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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 56, 19 March 1996
CONTENTS
[1] IZETBEGOVIC CONDEMNS MUSLIM VIOLENCE.
[2] SERBIAN PRESIDENT ON BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.
[3] SLOVENIAN JOURNALISTS ON STRIKE.
[4] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA EASES BORDER TRAFFIC WITH ALBANIA AFTER 15 YEARS.
[5] BALKAN DIPLOMATIC UPDATE.
[6] ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL WARNS OF FOREIGN TERRORISM.
[7] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES HIGHER WAGES.
[8] BULGARIA, GREECE SIGN MILITARY PLAN.
[9] SON-IN-LAW OF FORMER BULGARIAN DICTATOR ACQUITTED.
[10] ALBANIAN TOWN DECLARES IMPRISONED SOCIALIST LEADER HONORARY CITIZEN.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 56, Part II, 19 March 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] IZETBEGOVIC CONDEMNS MUSLIM VIOLENCE.
Bosnian President Alija
Izetbegovic has written Interior Minister Avdo Hebib to criticize
attacks by Muslims against Serbs and their property in Ilidza, Onasa
reported on 18 March. He seemed intent on preventing such incidents in
the future. The president said that "Serbs who have decided, despite the
crazed Pale propaganda and threats, to stay in Sarajevo deserve our full
protection, and they must get it. =8A With a feeling of bitterness, I
listened in the past days to reports about the behavior of a group of
[Muslim] residents. =8A We want an integral and democratic Bosnia. [Pale]
wants a divided and ethnically cleansed Bosnia. Our goals diametrically
differ from theirs, so the paths and methods are different as well.
There will be no integral and democratic Bosnia without strict respect
of laws and human rights for all." -- Patrick Moore
[2] SERBIAN PRESIDENT ON BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.
Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic said in Geneva on 18 March that elections in Bosnia-
Herzegovina ought to be held as soon as possible. "The best way to
stabilize the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina is to overcome current
problems, to apply the Dayton peace accord in a coherent fashion, and to
speed up preparation of the elections," he said. "Only representatives
and institutions elected in a regular fashion can guarantee a normal
life in the Republika Srpska as well as the [Muslim-Croat] federation
and in the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina." He seemingly referring to
Bosnian Serb leaders not elected but appointed by an assembly in 1991.
Both AFP and Tanjug reported Milosevic's remarks. -- Stan Markotich
[3] SLOVENIAN JOURNALISTS ON STRIKE.
Journalists employed at the state-
funded Radio and Television Slovenija Corporation went on strike on 18
March, demanding higher salaries and improved working conditions for
freelancers and causing a news blackout on RTV Slovenija. Roughly 10% of
the company's 350 employees are freelancers. Full-time staff members
have asked for a 15% pay increase, which would bring an average monthly
gross salary to $1,200. Union officials have vowed to continue with
their job action until their demands are met, according to Belgrade's
Beta, while management representatives say they will keep the avenues of
dialogue open. -- Stan Markotich
[4] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA EASES BORDER TRAFFIC WITH ALBANIA AFTER 15 YEARS.
The
rump Yugoslav government on 14 March announced a plan to scrap exit
visas for ethnic Albanians who want to travel to Albania, international
agencies reported. The Albanian government welcomed the move as a "step
in the right direction," adding that "the free communication of people =8A
would contribute to understanding and a spirit of a dialogue in the
region." Kosovar and Montenegrin Albanians have needed exit visas since
1981, when Albanian students rallied for the establishment of a Kosovar
republic. ATSH reported on 18 March, however, that the ruling had not
yet taken effect. In related news, on 15 March, police detained Kosovar
human rights activist Adem Demaci for two hours and confiscated
documentation on human rights abuses that he intended to present to the
European Parliament. -- Fabian Schmidt
[5] BALKAN DIPLOMATIC UPDATE.
Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli
visited Skopje and Tirana on 18 March. Talks with the respective
presidents and foreign ministers focused on future association
agreements of the Balkan countries with the European Union. Both Albania
and Macedonia said EU association is a high priority. Macedonia urged
that individual Balkan countries that meet the necessary association
criteria not be forced to wait for their neighbors, Reuters and MILS
reported. Meanwhile, Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos called on
Belgrade not to recognize Macedonia until the name issue is resolved
between Athens and Skopje, MILS reported. The Macedonian agency also
noted that Macedonian Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frckovski has accepted
Pangalos's invitation to visit Athens. Macedonian sources say the
meeting will take place at the end of March or the beginning of April.
-- Fabian Schmidt and Stefan Krause
[6] ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL WARNS OF FOREIGN TERRORISM.
General
Vasile Lupu, deputy chief of the Romanian Intelligence Service, said
that Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups are planning to use
Romania as a base for terrorist action, international agencies reported
on 18 March, quoting a Romanian newspaper. According to Lupu, opponents
of peace in the Middle East and other militant groups are particularly
active among Iranian and Palestinian students at Romanian universities.
Lupu also claimed to have proof that the Kurdistan Workers' Party was
considering opening an Eastern European headquarters in Romania, which
would allegedly open the way for the traffic of weapons, ammunition, and
explosives through Romania. -- Matyas Szabo
[7] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES HIGHER WAGES.
The government on 18 March
decided to raise the minimum salary for people employed in the state
sector to 3,040 leva ($39) as of 1 April and to 3,340 leva as of 1
October, Duma reported. The minimum pension will be increased to 1,800
leva and 2,000 leva on the respective target dates. The cabinet also
decided to fully compensate people paid directly out of the state budget
if inflation rises above the projected 20%, provided it does not exceed
25%. Average wages of state employees are to rise by 10% in 1996 (by 30%
in the education sector). The government announced its decision during a
meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, which
comprises representatives of the government, trade unions, and
employers. The union representatives left the meeting demanding "new
starting levels" for wages and compensation based on real rather than
projected inflation rates. The employers also voiced displeasure with
the government plan. -- Stefan Krause
[8] BULGARIA, GREECE SIGN MILITARY PLAN.
Officials of the defense ministries
and general staffs of Bulgaria and Greece on 15 March signed a 70-point
military-cooperation program for 1996, Bulgarian media reported. The
annual programs are based on a 1992 agreement. The 1996 program calls
for joint exercises on the territories of both countries as well as in
their territorial waters. For the first time, it also calls for joint
special-forces exercises. -- Doug Clarke
[9] SON-IN-LAW OF FORMER BULGARIAN DICTATOR ACQUITTED.
Ivan Slavkov, head of
the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and the Bulgarian Soccer Association and
a member of the International Olympic Committee, on 15 March was found
not guilty of embezzlement and illegal firearms possession, Reuters
reported. The son-in-law of former communist strongman Todor Zhivkov in
an interview with Pari on 12 March had called the trial against him
"boring" and had ridiculed it by claiming he intended to use his
sporting rifles "to overthrow the government," adding that he was
referring to "the former one, since this one will overthrow itself."
Meanwhile, Slavkov's son Todor, who had been behind bars for a year on
charges of participating in a group rape in 1988, was released from
prison on 18 March and placed under house arrest, Duma reported. His
trial was scheduled to start on 18 March but has been postponed until 16
April. -- Stefan Krause
[10] ALBANIAN TOWN DECLARES IMPRISONED SOCIALIST LEADER HONORARY CITIZEN.
The
Socialist-dominated municipality of Tepelena declared Socialist leader
=46atos Nano an honorary citizen, international agencies reported on 17
March. Nano is serving the remaining two years of an original 12-year
sentence for misappropriation of humanitarian-aid funds in the prison of
Tepelena. The Socialists regard Nano as a political prisoner and point
to various irregularities in his detention and trial. The honor was
awarded in defiance of the ruling Democratic Party. Elsewhere, a court
in Saranda has sentenced five communist activists for distributing
propaganda leaflets. The leader of the group was sentenced to four years
in jail and three others to six months each. A fifth was given a three-
year suspended sentence. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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