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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 11, 16 January 1996
CONTENTS
[1] CONFERENCE ON BOSNIAN REFUGEES OPENS. UNHC
[2] EARLY AUTUMN ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA POSSIBLE?
[3] UN NAMES HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL POLICE FORCE IN BOSNIA. UN
[4] TUDJMAN'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS.
[5] UN AGREES ON FORCE FOR E. SLAVONIA.
[6] "AMBASSADORS ARE RETURNING TO BELGRADE".
[7] SLOVENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS MACEDONIA.
[8] DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY IN BUCHAREST.
[9] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT PREPARED TO RESUME DNIESTER TALKS.
[10] RAPPROCHEMENT BETWEEN BULGARIAN PRESIDENT AND OPPOSITION?
[11] PAPANDREOU RESIGNS . . .
[12] . . . AND SIMITIS ANNOUNCES HIS CANDIDACY.
[13] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS CHINA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 11, Part II, 16 January 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] CONFERENCE ON BOSNIAN REFUGEES OPENS.
UNHCR chief Sadaka Ogata addressed
a meeting in Geneva on 16 January to discuss the resettlement of up to
2.5 million Bosnian refugees. She stressed that the difficulties will be
enormous. The BBC said that plans are to relocate first the one million
displaced persons within the republic itself; then those 670,000 living
elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia; and finally those abroad, of whom
700,000 are in Germany or elsewhere in Europe. The Bosnian government
had asked that those settled in distant countries be brought home first.
Problems include how to resettle people whose homes and property have
been destroyed, and what to do with those victims of "ethnic cleansing"
who cannot or will not return to their former places of residence. The
costs will be up to $400 million in the first year alone. The UNHCR has
asked European countries not to complicate things further by sending
refugees home soon. -- Patrick Moore
[2] EARLY AUTUMN ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA POSSIBLE?
The international community'sHigh Representative in Sarajevo, Carl Bildt, said on 15 January that the
September deadline for holding elections in Bosnia will be extremely
difficult to meet, Reuters reported the same day. Elections are due to
be held in five to eight months from now, which is not realistic
according to Bildt. Speaking at the Stockholm conference on planning the
elections, he also stressed that the international community would have
to meet the deadline, set out in the Dayton peace agreement, in order
not to jeopardize the reconciliation process. Bildt added that the
biggest obstacle to the election process was election registers, which
were destroyed during the war, as well as huge migrations. Bosnian
Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey said that the elections should be
postponed rather than simulated, Nasa Borba reported on 16 January. "The
key issue is not only to hold elections, but to hold free, fair and
democratic elections," AFP on 16 January quoted him as saying. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[3] UN NAMES HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL POLICE FORCE IN BOSNIA.
UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 15 January named an Irish assistant
police commissioner, Thomas Peter Fitzgerald, to head the UN
international police force in Bosnia. Fitzgerald has served in UN police
missions to Namibia, El Salvador and Cambodia. The UN wants some 1,700
officers deployed and most of these have been pledged although only
about 150 have so far arrived. A UN spokesman acknowledged that full
deployment will probably not occur by the 31 January date set in the
Dayton peace accords. The UN force is expected to train, assist and
supervise the Bosnian police but not to undertake actual police work. --
Michael Mihalka
[4] TUDJMAN'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS.
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman
on 15 January addressed a joint session of both chambers of the
Parliament on the state of the nation in 1995, Hina reported the same
day. He defined 1995 as a year in which "the establishment of
independent Croatia was completed and in which Croatia gained full
international recognition," while 1996 is expected to be a year of peace
when "the occupied Danubian area" will be finally integrated into the
Croatian constitutional and legal system. His two-and-a-half hour speech
focused on the war with the Serbs and the liberation of occupied areas,
foreign policy, government administration and democratic order, the
economy, social issues, and state policy targets for 1996. Tudjman said
that Croatia has become a strategic partner of the U.S. and an
irreplaceable factor in the establishment of a new international order
in the region. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] UN AGREES ON FORCE FOR E. SLAVONIA.
The UN Security Council authorized
on 15 January a 5,000-strong force and a civilian transitional authority
for Eastern Slavonia, international agencies reported. An American
diplomat, Jacques Klein, is expected to head both missions which have a
mandate of one year with an option for a second. An agreement concluded
on 12 November on the sidelines of the Dayton negotiation on Bosnia
stipulated that Eastern Slavonia would be reintegrated into Croatia
within two years. The UN mission is expected to serve as an interim
political authority, oversee the return of refugees, organize elections,
train a provisional police force, collect weapons and restart utilities.
-- Michael Mihalka
[6] "AMBASSADORS ARE RETURNING TO BELGRADE".
