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Serbia Today 96-03-11
11 March 1996
In This Edition
A DRAMATIC REPORT OF THE UNHCR FROM SARAJEVO
CROAT ETHNIC CLEANSING REMAINED UNNOTICED
PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION
CONTENTS
[01] MILUTINOVIC IN ZAGREB TODAY
[02] PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION
[03] ACCELERATED RENEWAL OF AGREEMENTS WITH FOREIGN PARTNERS
[04] TESLA - THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
[05] STATUS OF SERBS SHOULD BE EQUAL TO THE ONE OF CROATS
[06] CROAT ETHNIC CLEANSING REMAINED UNNOTICED
[07] SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN ZAGREB PROTESTS BECAUSE OF JASENOVAC
[08] 'WARRIORS OF ALLAH' ARE STILL IN BOSNIA
[09] STRONGER AND STRONGER WARNINGS TO THE MUSLIM GOVERNMENT
[10] FRENCH MEDIA ABOUT DISINTEGRATED BOSNIA
[11] A DRAMATIC REPORT OF THE UNHCR FROM SARAJEVO
[12] ELIZABETH REN AGAIN DENIES PRESS WRITINGS
[13] THEY ARE DEMANDING EQUALITY
[14] SLOVENIA IS KILLING DEMOCRACY
[01] MILUTINOVIC IN ZAGREB TODAY
Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia Milan Milutinovic, will make
today a return visit to Croatia. This visit is taking
place at the invitation by the Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia
Mate Granic. On this occasion, the chief of the Bureau
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Zagreb Veljko
Knezevic stated that Croatia has finally understood and
accepted the stand of Belgrade that the normalization
between the two countries can be reached only step by
step. Tensions between the two countries have calmed
down and the present situation is securing peaceful
negotiations and discussions, and what is extremely
important, all this is taking place in peacetime, and in
the spirit of the implementation of the Dayton Agreement
which the Yugoslav side is implementing up to the
letter, said Knezevic. He also announced that the chiefs
of diplomacies will devote special attention to the
proposals of the agreement on the highway and railway
transport and air traffic and the air corridor, and
probably, as he said, on the agenda there will be other
topics, such as the implementation of the Erdut and
Zagreb agreements on the Srem and Baranja region and the
problem of exiled Serbs. (Politika, March 11, 1996)
[02] PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION
Yugoslav parliamentary delegation headed by the Chairman
of the Chamber of Citizens of the Federal Assembly
Radoman Bozovic, is to arrive today in Moldavia, where
it is to discuss with its Moldavian colleagues the
promotion of political and economic cooperation between
the two countries. It is foreseen that our delegation
during its visit to Kishinev will be received by the
President of Moldavia Mirchea Snjegur.
At the invitation of the Federal Assembly, President of
the National Parliament of Bulgaria Academician
Blagovest Sendov, with a group of associates, has
arrived on an official visit to the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. During the visit to our country Bulgarian
parliamentary delegation will have talks with the
highest state officials of Serbia and Yugoslavia. "Good
neighborly and friendly relations between our two
countries will undisputably have a positive influence on
the overall Balkan political climate", said Sendov on
the eve of his arrival to our country. He also added
that the Parliament of Bulgaria will strive to
contribute to the faster reintegration of Yugoslavia in
the international organizations and institutions.
(Politika, March 11, 1996)
[03] ACCELERATED RENEWAL OF AGREEMENTS WITH FOREIGN PARTNERS
Republican Minister of Industry Oskar Fodor stated that
in the second half of this year the results are expected
of the revival of production, without the increase of
which there can be no way out of the difficulties. There
is an intensive renewal of contracts with foreign
partners, said Minister Fodor and added that our 132
largest exporters which are making for 80 percent of the
foreign exchange revenues, have prepared concrete
agreements confirming that we can achieve a seven-fold
greater exports than last year if the working capital is
provided for the revival of production. Minister Fodor
underlined that our partners from Western Europe are
returning, even those for whom we thought that after the
embargo they will not be coming back to our market.
(Borba, March 11, 1996)
[04] TESLA - THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
"Tesla - The Third Millennium" is the name of the
project which will celebrate, besides the anniversary of
birth of the great scientist, also the 60th anniversary
of the Society and Institute of the same name, the 40th
anniversary of the Museum and the 20th anniversary of
the Foundation "Nikola Tesla". Members of the honorary
board for celebration of the 140th anniversary of birth
of Nikola Tesla, headed by the Academician Aleksandar
Despic, have informed the Prime Minister of Serbia Mirko
Marjanovic that in the honor of these important jubilees
there will be many scientific panels, school
competitions and other events. The most important is the
Fifth International Conference "Tesla - The Third
Millennium" which is to gather over one thousand
participants from the country and abroad. (Politika
ekspres, March 9, 1996)
[05] STATUS OF SERBS SHOULD BE EQUAL TO THE ONE OF CROATS
In the lecture delivered at the panel of the Croat
politicological society in Zagreb, the U.S. Ambassador
in Croatia Peter Galbright especially commented on the
reintegration of Baranja, Western Srem and Eastern
Slavonia in the constitutional-legislative system of
Croatia. The basic principle which is supported by the
United States in these areas is the tolerance, said
Galbright and added that "Serbian population in Croatia
must be guaranteed full equivalence with the status of
Croats, from employment up to the question of
reconstruction of destroyed houses, because there are
standards which must be satisfied by all the countries
wishing to become a part of western civilization".
