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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 193, 96-10-04
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 193, 4 October 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION REJECTS OSCE CRITICISM.
[02] ALMATY PREPARES FOR CIS SUMMIT.
[03] TAJIKISTAN AKS FOR AID.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] BELGRADE, SARAJEVO ESTABLISH FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.
[05] CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PROMISES SUPPORT FOR BANJA LUKA CROATS.
[06] BOSNIAN MINERS GIVE UP STRIKE.
[07] SWITZERLAND AND FEDERAL YUGOSLAVIA AGREE ON RETURN OF KOSOVAR REFUGEES.
[08] SERBIAN ARMS FACTORY WORKERS CALL OFF STRIKE.
[09] CROATIAN SUPREME COURT RULES ON WAR-CRIMES SUSPECT'S EXTRADITION.
[10] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES TREATIES WITH BUDAPEST, BELGRADE.
[11] NATO COMMANDER DISCUSSES EXPANSION WITH ILIESCU.
[12] NATIONWIDE STRIKE PLANNED IN BULGARIA.
[13] BULGARIA STEPS UP SECURITY AFTER LUKANOV MURDER.
[14] EU LINKS AID TO BULGARIA WITH AGRICULTURAL REFORM.
[15] ALBANIAN TRADE UNIONS ANNOUNCE ONE-DAY STRIKE.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION REJECTS OSCE CRITICISM.
Central Electoral Commission Chairman Khachatour Bezirjian on 3 October
rejected as "misleading" the report issued the day before by the OSCE/ODIHR
mission that monitored the 22 September presidential election, Reuters and NTV
reported. Bezirjian and President Levon Ter-Petrossyan's spokesman Levon
Zurabyan both argued that the OSCE report contained mathematical inaccuracies,
and that even if the 21,000 ballots that the OSCE said were unaccounted for
had all been cast in favor of opposition candidate Vazgen Manukyan, Ter-
Petrossyan would still have won more than the 50% voted required to avoid a
runoff. The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly Committee for Non-
Member States plans to send a delegation to Armenia to assess the post-
election situation there, RFE/RL reported on 3 October. -- Liz Fuller
[02] ALMATY PREPARES FOR CIS SUMMIT.
On 4 October Russian and Central Asian leaders will gather in Almaty to
discuss the implications of the Taliban victories in Afghanistan, along with
other issues. Turkmenistan announced that it would not attend the Almaty
summit due to its policy of "positive neutrality," Russian and Western media
reported on 3 October. Kazakstani Security Council chief Baltash Tursumbayev
said Russian Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed has exaggerated the
threat posed to Central Asia by Taliban successes in Afghanistan,
Nezavisimaya gazeta and RTR reported on 3 October. Tursumbayev termed
Lebed's 1 October assertion that the Taliban coveted territory in Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan, including Bukhara, as "rash and lacking foundation." -- Lowell
Bezanis and Bruce Pannier
[03] TAJIKISTAN AKS FOR AID.
Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov has requested additional support for his
country in light of recent events in Afghanistan and it appears that he will
get it, ITAR-TASS reported. The head of the Federal Border Guards Service,
Gen. Andrei Nikolaev, says he has already made proposals to the Russian
leadership that are scheduled to be discussed at the CIS summit in Almaty.
Nikolaev noted that extra measures had already been taken this summer in
response to a build up of Tajik opposition forces along the Tajik-Afghan
border. Nikolaev called upon Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan to take a more active
role in defending this border, pointing out that each country has only 500 men
guarding the border while Russia has around 4,500. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] BELGRADE, SARAJEVO ESTABLISH FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic
agreed in Paris on 3 October that Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia will exchange ambassadors. The two former Yugoslav countries
also promised to institute visa-free travel, reestablish communications links,
and promote mutual economic relations. They recognized the historic continuity
of each other's respective states, while noting that the issue of legal
succession to the former Yugoslavia will have to be settled in keeping with
international norms and by the agreement of all concerned, Oslobodjenje
reported on 4 October. The agreement is peppered with such words as
"cooperation" and "friendship" and appears to be yet another step toward
normalizing relations in the region. Each side made a major concession in the
process: Sarajevo seems to have backed away from pressing Belgrade on charges
of genocide stemming from Serbia's role in the Bosnian war, while Belgrade
agreed to respect the territorial integrity of its neighbor, thereby
implicitly repudiating the idea of a greater Serbia that would include Bosnian
territory. Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic promptly issued a communique
on 4 October blasting Milosevic as having betrayed the Serbs of Bosnia and
Croatia, AFP reported. -- Patrick Moore
[05] CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PROMISES SUPPORT FOR BANJA LUKA CROATS.
