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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 23, 1 February 1996
CONTENTS
[01] BOSNIAN OPPOSITION DEPUTIES MEET ACROSS DIVIDE.
[02] CROAT-MUSLIM FEDERATION GETS NEW GOVERNMENT.
[03] MORE "TERRIBLE DISCOVERIES" IN BOSNIA?
[04] SNIPER ATTACKS ON THE RISE; MUJAHIDEEN LEAVE.
[05] BOSNIAN SHORTS.
[06] SERBS STONEWALLING IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
[07] UN MILITARY OBSERVERS TO BE DEPLOYED IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
[08] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ON THE HAGUE.
[09] SLOVENIA BUYS ARMS FROM ISRAEL.
[10] UN FORCE IN MACEDONIA TO BECOME INDEPENDENT.
[11] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN GERMANY.
[12] CONTRADICTORY REPORTS ON ROMANIAN MINISTER'S DISMISSAL.
[13] DNIESTER PARLIAMENT AGAINST STATE OF EMERGENCY IN ECONOMY.
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CALLS GOVERNMENT "DANGEROUS."
[15] JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN ALBANIA.
[16] ALBANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECLARES GENOCIDE LAW LEGAL.
[17] GREEK PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES VOTE OF CONFIDENCE.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 23, Part II, 1 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] BOSNIAN OPPOSITION DEPUTIES MEET ACROSS DIVIDE.
The Onasa news agency
and AFP on 31 January reported that Bosnian Serb opposition deputies
from Banja Luka arrived in Sarajevo for a meeting with their
counterparts there. The visitors were led by Liberal Party leader
Miodrag Zivanovic and the hosts by Social Democratic chief Sejfudin
Tokic. They issued a declaration that called for the participation of
opposition parties in organizing upcoming elections, the renewal of
economic contacts, the punishment of war criminals, and the right of
refugees to go home. A joint opposition council will be set up to
encourage mutual trust, and an economic delegation from Banja Luka
will go to Tuzla. Zivanovic added: "Democratic forces in Banja Luka
believe that our lives cannot be built on ideas which understand an
absolute reduction of life to ethnic background, which are advocated
by the ideology of blood and evil, and which represent the past and a
myth." -- Patrick Moore
[02] CROAT-MUSLIM FEDERATION GETS NEW GOVERNMENT.
Just one day after the
Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina received its first postwar cabinet, one
of its components, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina followed
suit. Prime Minister Izudin Kapetanovic presented the parliament with
a list of 12 ministers and deputies reflecting an ethnic balance
between Muslims and Croats. There are also two ministers without
portfolio. Most of the posts deal with purely internal matters, but
there is a defense minister, namely Vladimir Soljic. A Muslim deputy
questioned how Soljic could be appointed when he is also a deputy in
the Croatian Sabor, but Federation President Kresimir Zubak answered
that Soljic gave up his job in Zagreb on being appointed to the
cabinet. Oslobodjenje reported on 1 February that the new government
is young by traditional Yugoslav standards, with the average age of
the ministers being 46. * Patrick Moore
[03] MORE "TERRIBLE DISCOVERIES" IN BOSNIA?
Elisabeth Rehn, UN specialreporter for human rights in the former Yugoslavia, told the Stern
weekly magazine about possibility of more "terrible discoveries" of
mass graves in Bosnia, AFP and Nasa Borba reported. She said of the
estimated 200-300 mass graves in Bosnia, some may be attributed to the
Croats or Muslims. Besides the Srebrenica mass graves, she mentioned
three graves near the east Croatian town of Vukovar and others near
Banja Luka and Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina, some of which were bigger
than 20 square meters. Rehn criticized IFOR for not patrolling grave
sites to protect evidence being destroyed. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[04] SNIPER ATTACKS ON THE RISE; MUJAHIDEEN LEAVE.
Two sniper attacks on
IFOR vehicles were reported on 31 January. One British soldier was
wounded. NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana, speaking in Copenhagen
the same day, refused to blame any of Bosnian factions for the
attacks., saying "It's not for us to point a finger at anybody." He
added that 45,000 men of the 60,000-strong IFOR have already arrived
in Bosnia. Meanwhile, a NATO spokesman in Sarajevo said that the last
group of Islamic "mujahideen" have left the country. But NATO officers
say that a number of Islamic volunteers remain in the country after
marrying local women or otherwise integrating with the local
population. -- Michael Mihalka
[05] BOSNIAN SHORTS.