Ambassador Galbright also stated, however, that after
"The Storm" there were some undesired incidents of
plunder, arson and killings in Krajina which have
greatly degraded the reputation of Croatia. He showed to
those present the latest issue of the "Time" magazine
where in an extensive article entitled "Crimes of
Croatia" there is a criticism of the attitude of Croat
authorities towards Serbian population. (Politika, March
11, 1996)
[06] CROAT ETHNIC CLEANSING REMAINED UNNOTICED
The U.S. weekly "Time" is publishing in its latest issue
an extensive article about the crimes of Croatia in
which it is stated that Croats have profited from the
U.S. concept of establishing military balance in order
to exile Serbian minority. Croat ethnic cleansing has
remained almost unnoticed and was neither criticized by
the United States nor by the European Union, writes the
magazine quoting one high UN official, who says that
Croats were minimizing their own violation of human
rights while, at the same time, satanizing Serbs. "The
reason for this silence about Croat violations of the
human rights is the strategy which the West has applied
on the Balkans and because of which it has found itself
in an unpleasant diplomatic and military embrace with
Croatia and its President Tudjman", writes the "Time"
magazine. The magazine is also quoting the statement by
Colonel Andrew Lesly, a Canadian, who was the chief of
the UN headquarters in Knin, who is claiming that the
Croat army during the last summer's offensive on Krajina
"was bombarding civilians in order to destroy Serbian
will for defense. They knew that in these cities there
was no army. Nevertheless, only on that first day of the
offensive, over 2,000 grenades had fallen on Knin. Knin,
a city with 35,000 inhabitants, was reduced to a city
with 500 living and 500 dead, and plundered to the
bone", testifies Lesly. (Politika, March 10, 1996)
[07] SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN ZAGREB PROTESTS BECAUSE OF JASENOVAC
Serbian Orthodox Church in Zagreb has joined the
protests on the occasion of the recent Tudjman's
initiative to change the present name of the memorial
center of Jasenovac and to bury there, besides the
earthly remains of the victims, also the remains of
Croat Quisling soldiers. With the remark that in
Jasenovac there are only innocent civilian victims, in
the letter of protest of the Zagreb Eparchy and the
Orthodox Church county, it is written: "We are asking a
question how the world would react if someone is to
propose that in the name of an all-German
reconciliation, in the concentration camps in Dahau,
Mathousen, Bergen-Belsen, memorial monuments are to be
erected to Hitler, Goering, Goebbels and other SS
officials". In the letter, an appeal is sent to the
Croat and world democratic public not to allow such
desecration of the innocent Jasenovac victims.
(Politika, March 9, 1996)
[08] 'WARRIORS OF ALLAH' ARE STILL IN BOSNIA
In central Bosnia, according to the reports of military
sources, there are still from five to seven clandestine
military camps in which the mujjahedins or 'warriors of
Allah' are training Muslim intelligence service staff.
Among them are also members of the Ministry of Interior
of Iran. Some of them have obtained Bosnian citizenship
and are working in the Muslim Army or civilian services,
some are diplomats in the newly established Iranian
Embassy in Sarajevo, and some have gone undercover and
are engaged in the intelligence and terrorist
activities. The publicist Stojan Jovic, a retired
colonel, in his talk with the Tanjug reporter, said that
the leader of the group of mujjahedins in Zenica, an
Algerian by the name of Abu Selim, recently said: "We
did not come here just to leave as soon as the Americans
arrive. We are living in the time when Islam will
prevail. Bosnia is a Muslim country and we will defend
it". Iran is the only country which has sent to Bosnia
its regular army unit od some 2,000 persons, which is
having its seat in Zenica. Mujjahedins in the Bosnian
Army have formed special, so called Muslim defense
forces, supplemented by some one thousand local
volunteers who have passed a religious and military
training. They are leaving behind them bloody track and
are showing an unprecedented bestiality and brutality in
torture and butchering of Serbian soldiers and
civilians. (Tanjug, March 10, 1996)
[09] STRONGER AND STRONGER WARNINGS TO THE MUSLIM GOVERNMENT
The U.S. Administration has increased its warnings to
the Muslim government in Sarajevo, because of the
reports that in Bosnia there are still some 200 Iranian
soldiers who are training the Army of the Muslim
government, reports The Voice of America. After the U.S.
Defense Secretary William Perry and chief of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashwili, also the State
Department spokesman Nicholas Berns raised his voice by
saying that President Clinton's Administration is not
looking kindly at the visit of the Bosnian Prime
Minister Hasan Muratovic to Iran. Berns said that the
officials of the Muslim government in Sarajevo will
regret the day when they became too close with Iran, "an
outlawed state and a sponsor of terrorism". Because of
the Iranian presence in Bosnia members of the U.S.
