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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 79,22 April 1996
CONTENTS
[1] BRITISH IFOR REBUFFS KARADZIC.
[2] SLAVONIAN SERB LEADER CONFIRMS LOOTINGS.
[3] CROATIAN SERB UPDATE.
[4] SERBIAN OPPOSITION RALLY BECOMES SCENE OF VIOLENCE.
[5] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER IN U.S.
[6] SWISS ENVOY TO ROMANIA SUSPECTED OF BEING CAUGHT IN ESPIONAGE WEB.
[7] ROMANIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS PROMISE TO BE SPORTY.
[8] NATO OFFICIAL IN ROMANIA.
[9] RUSSIAN TROOPS IN THE TRANSDNIESTER TO BE REDUCED?
[10] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST PARTY DISCUSSES AGRICULTURE POLITICS.
[11] WHO WILL BE THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS?
[12] BANK ROBBERS STEAL $300,000 IN ALBANIA.
[13] ITALIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ALBANIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 79, Part II, 22 April 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BRITISH IFOR REBUFFS KARADZIC.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic
through an aide blasted the decision by British peace keepers to move
their headquarters from Gornji Vakuf to Banja Luka, the major Serb
stronghold in western Bosnia. The aide, Jovan Zametica, telephoned the
British on 20 April to say that Karadzic had not given "his permission"
for the move, Onasa news agency reported the next day. The British
replied: "So what? We're entitled to go where we want... We don't need
his permission." Elsewhere, Bosnian authorities released a group of
Serbian prisoners, including Col. Aleksa Krsmanovic, for lack of war
crimes evidence against them. The government similarly released a group
of Serbian detainees. International media also said that about 800
Muslim and Croat refugees scuffled with some 1,500 Serbs trying to
prevent their return to their homes near Doboj. The area is part of the
Bosnian Serb entity, but the Dayton agreement allows all refugees to go
home. -- Patrick Moore
[2] SLAVONIAN SERB LEADER CONFIRMS LOOTINGS.
Goran Hadzic is the new
"interim president" of the Serbs in eastern Slavonia, the last part of
Croatia in rebel Serb hands. He indirectly confirmed reports that one-
third of the Serbs have been carting off property to Serbia, including
goods looted from Croatian homes, Reuters stated on 21 April. Hadzic
said that his main priorities are to "fight crime which has taken on
disturbing proportions" and to stop the ongoing exodus of Serbs. --
Patrick Moore
[3] CROATIAN SERB UPDATE.
In Zagreb the small remaining Serb minority on
Croatian-held territory has been forming a number of new organizations
in recent weeks. The latest is an umbrella group, the National Council
of Serbian Organizations (NSSO), Nasa Borba reported on 22 April. That
same day Vecernji list denied that the government is discriminating
against Serbs by cutting off funds to the paper Nas glas. The article
claimed that the paper had taken an anti-Croatian stance, as shown by
reporting stories on alleged atrocities in Krajina last summer. It noted
that other Serbian organizations continue to receive subsidies.
Meanwhile, the Sabor passed a law on cooperation with the war crimes
tribunal in The Hague, Vecernji list said on 20 April. The measure is
expected to facilitate the extradition of suspected war criminals.--
Patrick Moore
[4] SERBIAN OPPOSITION RALLY BECOMES SCENE OF VIOLENCE.
Three opposition
parties--the Serbian Renewal Movement, the Democratic Party, and the
Serbian Civic League--organized a rally on 20 April in the town of Novi
Sad which was marred by violence when supporters of Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia forced their way into the
crowd. Nasa Borba on 22 April reported that much of the violence was not
of a serious nature, and that, apart from minor scuffles, quelled when
police intervened to move Milosevic supporters from the scene,
"thankfully nothing more serious erupted." On April 20, however, AFP
reported that witnesses on the scene observed police officers
bludgeoning Miroslav Negrojevic, a legislator and member of the Serbian
Renewal Movement. Estimates suggest that about 10,000 opposition
supporters attended the rally which called for Milosevic's removal from
office. -- Stan Markotich
[5] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER IN U.S.
Milo Djukanovic, accompanied by the rump
Yugoslav republic's finance minister, Predrag Goranovic, left for the
United States on 21 April on what local media described as "a working
visit." The two Montenegrin officials are reportedly seeking to reopen
working relations with U.S. based financial institutions. Nasa Borba on
22 April reports that Djukanovic and Goranovic also regard the visit as
a means of reopening and sustaining bilateral talks aimed at "a
normalization" in relations. -- Stan Markotich
[6] SWISS ENVOY TO ROMANIA SUSPECTED OF BEING CAUGHT IN ESPIONAGE WEB.
Romanian and international media reported on 19-20 April that the Swiss
ambassador to Romania, Jean-Pierre Vettovaglia, was summoned home after
investigations revealed a sentimental involvement with a Romanian
journalist who is suspected of being an agent of the Romanian
Intelligence Service (SRI). The journalist, Floriana Jucan, who works
for Evenimentul zilei, denied she was on the SRI payroll, but confirmed
the affair with the Swiss diplomat, who is married. The SRI also denied
that Jucan is on its payroll. Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sorin
Ducaru said the ministry regrets the "unpleasant situation" that has
been "intensely exploited in the media" and praised Vettovaglia's
"competence and professionalism" and his contribution to boosting ties
between the two countries. -- Michael Shafir
[7] ROMANIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS PROMISE TO BE SPORTY.