Edmina Babahmetovic, a 53-year-old Muslim woman from
Banja Luka, has returned to her flat, restored to her by a Serbian
court. Reuters said on 1 February that she still receives threats from
armed Serbs. AFP the previous day quoted Pale parliamentary speaker
Momcilo Krajisnik as saying the search for the missing may go on for
years. The news agency added that outgoing republican Prime Minister
Haris Silajdzic blasted the Bosnian parliament for not doing anything
to stop the fall of Srebrenica and Zepa last July. Onasa quoted the
Croatian deputy prime minister as saying that indicted war criminal
General Tihomir Blaskic will soon be extradited to The Hague. He is
wanted for atrocities against Muslim villagers in Ahmici in April
1993. -- Patrick Moore
[06] SERBS STONEWALLING IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
AFP on 1 February quoted The
New York Times as saying that Serbian leaders in eastern Slavonia have
yet to admit openly that the region will return to Croatian
sovereignty in a maximum of two years. Serbian authorities continue to
use vitriolic language against Croatia and are conducting a propaganda
campaign among Serbian refugees to encourage them to settle in Eastern
Slavonia. The article said it is suspected that the Serbs have no
intention of honoring the agreement on returning the region to Croatia
signed by the Serbian and Croatian presidents in November. Meanwhile
in Zagreb, refugees from Posavina issued a declaration on 30 January
to demand that they be allowed to go home, Onasa reported. The group,
based in Slavonski Brod, said that they want to return to the area,
which has been assigned to the Serbs by the Dayton accords, in the
hope of restoring it to Croatian control. -- Patrick Moore
[07] UN MILITARY OBSERVERS TO BE DEPLOYED IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
The UN
Security Council on 31 January authorized the deployment of 100 UN
military observers to eastern Slavonia for six months, beginning end
of April, AFP and Hina reported the same day. The observers will join
5,000 peacekeepers in the region and oversee the demilitarization of
the area. Meanwhile, the UN Peace Force closed its main headquarters
in Zagreb. During its four-year mission in the former Yugoslavia, 213
Unied Nations soldiers were killed and 1,485 soldiers wounded, Hina
reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[08] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ON THE HAGUE.
Nasa Borba on 1 February
reports Vojislav Kostunica, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia,
as saying the previous day that the Hague-based International War
Crime Tribunal was an organization that "had to be worked with." The
tribunal, he said "is a force in international relations that must be
respected. In the past, Kostunica has had ties with Bosnian Serb
leaders Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, both accused war
criminals. -- Stan Markotich
[09] SLOVENIA BUYS ARMS FROM ISRAEL.
Delo on 31 January reported that
Ljubljana has agreed to purchase defense communications equipment
worth some $100 million from the Israeli firm Tadiran. Defense
Minister Jelko Kacin reportedly closed the deal on 12 January.
Ljubljana is obligated to buy the system by 1999. Equipment deliveries
have already begun. -- Stan Markotich
[10] UN FORCE IN MACEDONIA TO BECOME INDEPENDENT.
UN Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros Ghali on 31 January recommended that UNPREDEP be
transformed into an independent mission reporting directly to the UN
headquarters, AFP reported the same day. So far, UNPREDEP has been
reporting to UNPROFOR in Zagreb. The change, which has to be approved
by the Security Council could become effective on 1 February. UNPREDEP
currently has about 1,000 soldiers stationed in Macedonia. -- Stefan
Krause
[11] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN GERMANY.
Teodor Melescanu on 31 January
paid a one-day official visit to Germany, Romanian and international
media reported. he met with Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, Development
Aid Minister Carl-Dieter Spranger, and Defense Minister Volker Ruehe
to discuss Romania's European and NATO integration as well as the
development of bilateral economic relations. Kinkel stressed that
Romania needs to push ahead with domestic reforms, while Melescanu
pointed out that Germany is Romania's most important trade partner,
accounting for 17% of Romanian imports and 18% of its exports. Talks
with Ruehe concentrated on military cooperation, especially on officer
training programs. The German Defense Ministry has agreed to send a
senior logistics officer as an adviser in Bucharest. -- Matyas Szabo
[12] CONTRADICTORY REPORTS ON ROMANIAN MINISTER'S DISMISSAL.