This is how Politika on 16
January headlines a report, which says that in the near future a number
of western countries are expected to reestablish contacts with the rump
Yugoslavia at ambassadorial level. According to the article, French
authorities, in a move that may pave the way for others, have said they
will restore their ambassador. Most western nations withdrew their
ambassadors, leaving charges in authority, in May 1992 with the
imposition of strict sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia. -- Stan
Markotich
[7] SLOVENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS MACEDONIA.
Milan Kucan paid a one-day visit
to Macedonia on 15 January, Nova Makedonija reported the next day. Kucan
met with President Kiro Gligorov and Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski
and discussed political and economic cooperation. Macedonia is currently
the seventh largest foreign trade partner of Slovenia. Both presidents
concluded that the Balkan crisis can only be solved with a European
perspective and expressed their desire for membership of the European
Union. They also stressed that "all former Yugoslav republics have equal
status in their succession to former Yugoslavia," thus rejecting
Belgrade's claims to be the sole legal successor, Politika reported. --
Fabian Schmidt
[8] DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY IN BUCHAREST.
President Ion Iliescu on 15 January
received French European Affairs Minister Michel Barnier, who is paying
an official visit to Romania, Radio Bucharest reported. Barnier also met
with Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu, Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu, Senate
Chairman Oliviu Gherman, Chamber of Deputies Chairman Adrian Nastase,
and with leaders of various political parties. The talks focused on
Romania's efforts of integration into European structures. The same
topic figured high in Iliescu's speech delivered on the same day at a
traditional new year reception for the diplomatic corps. In a separate
development, Romanian media reported on a visit to Bucharest by OSCE
High Commissioner on National Minorities Max van der Stoel. He discussed
with Gherman, Nastase, and Education Minister Liviu Maior issues related
to the treatment of ethnic minorities in Romania, including a
controversial education law, adopted in 1995. -- Dan Ionescu
[9] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT PREPARED TO RESUME DNIESTER TALKS.
Mircea Snegur on
15 January called for the resumption of the monthly meeting of all
parties involved in the settlement of the Dniester conflict, BASA-press
and Infotag reported. Snegur made the remark in a conversation with
Russia's newly-appointed special envoy to the negotiations, Yurii
Karlov. Talks between Chisinau and Tiraspol were suspended following an
unsuccessful summit meeting in mid-September between Snegur and the
president of the self-proclaimed Dniester republic, Igor Smirnov. -- Dan
Ionescu
[10] RAPPROCHEMENT BETWEEN BULGARIAN PRESIDENT AND OPPOSITION?
A newly formedgroup of intellectuals called "Concord in Bulgaria" is considering
supporting the candidacy of President Zhelyu Zhelev for another term in
office and is trying to reach a rapprochement between Zhelev and the
Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), 24 chasa reported on 16 January. Some
50 writers, artists and scholars will meet Zhelev on 16 January to
"build a bridge" between Zhelev and the SDS and to assess the
president's five years in office. Meanwhile, Zhelev invited SDS leader
Ivan Kostov to talk about domestic political questions next week. Kostov
has not replied so far and is waiting for the SDS's ruling bodies to
decide. -- Stefan Krause
[11] PAPANDREOU RESIGNS . . .
After almost two months in hospital, Greek
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou on 15 January submitted his
resignation, Greek radio reported the same day. Papandreou said his
illness "should not become an obstacle for the country" and called on
the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) to proceed immediately with
the election of a new premier. PASOK Secretary-General Kostas
Skandalidis called the resignation "a historic moment for our party and
. . . a courageous act" by Papandreou. Parliament Chairman Apostolos
Kaklamanis said the PASOK deputies will probably convene on 18 January
and elect a new premier by 20 January at the latest. Papandreou did not
resign as PASOK chairman. The Athens stock market rose by 1.79% on 15
January when it became apparent that Papandreou would resign, Reuters
reported. -- Stefan Krause
[12] . . . AND SIMITIS ANNOUNCES HIS CANDIDACY.
Former Industry Minister
Kostas Simitis on 16 January officially announced his candidacy to
succeed Papandreou, Reuters reported. The contest is likely to be
decided between Simitis and Defense Minister Gerasimos Arsenis, who is
regarded as a Papandreou loyalist who would probably continue his
predecessor's policies. Simitis would likely try to reform both the
party and the state apparatus. -- Stefan Krause
[13] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS CHINA.
Sali Berisha arrived in Beijing on 16
January, international agencies reported. Berisha met with President
Jiang Zemin, and the two sides signed agreements to cooperate in science
and technology, and radio and television. Albania has debts to China
amounting to $35 million. It is the first visit by an Albanian president
since communist Albania broke relations with China in 1978 over
ideological disagreements. Albania and China have increased bilateral
trade since 1992, amounting to about $20 million in 1995.-- 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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