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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 238, 8 December 1995
CONTENTS
[1] PERRY SAYS U.S. IS NOT NEUTRAL OVER BOSNIA.
[2] ARMING MUSLIMS IS CENTRAL TO U.S. STRATEGY IN BOSNIA.
[3] SERBIA REJECTS FRENCH WARNING OVER PILOTS.
[4] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER BACKS PEACE ACCORD.
[5] RUGOVA ASKS U.S. FOR MEDIATION IN KOSOVO CONFLICT.
[6] "OIL MEN ARE FASTER THAN STATES."
[7] CROATIA TO COOPERATE WITH HAGUE-BASED TRIBUNAL.
[8] SLOVAK PREMIER IN SLOVENIA.
[9] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ON ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN RELATIONS . . .
[10] . . . AND ON REVIVAL OF IRON GUARD.
[11] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH POPE.
[12] BULGARIA WILL PROVIDE AID, BUT NO TROOPS TO EX-YUGOSLAVIA.
[13] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES LIBERAL ABORTION LAW.
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT IN ALBANIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 238, Part II, 8 December 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] PERRY SAYS U.S. IS NOT NEUTRAL OVER BOSNIA.
Secretary of Defense William
Perry said "we believe that the Bosnian government and people have
suffered atrocities and killings, and we don't approach [implementing
the Dayton peace agreement] as psychologically neutral." He added that
the U.S. will nonetheless try to be "evenhanded," the International
Herald Tribune reported on 8 December. Monitor Radio the previous
evening said "thousands of Bosnian Serbs stomped on the American flag"
in a demonstration that Nasa Borba on 8 December called "well
organized." The BBC reported that U.S. diplomats are urging the Bosnian
government to send home the roughly 2,000 Islamic fighters from around
the Muslim world. The tough irregulars are seen likely to cause problems
for implementing the peace settlement. -- Patrick Moore
[2] ARMING MUSLIMS IS CENTRAL TO U.S. STRATEGY IN BOSNIA.
As the deployment
of NATO troops in the former Yugoslavia gathers pace, the arming of the
Bosnian government has become a central element in the Clinton
administration's strategy to gain U.S. congressional support for the
deployment of American troops to the region, Western agencies reported.
Addressing the U.S. Senate on 6 December, Assistant Secretary of State
Richard Holbrooke said the U.S. has assured the Bosnian government in
Dayton that the US "will lead an international effort to ensure that the
Bosnians have what they need to defend themselves adequately when IFOR
[the NATO implementation force] leaves." He added that the U.S. will not
train troops but will rely on "third parties" such as the private
company MPRI, composed of retired U.S. officers, who helped train
Croatian forces. -- Michael Mihalka
[3] SERBIA REJECTS FRENCH WARNING OVER PILOTS.
The rump Yugoslav Foreign
Ministry rebuffed the French demand that President Slobodan Milosevic
ensure the quick return of the two downed aviators. The Serbian
statement rejected "all tendentious interpretations of the incident."
The International Herald Tribune on 8 December also reported that the UN
has protested the eviction of 60 Muslim families by the Serbs in
northern Bosnia. Hina the previous day said that a joint commission for
missing persons has been set up by Belgrade and Zagreb and has already
begun work. -- Patrick Moore
[4] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER BACKS PEACE ACCORD.
Vuk Draskovic, leader of
the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), has become the first head of a major
Serbian opposition party to back the Dayton peace plan for Bosnia. Nasa
Borba on 8 December published an article by Draskovic in which he
explained his position by saying "I do not want to be associated with
the charges that in Dayton [Serbian President Slobodan] Milosevic sold
out the Serbs on that side of the Drina and shamed the ones on this side
of the Drina." He went on to write that the current peace "is neither
righteous nor base. It is woven from blood and tears, from illusions and
deceit . . . , from ideological and mafia-backed patriotism . . . and
from wounds that will not be able to heal for a long time to come. . . .
But this peace is the one outlet, the only hope and chance, that our
future generations will not be born into a life [world] that resembles
ours." -- Stan Markotich
[5] RUGOVA ASKS U.S. FOR MEDIATION IN KOSOVO CONFLICT.
Kosovar shadow-state
President Ibrahim Rugova has asked U.S. secretary of State Warren
Christopher to mediate in the Kosovo conflict. After meeting with
Christopher in Washington on 7 December, Rugova said he had received a
pledge of support. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns pointed out
that the U.S. has pressed Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to
respect the rights of the Albanian majority and that "we have a general
assurance from the Serbs that the rights of the Albanian community will
be respected," Reuters reported on 7 December. -- Fabian Schmidt
[6] "OIL MEN ARE FASTER THAN STATES."
