YDS 10/4

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

From: [email protected] (D.D. Chukurov)

04. OCTOBER 1995. YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY

C O N T E N T S :

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA - YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS GENEVA AND NEW YORK AGREEMENTS - MILOSEVIC-HOLBROOKE TALKS - MILOSEVIC-HOLBROOKE TALKS PRODUCTIVE AND USEFUL - APPEAL TO BOUTROS-GHALI TO HELP YUGOSLAV CHILDREN BY LIFTING SANCTIONS

SERB KRAJINA-CROATIA - SREM-BARANJA AND CROATIAN REPRESENTATIVS AGREED BASIC PRINCIPLES - ASSESSMENTS OF CROAT-SERB TALKS ON SECTOR EAST

FORMER BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA - KRAJISNIK: MUSLIM OFFENSIVE THREATENS PEACE PROCESS - MUSLIMS LAUNCH OFFENSIVE AGAINST SERBS SOUTH OF SARAJEVO

FILE CROATIA - SECURITY COUNCIL AGAIN WARNS CROATIA - U.N. CONFIRMS AND CONDEMNS CROATIAN MASSACRE OF SERBS IN VARIVODE

HUMANITARIAN AID - ICRC ON AID FOR WAR-STRICKEN AREAS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS GENEVA AND NEW YORK AGREEMENTS B e l g r a d e, Oct 3 (Tanjug) - The Geneva and New York agreements on the basic principles and constitutional organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina are in accordance with the strategic goals and policy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) for the resolution of the crisis in that former Yugoslav republic, it was noted at a Government session on Tuesday. The Federal Government accepted at that session the Report of Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutionovic about the Bosnian peaceprocess, the Federal Ministry of Information said. The Yugoslav Government considers that it is of exceptional importance to ensure the continuity of the peace process and the cessation of hostilities as an essential condition for the successful continuation of the peace process. The Yugoslav Government expressed its readiness to make utmost efforts to bring forward the negotiating process and create conditions for holding an international peace conference at the highest level. The Federal Government examined preparations for a joint session of both houses of the Federal Parliament, slated for Wednesday, and devoted to the participation of the FRY in the peace process.

MILOSEVIC-HOLBROOKE TALKS B e l g r a d e, Oct 3 (Tanjug) - Talks held on Tuesday in Belgrade between Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke centered on moves to be taken with the aim of ending the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The talks also dealt with ways of completing the ongoing negotiation process by finding solutions for the issues still unresolved within a comprehensive peace plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Serbian President's Office said in a statement. Speaking about the forthcoming peace conference, the two sides expressed hope that a final political settlement would be reached there, the statement said. The talks were attended by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic.

MILOSEVIC-HOLBROOKE TALKS PRODUCTIVE AND USEFUL B e l g r a d e, Oct. 3 (Tanjug) - U.S. negotiator for former Yugoslavia Richard Holbrooke assessed on Tuesday that his five-hour talks with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade had once again been productive and useful. Holbrooke also assessed that significant results had been achieved in the negotiations on the region of eastern Slavonija (Sector East). This is why the U.S. team will again go to Zagreb on Friday evening, to review the results of the dialogue between representatives of Serbs from eastern Slavonija and of Croatia, Holbrooke said.

APPEAL TO BOUTROS-GHALI TO HELP YUGOSLAV CHILDREN BY LIFTING SANCT IONS B e l g r a d e, Oct. 3 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Government Minister Margit Savovic and mayors of several Serbian towns appealed Tuesday in a letter to the U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to support the lifting of anti-Yugoslav sanctions and thereby help those who are the most vulnerable - the children. The sanctions have caused enormous losses to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its citizens, especially children. Meals in children's institutions have become frugal, equipment in these institutions and schools has fallen in disrepair, there is a shortage of medicines and medical equipment, the letter says. The letter points out that children in Yugoslavia have been deprived of a carefree childhood, which will have lasting harmful consequences for entire generations growing up a midst inhuman sanctions. This situation must not be accepted with resignation. Yugoslavia, weakened and extremely impoverished by sanctions, is endeavoring to implement child protection regulations more extensive than the Convention on Children's Rights, the letter notes. The impossibility of providing refugee children with anything more than minimum existential safety, besides love and solidarity, is especially hard to accept, the letter says. More than a third of 700,000 refugees who have found shelter in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are children.