Radio
Bucharest on 31 January quoted President Ion Iliescu's spokesman as
saying that the president has endorsed Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu's
decision to sack Telecommunications Minister Adrian Turicu. He later
issued another statement saying that the president was still
considering the case but that no final decision has been taken. Turicu
is a member of the chauvinistic Party of Romanian National Unity
(PUNR), an ally of the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania.
Vacaroiu's decision to suspend him is considered an indication of an
imminent split of the parties' coalition. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] DNIESTER PARLIAMENT AGAINST STATE OF EMERGENCY IN ECONOMY.
The Supreme
Soviet of the self-proclaimed Dniester republic on 30 January voted to
suspend a state of emergency in economy beginning the next day,
BASA-press reported. Deputies argued that President Igor Smirnov has
so far failed to present an anti-crisis program, and they urged him to
do so by 10 February. The state of emergency, which had been imposed
by presidential decree on 12 January, is mainly administrative and
includes severe restrictions on civic freedoms and political
activities. It is unclear whether the parliament's vote means a de
facto end to the state of emergency. On 31 January, the Dniester
government continued to abide by Smirnov's decree when it banned the
use of the Moldovan leu in cash transactions in the region. -- Dan
Ionescu
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CALLS GOVERNMENT "DANGEROUS."
Zhelyu Zhelev on 31
January launched a renewed attack against the Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP) and the government of Prime Minister Zhan Videnov.
Standart quoted him as saying that "Bulgaria needs a new, democratic
government," since the BSP government has become "simply dangerous for
Bulgaria [and] its national security and interests." He accused the
cabinet of returning to totalitarian methods of government and
tolerating crime and corruption. "You can't fight corruption when you
yourself are corrupt or are in some way associated with it." Zhelev
also criticized the government for alienating some of Bulgaria's
neighbors and not wanting to joint NATO. -- Stefan Krause
[15] JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN ALBANIA.
Altin Hazizaj, a journalist for the
independent daily Koha Jone, on 31 January was arrested after entering
a building in Tirana from which police were evicting former political
prisoners. The prisoners were squatting in the building because of a
lack of housing in the capital. Hazizaj entered the building to report
on the case. He has been charged with beating two policemen, but an
OMRI correspondent reports that Hazizaj does not appear physically
capable of beating policemen. The arrest appears to be the latest in a
number of attacks against Koha Jone. Since 26 January, police have
been impounding delivery vans belonging to the daily. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[16] ALBANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECLARES GENOCIDE LAW LEGAL.
The
Constitutional Court has dismissed an appeal by the Socialist and
Social Democratic Parties against the disputed genocide law (see OMRI
Daily Digest, 18 January 1996), Lajmi i Dites reported on 1 February.
The two parties said the law violated their basic freedoms because it
bans communist-era high-ranking officials from running for public
office until 2002. Under the law, Socialist Party leader and former
Premier Fatos Nano and Social Democratic leader Skender Gjinushi, who
was also education minister under President Ramiz Alia, will be
banned. Constitutional Court Chief Judge Rustem Gjata ruled that the
Albanian constitution allowed "reasonable limitations on the freedom"
of people who led repressive regimes. -- Fabian Schmidt
[17] GREEK PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES VOTE OF CONFIDENCE.
Kostas Simitis on 31
January received a vote of confidence from the parliament, Reuters
reported the same day. Some 166 deputies voted for his government, 123
against, and three abstained. The ruling Panhellenic Socialist
Movement has 168 mandates. In the parliamentary debate before the
vote, Simitis defended both the agreement to withdraw Greek and
Turkish naval forces from the area around the disputed islet of Imia
and the decision to lower the Greek flag there in order to ease
tension. Miltiadis Evert, leader of the conservative New Democracy
party, argued that "the removal of Greek troops and the lowering of
the Greek flag constitute an act of treason." He called on Simitis to
resign. -- Stefan Krause
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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