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Serbia Today 96-03-14
14 March 1996
In This Edition
ETHNIC MINORITIES HAVE NO RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINATION
THE REMAINING SERBS TERRORIZED
CONTENTS
[01] ZAGREB TALKS - A MAJOR STEP TOWARDS THE NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS
[02] ETHNIC MINORITIES HAVE NO RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINATION
[03] ALCATEL DELEGATION RECEIVED BY THE PRIME MINISTER
[04] THE UN MANDATE ON CAPE PREVLAKA HAS BEEN EXTENDED
[05] THE REMAINING SERBS TERRORIZED
[06] CROATS FROM SARAJEVO INVOKED TUDJMAN'S HELP
[07] THE FEDERATION IS THREATENING THE PEACE
[01] ZAGREB TALKS - A MAJOR STEP TOWARDS THE NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS
At the session held yesterday, the Yugoslav Cabinet approved the
report submitted by Federal Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic -
on the talk that the Yugoslav delegation had with Croatian
Vice-President and Foreign Minister Mate Granic on March 11. It
has been remarked that our delegation acted in accordance with
the pre-defined platform and the commitments assumed in Dayton.
The results of the talks constitute an important step towards
the normalization of overall relations, including the economy
and other spheres. The Federal Government instructed the
competent ministries to cooperate with the companies and realize
the agreements on the normalization of rail, air and road
transports, telecommunications and the settlement of other
issues. The Cabinet reached the conclusion that the efforts
should be continued to reach negotiated solutions for the
remaining issues in order to ensure the overall normalization of
relations between the two states. (Politika, March 14, 1996)
[02] ETHNIC MINORITIES HAVE NO RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINATION
During the talks with the Head of the EU Working Group for
Ethnic and Minority Issues - Mr. Marlit Lutz (who replaced
ambassador Gherd Arens), Federal Minister Margit Savovic
stressed that the Constitution of FR Yugoslavia - endorsing a
civil state - encompasses all the standards of the international
community concerning human rights and therefore does not justify
a privileged position for any individual or ethnic minority. The
national and ethnic minorities in FRY enjoy the individual and
collective right of expressing their national identity, unlike
in many other countries. The provinces ensure the autonomy of
all people living there, and the percentage of an ethnic
minority can not serve as an argument or a front for a special
status of any particular minority - Ms. Savovic said. Speaking
about the situation in the Serbian southern province of Kosovo
and Metohija, Ms. Savovic explained that ethnic minorities do
not enjoy the right of self-determination. The
internationalization of fabricated problems and the boycott of
all elements bearing a Serbian and Yugoslav connotation, the
ethnic Albanian separatists are willfully and rejecting their
rights. Consequently, they are not being denied their rights -
and this is the main cause of the failure of the current talks
between the state officials and the Albanian side - Ms. Savovic
stressed. (Vecernje Novosti, March 14, 1996)
[03] ALCATEL DELEGATION RECEIVED BY THE PRIME MINISTER
Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic, met yesterday with the
delegation of the French company Alcatel - the largest world
company in the telecommunications sector - headed by Mr. Gerard
Degas - Chairman of the "Alcatel - Telcom". The French
businessmen informed Mr. Marjanovic about the contract signed by
Alcatel and the Yugoslav PTT, envisaging the delivery of several
million telephone links over the next few years. This is one of
the prime development projects for Serbia - Mr. Marjanovic
stressed - adding that this contract also opens a wide
prospective for cooperation between the Serbian and French
industry and will provide a chance to technologically update
this sector in our country. (Politika, March 14, 1996)
[04] THE UN MANDATE ON CAPE PREVLAKA HAS BEEN EXTENDED
The UN Security Council approved the proposal submitted by
Secretary General Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, that the mandate of
the UN peacekeeping forces on Cape Prevlaka be extended for
three more months. The Security Council agreed with Dr. Ghali's
evaluation that the extension is needed to prevent any tensions
or infringements of the agreement on the demilitarization of the
zone until a definite peace settlement is reached. Dr. Ghali's
report indicates that the situation on Prevlaka is now stable,
in spite of sporadic breaches of the "Blue Zone", and that the
interested parties - FRY and Croatia stated their readiness to
settle the controversy at the negotiating table. (Ekspres, March
14, 1996)
[05] THE REMAINING SERBS TERRORIZED
NATO and UN officials stated that gangs from Sarajevo are
plundering houses and terrorizing the remaining Serbs in Ilidza
- a Sarajevan suburb that passed under the jurisdiction of the
Moslem-Croatian Federation two days ago. The Commissioner of the
International Police Forces - Mr. Peter Fitzgerald told the
Reuters correspondent that the Federation policemen arrested
several individuals. "I would advise the Serbs to stay in
Ilidza" he said, adding however that he can not offer them any
guarantees. He also stated that the 90 Federation policemen are
probably insufficient to solve the new situation in Ilidza.
(Vecernje Novosti, March 14, 1996)
[06] CROATS FROM SARAJEVO INVOKED TUDJMAN'S HELP
Croatian Radio reported yesterday that the Sarajevo Municipal
Board of the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) asked Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman and the Croatian Government to provide
urgent and effective aid, in order to protect the national and
political interests of the remaining Croats in the Moslem canton
of Sarajevo. The same request has been addressed to the Croatian
representatives in the Moslem-Croatian Federation, which have
been asked to immediately terminate the implementation of the
civil part of the Dayton Agreement. The reaction has been
prompted by the unilateral decision of the Moslem Democratic
Action Party (SDA) deputies in the Sarajevo Municipal Assembly,
to create in an unconstitutional way the mono-national (Moslem)
canton of Sarajevo - without the consent of HDZ. The statement
released by the HDZ in Sarajevo stresses that the SDA thus
confirmed its hidden and long-term objective - the creation of a
unitary state, namely a state for one nation run by a single
party. (Borba, March 14, 1996)
[07] THE FEDERATION IS THREATENING THE PEACE
The Moslem/Croatian relations in Bosnia have reached the boiling
point - state British analysts adding that this constituted the
greatest threat yet for the Dayton peace agreement. In the past
few days international pressure calmed the conflicts, but the
crisis has now passed form Mostar to Sarajevo, where the
division already started splitting the city into a Moslem and
Croatian part. Similar tendencies are visible in Tuzla, and it
is feared that even armed conflicts might be renewed in the zone
of Lasva (from the town of Vitez to the towns of Busovaca and
Kiseljak). Now the principal task for the IFOR Command is to
salvage the Moslem-Croatian Federation since it represents the
main lever of the western policy in Bosnia, although British
commentators remark that the Federation practically ceased to
exist. (Politika, March 14, 1996)
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