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Serbia Today 96-05-06
Serbia Today
6 May 1996
In This Edition:
* The Methods of Killing Stay the Same
* Izetbegovic Threatens to "Liberate Entire Bosnia"
CONTENTS
[01] REVITALIZATION OF THE YUGOSLAV ECONOMY
[02] NEW CHINESE-YUGOSLAV BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE
[03] WAR MONGERING
[04] AN OFFENSE FOR THE NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SENTIMENTS OF THE SERBS
[05] CROATIA AGAINST DEMOCRACY
[06] THE METHODS OF KILLING STAY THE SAME
[07] THE ARMING OF THE BOSNIAN ARMY BEGINS IN JUNE
[08] IZETBEGOVIC THREATENS TO "LIBERATE ENTIRE BOSNIA"
[09] CROATS ARE TERRORIZING THE MOSLEMS
[10] "SLOVENIA WILL BE FOR SALE"
[01] REVITALIZATION OF THE YUGOSLAV ECONOMY
With last year's GNP growth rate of 6%, the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia is one of the highest ranking transition countries. This figure
comes from the latest annual study prepared by the UN Economic Commission for
Europe. The international sanctions had a catastrophic effect on the Yugoslav
economy, but the same document estimates that the suspension of the embargo
justifies optimistic forecasts, not only for FR Yugoslavia but for the renewal
of trade activities of all countries in southeastern Europe as well as of all
former Yugoslav republics. The study particularly stresses that FRY realized
the GNP growth without any foreign aid, as the only country that received no
credits unlike all others in the region. (Borba, May 3, 1996)
[02] NEW CHINESE-YUGOSLAV BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE
During the talks between the Yugoslav Ambassador to China - Dr. Slobodan
Unkovic and the Chinese Foreign Minister - Mr. Tchien Tchichen it has been
stressed that Yugoslavia and China plan to enhance their business cooperation
and to organize a number of mutual visits of high officials. The reporters
have been informed that the Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Prime Minister
Lee Peng have been invited to visit Belgrade and that Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic has been invited to Beijing and that both sides accepted
the invitations. Further improvement of the ties between the two countries is
based on the traditional friendship, Belgrade's gratefulness for the coherent
attitude assumed by Beijing regarding the crisis in former Yugoslavia, common
endorsement of the principle of equality and non interference in internal
affairs and the desire to raise the economic cooperation on the current level
of political relations. (Borba, May 3, 1996)
[03] WAR MONGERING
With the end of the war in Bosnia and the pacification of the situation
in Croatia, western "democracy" is turning to a new media war - in Kosovo.
Thus, the Paris headline "Le Mond" published a half-page article imbued with
hatred against Serbia and encouraging the ethnic Albanians to turn to
terrorism. The hostile article "informs" the readers that, after the change of
the 1974 Constitution, Kosovo Albanians have been "thrown out from schools and
hospitals" and that reacting to "such brutal apartheid policy, the Albanians
opted for peaceful resistance". Beating the war drum, "Le Mond" remarks that
the problem of Kosovo should be solved jointly with the Bosnian crisis.
Naturally the French public has not been informed that the ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo willingly chose the political and parliamentary abstinence, that they
refused the laws of the country they live in, and that they forced their
children to boycott the schools because they did not want them to be educated
according to the standard curriculum of the Serbian schools. The ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo have their schools (including universities), their media
and the state administration in their own mother-tongue, and they enjoy all
the rights according to the highest norms warranted by the UN to the ethnic
minorities. It is, therefore, plain that the intentions of those that see
Serbia and Yugoslavia as a nuisance are not prompted by the concern for the
Albanian minority in Kosovo. The true reasons are clear - destabilization of
Serbia at any cost. This is actually confirmed by the conclusion of the "Le
Mond" article: "The war in Yugoslavia started in Kosovo. It will end in Kosovo
as well." It directly advocates the creation f a new war hotbed which would
obviously be ascribed again to the Serbs in FR Yugoslavia. (Vecernje novosti,
May 4, 1996)
Ms. Elizabeth Renn - Special UN Reporter for Human Rights, stated in the
town of Priboj (after touring a number of municipalities in the Raska County)
that the Moslem homes in the village of Sjeverin near Priboj have not been
destroyed, burned or damaged and that the villagers have not emigrated under
pressure from any side in the Republic of Serbia. The UN official also told
the reporters that she is merely talking with people, and that she is not
responsible for the fact that her predecessor - Tadeusz Mazowiecky "...made a
major mistake in the field report he sent to the United Nations." "I just want
to present things the way I have seen them." - said Ms. Renn. In the past
several days she visited Pristina, Novi Pazar, Prijepolje and Priboj and had
numerous meetings with the representatives of the County of Raska and County
of Kosovo. (Politika, May 5, 1996)
[04] AN OFFENSE FOR THE NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SENTIMENTS OF THE SERBS
The presidency of the recently established Federation of the Serbian
Organizations in Croatia, published a statement concerning the memorials and
toponyms which play an important role in the national identity and sentiments
of the Serbs in Croatia, protesting against the growing tendency to change the
names of the localities and the purpose and meaning of monuments and
memorials. The desecration of the monuments erected to mark the antifascist
struggle and the victims of the Nazis, and the changing of the names of
streets, towns, schools and institutions, are particularly painful for the
Serbs living in Croatia since they interpret them as an attack against their
participation in recent Croatian history and a threat for their constitutional
and legal rights. The Federation of the Serbian Organizations in Croatia
particularly protests against the possible change of the Jasenovac
concentration camp memorial, where so many Serbs, Jews and Gypsies have been
massacred, since this would merely deepen the existing segregation between
Croatian citizens, namely between the Serbs and the Croats in Croatia. The
communiqu� also condemns the latest example of such policy - the renaming of
the town of Vrginmost where Serbs represented the majority and which
represented a symbol of the martyrdom of the Serbs from the Kordun region
during the antifascist struggle. (Politika, May 6, 1996)
[05] CROATIA AGAINST DEMOCRACY
The London daily The Guardian stresses that the Croatian government
intensified its campaign against the democratic trends and the criticism of
its rule. The same newspaper also indicates the Croatian treatment of human
and minority rights is also inadequate - especially regarding the Serbs, and
that according to UN observers the situation is rapidly deteriorating. The
Guardian remarks that there are indications that President Tudjman himself is
involved in the campaign against the freedom of the press. The same source
indicates that diplomatic circles in Zagreb are perplexed by Tudjman's latest
contacts with "extreme right-wingers". This is the key in which his idea to
transfer to Croatia the remains of Ante Pavelic - Croatian WW II Nazi leader -
should be interpreted. Such moves coincide with the admission of Croatia into
the Council of Europe, which is to become effective formally within a
fortnight, although Holland asked for a postponement due to the actual
situation in Croatia. (Politika Ekspres, May 6, 1996)
[06] THE METHODS OF KILLING STAY THE SAME
At a press conference for foreign and domestic reporters held in pale,
Zoran Stankovic M.D. - pathologist of the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade
- who investigated 30 mass graves in Bosnia with his forensics team, revealed
that 181 bodies have been exhumed at the Orthodox graveyard in Mrkonjic Grad.