SERB KRAJINA-CROATIA

SREM-BARANJA AND CROATIAN REPRESENTATIVS AGREED BASIC PRINCIPLES E r d u t, Oct. 3 (Tanjug) - Representatives of the Srem-Baranja region and the Republic of Croatia on Tuesday agreed the basic principles of future talks on the territory which is currently a part of Sector East. The talks, mediated by U.N. Envoy Thorwald Stoltenberg and U.S. Ambassador in Zagreb Peter Galbraith, agreed in principle to establish an as yet undefined transitional period for the region, after which local elections would be held. The text on the basic principles for the talks says that the U.N. Security Council will establish a transitional government to administer the region during the transitional period. The mechanism to be introduced will protect the interests of the Croatian Government, the local Serbs, the Croat refugees and the displaced persons who will return to the region, as well as ethinc minorities. International forces will be deployed in the region during the transitional period to preserve peace and secure adherence to the final agreement. During the transitional period the region will be demilitarized. The transitional government will take steps to re-establish the region's links with Croatia's postal services, banks, communal services, to open bureaus for paying pensions, issuing passports, citizenship certificates, etc. The transitional government will also enable the return of refugees to their homes and set up a temporary police force which will be made up both of Croats and Serbs. At all levels in the entire territory of Croatia, the temporary government will respect in the highest degree internationally recognized human rights and basic freedoms. The basic principles also call for all citizens of Croatia, persons entiteled to the Croatian citizenship and all refugees and displaced persons to return freely to their homes and live there in safety. The basic principles also state that the international community will guarrentee the conditions stipulated within and protect human rights. The guarrentees would include the presence of international observers for an agreed period during and after the transitional period. This process should be slowed down, and after the expiry of the transitional period local elections would be held. The Srem-Baranja delegation in Erdut was headed by Serb Krajina Deputy Defense Minister Milan Milanovic, and the Croatian delegation by President Franjo Tudjman's Chief of Staff Hrvoje Sarinic.

ASSESSMENTS OF CROAT-SERB TALKS ON SECTOR EAST E r d u t, Oct. 3 (Tanjug) - Co-Chairman of the Peace Conference on former Yugoslavia Thorvald Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the negotiations on Sector East were a search for a peaceful solution within Croatia's internationally recognized borders and on the grounds of full respect of human rights and freedoms with international community guarantees. Representatives of Croatia and the Srem-Baranja regions (Sector East) agreed in the town of Erdut on Tuesday about the basic principles of future talks on that only part of the Republic of Serb Krajina which Croatia has not occupied militarily. Stoltenberg announced a new round of talks in Zagreb on Monday, Oct. 9. U.S. Ambassador in Zagreb Peter Galbraith, who chaired the talks, assessed the meeting in Erdut as the most efficient one so far. Head of the Serb negotiating team Milan Milanovic assessed that the acceptance of the basic principles did not exclude the possibility of the population of this region deciding at a referendum about its future after the termination of the transition period. The delegation today asked the Croatian authorities and the U.S. for firm guarantees that human rights would be protected. This was not received, but the delegation hopes such guarantees would be given on Monday, Milanovic told reporters. Croatian delegation head Hrvoje Sarinic warned that the Croatian Government was ready to negotiate only until Nov. 30, when the U.N. peace force mandate is due to expire. If an agreement is not reachedby that time, Croatia will resort to military measures, Sarinic threatened. Sarinic said Croatia was insisting on a transition period of one year at the longest. He ruled out the possibility of a referendum or any Serb autonomy. He said only local administration of those who live in the region's territory was possible.

FORMER BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA

KRAJISNIK: MUSLIM OFFENSIVE THREATENS PEACE PROCESS B e l g r a d e, Oct. 3 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serb Republic Parliament President Momcilo Krajisnik Tuesday accused Bosnian Muslims of seriously threatening the peace process in Bosnia having mounted an offensive in the Sarajevo war zone. Bosnian Serb Republic news agency SRNA reported Krajisnik as saying after meeting in Pale Director of UNPROFOR Civilian Affairs Antonio Pedey as warning that the Muslims on Tuesday launched an offensive from the exclusion zone against the Serb positions in the Sarajevo area thereby seriously threatening peace in the city. The Muslim offensive in the Sarajevo area, according to Krajisnik, came as a direct result of Izetbegovic's refusal to accept a general agreement on cessation of hostilities and his attitude of blackmail towards peace efforts. Krajisnik said the UNPROFOR Director of Civilian Affairs stated readiness to do everything possible to prevent a deteriation of the situation in the Sarajevo area, SRNA set out.

MUSLIMS LAUNCH OFFENSIVE AGAINST SERBS SOUTH OF SARAJEVO B e l g r a d e, Oct. 3 (Tanjug) - The Bosnian Muslims on Tuesday launched a strong offensive against the Serbs south of Sarajevo and fired their artillery out of the 20-km exclusion zone on Serb positions, the U.N. told journalists. 'Government (Muslim) forces fired scores of rounds from four heavy weapons inside the 20 km exclusion zone at Bosnian Serb positions,' said U.N. Spokeswoman Myriam Sochacki. 'This is a scandal,' Sochacki said. She said that the UNPROFOR would protest with the Muslim Government at the highest level. Foreign news agencies said that the Bosnian Serbs asked for permission to redeploy their heavy weapons in the zone to defend themselves, but were refused. A senior U.N. official said that the 'Bosnian (Muslim) Government seems to have a limitless capacity to screw things up.' The agencies said that on Sept. 14 the Serbs signed an agreement that they would withdraw their heavy artillery and lift the blockade of Sarajevo on condition that the Muslims pledge not to use this to launch new attacks on Serb positions around the city. AFP said that the latest Muslim offensive was launched immediately after Holbrooke departed from Sarajevo yesterday.

