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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 47, 6 March 1996
CONTENTS
[01] BOSNIAN FEDERAL POLICE ENTER HADZICI.
[02] IFOR TO REDEFINE MANDATE?
[03] BOSNIAN FEDERAL PRESIDENT WARNS OF NEW CROAT-MUSLIM WAR.
[04] LEADER OF SERBIA'S NEW DEMOCRACY INTERVIEWED.
[05] UPDATE ON SERBIA'S STUDIO B.
[06] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN ROMANIA.
[07] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR COMBATING CORRUPTION.
[08] BULGARIAN CABINET RESHUFFLE AHEAD?
[09] U.S. HOUSE GRANTS BULGARIA MFN STATUS.
[10] KOSOVAR LEADER MEETS MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT.
[11] ITALIAN JOURNALIST CLAIMS HE GOT INFORMATION ON TIRANA BOMBING.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 47, Part II, 6 March 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] BOSNIAN FEDERAL POLICE ENTER HADZICI.
A 90-man contingent of
government police took up duty on 6 March in the third formerly
Serb-held Sarajevo suburb to pass to federal control under the Dayton
agreement. The force consisted of 70 Muslims, 15 Serbs, and 5 Croats,
which reflects the prewar ethnic composition of the area, AFP
reported. CNN said that a group of Croat police had entered the area
the previous night and occupied a building, but left peacefully after
IFOR threatened to use force to oust them. The Croats felt that they
were underrepresented in the federal contingent. The Serbian
population had largely fled on Pale's orders, and torched and looted
buildings in the process. The UNHCR will launch a $2.5 million project
to repair the damage to homes the Serbs gutted, Onasa reported on 5
March. -- Patrick Moore
[02] IFOR TO REDEFINE MANDATE?
The NATO peacekeepers were ready to to takestiff measures against a group of Croatian policemen (see Top Story),
and many think they should show the same resolution toward indicted
war criminals and persons tampering with evidence of war crimes. To
date, however, IFOR's commanders say that such activities are not in
their mandate. Discussions are nonetheless underway in Brussels to
broaden the interpretation of IFOR's mission to include dealing with
war criminals and protecting evidence, as well as possibly helping
with some civilian reconstruction projects. AFP reported on 6 March
that moves in this direction are in progress and that diplomatic
sources are confident of Washington's approval. U.S. Secretary of the
Army Togo West said in Tuzla, however, that this is not the case and
"we have a well-defined mission and we are sticking to it." -- Patrick
Moore
[03] BOSNIAN FEDERAL PRESIDENT WARNS OF NEW CROAT-MUSLIM WAR.
Kresimir
Zubak said that the federation could break down and a new conflict
emerge if current differences are not resolved. Elsewhere, Onasa also
reported on 5 March that the UNHCR has retracted a report that Serbs
have launched a new wave of ethnic cleansing in the Banja Luka area,
saying now that the evictions took place some time ago. Meanwhile in
Tuzla, the Red Cross announced it is setting up a group to look into
the fate of missing persons in Bosnia. And in Sarajevo, the Academy of
Sciences expelled the prominent Bosnian Serb historian and professor
Milorad Ekmecic for his role in developing Pale's nationalist
ideology, "which has caused an unseen plight of even the Serbian
people in Bosnia." Ekmecic's theories include the historically dubious
idea that the area is "historic Serbian space," which provided the
ideological underpinnings for the wholesale destruction of mosques and
Ottoman-era buildings. The Bosnian government has said it wants
Ekmecic indicted for war crimes for his role in promoting ethnic
hatred. -- Patrick Moore
[04] LEADER OF SERBIA'S NEW DEMOCRACY INTERVIEWED.
Nasa Borbaon 6 March
features an interview with Dusan Mihajlovic, leader of the small but
important New Democracy (ND) party, which functions as a coalition
partner and de facto member of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia in
Serbia's legislature. Mihajlovic, signaling that relations between ND
and the SPS are likely to remain good, said "we are not going to
engage in putsches or conspiracies." He added, "I see no crisis in
relations." He touched on the sensitive question of the status of
Serbia's Kosovar Albanians, suggesting that he, and presumably his
patron, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, continue to rule out
genuine autonomy for Kosovo and international mediation on the status
of the once-autonomous province. "The [Kosovo] question must be solved
by Serbs and Albanians. That's much better than someone else solving
it," he observed. -- Stan Markotich
[05] UPDATE ON SERBIA'S STUDIO B.
Nasa Borba on 4 March ran a piece, "A
Fake Studio B," describing what has happened to the once-independent
Studio B TV following the recent government take-over. During the past
few weeks, the report suggests, the station has seemingly fallen
completely into the regime's hands, and now practices distorting and
misrepresenting opposition party platforms and public statements. Not
surprisingly, the station also now endorses uncritically the policies
of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his Socialist Party of
Serbia. "Studio B is now tripping over itself, fawning about its new
masters...giving over some 50 minutes of coverage to the [SPS 2 March]
party congress during yesterday's programming. This was more coverage
than any other television station, except for [the state-run] Radio
and Television Serbia," the report observed. -- Stan Markotich
[06] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN ROMANIA.
