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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 48, 7 March 1996
CONTENTS
[1] IFOR CHIEF WARNS ABOUT CROAT-MUSLIM FEDERATION.
[2] PEACEKEEPERS TO PROTECT SITES OF WAR CRIMES IF ASKED.
[3] BOSNIAN-IRANIAN IMBROGLIO CONTINUES.
[4] CROATIA AND THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
[5] BELGRADE'S STUDIO B WINS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS.
[6] SLOVENIAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS UPDATE.
[7] STRIKERS BLOCK SUBWAY TUNNEL IN BUCHAREST.
[8] NEW COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER APPOINTED IN ROMANIA.
[9] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS CALL FOR CABINET RESHUFFLE.
[10] BULGARIAN CURRENCY PLUNGES.
[11] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS NEW SPEAKER.
[12] BOMB EXPLODES IN ALBANIAN PORT CITY.
[13] TURKEY'S 53RD GOVERNMENT.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 48, Part II, 7 March 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] IFOR CHIEF WARNS ABOUT CROAT-MUSLIM FEDERATION.
Bosnian federal
president and Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir Zubak appeared on 6 March to
distance himself from his earlier harsh words on the future of the
federation that Slobodna Dalmacija had reported, Onasa stated. The NATO
commander in Bosnia, U.S. Admiral Leighton Smith, however, remains
openly pessimistic about the future of Croat-Muslim cooperation, the VOA
said on 7 March. AFP quoted the admiral as saying that Mostar is
evidence of the deep-set problems of the partnership, which has yet to
take root at either the political, military, or people-to-people levels.
He predicted things will go from bad to worse in the spring. Former
Bosnian Prime Minister and now opposition politician Haris Silajdzic
issued similar warnings, saying that the politicians responsible for the
Croat-Muslim war of 1993 must go if trust is to be rebuilt. Vecernje
novine ran the report on 7 March. -- Patrick Moore
[2] PEACEKEEPERS TO PROTECT SITES OF WAR CRIMES IF ASKED.
IFOR is currently
carrying out about 300 civilian construction projects in Bosnia,
including repairing bridge links between that republic and Croatia at
Brcko and elsewhere, news agencies reported on 6 March. A NATO spokesman
in Brussels said that the peacekeepers will now consider on an
individual basis requests to guard suspected sites of war crimes to
prevent tampering with evidence, especially if the request comes from
the international tribunal in The Hague. The 60,000-strong force will
still give priority to its military duties as set down in the Dayton
agreement. NATO has drafted some new guidelines for IFOR, but it is not
clear if they will enable the peacekeepers to become more active in
catching or detaining war criminals. Reuters noted that Washington has
agreed to the guidelines. A diplomat said the new measures are not a
case of "mission creep" but of mission evolution. -- Patrick Moore
[3] BOSNIAN-IRANIAN IMBROGLIO CONTINUES.
Serbian propaganda has long
stressed alleged links between the Bosnian Muslim leadership and
international Islamic fundamentalism represented by Iran. Washington,
moreover, has been concerned about any continued presence of Iranian
fighters or other agents in the embattled republic. The matter has
resurfaced in the wake of Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic's visit to
Tehran and of U.S. media reports that Bosnian troops are being trained
in Iran. Onasa wrote on 6 March that the Bosnian army press office has
officially denied those stories, but the VOA on 7 March quoted the
Washington Post as outlining extensive military links between the two
countries. Onasa wrote that Bosnia had succeeded in keeping both Iran
and the U.S. as allies, but Vecernje novine objected to "friendly
persuasion" by the Americans and Europe -- including Croatia -- against
Sarajevo's links to Tehran. Iran has pledged to help Bosnia rebuild, as
have its rivals Turkey and Saudi Arabia. -- Patrick Moore
[4] CROATIA AND THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
The president of the committee for
democracy, human rights, and humanitarian issues of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe has proposed that talks on Croatia's
membership in the CE be postponed for another year, Nasa Borba reported
on 7 March. The reasons given were "the Croatian president's latest
anti-democratic actions." The report said that "since Krajina was
retaken, Franjo Tudjman has been increasingly far away from the European
democracies' social values,"including a disregard for the opposition
and critical media, his own family's accumulation of wealth in the
privatization process, manipulating election rights, protecting war
criminals, and silence over attacks on the EU administrator in Mostar.
The report concluded by expressing fears that the Croatian president is
ready to turn the country into a dictatorship for his own purposes. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[5] BELGRADE'S STUDIO B WINS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS.
Nasa Borba on 7 March
reports that the EU has sharply criticized the Serbian government for
its recent take-over of Belgrade's only politically independent
television broadcaster, Studio B. According to the report, actions such
as the Serbian regime's against the independent media may contribute to
a strain on "the development of future relations between the EU and the
countries of the region." In a related story, the same daily reports on
how the citizens and residents of Belgrade continue to suffer from an
information blackout and exposure to regime-controlled and manipulated
programming. "Of the 11 television stations which can be viewed in [and
around] the territory of Belgrade, five broadcast nothing but films and
music shows," Nasa Borba observes. -- Stan Markotich
[6] SLOVENIAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS UPDATE.
