OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 164, 23 August 1995
CONTENTS
[01] YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS COST RUSSIA BILLIONS.
[02] KARADZIC ACCUSES ENEMIES . . .
[03] . . . AND OFFERS CROATIA A DEAL.
[04] KRAJINA UPDATE.
[05] THE RAPID REACTION FORCE STRIKES BACK.
[06] KOSOVO REFUGEE UPDATE.
[07] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER IN GREECE.
[08] CHOLERA IN ROMANIA, MOLDOVA.
[09] TRANSDNIESTER RADICALS INTENSIFY ANTI-MARKUTSA DRIVE.
[10] FIRE IN BULGARIAN NUCLEAR PLANT.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 164, Part I,II, 23 August 1995
RUSSIA
[01] YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS COST RUSSIA BILLIONS.
Following a Moscow meeting of
the Russian-Yugoslav commission on trade and technical cooperation,
Russian Deputy Minister of Economics Andrei Shapovalyants told ITAR-TASS
on 22 August that Russia loses billions of dollars each year as a result
of UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia. Shapovalyants estimated that
before the sanctions, Russian-Yugoslav trade had been worth $7 billion
annually. He added that the commission is currently preparing several
economic agreements for signature but that only humanitarian aid could
be sent to rump Yugoslavia until the sanctions are lifted. Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Demurin said on 22 August that the
meeting of the commission did not signal that Moscow is planning to
unilaterally exit from the UN sanctions regime but is simply planning
future joint projects which will enter into force "immediately after"
the embargo is lifted by "collective action" of the UN. -- Scott
Parrish, OMRI, Inc.
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[02] KARADZIC ACCUSES ENEMIES . . .
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic
blamed his opponents, including those in Serbia, for trying to
destabilize the Bosnian Serb leadership by circulating rumors that
General Ratko Mladic had overthrown him in a coup or was chasing him
around Bosnia. Reuters said on 22 August that Karadzic announced he had
"withdrawn" his legal measures against Mladic because of the current
dangers to the Bosnian Serb "state." He added that "everybody is doing
their job. . . . We have a very strong and firm structure of power." He
accused enemies of wanting "to create fear and uncertainty among the
people and possibly force them to flee from certain offensives." --
Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[03] . . . AND OFFERS CROATIA A DEAL.
The Bosnian Serb leader floated a two-
part "peace offer" to Croatia, AFP reported on 22 August. He said that
the Croats should evacuate the area around Trebinje in return for a
"peace accord." He also suggested that a 1993 text could be implemented,
which gave Croatia a tiny bit of the heights overlooking Dubrovnik and
from which the Serbs have shelled the medieval town, in exchange for
granting the Serbs 30 kilometers of the Prevlaka peninsula down to
Popovici. Prevlaka is Croatian territory with a UN presence, but it
controls access to the strategic Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman has hinted in previous years that he might
agree to such a deal, but there was firm domestic opposition to any
yielding of Croatian territory. Karadzic has now warned the Croats,
however, that "if Croatia does not accept either proposal, fighting will
continue until we have liberated all Serb territory," i.e. Croatian
territory recently retaken by the Croatian army. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI,
Inc.
[04] KRAJINA UPDATE.
Reuters reported from Lasinja on 23 August that the
Croatian inhabitants driven out by the Serbs in 1991 have begun
returning. They said that the Serbs burned or dynamited their homes and
the Roman Catholic church. Slobodna Dalmacija stated that the UN
continues to accuse Croatia of systematically torching Serbian houses
and looting. Zagreb has argued that any destruction was the result of
military necessity or of isolated incidents. The BBC noted that EU
Commissioner for Refugees Emma Bonino claims that some 10,000 Krajina
refugees remain unaccounted for and that even the UN has no idea where
they are. She also complained that rump Yugoslav authorities refused to
see her when she visited Belgrade. Elsewhere, Croatian officials told
AFP that some 11,782 victims of Serb "ethnic cleansing" arrived from the
Banja Luka region between 14 and 24 August. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[05] THE RAPID REACTION FORCE STRIKES BACK.