Senate are threatening to prevent giving of the American
contribution to the international fund for
reconstruction of Bosnia, states the report of the Voice
of America. (Borba, March 9-10, 1996)
[10] FRENCH MEDIA ABOUT DISINTEGRATED BOSNIA
From the circles of the official France and the analysts
of the Balkan events, there are more and more doubts in
the possibility of survival of the multi-ethnic Bosnia,
as a sovereign and independent state, and views are
expressed that such a Bosnia "is a state in name only".
France has greatest doubts in a longevity of the
Croat-Muslim federation which was efficient only as an
anti-Serbian alliance. "Le Figaro" is almost regularly
underlining that "it is not possible to reconcile Croats
and Muslims", while "Le Mond" is even more strongly
claiming that "Muslim-Croat federation is dead". Behind
all these secessionist ambitions of Bosnian Croats there
is a support of the Tudjman's regime in Zagreb, writes
"Le Mond" and adds that "practically already a Greater
Croatia has been created". The reporter of the French
Radio from Sarajevo is concluding that "the present
disputes about Sarajevo can be an introduction for a
final division of Bosnia-Herzegovina into three parts".
(Vecernje novosti, March 10, 1996)
[11] A DRAMATIC REPORT OF THE UNHCR FROM SARAJEVO
In parts of Sarajevo in which Serbs were living, in
Ilidza and Grbavica, a dangerous 'vacuum' is created and
the UN High Commissariat for Refugees (UNHCR) is doing
its best to retain Serbs in their homes, but the chances
for this are diminishing, states the analysis of the
UNHCR distributed to the press at the Geneva Palace of
Nations. Among the crucial elements which are
dangerously following realization of the overall peace
process, UNHCR is stating the arrest and extradition to
the Tribunal in The Hague of the Serbian officers Djukic
and Krsmanovic, then of the Croat-Muslim disputes about
Mostar and the situation in Sarajevo after "the transfer
of authority". What is the most dangerous at this
moment, according to the UNHCR, is that in Grbavica and
Ilidza there is no medical care, shops are closed, PTT
services are not functioning, there is not even a
minimum of police protection and under such
circumstances Serbs are practically, even without their
own free will, deciding to leave. (Politika ekspres,
March 10, 1996)
[12] ELIZABETH REN AGAIN DENIES PRESS WRITINGS
In the Center for Human Rights in the Geneva Palace of
Nations, there are categorical denials that the UN
special envoy for human rights in former Yugoslavia
Elizabeth Ren has given any statements for the press
regarding the conditions for recognition of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, during her visit to Vienna early
last week. Quoting the Austrian new agency APA, several
media in Western Europe have broadcasted the news that
Ren was striving for the international community not to
recognize the FR of Yugoslavia before it offers
guarantees for the respect of human rights in Serbia and
Montenegro, and "in the regions in Bosnia under Serbian
influence". This is not the first misunderstanding of
the Ren envoy with the media which were broadcasting
only what they liked, and were silent about things that
were not suitable for them. Thus, for example, from the
first report by Elizabeth Ren, they have kept silent
about the flagrant examples of violation of human rights
in Croatia, and were underlining only the part about the
human rights in Yugoslavia to which Ren had devoted much
less space. The same thing has occurred also after her
visit to Srebrenica when she stated that she did not
find mass graves while the distinguished western media
were saying something quite different, (Borba, March
9-10, 1996)
[13] THEY ARE DEMANDING EQUALITY
At the first Congress of the Democratic Party of Serbs
in Macedonia (DPSM), for whose president Dragisa Miletic
was again elected, it was especially underlined that the
party will strive will all the democratic means for the
solution of the constitutional status of Serbian people
in this former Yugoslav republic. The Congress has
expressed the decision of the Serbian people to link
permanently its destiny in Macedonia with Macedonians
and members of other nationalities who are living in
these areas. By deciding against any conflicting
situations in the solution of the status of Serbian
people, Miletic said: "Now only Serbs are not in the
Constitution, only Serbs are not having their own
newspaper, their cultural and arts society, only their
theater and festivals are not finances by the state,
only they do not have the right to their own Church.
They are neither in the Parliament, in the state
authorities nor in the local management". Serbs in
Macedonia, added Miletic, are not asking for anything
less, but also for nothing more than what the others are
having in the collective being of Macedonia. (Vecernje
novosti, March 10, 1996)
[14] SLOVENIA IS KILLING DEMOCRACY
The basic human rights in Slovenia are still being
violated, and victims of national intolerance and
harassment are mostly members of other nations of former
Yugoslavia. This is stated in the latest report by the
Ljubljana Bureau of the Helsinki Watch, an international
organization for protection of human rights. More than
one thousand individual requests, sent to the Bureau
last year is confirming that in Slovenia the most
frequent violation is of the right to citizenship, to
the issue of documents, freedom of movement, employment,
retirement pension and social insurance. These basic
rights are being denied by the Slovenian authorities
even without the legal decisions of the judicial bodies.
Among the most serious cases of mass violation of human
rights are stated the unresolved problems of over one
thousand former military apartments whose tenants,
mostly members of other peoples of former Yugoslavia,
are living under constant threat of eviction. (Politika,
March 10. 1996)
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