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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 34, 16 February 1996
CONTENTS
[01] IFOR SEIZES 'FOREIGN FIGHTERS.'
[02] PLAN FOR TRANSFER OF SERB-HELD SARAJEVO SUBURBS.
[03] SARAJEVO BUS TARGETED FROM "KNOWN LOCATIONS."
[04] HOLBROOKE SAYS BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL MUST GO.
[05] CROATIAN POLICE ARRIVE IN MOSTAR.
[06] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES CLAMP DOWN ON INDEPENDENT TV.
[07] ROMANIAN SENATE PASSES LAW ON POLITICAL PARTIES.
[08] GROWING LABOR UNREST IN ROMANIA.
[09] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER AT EU HEADQUARTERS.
[10] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
[11] ALBANIAN MINE PRIVATIZATION TO GET UNDER WAY.
[12] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS GREECE IN DISPUTE WITH TURKEY . . .
[13] . . . WHILE TURKEY REJECTS LEGALITY OF RESOLUTION.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 34, Part II, 16 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] IFOR SEIZES 'FOREIGN FIGHTERS'.
IFOR on 15 February detained 11 heavily
armed individuals near Sarajevo who were carrying a significant number
of weapons and munitions, international media reported. IFOR did not
reveal the identity of the individuals, saying only they were not
natives of Bosnia and that their presence appeared to violate provisions
of the Dayton peace accords prohibiting the presence of "foreign
forces." Some sources say that a few of the men were Iranians. Both IFOR
and the Bosnian government have officially maintained that there are no
"foreign fighters" in the country, but the U.S. has repeatedly
complained to the Bosnian government that their continued presence
threatens military aid. -- Michael Mihalka
[02] PLAN FOR TRANSFER OF SERB-HELD SARAJEVO SUBURBS.
Michael Steiner, deputy
to the international community's Carl Bildt, on 15 February presented a
plan for the phased transfer of Serb-held Sarajevo suburbs to Bosnian
government control, Hina and international media reported. A federal
police force is to take over on 20 March and will reflect the
composition of the national population based on the 1990 census. Serbian
police officers who are not indicted for war crimes may serve in the
force. Steiner added there was no longer any need to discuss the matter
with Bosnian Serb authorities, who have boycotted meetings with
international organizations. -- Michael Mihalka
[03] SARAJEVO BUS TARGETED FROM "KNOWN LOCATIONS".
An IFOR spokesman has said
that sniper shots aimed at a Sarajevo bus on 14 February can be traced
to "the same location from which IFOR soldiers were fired at," Onasa
reported the next day. Two people were injured in the 14 February
shooting. Meanwhile, Onasa also reported that a spokesman for the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees has said that the corridor linking
downtown Sarajevo to Serb-populated Ilidza will be restored when
authorities determine it to be safe. -- Stan Markotich
[04] HOLBROOKE SAYS BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL MUST GO.
Reuters on 15 February
quoted U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke as saying
NATO will "demand compliance" with regard to the status of Bosnian Serb
General and accused war criminal Ratko Mladic. Holbrooke said that by
continuing to hold onto his post, Mladic is "defying the Dayton
agreement." He also said that Mladic is likely to be a major topic of
discussion at the Rome summit this weekend. -- Stan Markotich
[05] CROATIAN POLICE ARRIVE IN MOSTAR.
Hina on 15 February reported that 101
police officers from Croatia have arrived in the Bosnian city of Mostar
with the mandate to preserve peace and law and order. Josko Moric,
Zagreb's deputy interior minister, said the officers will wear Croatian
uniforms. He added that they will not police Muslim-held parts of the
city and will not come under the command of EU police authorities.
Croatia had promised at Dayton to send more than 100 police officers to
Mostar. Meanwhile, Slobodna Dalmacija on 16 February reported that
Mostar's Croatian and Muslim mayors are slated to meet in Sarajevo on
16-17 February for discussions aimed at restoring contacts and resolving
outstanding differences. -- Stan Markotich
[06] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES CLAMP DOWN ON INDEPENDENT TV.
Belgrade's only
politically independent television station, Studio B, is the latest
target in the government's campaign against independent media in the
rump Yugoslavia, Nasa Borba reported on 16 February. A Belgrade court
the previous day revoked the station's status as a private company.
Reuters quoted Milorad Roganovic, general manager of Studio B TV, as
saying "I don't know how you can have a private company for six years
and then all of a sudden it doesn't exist. This is stupidity." The BBC
on 16 February reported that the attempt to take over Studio B appears
to be part of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's plan to control and
manipulate information as rump Yugoslav general elections approach. --
Stan Markotich
[07] ROMANIAN SENATE PASSES LAW ON POLITICAL PARTIES.