FILE CROATIA

SECURITY COUNCIL AGAIN WARNS CROATIA N e w Y o r k, Oct 3 (Tanjug) - The U.N. Security Council sharply warned Croatia again on Tuesday about its arrogant and extremely inhuman treatment of refugees that it is expelling from its territory and of Serbs that it is still persecuting. The body upbraided Croatian authorities also for not allowing the return of refugees. The Security Council had issued a similar warning to Croatia on Friday in a press statement. Today, however, the body issued a special presidential statement requesting Croatian authorities again to discontinue all operations that are aggravating the difficult humanitarian situation. The Tuesday session was convened at the initiative of the Russian delegation, and the statement was upheld by the Contact Group states - Russia, the U.S., Great Britain, France and Germany. The body requested Croatia to repeal its decision stripping refugees in its territory of their refugee status, and to make it possible for all refugees currently in Croatia, regardless of origin, to remain there. The Security Council further demanded that Croatian authorities strictly respect the Serbs' rights, including the right to remain in or return in safety to their homes. It also asked Zagreb to lift all deadlines for the Serb refugees' return. The Presidential statement, however, does not say a word in condemnation of Croatian authorities for what they did to Serb civilians when the Croatian army invaded Serb Krajina and, later, during the Croatian Army's operations in Bosnia. Croatian troops' crimes against the Serb civilian population have been brought to the Security Council's attetion also by Yugoslavia's new Ambassador to the U.N. Vladislav Jovanovic. In a letter to the President of the Security Council, Jovanovic stressed that the crimes perpetrated by Croatian authorities against Serbs were aimed at creating an ethnically pure Croatian state.

U.N. CONFIRMS AND CONDEMNS CROATIAN MASSACRE OF SERBS IN VARIVODE B e l g r a d e, Oct 3 (Tanjug) - The U.N. confirmed and condemned on Tuesday a massacre of Serb civilians on Sept. 28 in the village of Varivode in the part of the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) currently under Croatian forces' control. When U.N. observers visited Varivode, about 30 km southwest of the RSK capital of Knin, on Monday, they noticed traces of blood in eight houses, news agencies quote U.N. Spokesman Chris Gunness as saying in Zagreb. Near one house, there was a trail of blood 15 metres long, and on the wall of another, a smear of blood with hair and human tissue, Gunness said and explained that a person had obviously been killed on the threashold. On the same day, U.N. personnel discovered nine fresh graves in a cemetery in Knin bearing the names of Varivode villagers, who had been in good health when U.N. observers had visited them on Sept. 11, Gunness added. The AFP quotes special U.N. Envoy to former Yugoslavia Yasushi Akashi as saying there was direct evidence to show that the victims had been aged between 66 and 84 years and that the crimes had been committed by three or four men in army uniforms. News agencies say that international organisations and observers of the U.N. and the European Union's Human Rights Enquiry Commission have come across evidence of numerous crimes - torchings, lootings and violence - in Serb territories, perpetrated by Croats in the course of the most recent aggression on the RSK.

HUMANITARIAN AID

ICRC ON AID FOR WAR-STRICKEN AREAS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA B e l g r a d e, Oct. 3 (Tanjug) - The town of Srbinje, eastern Bosnia, was particularly hit by NATO bombing, the ICRC said in its September report. After the end of NATO air raids against Republika Srpska (RS - the Bosnian Serb State), the ICRC was the first international humanitarian organization which entered Srbinje, Kalinovik, Trebinje and Serb-held areas in Sarajevo on September 19. On August 30, NATO started air raids against bosnian Serbs which lasted for two weeks. The RS military authorities said that many houses were destroyed and 152 civilians were killed in the bombing, including five children under five. Two bridges were destroyed or seriously damaged in Srbinje. The water supply system is located under the bridges so two-thirds of Srbinje has been left without water. The water supply system, a water reservoir and a ICRC warehouse were destroyed in Kalinovik by NATO planes. The ICRC has sent 3,000 blankets to the Sarajevo areas controlled by Bosnian Serbs - Hadzici, Vogosca, Ilijas, Ilidza, Grbavica, Lukavica and Vojkovici. The ICRC has also sent medicines and sanitary supplies to four medical centres. The ICRC has also visited Donji Vakuf, Bosanska Krupa, Petrovac, Kljuc and Kulen Vakuf, all located in parts of Bosnia seized by Croat-Muslim forces in mid-September. There remain between 5,000 and 6,000 Serbs in Kljuc, including 200 from Kulen Vakuf. Only old people remain in Petrovac. Muslim authorities have settled about 1,000 Muslims from Banjaluka in Petrovac. ICRC estimates that in the area of Knin, the capital of the Republic of Serb Krajina, seized by Croatia in early August, there are between 4,000 and 6,000 old people, mainly Serbs, in scattered villages. Croatian authorities have settled in the area between 3,000 and 4,000 Croats from Banjaluka.