The head wounds found on 102 victims, appear to be the same as those observed
on victims in Mostar, Kupres Valley and River Sava Valley, and according to
doctor Stankovic, this indicates a characteristic treatment of the prisoners
by the Croats. The same forensics expert drew a parallel with the report on
Croatian and Moslem crimes against Serbs during WW I by Dr. Archibald Rice and
similar reports on crimes committed during WW II. He remarked that the methods
of killing remained the same, and offered the example of the Croatian Army
colonel Boris Zdilar, who stated in an interview for Croatian Television that
the victims in Mrkonjic Grad were members of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) and
that they were killed in action, whilst the investigation revealed that the
victims were 60, 70 and even 80 years old. Mr. John Gerns - expert of the
Hague Tribunal that monitored the exhumation of the mass graves in Mrkonjic
Grad, confirmed Dr. Stankovic's findings and stated that the Hague Tribunal
will base its investigation on them. (Politika, May 4, 1996)
[07] THE ARMING OF THE BOSNIAN ARMY BEGINS IN JUNE
The Istanbul daily Millyet reveals that the arming and the training of
the Bosnian-Moslem Federation army should start in June. The project have been
initiated by the United States and Turkey, to enable the Moslem-Croatian army
to "face the aggressor" after the withdrawal of the international forces.
Turkey will play the leading role in the training of the officers, whilst the
deliveries of weapons and military equipment will be managed by the US, and
will amount to some 800 million dollars. This initiative launched by
Washington and Ankara has been opposed by numerous western countries and
Russia, since it coincides with the Vienna negotiations on the reduction of
armament in the region and because priority should be given to the
reconstruction of the zones destroyed during the war. (Borba, May 4-5, 1996)
[08] IZETBEGOVIC THREATENS TO "LIBERATE ENTIRE BOSNIA"
Quoting the Moslem Radio Sarajevo AFP reports that Bosnian Moslem leader Alija
Izetbegovic stated that "...one day, entire Bosnia will be liberated".
Speaking yesterday in Gorazde before an audience of several thousand persons,
Mr. Izetbegovic - one of the signatories of the Dayton Agreement - stated that
the "Moslems will return to the places they have been expelled from". "Our
struggle will not end until entire Bosnia is freed" - Izetbegovic said adding
that "history taught" the Moslems that "no honest man in Bosnia should go
unarmed". (TANJUG, May 6, 1996)
[09] CROATS ARE TERRORIZING THE MOSLEMS
Moslem Radio Sarajevo reports that the life of the remaining Moslems in the
zones of Livno and Tomislavgrad has become intolerable due to the terror of
the Croatian authorities. Mr. Ejup Ganic - Vice President of the Moslem-
Croatian Federation and Federal Minister of Interior - Mr. Avdo Hebib visited
these two towns and having talked with the remaining Moslems realized that the
Croats stripped them of all their human, civil and religious rights. All
Moslem religious ceremonies in Livno and Tomislavgrad have been banned, as
well as the use of "Bosnian language". The same source also affirms that all
Moslems that previously worked in public and state companies have been fired
without any explanation. (Vecernje novosti, May 5, 1996)
[10] "SLOVENIA WILL BE FOR SALE"
The most radical critic of the decision of the Slovenian Parliament to
accept the "Spanish proposal" as a compromise solution for bringing Slovenia
closer to EU membership, Dr. France Bucar (Chairman of the Parliament
Committee for Supervision of Slovenian intelligence services and President of
the Slovenian pan-European Movement), stated in an interview for "Mladina"
that because it accepted this proposal, Slovenia faces a "national apocalypse"
and that consequently "Slovenia will be sold out in a couple of months". Mr.
Bucar specified: "Although it might sound exaggerated, buying out Slovenia is
a trifle for the rich Germans. We have lived and survived here for a thousand
years, and now we might be bought out in a couple of months." The same
Slovenian official believes that the European integration is being built on
realistic and pragmatic bases and that that the European Union is rather an
economic category than a political one. (Politika, May 5, 1996)
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