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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 60, 25 March 1996
CONTENTS
[1] HAGUE TRIBUNAL INDICTS FOUR FOR CRIMES AGAINST SERBS.
[2] CONTACT GROUP THREATENS TO STOP AID UNLESS PRISONERS RELEASED.
[3] SERBIAN RADICALS PUT EXPANSIONIST AIMS ON HOLD?
[4] SERBIA'S ARKAN REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE HAGUE-BASED TRIBUNAL.
[5] ALBRIGHT IN MACEDONIA.
[6] ROMANIAN RULING PARTY BREAKS WITH LAST ALLY.
[7] LEBANESE PREMIER IN ROMANIA.
[8] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT RETURNS LAW ON LAND SALE.
[9] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION PICKS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.
[10] ALBANIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD PRE-ELECTION PARTY CONGRESS.
[11] ALBANIAN COMMUNIST-ERA SCHOLARS STRIPPED OF THEIR TITLES.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 60, Part II, 25 March 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] HAGUE TRIBUNAL INDICTS FOUR FOR CRIMES AGAINST SERBS.
The International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on 22 March issued
indictments against three Muslims and one Croat, Onasa reported. They
are charged with murdering, torturing, and raping Serbian prisoners in
1992 in the Celebici camp following the fall of Konjic. This marks the
first time that the court has indicted persons for crimes against Serbs
and the first time that any Muslims have been formally charged. To date,
46 Serbs and seven Croats have been indicted, but only two Serbs are
actually being held on such charges. A court spokesman said that
investigations will continue and that this will not be the last of
indictments for crimes against Serbs, the International Herald Tribune
noted on 23 March. The Serbs have charged the tribunal with singling
them out for punishment, while the Croats have said that The Hague turns
a blind eye to Muslim crimes. -- Patrick Moore
[2] CONTACT GROUP THREATENS TO STOP AID UNLESS PRISONERS RELEASED.
The
foreign ministers of the Contact Group on Bosnia, following their
meeting in Moscow on 23 March, warned that an aid conference scheduled
for 12-13 April will not take place unless remaining prisoners of war
are released, international and local media reported. The Bosnian
factions agreed in Geneva the previous week to release all POWs by
midnight on 23 March. More than 100 were released on 24 March but
another 100 remain in custody. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Herve
de Charette said his country may revise its attitude toward the Bosnian
peace process because he saw the situation in Bosnia as shifting from
"the logic of peace to the logic of separation." -- Michael Mihalka
[3] SERBIAN RADICALS PUT EXPANSIONIST AIMS ON HOLD?
The Serbian RadicalParty (SRS) decided at a recent meeting that the party will endorse the
consolidation of Serbia's jurisdiction over Serb-held territory. Nasa
Borba on 25 March said the SRS has not abandoned the aim of a greater
Serbia but considers consolidating control over the Republika Srpska to
be the most important aim in the foreseeable future. The SRS noted that
"in these times, it is of utmost importance to protect what's left; and
as for the return of...lost parts of the Republika Srpska and Serbian
Krajina, that will have to wait for a change of regime in Serbia and for
a change in the balance of power...within the international community."
-- Stan Markotich
[4] SERBIA'S ARKAN REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE HAGUE-BASED TRIBUNAL.
Leader of the
paramilitary Tigers and accused war criminal Zeljko Raznatovic, alias
Arkan, is the latest Serbian ultranationalist to refuse to recognize the
legitimacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia. Nasa Borba on 25 March reported that Arkan responded to a
question about his view on possibly being sent to the court to answer
allegations of war crimes by saying he does not accord the Hague any
legitimacy since it "tries only Serbs." Arkan also said that his Serbian
Unity Party (SSJ) supports the establishment of a professional Serbian
army and police whose members would be trained in the Kosmet community
of Glogovac, "where only two Serbs happen to live." -- Stan Markotich
[5] ALBRIGHT IN MACEDONIA. U.S.
Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright on
23 March stressed U.S. support for Macedonia and praised both its
progress toward democracy and its treatment of minorities, international
agencies reported. At the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Skopje,
Albright read a letter from U.S. President Bill Clinton calling the
opening of the diplomatic mission "a clear demonstration of U.S. support
and a strong symbol of our closeness." The U.S. recognized Macedonia in
February 1994 but delayed opening an embassy in Skopje until Greece and
Macedonia signed an interim accord. Albright also held talks with
President Kiro Gligorov and visited U.S. soldiers stationed in Macedonia
as part of UNPREDEP. -- Stefan Krause
[6] ROMANIAN RULING PARTY BREAKS WITH LAST ALLY.
The Party of Social
Democracy in Romania (PDSR) on 22 March announced it has split with its
last alliance partner, the chauvinistic Party of Romanian National Unity
(PUNR), Romanian and Western media reported. The announcement came one
day after the PUNR denounced the adoption of a law allowing the creation
of political parties based on ethnicity, which, it said, "legalized
separatism." The PDSR rejected the accusation, saying that the PUNR's
"anti-Hungarian stand was harmful for Romania." Earlier last week, the
PDSR broke with the neo-communist Socialist Labor Party, having parted
from the extremist Greater Romania Party last October. The PDSR no
longer has a majority in the parliament and is politically isolated.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are to be held in six months.
-- Dan Ionescu
[7] LEBANESE PREMIER IN ROMANIA.
Rafik-al-Hariri on 24 March concluded a
four-day official visit to Romania aimed at strengthening economic ties
between the two countries, Romanian and Western media reported. Hariri
and his Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Vacaroiu, discussed Lebanese
participation in privatization projects in Romania. Hariri promised to
encourage Lebanese banks to invest in Romania and to cooperate with
Romanian banks. Lebanese businessmen have helped set up some 2,000
companies in Romania since early 1990. -- Dan Ionescu
[8] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT RETURNS LAW ON LAND SALE.
A draft law allowing the
sale of farm land sparked heated debates in the Moldovan parliament on
22 March, Moldpres reported. The law has the strong support of President
Mircea Snegur and has become a bone of contention between Snegur's Party
of Revival and Conciliation and the ruling Agrarian Democratic Party
(PDAM). Snegur, who attended the 22 March session, urged the deputies to
pass the bill as soon as possible. But the parliament, which is
dominated by the PDAM and its far-leftist allies, voted by 63 to 19 to
return the draft to the parliamentary commissions. -- Dan Ionescu
[9] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION PICKS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.
The Union of
Democratic Forces (SDS) on 24 March nominated Petar Stoyanov as its
candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, Kontinent reported.
The Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union (BZNS) nominated incumbent
President Zhelyu Zhelev. Candidates are expected to participate in
primaries aimed at finding a joint opposition candidate. Zhelev was the
only BZNS candidate, while Stoyanov easily defeated Aleksandar Yordanov
and Asen Agov, receiving about three thirds of the vote. SDS chairman
Ivan Kostov had called on the BZNS to support the SDS candidate in
return for the post of vice president. -- Stefan Krause
[10] ALBANIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD PRE-ELECTION PARTY CONGRESS.
The Albanian
Socialist Party pledged to bring new impetus to the country's market
reforms and guarantee human rights at a pre-election conference held
this weekend, Reuters reported on 24 March. Deputy leader Servet
Pellumbi said his priorities are to build a Western-style democracy, to
stamp out corruption, to raise employment, and to create a higher
standard of living. Pellumbi accused the ruling Democrats with failing
to rejuvenate the economy. During the last four years of Democratic
rule, however, the unemployment rate fell from over 30% to 13.4% and the
average monthly income increased to $85. Some 65% of the enterprises are
now in the private sector. -- Fabian Schmidt
[11] ALBANIAN COMMUNIST-ERA SCHOLARS STRIPPED OF THEIR TITLES.
Some 120
scholars who received academic titles for writing papers in line with
communist ideology will be stripped of the "Candidate to Sciences"
designation awarded to them by the communist regime, international
agencies reported. The government decision affects papers written on the
dictatorship of the proletariat, the class struggle, collectivization,
and the theories of Enver Hoxha, Mao Zedong, Karl Marx, Friedrich
Engels, and Stalin. The scholars have been offered the opportunity to
reclaim their titles within 6 months by writing on other topics. The
awarding of titles such as professor and doctor before 1990 is also to
be reviewed. -- 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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