A parliamentary
delegation of the rump Yugoslav Federation on 5 March ended an
official visit to Romania, Radio Bucharest reported. The delegation,
headed by National Assembly Speaker Radovan Bozovic, met with the
chairman of Romania's Chamber of Deputies Adrian Nastase and the
Senate's Deputy Chairman Ion Solcanu. Bozovic was also received by
Romanian President Ion Iliescu and Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu.
The two sides discussed ways to boost bilateral relations under the
new conditions created by the Dayton agreement. They described the
signing in the near future of a basic treaty between the two countries
as a top diplomatic priority for both Bucharest and Belgrade. The
drafting of the document by teams of experts was completed last week
in Belgrade. -- Dan Ionescu
[07] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR COMBATING CORRUPTION.
As a result of
parliamentary debates on anti-corruption legislation, several top
officials should have already resigned, Infotag quoted Mircea Snegur
as saying on 5 March in the Moldovan parliament. According to Snegur,
corruption is related primarily to the state apparatus. He accused the
Foreign Economic Commission for violating its own ban on exports, as
well as Defense Minister Pavel Creanga for "dubious transactions" in
his ministry. Parliament Chairman Petru Lucinschi said one of the
reasons for corruption in Moldova was the fact that criminal groups
are better equipped and trained than law-enforcement bodies. -- Matyas
Szabo
[08] BULGARIAN CABINET RESHUFFLE AHEAD?
Before a plenary meeting of theSupreme Council of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP),
representatives of its coalition partners, and the joint parliamentary
faction scheduled for 10 March, Bulgarian newspapers on 6 March
speculate about a likely government reshuffle. Kontinent reported that
Minister of Economic Development Rumen Gechev, Agriculture Minister
Svetoslav Shivarov (both also Deputy Prime Ministers), Interior
Minister Lyubomir Nachev, and Industry Minister Kliment Vuchev will be
replaced for failing to cope with the problems in their respective
fields of responsibility. Other papers also name Justice Minister
Mladen Chervenyakov as likely to lose his post. Health Minister Mimi
Vitkova has prepared her resignation but the BSP has decided that she
will resign only if the recent AIDS scandal is brought up during the
plenum. 24 chasa reported that the cabinet reshuffle will be completed
by the end of May. -- Stefan Krause
[09] U.S. HOUSE GRANTS BULGARIA MFN STATUS.
The U.S. House of
Representatives on 5 March granted Bulgaria permanent
most-favored-nation status, Reuters reported. The U.S. had granted
Bulgaria the status, which gives it the lowest U.S. tariffs on its
export goods, on an annual basis since 1993. Supporters of the bill
said Bulgaria has made good progress toward democracy and a free
market economy since the fall of communism. The bill has to be
approved by the U.S. Senate. -- Stefan Krause
[10] KOSOVAR LEADER MEETS MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT.
Macedonian President Kiro
Gligorov met Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova on 5 March
in Skopje, Reuters reported. They reviewed the situation in Macedonia,
Kosovo and the Balkan region and apparently discussed the new
conditions set by the international community for the full diplomatic
recognition of rump Yugoslavia. The European Parliament on 1 March had
asked the EU Council of Ministers to grant full recognition only if
Belgrade reaches a "total and satisfactory settlement" with the
Kosovar leadership, Beta reported. The parliament further demanded
negotiations without preconditions by Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic "with [Kosovar shadow state leader Ibrahim] Rugova and other
elected representatives of the people of Kosovo." The parliament also
expressed willingness to open a Commission office in Kosovo, noting
that the U.S. had similar plans. Rugova had earlier visited Tirana
where he met Albanian President Sali Berisha. -- Fabian Schmidt
[11] ITALIAN JOURNALIST CLAIMS HE GOT INFORMATION ON TIRANA BOMBING.
An Italian
journalist, Pietro Zannoni, said he had received information
on the origin of the bomb that exploded in central Tirana on 26
February. Zannoni claims he talked to a former communist secret
service [Sigurimi] agent who told him that the bomb was given by
Serbian secret agents to former Sigurimi agents, who later prepared it
in Fier. Zannoni also included internationally wanted Serbian war
criminal Zeljko Raznjatovic "Arkan" in his theory. The Interior
Ministry could not confirm the allegations, Gazeta Shqiptare reported
on 5 March. Zannoni had earlier claimed that he had received
information proving that the dailies Koha Jone and Zeri I Popullit
were being financed by the Serbian secret service. -- 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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