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OMRI Daily Digest II No. 28, 8 February 1996
CONTENTS
[1] MIXED REACTIONS TO DETENTION OF SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINALS.
[2] RED CROSS ON FATE OF BOSNIAN MUSLIMS IN SREBRENICA.
[3] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN BOSNIA.
[4] CROATIAN PROTESTERS RANSACK EU OFFICE IN MOSTAR.
[5] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE.
[6] GEN. SHALIKASHVILI IN ROMANIA.
[7] MORE STRIKES IN ROMANIA.
[8] MOLDOVAN, DNIESTER LEADERS MEET.
[9] FORMER BULGARIAN MONARCH TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT?
[10] RUMP YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER IN SOFIA.
[11] ALBANIAN, GREEK OFFICIALS HOLD TALKS IN TIRANA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 28, Part II, 8 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] MIXED REACTIONS TO DETENTION OF SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINALS.
The BBC on 7
February quoted top officials of the tribunal as saying that the Bosnian
government's actions were "quite proper" and that all sides "are duty
bound" by the Dayton agreement to cooperate with the court and arrest
war criminals. Onasa cited court officials as adding that they had asked
the Bosnians to arrest General Djordje Djukic and Colonel Aleksa
Krsmanovic. The tribunal is considering asking the Bosnian authorities
to arrest on its behalf other suspects held in Sarajevo. The BBC quoted
President Bill Clinton's special envoy Robert Galucci as saying that the
government had a point in arresting suspected war criminals, but he also
expressed sympathy for the Serbian view that the detentions contravene
the principle of freedom of movement. -- Patrick Moore
[2] RED CROSS ON FATE OF BOSNIAN MUSLIMS IN SREBRENICA.
An official from the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on 7 February that
he believed the 3,000 Bosnian Muslims detained by Bosnian Serbs in July
1995 after Srebrenica's fall were killed, international media reported.
He added that the fate of another 5,000 Bosnian Muslims who tried to
flee the area needed to be "urgently settled." This is the first time
the ICRC, which is known for its caution, has suggested that the 3,000
Srebrenica Muslims may be dead. Several thousand Muslim men reportedly
crossed over into government territory last July after Srebrenica's
fall, but the ICRC was unable to register them. The ICRC says it is
finding new prisoners each day but the Bosnian factions are violating
the Dayton peace accords by denying it access to them. -- Michael
Mihalka
[3] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN BOSNIA.
Pavel Grachev arrived in Bosnia on 7
February to review the deployment of Russian peacekeepers, international
media reported. He met with NATO commander U.S. General George Joulwan,
who commented that "cooperation between U.S. and Russian troops [in
Bosnia] can create a new relationship between NATO and Russia." Grachev
noted that the deployment of Russian troops had occurred without
incident. -- Michael Mihalka
[4] CROATIAN PROTESTERS RANSACK EU OFFICE IN MOSTAR.
Following EU
administrator Hans Koschnick's 7 February announcement of adminstrative
reorganization of Mostar, a large group of Croats ransacked EU offices
in the city, international and local media reported. Demonstrators
trapped Koschnick for an hour in his car to protest his plan to unify
the city. Mostar Mayor Mijo Brajkovic, who has rejected Koschnick's
plans, joined the demonstrators, Hina reported. He told Reuters to
expect Koschnick "to change his decision now." Meanwhile, NATO called on
the Mostar Croats to halt all attacks on the EU administration and
announced that NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana will visit the town.
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel asked Croatia to support and
protect the EU mission and its staff in Mostar. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE.
The Slovenian parliament on 7 February
elected three new ministers to portfolios that were vacated in late
January when the coalition partner United List of Social Democrats
(ZLSD) broke away, Reuters reported. The coalition is now composed of
the Liberal Democratic Party (LDS) and the Christian Democratic Party
(SKD).Tone Rop, an LDS member, has been appointed labor minister; Andrej
Umek of the Christian Democrats science minister; and Janez Dular, an
independent and one-time deputy editor of the daily Slovenec, culture
minister. The LDS now has seven portfolios, the SKD five, and
independents three. -- Stan Markotich
[6] GEN. SHALIKASHVILI IN ROMANIA.
