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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 215, 3 November 1995
CONTENTS
[1] BOSNIAN REFUGEE DEAL REACHED IN DAYTON.
[2] MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN AGREE TO FIND PEACEFUL SOLUTION IN SLAVONIA.
[3] HAS MILOSEVIC ABANDONED BOSNIAN SERB LEADERS?
[4] BOSNIAN MUSLIMS RECOUNT MASSACRES.
[5] ROMANIA CRITICIZES UKRAINIAN ENVOY.
[6] ROMANIAN FINANCE MINISTER ON 1996 BUDGET.
[7] EU OFFICIAL PRAISES MOLDOVAN PROGRESS.
[8] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT INITIATES JUDICIAL REFORM.
[9] EXPLOSION AT BULGARIAN ARMS PLANT.
[10] ALBANIAN POLICE LOSES BATTLE WITH FUEL SMUGGLERS.
[11] BOMB ATTACK ON HOUSE OF ALBANIAN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER CHIEF.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 215, Part II, 3 November 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BOSNIAN REFUGEE DEAL REACHED IN DAYTON.
Bosnian President Alija
Izetbegovic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman have reached agreement
on a deal that would see the return of hundreds of Muslim and Croatian
refugees, international media reported on 2 November. A joint statement
by the two leaders stressed that the deal addresses only "the first
phase" of the refugee issue. In another development, AFP reported that
the Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian delegations at the talks have so far
received four draft proposals from international mediators focusing on
the broad question of peace, a constitutional structure for the Bosnian
state, electoral issues, and "the separation of military and
paramilitary forces." -- Stan Markotich
[2] MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN AGREE TO FIND PEACEFUL SOLUTION IN SLAVONIA.
Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman and his Serbian counterpart, Slobodan
Milosevic, agreed in Dayton to continue talks on eastern Slavonia, AFP
reported on 2 November. Both sides pledged to work toward "full
normalization of their relation" on the basis of " full respect" for
human rights and the right of all refugees to return home or receive a
just compensation. The aim is to find "a peaceful resolution . . . as
rapidly as possible," a U.S. State Department spokesman said. As yet,
the two sides appear to have agreed only that Croatia and Serbia will
not intervene militarily. U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith and
UN negotiator Thorvald Stoltenberg began a visit to the region on 2
November. -- Fabian Schmidt
[3] HAS MILOSEVIC ABANDONED BOSNIAN SERB LEADERS?
BETA on 2 Novemberreported that Bosnian Serb civilian leader Radovan Karadzic and his
military counterpart, General Ratko Mladic, are likely to resign from
their posts in the very near future, apparently because of pressure to
do so from the U.S. According to the report, Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, eager to accept some key US demands, has agreed to the idea
of the two leaving their posts. AFP the same day reported that "a few
days ago" at a meeting in Pale, the Bosnian Serb leadership agreed in
principle that Karadzic and Mladic would step down. U.S. State
Department official Nicholas Burns has said "We don't believe these two
individuals should be among the leaders of the new state that emerges
from a peace agreement." -- Stan Markotich
[4] BOSNIAN MUSLIMS RECOUNT MASSACRES.
AFP on 2 November reported accounts
of massacres by Bosnian Serbs in Sanski Most who earlier this week were
among a group of 303 Muslim civilians and 21 soldiers exchanged for 135
Serbian troops and two civilians. They told The Guardian that Serbian
paramilitaries executed at least 11 men before fleeing from the
approaching Bosnian Army; 30 prisoners who were taken from a factory
outside Sanski Most are still missing. Eleven bodies have been found,
Bosnian government officials and foreign observers reported that another
110 remain scattered around the town and surrounding villages. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[5] ROMANIA CRITICIZES UKRAINIAN ENVOY.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mircea
Geoana, at a press conference on 1 November, said Romania was
"surprised" by Ukrainian special ambassador Vladimir Vasilenko's recent
statements on the Romanian-Ukrainian basic treaty. Vasilenko heads the
Kiev side in parleys on the treaty. Romanian media reported that Geoana
rejected Vasilenko's accusations that Romanian insistence on mentioning
the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in the treaty constitutes an attempt to
question the borders between the two states. He also criticized his
comment that Bucharest's position was influenced by internal political
considerations. Vasilenko was violating the two side's agreement not to
involve the press in the parleys, he said. The last round of treaty
negotiations ended in Bucharest on 26 October, apparently without any
results. -- Michael Shafir
[6] ROMANIAN FINANCE MINISTER ON 1996 BUDGET.