International media on 23 August
said that the new UN force in Sarajevo fired at a Bosnian Serb gun
position the previous day after the Serbs deliberately targeted a UN
observation post and wounded six Egyptian soldiers and numerous
civilians. It was not clear what effect the Force's shells had. The
world body also blamed both the Bosnian government and the Serbs for the
latest exchanges of artillery fire in the Bosnian capital. Vjesnik
reported that a new Croatian cultural center has opened in Sarajevo at a
ceremony attended by political, diplomatic, cultural, and religious
officials. Meanwhile in Tuzla, AFP said that the Serbs shelled the
airbase, which is currently housing 3,200 refugees from Zepa and
Srebrenica. The VOA stated that the U.S. has appealed "to the warring
parties [in Bosnia] to give diplomacy a chance," while AFP on 22 August
noted that Germany has told Croatia that negotiations are the only path
to peace. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[06] KOSOVO REFUGEE UPDATE.
Yugoslav Refugee Minister Morina Bratislava has
rejected fears that Serb refugees would upset the demographic balance in
Kosovo, AFP reported on 22 August. She argued that only a "relatively
small number" of refugees would be moved to Kosovo. Out of a total of
160,000 refugees some 3,000 have so far been sent to Kosovo, where
Belgrade wants to settle about 16,000. Slavica Rakovic, an adviser to
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, in an interview with the right-
wing Greek daily Adesmevtos Typos proposed changing the demographic
balance in favor of the Serbs. Rakovic was visiting Greece on an
invitation of the Greco-Serb Association, to coordinate Greek
humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, Macedonian government speaker Ismail Gjuner
denied that Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi and his Macedonian
counterpart Stevo Crvenkovski discussed strategies in case of an
outbreak of armed conflict in Kosovo, BETA reported. -- Fabian Schmidt,
OMRI, Inc.
[07] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER IN GREECE.
Yugoslav Foreign Minister and
former ambassador to Greece Milan Milutinovic paid a visit to Athens on
21 August, the BBC reported the following day. Milutinovic met the
honorary chairman of the Greek New Democracy Party, Konstantinos
Mitsotakis, to discuss developments in the former Yugoslavia and the
Balkan region. Mitsotakis said that the Yugoslav crisis was at a
critical point and added that "there are chances for a political
solution but a clear risk is involved as well." He also expressed the
hope that a peaceful, political solution would be found. -- Fabian
Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[08] CHOLERA IN ROMANIA, MOLDOVA.
Romanian Ministry of Health officials said
in a statement carried by Radio Bucharest on 22 August that the number
of cases of cholera in the country is now 12. Those affected live in
various localities on the river Danube, near the border with Ukraine. In
neighboring Moldova, according to a dispatch carried by Infotag on 22
August, 151 cases of cholera were registered so far, mostly in Tiraspol
and in the Slobozia area, both of which are close to Ukrainian
territory. Unlike in Romania, where no vibrio has been detected in the
water, it has been found in several Moldovan water sources, including
the Dniester. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.
[09] TRANSDNIESTER RADICALS INTENSIFY ANTI-MARKUTSA DRIVE.
The Bloc of
Radical Patriotic Forces in Tiraspol, headed by Professor Vasily
Yakovlev, has intensified its drive to oust Grigory Markutsa, chairman
of the self-proclaimed republic's Supreme Soviet, Infotag reported on 21
August. The agency said Yakovlev's supporters were spreading leaflets in
the city, demanding that Markutsa resign and ruling out his nomination
for the forthcoming parliament elections. They accuse him of signing an
agreement with Chisinau making the circulation of the Moldovan currency
legal, which is viewed as "the first step toward the annihilation" of
the breakaway region's independence. On 22 August Infotag reported that
the forces headed by Yakovlev launched an initiative for holding an
extraordinary congress of deputies at local and central government
level. The congress, scheduled for 10 September, is to take place in
advance of the next Chisinau-Tiraspol summit, which is due on 13
September and, according to the organizers, it should prevent further
concessions to Chisinau to prevent "a final loss of Transdniestrian
statehood." -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.
[10] FIRE IN BULGARIAN NUCLEAR PLANT.
BTA reports on 23 August that a fire
broke out at the Kozlodui nuclear power plant the previous day.
According to the facility's deputy chief, the blaze was sparked when a
breaker in the control room short circuited. The fire was quickly
detected and contained before any major damage or injuries could result.
-- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
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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