause
[15] TURKISH ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER IN BRITAIN.
Deniz Baykal arrived in
London on 14 February to discuss with his British counterpart, Malcolm
Rifkind, the crisis last month over the Kardak-Imia islet in the Aegean,
international media reported the same day. Baykal has begun recently to
adopt a more conciliatory line, while continuing to push for direct
negotiations between Athens and Ankara over disputed islets in the
Aegean. Rifkind noted the "tremendous need" for such a dialogue, saying
he would appeal for direct talks when he goes to Athens next week.
Baykal is currently visiting various European capitals to garner support
from among Turkey's allies. -- 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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