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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 43, 29 February 1996
CONTENTS
[1] IFOR FAILS TO ARREST KARADZIC AGAIN.
[2] WAR CRIMES UPDATE.
[3] BOSNIAN JOURNALISTS BOYCOTT CARL BILDT.
[4] EU MAINTAINS ARMS EMBARGO AGAINST BOSNIA, CROATIA, RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
[5] INTERNATIONAL MONITORS CONCLUDE RUMP YUGOSLAV MISSION.
[6] BOSNIAN CARDINAL WARNS OF DANGER OF "ISLAMIZING" BOS-NIA.
[7] SLOVENIA REACHES DEAL WITH FOREIGN CREDITORS.
[8] MACEDONIAN WRAP-UP.
[9] ROMANIAN SENATE CHAIRMAN IN U.S.
[10] ROMANIA RESUMES TREATY TALKS WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES.
[11] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON BASIC TREATY WITH RUSSIA.
[12] BANK TAKEOVER IN BULGARIA.
[13] BOMBS EXPLODE THROUGHOUT ALBANIA.
[14] AGREEMENT REACHED "IN PRINCIPLE" TO FORM TURKISH COALITION GOVERNMENT.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 43, Part II, 29 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] IFOR FAILS TO ARREST KARADZIC AGAIN.
IFOR commander
U.S. Admiral
Leighton Smith admitted that Bosnian Serb leader and indicted war
criminal Radovan Karadzic was in Banja Luka at the same time as some of
Smith's men on 27 February. Smith claimed, however, that they could not
have arrested him. Reuters on 28 February quoted Smith as saying: "We
did not have Karadzic in our hands. We happened to be in the same city.
He happened to have a fairly substantial number of guards. He was also
in public places where civilians were around. If IFOR had attempted to
detain him, there clearly would have been some resistance. It would have
been unwise frankly on the part of those IFOR people who may have seen
him in Banja Luka to have pursued any sort of a detention." This is the
latest in a series of reports that Karadzic was in the vicinity of the
peacekeepers, who did nothing to apprehend him. -- Patrick Moore
[2] WAR CRIMES UPDATE.
Nasa Borba and Novi list on 1 March reported that the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has deferred
until 2 March its ruling on a request to free Bosnian Serb General
Djordje Djukic. This was a rebuff to his lawyer's request for him to be
released by 1 March "at the latest," AFP reported. Onasa on 28 February
quoted Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic as saying that evidence is
being collected against Canadian General Lewis McKenzie on suspicion of
his participating in war crimes, "mainly rapes," when he was UNPROFOR
commander in Bosnia. McKenzie was linked to reports about gatherings at
a Serb-run brothel near Sarajevo and later became a lobbyist for the
Serbian cause. Meanwhile in Zagreb, parliament agreed on 27 February
after heated discussion to postpone until March a vote on a bill to
enable Croatia to extradite suspected war criminals wanted by the
tribunal. -- Patrick Moore
[3] BOSNIAN JOURNALISTS BOYCOTT CARL BILDT.
The Independent Union of
Professional Journalists of Bosnia-Herzegovina broke off all contacts
with the international community's High Representative Carl Bildt as of
1 March, Onasa reported on 27 February. This is to protest the Serbs'
continued detention of Bosnian photographer Hidajet Delic, whom the
Serbs captured and accused of "war crimes" on 8 February in apparent
response to the arrest of Djukic and other Serb officers. The
journalists said that Bildt is responsible for ensuring freedom of
movement in Sarajevo. OMRI special correspondents Jan Urban and Yvonne
Badal visited Delic and said he "was not in a good mental state,
although he kept repeating he had not been physically abused." Urban
added that the Serbs have not filed charges against Delic or let him
contact a lawyer. -- Patrick Moore
[4] EU MAINTAINS ARMS EMBARGO AGAINST BOSNIA, CROATIA, RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
The
EU Council of Ministers, meeting in Brussels on 27 February, decided
maintain its arms embargo against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and the
rump Yugoslavia until the IFOR mission ends and eastern Slavonia is
transferred to the Croatian government, Novi list reported on 29
February. The embargo does not include equipment needed to clear mines.
Requests by Slovenia and Macedonia to be allowed to import arms will be
discussed on a "case-by-case" basis. The EU will reconsider its decision
again shortly before the IFOR mandate in Bosnia and the UN mandate in
eastern Slavonia expires. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] INTERNATIONAL MONITORS CONCLUDE RUMP YUGOSLAV MISSION.
International
monitors observing cross-border activity between the rump Yugoslavia and
the Republika Srpska have ended their mission following the lifting of
sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs, Nasa Borba reported on 29 February.
The mission began in September 1994, after Belgrade had agreed to halt
all traffic, except humanitarian aid deliveries, to the Bosnian Serbs.
Belgrade will now resume responsibility for monitoring the border. In
other news, on 28 February Tanjug reported that UN special
representative Kofi Annan, who on 27 February announced he was resigning
his post, paid a visit to Belgrade where he met with Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic and other officials. -- Stan Markotich
[6] BOSNIAN CARDINAL WARNS OF DANGER OF "ISLAMIZING" BOS-NIA.
Vinko Puljic,
during a visit to Bonn for talks with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, has
warned of the danger of "Islamizing" Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nasa Borba
reported on 29 February, citing Deutsche Welle. Puljic asked Kohl for
political, moral, and material aid in the reconstruction of Bosnia. He
expressed special concern for the refugees who have found safe haven in
Germany, saying he feared they would become beggars on returning home.
