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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 199, 12 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] BOSNIAN CEASEFIRE BEGINS.
[2] "WE SEE NO GRAIN OF HUMANITY."
[3] BELGRADE GROUP PROTESTS PRESS-GANGING.
[4] MACEDONIAN POLICE ARREST PRO-BULGARIAN POLITICIANS.
[5] SLOVENIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES DRAFT BUDGET.
[6] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN VIENNA, FRANKFURT.
[7] ROMANIAN POLITICAL ALLIANCE ENLARGED.
[8] ROMANIAN STUDENTS GO ON STRIKE.
[9] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT VISITS GERMANY...
[10] ...AND SUPPORTS INITIATIVE FOR ALL-PARTY FORUM.
[11] HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT CONCLUDES VISIT TO BULGARIA.
[12] WESTERN ENERGY FOR BULGARIA?
[13] FIRST ARREST AFTER PASSAGE OF GENOCIDE LAW IN ALBANIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 199, Part II, 12 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BOSNIAN CEASEFIRE BEGINS.
International media on 12 October reported
that the latest of at least 35 Bosnian truces came into effect at 12:01
a.m. local time. AFP quoted UN officials as saying that "things look
generally quiet" and that the next item on their agenda is to get the
Serbian and allied sides to agree on the location of the front lines.
The International Herald Tribune quoted Bosnian government soldiers of
the victorious Fifth Corps as saying "we'll see you for coffee in Banja
Luka," which suggests that at least some soldiers may not take the truce
very seriously. UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali nonetheless
expressed "deep satisfaction" that the ceasefire has begun. -- Patrick
Moore
[2] "WE SEE NO GRAIN OF HUMANITY."
This is how an International Red Crossofficial described the Bosnian Serbs' continued expulsion of Muslim and
Croatian civilians from northern Bosnia, the International Herald
Tribune reported on 12 October. Slobodna Dalmacija puts the figure at
9,000, with men mostly unaccounted for. The paper also says that
internationally wanted war criminal Zeljko Raznatovic "Arkan" arrived in
the area on 21 September to launch "the terror campaign." Elsewhere, AFP
cited humanitarian organizations as saying that 40,000 panicked Serbian
civilians are fleeing before the allied advance. The International
Herald Tribune quoted Serbian officials in Prijedor as telling their
people not to leave and saying that "these are decisive moments of the
struggle for freedom, honor, and existence of the Serbian people." --
Patrick Moore
[3] BELGRADE GROUP PROTESTS PRESS-GANGING.
BETA on 10 October reported that
the Center for Anti-war Action in Belgrade has launched a protest
against recently revived campaigns in Serbia to forcibly draft refugees.
The center has sent an open letter to Serbian Interior Minister Zoran
Sokolovic condemning the revived practice of forcing refugee youths
across the Serbian border and into Croatia's eastern Slavonia, where
they are reportedly being pressed into service by paramilitary units. --
Stan Markotich
[4] MACEDONIAN POLICE ARREST PRO-BULGARIAN POLITICIANS.
Krasimir
Karakachanov, leader of the Sofia-based Internal Macedonian
Revolutionary Organization-Union of Macedonian Associations (VMRO-SMD),
on 11 October said that the Macedonian police over the weekend arrested
a number of politicians known for their pro-Bulgarian position,
Bulgarian newspapers reported the following day. The VMRO-SMD has
accused the Macedonian government of a "gross violation of human rights"
and of taking advantage of the assassination attempt on Macedonian
President Kiro Gligorov. According to Demokratsiya, several officials of
the pro-Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-
Fatherland Party were arrested, and the party's headquarters and other
offices were searched. -- Stefan Krause
[5] SLOVENIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES DRAFT BUDGET.
Slovenia's three-party
governing coalition on 10 October unanimously approved the 1996 budget
proposal, STA reported the following day. Expenditures are expected to
total some 570 billion tolars (some $5 billion). A significant
proportion of expenditures is earmarked for health, education, and
infrastructure. Premier Janez Drnovsek expressed satisfaction that the
budget had been unanimously approved, since earlier debates dealing with
state spending suggested a consensus would be difficult, if not
impossible, to reach. -- Stan Markotich
[6] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN VIENNA, FRANKFURT.
Ion Iliescu met with Austrian
Chancellor Franz Vranitzky and President Thomas Klestil in Vienna on 11
October, Romanian TV reported. They discussed bilateral relations, the
Hungarian minority in Romania, Bucharest's initiative for a
reconciliation with Budapest, and the future of the region in the wake
of the ceasefire agreement in Bosnia. Iliescu earlier the same day
launched the German version of one of his memoirs at the Frankfurt
International Book Fair. -- Michael Shafir
[7] ROMANIAN POLITICAL ALLIANCE ENLARGED.