Finance Minister Florin
Georgescu told a press conference in Bucharest on 1 November that the
1996 budget was one of "austerity" aimed at "reducing to a minimum non-
productive costs" and encouraging the growth of public services. The
budget foresees a 4.5% growth in GDP, a 4.7% growth in industrial
production, a 3.5% increase in agricultural production, and an 8.8% rise
in investments. Inflation is forecast at 20%. The budget was submitted
to the parliament after discussions with representatives of the
opposition parties, Romanian media reported. -- Michael Shafir
[7] EU OFFICIAL PRAISES MOLDOVAN PROGRESS.
EU External Affairs Commissioner
Hans van den Broek said in Chisinau on 2 November that "Moldova's
success in establishing a genuine democracy is convincing" and that
"economic stabilization has been achieved and true progress made in
privatization and restructuring," Reuters and Moldovan agencies reported
the same day. Van den Broek paid a one-day visit to Moldova, meeting
President Mircea Snegur, parliamentary chairman Petru Lucinschi, and
Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli. He said the parliaments of EU member
states and the European Parliament are likely to ratify next year a
cooperation partnership agreement signed in 1994. -- Michael Shafir
[8] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT INITIATES JUDICIAL REFORM.
Moldovan President Mircea
Snegur has sent to the parliament a legislative proposal calling for the
abolition of the death penalty. He has also petitioned the
Constitutional Court to comment on whether the basic document should be
changed to provide for judges to be appointed for life after an initial
five-year term, Infotag and BASA-press reported on 30 October and 1
November. Meanwhile, the Moldovan parliament on 1 November adopted laws
on state security and state security organs, BASA-press reported on the
same day. Threats to state security are defined as "actions whose
purpose is the violent change of the constitutional regime, suppression
of independence and territorial integrity, provoking civil war or
military actions against the state, [and] treason through helping
foreign states in organizing hostile acts" against Moldova. -- Michael
Shafir
[9] EXPLOSION AT BULGARIAN ARMS PLANT.
Bulgarian Radio on 2 November
reported a major explosion the same day at the Arsenal plant killing one
person and wounding three. Minister of Industry Kliment Vuchev said a
fire caused the blast and added that damage was serious. Arsenal is
located in the town of Kazanlak and is one of the nation's largest arms
production centers. -- Stan Markotich
[10] ALBANIAN POLICE LOSES BATTLE WITH FUEL SMUGGLERS.
Albanian police lost a
fierce five-hour battle with fuel smugglers armed with automatic weapons
and grenades near the Montenegrin border, Reuters reported on 2
November. During a routine check, police managed to block the path of 20
smugglers and 10 fuel trucks but suddenly found itself surrounded by
armed men. After five hours of fierce fighting, local police and special
Interior Ministry forces from Tirana ran out of ammunition and were
forced to leave, abandoning three destroyed police vehicles. The
smugglers continued their journey. The Interior Ministry was not
immediately able to confirm the battle. -- Fabian Schmidt
[11] BOMB ATTACK ON HOUSE OF ALBANIAN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER CHIEF.
Unknown
assailants on 1 October carried out a bomb attack on the house of
Nikolle Lesi, chief editor of Koha Jone, according to Gazeta Shqiptare
on 3 November. Nobody was injured in the attack, which caused
considerable damage to Lesi's apartment. Lesi said the assault must be
seen against the background of the upcoming parliamentary elections. He
said that in his capacity as chief editor, he was recently offered
thousands of dollars to support "a big party in the elections"; he
rejected that offer. He did not specify who had offered him the money.
Gazeta Shqiptare reported that five suspects have been detained but gave
no details. -- 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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