Ilie Nastase, the former
Romanian international tennis star, on 19 April officially began his
campaign for mayor of Bucharest as the candidate of the Party of Social
Democracy in Romania (PDSR), local and international media report. At
his side was Nadia Comaneci, the former Olympic gold medal gymnast.
Comaneci arrived in Bucharest for her marriage on 27 April to U.S.
gymnast Bart Conner. Adrian Nastase, the executive chairman of the PDSR
(no kin of Ilie) will act as best man in what many political observers
believe to be an attempt to boost his party's electoral chances in the
autumn general elections. Other sport stars have also been recruited by
political parties as candidates in the local elections. Emerich Jenei, a
former coach of Romania's and Hungary's national soccer teams, is
running for mayor of Oradea on the list of the Democratic Party and
Gheorghe Raducanu, once the star goal-keeper of Bucharest Rapid, is the
candidate of the Democratic Agrarian Party in one of the capital's
districts. -- Michael Shafir
[8] NATO OFFICIAL IN ROMANIA.
Gebhardt von Moltke, NATO Assistant General
Secretary for Political Affairs, on 21 April was received by Foreign
Minister Teodor Melescanu, Romanian television announced on the same
day. They discussed NATO expansion into Eastern Europe, Romania's
relations with NATO and its participation in the Partnership for Peace
program. Melescanu reiterated Romania's aspiration to be received in the
organization in the "first wave" of new members. Von Moltke will chair a
meeting of the NATO Cooperation Council opening in Sinaia on 22 April.
-- Michael Shafir
[9] RUSSIAN TROOPS IN THE TRANSDNIESTER TO BE REDUCED?
Citing sources closeto the Russian troops command in the Transdniester, BASA-press reported
on 20 April that the troops will be reduced by 60% this summer. The cuts
are to be carried out at the orders of the Russian chief of staff, Gen.
Mikhail Kolesnikov. The agency said that as a result of these
directives, General Valerii Yevnevich could be replaced with a lower-
ranking officer as commander of the Russian troops in the Transdniester
and be promoted to a higher post in Moscow. -- Michael Shafir
[10] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST PARTY DISCUSSES AGRICULTURE POLITICS.
The BSP and
its coalition partners -- the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union
"Aleksandar Stamboliyski" and the Political Club Ekoglasnost -- on 21
April discussed the government's agriculture politics, Duma reported.
Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Svetoslav Shivarov said
that securing sufficient grain production is one of the main problems
this year. Many participants of the meeting criticized the government,
saying the farmers had lost faith in it for failing to resolve the
problems of agriculture which impoverished them. Boncho Rashkov,
chairman of the parliamentary agriculture commission, said the
government will fall if the agriculture ministry does not change its
policy. -- Stefan Krause
[11] WHO WILL BE THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS?
Prime Minister and Chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) ZhanVidenov said the BSP candidate in the upcoming presidential elections
must be "strong, and not a figure expressing an inner-party compromise,"
Duma reported on 22 April. Videnov told a party meeting in Sofia on 20
April that the candidate must remain "faithful to himself" after winning
the elections. According to Standart, one third of the BSP organizations
favor the candidacy of Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski. Problems could
arise from the fact that Pirinski was born in the U.S., and the
Constitutional Court might be asked to clarify whether this constitutes
an obstacle to his candidacy. Under the Bulgarian constitution, people
holding dual citizenship can not run for parliament or for president. --
Stefan Krause
[12] BANK ROBBERS STEAL $300,000 IN ALBANIA.
Unidentified culprits robbed the
National Trade Bank in Vlora of $300,000 on 18 April, Albania reported.
They injured a guard and teller during the robbery. It was the third
professional robbery in Vlora this year. Earlier victims of hold-ups
involved the local branches of the Savings Bank and the company VEFA. In
unrelated news two Albanians were killed by starving wolves when
attempting to illegally cross the border to Greece. Five others escaped
the wolves by hiding in trees for two days. They were eventually rescued
by Albanian border guards, international agencies reported. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[13] ITALIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ALBANIA.
Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
visited Albania on 19 April, Reuters reported. He pledged support for
Albania's integration into Europe and Italian help for an association
treaty with the EU. Concerning economic cooperation Scalfaro pointed out
that more than 500 Italian companies are active in Albania. Albanian
President Sali Berisha thanked Scalfaro for Italy's contributions to
Albania's transition and said the meeting had produced good results.
Scalfaro attended the opening ceremonies of a stretch of highway and a
drinking water system, the latter funded by the Italian government with
some $23 million. Italy has made available about 300 billion lira ($185
million) in aid and investments to Albania since 1992 and is considered
Albania's main trading partner. Outside the president's palace, police
arrested a man from Fushe Kruje who threatened to commit suicide with a
hand grenade unless he was allowed to speak to Berisha. -- 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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