The Bloc of National Unity (BUN),
a political alliance set up in December 1993 by the extreme nationalist
Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) and the Democratic Agrarian
Party, has been enlarged. Radio Bucharest and Romanian TV reported on
10-11 October that the Ecologist Movement of Romania has joined the BUN.
The signatories have agreed to run on separate lists in the local
elections due in early 1996 and to support the best-placed candidate
among them in the run-offs. -- Michael Shafir
[8] ROMANIAN STUDENTS GO ON STRIKE.
Students from Bacau, Ploiesti, and
Galati went on strike on 10 October, Romanian media reported on 10-11
October. They are demanding the abolition of a special tax on students
who have to repeat a year, reduced fares on public transportation,
changes in the scholarship-awarding system, and more dormitories. A
large number of professors joined a demonstration in Galati supporting
their demands. Radio Bucharest on 11 October reported that Queen Ana,
the spouse of Romania's former King Michael, who is currently paying a
visit to Romania, stopped by the site where the student demonstration
was held. The radio said the students greeted her arrival with shouts of
"no politics." -- Michael Shafir
[9] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT VISITS GERMANY...
Mircea Snegur met with German
Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Bonn on 11 October, Moldovan and international
agencies reported. The two leaders signed an agreement on bilateral
ties. Kohl said Germany supported Moldovan sovereignty and territorial
integrity, and he underscored the importance of reaching a peaceful
settlement in the Dniester breakaway region. Snegur replied that
Chisinau has made a reasonable compromise by proposing a special status
for the region, but Tiraspol is "probably waiting for the results of the
forthcoming parliamentary elections in Russia." During his three-day
visit, Snegur is also scheduled to meet with President Roman Herzog,
Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, and Bundestag deputies. -- Michael Shafir
[10] ...AND SUPPORTS INITIATIVE FOR ALL-PARTY FORUM.
Snegur, speaking before
his departure to Germany, said he supports the Social Progress Party's
initiative for a forum composed of all political forces in the country,
including the Gagauz and Dniester region, to overcome the country's
political crisis, Moldovan and international agencies reported on 10-11
October. He proposed the forum be organized under presidential
patronage. A memorandum of conciliation signed by such a large-scale
gathering would be a "true accord" between all parts of the society,
Snegur concluded. -- Matyas Szabo
[11] HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT CONCLUDES VISIT TO BULGARIA.
Arpad Goncz, on the
last day of his visit to Bulgaria, addressed the Bulgarian parliament,
international media reported. He was applauded by the opposition when he
stated Hungary's wish to join both EU and NATO. During talks with
Bulgarian Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, Goncz discussed the possibility
of future regional cooperation between the two countries within the
Central European Initiative and CEFTA. Videnov emphasized that Bulgaria
will do everything in order to be eligible for CEFTA membership,
including paying back the 86 million transferable ruble debt to Hungary
as soon as possible, partly in a barter deal for Bulgarian medicines.
Prior to joining CEFTA, however, Bulgaria wants to conclude a bilateral
free trade agreement with Hungary. -- Zsofia Szilagyi and Stefan Krause
[12] WESTERN ENERGY FOR BULGARIA?
Western ambassadors to Bulgaria on 11October asked Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade Kiril Tsochev
to examine the possibility of shutting down Reactor No. 1 of the
Kozloduy nuclear power plant in return for electricity from the West,
Bulgarian newspapers reported the following day. According to Reuters,
French Industry Minister Yves Galland told the National Assembly in
Paris that France had made such a proposal to Spanish Prime Minister
Felipe Gonzalez, the current EU president; President of the European
Commission Jacques Santer; and the German government. Galland said that
existing connections make such a transfer possible. -- Stefan Krause
[13] FIRST ARREST AFTER PASSAGE OF GENOCIDE LAW IN ALBANIA.
Shefqet Peci, who
was a deputy parliamentary speaker and transport minister under
communism, was arrested on 11 October and accused of ordering the murder
of 21 villagers from Buzemadhi, near Kukes, in 1944 in his capacity as a
partisan army commander. Peci is the first person to be accused under
the Law on Genocide, passed on 20 September 1995. Meanwhile, leaders of
the Democratic Alliance and the Social Democratic Party agreed to
petition the Council of Europe to repeal some articles of the law,
Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 11 and 12 October. -- Fabian Schmidt
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
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