This is how Slobodna Dalmacija on 7December described a secretive meeting two days earlier between
representatives of the Croatian oil company INA and its Serbian
counterpart, Jugopetrol. The daily said that the two oil giants are
anxious to start doing business again even before relations between
Zagreb and Belgrade have been formally normalized. In particular, the
firms want to see the Adriatic oil pipeline reopened "as soon as
possible." This quick readiness to do business suggests that the war has
been not the inevitable result of "ancient hatreds" but rather about
land, money, and power. -- Patrick Moore
[7] CROATIA TO COOPERATE WITH HAGUE-BASED TRIBUNAL.
Croatian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Mate Granic has said that Croatia wants to cooperate
with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and
will act in accordance with its requests regarding Dario Kordic, who has
been charged with war crimes. He added, however, that Croatia will also
try to defend him, RFE/RL and BETA reported on 7 December. According to
Granic, Kordic has shown his understanding of the seriousness of the
charges by resigning as head of the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ)
in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Granic added that he is negotiating with Justice
Richard Goldstone on the possibility of Kordic's remaining in Croatia
while defending himself. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[8] SLOVAK PREMIER IN SLOVENIA.
Vladimir Meciar, during a two-day visit to
Slovenia, concluded with his Slovenian counterpart, Janez Drnovsek, an
air traffic agreement, Slovak and Slovenian media reported. Meciar
observed that relations between Slovakia and Slovenia are "very close"
and will certainly improve, especially in the economic realm, once
Slovenia becomes a full member of the Central European Free Trade
Agreement (CEFTA) on 1 January. Meciar also met with Slovenian President
Milan Kucan and opened a Slovak embassy in Ljubljana. -- Stan Markotich
and Sharon Fisher
[9] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ON ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN RELATIONS . . .
Presidential
spokesman Traian Chebeleu told a press conference in Bucharest that
"anti-reconciliation attitudes" are being constantly expressed both in
Hungary and among leaders of the Hungarian minority in Romania, Romanian
media reported on 7-8 December. Chebeleu said "extremist voices are
emerging, as if coordinated, to undermine" President Ion Iliescu's
proposal for a historic reconciliation with Hungary. As an example, he
quoted Bela Pomogats, chairman of the Writers' Union of Hungary, as
saying "the initiative is wrong and inopportune" and makes only empty
promises. The Hungarian minority's claim to have Church properties
restituted is viewed by Iliescu as "an aberration," he noted. -- Matyas
Szabo
[10] . . . AND ON REVIVAL OF IRON GUARD.
Chebeleu also said that President
Iliescu was "concerned" about growing signs that a revival of the
fascist legionary movement was under way. He pointed to legionary
instruction camps, marches, the dissemination of overtly pro-legionary
literature and articles, and veiled pro-legionary television programs.
Chebeleu said the president was "astonished" by the attempt to "justify
legionary assassinations." The latter reference was apparently directed
at opposition senator Sabin Ivan who criticized Iliescu's address
commemorating the assassination of historian Nicolae Iorga by members of
the legionary movement in 1940. Sabin had said the "crimes" committed
against the movement by its adversaries should also be revealed. --
Michael Shafir
[11] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH POPE.
Zhelyu Zhelev was received by Pope
John Paul II in a private audience on 7 December, 24 chasa reported. The
Pope said he will travel to Bulgaria, adding that his visit should
silence all allegations about a Bulgarian involvement in the attempt on
his life in May 1981, Zhelev's spokesman Valentin Stoyanov said. With
regard to the so-called "Bulgarian trail," the Pope noted that "guilt is
always personal." Ali Agca, who tried to kill the Pope in 1981, said in
September that Bulgaria was not involved in the attempt. After meeting
with the Pope, Zhelev left Italy for an official visit to Albania (see
below). -- Stefan Krause
[12] BULGARIA WILL PROVIDE AID, BUT NO TROOPS TO EX-YUGOSLAVIA.
Bulgarian
Deputy Foreign Minister Stefan Staykov on 7 December said his country
will provide medical and technical aid to the peacekeeping forces in the
former Yugoslavia but has no plans to send military personnel, Reuters
reported. Staykov also announced that Bulgaria and rump Yugoslavia next
week will sign agreements on economic cooperation and air traffic
control. -- Stefan Krause
[13] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES LIBERAL ABORTION LAW.
The Albanian parliament
has passed legislation allowing abortion as a "family planning method,"
international agencies reported on 8 December. Abortion was considered a
crime under communism. But with the current lack of contraceptives in
the country, lawmakers appear to have adopted a more liberal stance.
Some 30,000 abortions are estimated to take place every year. Often
illegal abortions end fatally because of poor medical equipment and
knowledge. -- Fabian Schmidt
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT IN ALBANIA.
During his visit to Tirana on 7-8
December, Zhelyu Zhelev discussed with his Albanian counterpart, Sali
Berisha, plans to build a highway, railway, and telecommunications
corridor between Durres, Skopje, Sofia, and Istanbul. According to
Zhelev, Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro has said Italy will
financially back the project. Both presidents called for regional
cooperation in the Balkans following the end of the Bosnian war and for
talks between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians, international agencies
reported on 7 December. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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