General John Shalikashvili, chairman of
the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, on 7 February began a two-day visit to
Romania, Romanian and Western media reported. Shalikashvili met with
Romanian President Ion Iliescu and Chief-of-Staff Gen. Dumitru Cioflina
to discuss Romania's ambitions to join NATO and its participation in the
Partnership for Peace Program. They also discussed U.S.-Romanian
military relations, which Shalikashvili described as "very, very close."
Shalikashvili is scheduled to meet with Defense Minister Gheorghe Tinca
and to visit an army non-combat battalion that Romania has offered to
send to Bosnia as part of the peacekeeping forces there. Romania was the
first country to enroll in NATO's PfP program. -- Dan Ionescu
[7] MORE STRIKES IN ROMANIA.
Following a warning strike earlier this week,
some 4,000 employees at the Rodae car plant in Craiova began an
indefinite walkout on 7 February, Romanian and international media
reported. Workers at the plant, which is majority-owned by South Korean
industrial giant Daewoo, are demanding cost-of-living wage increases,
the dismissal of two Romanian directors at the plant, and expenses for
Romanian workers who receive training in South Korea. The plant's
management said it will go to court to have the strike called off.
Meanwhile, metro workers in Bucharest staged a two-hour warning strike
in support of higher wages and better working conditions. They are
threatening an indefinite strike early next week. -- Matyas Szabo
[8] MOLDOVAN, DNIESTER LEADERS MEET.
Mircea Snegur and Igor Smirnov met in
Tiraspol on 7 February, Moldovan and western media reported. The two
sides discussed financial and monetary issues, with Tiraspol insisting
that Moldova allow the transit of Dniester bank notes printed in
Germany. The disputed status of the Dniester region within the Moldovan
state was not discussed, Infotag said. The only document the two sides
signed was a protocol on cooperation on customs issues. The summit was
scheduled for 31 January but was postponed by the Dniester leaders. --
Dan Ionescu
[9] FORMER BULGARIAN MONARCH TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT?
Former Tsar Simeon II, inan interview with the French royalist weekly Action Francaise Hebdo, has
said he may run in the Bulgarian presidential elections later this year
since he sees no reason "to limit his options to scenarios from the
past," AFP reported on 8 February. With regard the constitutional
provision that the president must have lived in Bulgaria for the past
five years, Simeon said in his case"this condition is invalid because I
am living abroad not out of choice but by force." One question that
remains open is whether running for president means implicit recognition
of the 1946 referendum abolishing the monarchy, which Simeon claims was
invalid. -- Stefan Krause
[10] RUMP YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER IN SOFIA.
Pavle Bulatovic on 7 February
concluded a two-day official visit to Bulgaria, Bulgarian and
international media reported. Bulatovic and his Bulgarian counterpart,
Dimitar Pavlov, signed a bilateral agreement on restoring military ties
disrupted by UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia. Bulgarian Prime
Minister Zhan Videnov said the agreement is part of the peace process in
the Balkans and a good basis for the restoration of economic cooperation
between the two countries. On the arrest of two high-level Bosnian Serb
officers by the Bosnian government, Bulatovic said this "may have an
adverse effect on the implementation of the Dayton and Paris accords."
He called it "unacceptable" that state representatives on an official
mission should be arrested, and he accused IFOR of indifference. --
Stefan Krause
[11] ALBANIAN, GREEK OFFICIALS HOLD TALKS IN TIRANA.
Greek Foreign Ministry
legal and economic experts concluded two-day talks in Tirana with their
Albanian counterparts on Albanian immigrants in Greece and the possible
legalization of their status, ATSH reported on 7 February. Agreements on
seasonal work and property regulations were discussed, as was the
opening of Greek-language schools for ethnic Greeks in Gjirokastra,
Delvina, and Saranda. Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi promised
to introduce "the most advanced standards of education" for the Greek
minority, while the Greek delegation promised to support Albania's
efforts to join the EU. -- 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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