After institutions of authority are established in line with the Bosnian
election results, Croatia will open a consulate in Banja Luka, the Bosnian
Serb stronghold in northwestern Bosnia, Mate Granic told Banja Luka's Roman
Catholic Bishop Franjo Komarica on 3 October, according to Hina. The bishop
stressed the difficult position of Croats in the Serb-controlled town and said
Croatia's help was needed. Komarica is the only Catholic bishop who remained
in Banja Luka during the four years of war. Meanwhile, Bozo Raic, president of
the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) in Bosnia, announced the formation of
the Bosnian Croat National Community, "a community of the Croats living in
Bosnia," Onasa reported on 1 October. Raic said the community will not be a
substitute for the self-styled Bosnian Croat para-state of Herceg-Bosna. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[06] BOSNIAN MINERS GIVE UP STRIKE.
Representatives of some 19,000 miners from all over Bosnia on 3 October
rescinded a previous threat to call a general strike, but underscored their
unhappiness with temporary solutions to their problems, Oslobodjenje
reported. On 2 October, the miners had threatened to strike unless they
received their salaries for August and September, Onasa reported. Federation
Prime Minister Izudin Kapetanovic promised they would be paid for August by 4
October at the latest, but Sulejman Hrle, head of the Association of Bosnian
Trade Unions, said it was a pitiful disgrace that the miners must rally each
month to demand their salaries. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[07] SWITZERLAND AND FEDERAL YUGOSLAVIA AGREE ON RETURN OF KOSOVAR REFUGEES.
The Swiss government's decision on 2 October to recognize the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia will enable Swiss authorities to expel about 10,000 ethnic
Albanian refugees international media reported. The Belgrade government had
refused to allow the Albanians to return, but has now agreed to start
negotiations with Bern over the return later this month. No date has been set
for the return and a UNHCR spokesman urged the Swiss government to be
cautious. Another 15,000 refugees from federal Yugoslavia have been either
granted temporary residence or have applications pending. In other news,
Louise Arbour, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia, said on 3 October that she would not protest the UN's
lifting of sanctions against Belgrade, Reuters reported. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[08] SERBIAN ARMS FACTORY WORKERS CALL OFF STRIKE.
Workers at the Kragujevac arms factory decided to return to work on 3 October
after a 34-day strike, Nasa Borba reported. The trade unions representing
the workers said that all demands had been met, including the complete payment
of June, July, and August salaries. The workers will also get extra pay for
1995 and 1996 amounting to 350 dinar ($70). Part of the deal is a 9.74 million
dinar ($1.95 million) weapons order by the federal Yugoslav army. Following
demands by the workers, the company's director, Lt. Col. Vukasin Filipovic;
his deputy Dragan Milosavljevic; and the firm's sales and economic directors
have been sacked. Meanwhile, workers at an electronic plant in Nis went on
strike. -- Fabian Schmidt
[09] CROATIAN SUPREME COURT RULES ON WAR-CRIMES SUSPECT'S EXTRADITION.
The Croatian Supreme Court has ruled that Zlatko Aleksovski, a Bosnian Croat
wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Tribunal for
Former Yugoslavia, should be extradited to The Hague, AFP reported on 3
October, citing Hina reports. Aleksovski, a member of the Bosnian Croat army,
was accused along with four others of slaughtering more than 100 Muslims in
the Lasva valley during the Muslim-Croat conflict in 1993. However, another
two suspects charged with leading the slaughter, Ivica Rajic and Dario Kordic,
are reportedly still at liberty in Croatia. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES TREATIES WITH BUDAPEST, BELGRADE.