-- Daria Sito Sucic
[7] SLOVENIA REACHES DEAL WITH FOREIGN CREDITORS.
Slovenia has become the
first former Yugoslav republic to reach a deal with its foreign
creditors to pay its share of the former Yugoslavia's debts, Radio
Slovenia reported on 28 February. The parliament formally approved the
deal. Governor of the Bank of Slovenia France Arhar was quoted as saying
"the bonds for covering the debt will be issued before the end of June."
Slovenia and the London Club of creditors last year agreed that
Ljubljana will pay 18% of the former Yugoslavia's debts. -- Stan
Markotich
[8] MACEDONIAN WRAP-UP.
Mace-donian President Kiro Gligorov was awarded the
annual peace prize of the Crans Montana Forum, MIC reported on 28
February. Gligorov will receive the prize at the next session of the
forum, which will be held under the auspices of the Council of Europe,
the European Commission, UNIDO, and UNESCO. Meanwhile, Defense Minister
Blagoy Handziski on 27 February received the first Russian military
attache to Macedonia, Col. Stanislav Gromov. The EU Council of Ministers
concluded that the EU should adopt a restrictive approach toward arms
exports to Macedonia and Slovenia, given the situation in the former
Yugoslavia. Export licenses will now have to be approved on a case-by-
case basis. Finally, Politika on 29 February reported that rump Yugoslav
Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic is in Skopje to negotiate
preparations for the mutual recognition of the two states. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[9] ROMANIAN SENATE CHAIRMAN IN U.S.
A Romanian parliamentary delegation
headed by Senate Chairman Oliviu Gherman is paying an official visit to
the U.S., Radio Bucharest reported on 28-29 February. Gher-man, who is
also chairman of the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania, met
with U.S. congressmen and members of the Clinton administration to
discuss the progress of reforms in Romania and its efforts to join Euro-
Atlantic structures. The visit has been sponsored by the congressional
research service, which has launched an assistance program for Romania.
-- Dan Ionescu
[10] ROMANIA RESUMES TREATY TALKS WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES.
Romanian
Foreign Ministry official Dumitru Ceausu and Vladimir Vasilenko, a
special envoy to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, resumed bilateral treaty
talks in Bucharest on 27 February following a four-month break, Romanian
and international media reported. Negotiations on a Romania-Yugoslav
Federation basic treaty began in Belgrade the same day. The talks had
been postponed after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on the
rump Yugoslav government. A new round of negotiations between Romania
and Hungary over Romanian President Ion Iliescu's "historic
reconciliation proposal" also began on 28 February in Bucharest. --
Matyas Szabo
[11] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON BASIC TREATY WITH RUSSIA.
Petru Dascal
on 28 February said Moldova and Russia should denounce both the 1990
bilateral treaty and a 1995 additional protocol stipulating military
assistance in case of need. Moldovan agencies quoted him as saying that
due to the rapid development of events over the past several years, the
treaty is outdated, although it has not yet been ratified by the Russian
State Duma. Dascal said the two countries should begin negotiations on a
new treaty that would take into account the current state of bilateral
relations. -- Matyas Szabo
[12] BANK TAKEOVER IN BULGARIA.
The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has
effectively taken over the private Bank for Agricultural Credit Vitosha
(BZK), Pari reported on 29 February. BZK's shareholders will hand over
their shares to BNB without compensation and BNB will continue to
refinance BZK. Since the beginning of 1996, BNB has pumped some 2.5
billion leva ($33.1 million) into BZK in order to avoid insolvency. The
latest move is aimed at stabilizing the bank and protecting depositors.
BZK head Atanas Tilev, who is also the biggest shareholder with some
40%, has agreed to the deal. The BNB insists on changes in BZK's
statutes and management. Such changes have to be approved by 75% of
shareholders. -- Stefan Krause
[13] BOMBS EXPLODE THROUGHOUT ALBANIA.
Unrelated bomb explosions took place
throughout Albania on 27-28 February. Unidentified assailants in Vlora
blasted a hole in the balcony of an apartment building, Koha Jone
reported on 29 February. The blast shattered glass in the building. A
bailiff in Gramsh found a bomb with a burning fuse on his balcony but
was able to throw it away before it exploded. Gazeta Shqiptare reported
that a garbage can near an apartment block in Shkoder was blasted by a
bomb. The explosion was so loud that it could be heard in most parts of
the city. Investigations into all three incidents have begun. Meanwhile,
police have published sketches of a person who left the car containing
the bomb that went off in Tirana on 26 February, Lajmi i Dites reported.
-- Fabian Schmidt
[14] AGREEMENT REACHED "IN PRINCIPLE" TO FORM TURKISH COALITION GOVERNMENT.
Turkish caretaker Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, leader of the True Path
Party, and Mesut Yilmaz, chief of the Motherland Party, have agreed "in
principle" to form a "grand coalition," Western agencies reported. But
the former bitter rivals reportedly remain divided over who should
initially serve as prime minister if a rotation scheme is agreed on. A
second round of talks between Ciller and Yilmaz is scheduled for 1
March. There have been three abortive attempts to form a coalition
government since the general elections last December. -- Lowell Bezanis
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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