Ljubljana dailies on 6 March
reported that a controversy between Italy and Slovenia centering on the
issue of property ownership may be resolved in the very near future
owing to a compromise suggested by Spanish mediation. Reports suggest
Rome is satisfied with the Spanish proposals, and that Ljubljana appears
inclined to accept them. Beta reports that the Italian side has insisted
that foreigners who lived in Slovenia before 1991 be allowed to purchase
and own real estate, a move that would enable Italians who left
immediately following World War II to once again own property in
Slovenia. -- Stan Markotich
[7] STRIKERS BLOCK SUBWAY TUNNEL IN BUCHAREST.
Some 1,000 metro workers on 6
March blocked a downtown station and the subway tunnel in Bucharest to
protest their union leaders' decision to suspend a strike started on 4
March, Romanian media reported. The strikers ignored a Supreme Court
ruling of the same day ordering them to call off the action because it
was seriously harming the national economy. The strike has affected up
to one million commuters in Bucharest, forcing them onto packed buses
and trams. The strikers are demanding a 28% pay rise and better working
conditions. The government agreed to continue negotiations with the
unions over those demands. -- Dan Ionescu
[8] NEW COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER APPOINTED IN ROMANIA.
President Ion Iliescu
installed Ioan Ovidiu Muntean as Romania's new communications minister
on 6 March, Romanian and international media reported. The 48-year-old
Muntean formally joined the chauvinistic Party of Romanian National
Unity (PUNR) on the eve of his appointment and is replacing Adrian
Turicu of the same party, who was dismissed in January. Muntean's
appointment ends a political dispute between the PUNR and the Party of
Social Democracy in Romania, both members of the government coalition.
-- Matyas Szabo
[9] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS CALL FOR CABINET RESHUFFLE.
24 chasa on 7 March
cited an unnamed member of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party's (BSP)
executive as saying that a cabinet reshuffle will "with certainty [take
place] by the end of March." A plenary meeting of the BSP Supreme
Council, its coalition partners, and the parliamentary faction scheduled
for 10 March will officially authorize BSP Chairman and Prime Minister
Zhan Videnov to make the changes "he considers necessary." BSP Deputy
Chairman Georgi Parvanov told Standart that the plenary meeting will
propose "concrete changes." Videnov's other deputy, Yanaki Stoilov, told
the BSP daily Duma that "changes in the interior ministry, the
financial, and the economic team are necessary." -- Stefan Krause
[10] BULGARIAN CURRENCY PLUNGES.
The lev on 6 March lost heavily against the
U.S. dollar, Duma and Pari reported. With a Bulgarian National Bank
(BNB) fixing of 77.783 leva to the dollar, trading began at around 78-79
leva, but soon passed the 80 leva barrier. At an exchange rate of 82
leva in the early afternoon, the banks stopped trading, but exchange
offices were selling the U.S. currency for 85--86 leva later the same
day. The BNB did not intervene. According to a dealer cited by
Kontinent, "fear and pessimistic projections make people buy" U.S.
dollars. Other dealers, however, said there is no objective reason for
the fall of the lev or that it is due to speculation. Also on 6 March,
the new prime interest rate of 49% became effective. Many exchange
offices on 7 March temporarily refused to conduct any trade because of
the uncertainty, international media reported. -- Stefan Krause
[11] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS NEW SPEAKER.
The Macedonian Parliament on 6
March elected Tito Petkovski as its new chairman, MIC reported.
Petkovski replaced Stojan Andov, who announced his resignation on 23
February to protest a new government coalition that no longer includes
his Liberal Party. Petkovski is a member of the Social Democratic Union
of Macedonia, the biggest party in the parliament and the government.
Some 79 deputies supported his candidacy, five voted against him, while
the 29 deputies of the Liberal Party abstained. -- Stefan Krause
[12] BOMB EXPLODES IN ALBANIAN PORT CITY.
A five-kilo TNT bomb hidden in a
dustbin exploded in Durres at midnight on 5 March, AFP reported. The
incident caused no casualties. Police arrested several people in
connection with the blast, which blew out windows on both sides of one
of the city's main streets. One of the arrested persons reportedly had a
Scorpion automatic weapon and a gun, but police released no further
details. On 26 February, a bomb killed four people in Tirana and dailies
reported about more minor explosions in subsequent days, including one
in a dustbin in Shkoder. The government accused former communist agents
of planting the Tirana bomb. -- Fabian Schmidt
[13] TURKEY'S 53RD GOVERNMENT.
President Suleyman Demirel on 6 March
approved a minority conservative government to be headed by former
Premier Mesut Yilmaz, Western and Turkish media reported the same day.
Yilmaz, chairman of the Motherland Party (ANAP) told the press the 53rd
government will be one of "reform and change" and said a transparent and
honest state would be "one of the highest priorities" of the new
government. He also noted that formulating the cabinet list of 33
members was achieved with great difficulty. Turkey's foreign minister
to-be is Emre Gonensay, a former special adviser to outgoing Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller. The government must now win a parliamentary vote
of confidence, tenatively scheduled for 12 March. -- 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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