The Romanian Chamber of Deputies ratified basic treaties with Hungary and the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 3 October, Romanian media reported. The
chamber adopted the treaty with Hungary by 159 votes to 1. The main
political organization representing Romania's Hungarian minority, the
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR), abstained, and the ultra-
nationalist Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) and extremist Greater
Romania Party (PRM) did not participate in the vote. The treaty with Belgrade
passed with only two abstentions. The Senate had previously ratified both
treaties. -- Zsolt Mato
[11] NATO COMMANDER DISCUSSES EXPANSION WITH ILIESCU.
U.S. Army Gen. George Joulwan, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces in
Europe, discussed NATO's eastward expansion and Romania's prospects for
joining the organization with Romanian President Ion Iliescu in Bucharest on 3
October, Romanian and international media reported. Joulwan also met Romania's
chief of staff, Gen. Dumitru Cioflina; Defense Minister Gheorghe Tinca; and
other senior military and civilian officials during his two-day visit to the
country. Joulwan stressed the need for closer military relations between
Romania and its neighbors as a prerequisite for developing regional
cooperation. -- Zsolt Mato
[12] NATIONWIDE STRIKE PLANNED IN BULGARIA.
The opposition Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) and trade unions will organize
a nationwide strike against the government of Prime Minister Zhan Videnov
immediately after the 27 October presidential elections, Standart reported
on 4 October. In late September, trade unions demanded Videnov's resignation
(see ). The strike will include teachers and workers in power plants, mines
and transportation. Until the strike, trade unions plan to organize civil
protests around the country. The SDS promised to support the protests without
participating in their organization. Similar strikes and mass protests led to
the resignation of then-Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov in 1990, paving the way
for the SDS accession to power in 1991. -- Maria Koinova
[13] BULGARIA STEPS UP SECURITY AFTER LUKANOV MURDER.
The government approved a proposal by Interior Minister Nikolay Dobrev on 3
October to step up security in the wake of former Prime Minister Andrey
Lukanov's murder, Trud reported. Measures include intensified protection and
control of strategic points and buildings. Main streets, important buildings,
and "vulnerable objects" in towns will receive special attention. The daily
notes, however, that the government had discussed such measures before
Lukanov's murder on 2 October. Novinar reported that on 27 September, an
explosive device was found in Lukanov's car when he visited his hometown of
Pleven. Political scientist Andrey Raychev, a close friend and political ally
of Lukanov's, told Kontinent that Lukanov planned to disclose proof of
corruption in the highest echelons of power by 20 October. -- Stefan
Krause
[14] EU LINKS AID TO BULGARIA WITH AGRICULTURAL REFORM.
The EU will help Bulgaria alleviate its ongoing grain crisis if Sofia speeds
up agricultural reforms, EU Representative in Bulgaria Thomas O'Sullivan said
on 3 October, according to international media. He said Bulgaria could receive
supplies for this year through commercial credits negotiated with individual
EU member states, while future shortages could be compensated for by EU grants
linked to progress in agricultural reforms. Bulgaria had asked the EU for help
on 30 September, saying it needs 450,000 metric tons of grain for bread and
700,000 tons of fodder. -- Stefan Krause
[15] ALBANIAN TRADE UNIONS ANNOUNCE ONE-DAY STRIKE.
Trade unions announced a 24-hour strike for 4 October, demanding government
compensation for rising bread and fuel prices, Reuters reported. Independent
Trade Union leader Estref Mersinaj said a one-hour warning strike on 16
September had failed. The government liberalized prices for bread, gas, and
fuel in July, triggering a 30% rise in prices. About 200,000 public-sector
workers took part in the September protest. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Tom Warner
News and information as of 1200 CET
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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