The Romanian Senate on
15 February approved the draft law on political parties, Radio Bucharest
reported. Since the draft differs from one passed by the Chamber of
Deputies, a mediation commission will now attempt to bridge differences
between the two texts. The bill raises the minimum membership of
political party from 2,500 to 10,000 members. The Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania (UDMR) faction walked out in protest and did not
participate in the ballot. UDMR senator Gyorgy Frunda told the
parliament before the vote that the draft infringes on both the right to
free association and the international convention on the rights of
national minorities, which Romania has signed. The UDMR has said it will
appeal the bill at the Constitutional Court. -- Michael Shafir
[08] GROWING LABOR UNREST IN ROMANIA.
Most of the 4,000 employees at a
Romanian car plant co-owned by South Korea's industrial giant Daewoo
have been on strike for more than a week, despite a court ruling that
the protest action is illegal, Romanian and international media reported
on 15 February. The strikers are demanding that their wages be indexed
to the dollar. President Ion Iliescu, meeting with union leaders and
management at the car plant, said the strike was endangering Korean
investment in Romania. South Korea is Romania's largest foreign
investor. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 steel workers in the town of
Hunedoara protested for the third consecutive day against lay-offs
caused by cuts of energy supplies at their plant. At a rally outside the
city hall on 15 February, they threatened to launch an indefinite strike
if energy supplies are not resumed. -- Matyas Szabo
[09] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER AT EU HEADQUARTERS.
Mihai Popov on 15 February
held talks in Brussels with Hans van den Broek, the EU Commissioner for
relations with Eastern Europe and the CIS, to review progress on the
withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova. Reuters quoted Popov as
saying there were good chances that Russia's commitment to withdraw its
troops from eastern Moldova will be carried out soon. He added, however,
that the unstable political situation in Russia may complicate the
withdrawal. Russia has pledged to remove troops from the breakaway
Dniester region within six months to comply with one of the conditions
for its recent successful application to join the CE. -- Matyas Szabo
[10] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
Leaders of the Union of
Democratic Forces (SDS), the People's Union (NS), and the ethnic Turkish
Movement for Rights and Freedom on 15 February held talks on selecting a
joint candidate for upcoming presidential elections. Standart reported
that SDS Chairman Ivan Kostov failed to persuade other party leaders to
preliminary elections among the parties' members. Kostov said that
incumbent President Zhelyu Zhelev can "on no account" be the SDS's
candidate but he can be the candidate of the united opposition. But he
added that the president will have to participate in the preliminaries.
Kostov also said that the "necessary circumstances" for former Tsar
Simeon's candidacy do not exist. Kontinent reported that the NS will set
up a political council of all parties supporting Zhelev's candidacy. --
Stefan Krause
[11] ALBANIAN MINE PRIVATIZATION TO GET UNDER WAY.
Albanian authorities on 15
February announced they will start the privatization of the country's
mines in the coming weeks, international agencies reported the same day.
Director of the National Privatization Center Niko Glozheni said smaller
mines will be put up for auction in the first wave of privatization.
Glozheni said that in 1995, 2,924 small and medium-sized state
enterprises and 50 large ones were privatized. Albania is the world's
third biggest chrome producing country. In other news, Albania and
Germany signed an agreement whereby Germany will provide aid worth $13
million to help improve the water supply system in three Albanian towns.
The agreement is the second stage of a project on which Germany has
already spent about $5.8 million. Negotiations on a similar program in
two other towns are currently under way. -- Stefan Krause
[12] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS GREECE IN DISPUTE WITH TURKEY . . .
The
European Parliament on 15 February passed a declaration backing Greece
in its dispute with Turkey over the islet of Imia/Kardak, AFP reported
the same day. The vote was 342 to 21 with 11 abstentions. The resolution
condemned "Turkey's dangerous violation of Greek sovereignty" and voiced
concern about "increased military tension in the Aegean." Meanwhile, a
Greek Aegean Ministry official said Athens will continue with a
resettlement program involving 10 islets, which was unveiled last July.
Also on 15 February, the Greek government named Gen. Athanasios Tzoganis
as new armed forces chief of staff. Tzoganis, until now chief of the air
force, replaces Admiral Christos Limberis, who was fired on 8 February
for his handling of the crisis. -- Stefan Krause
[13] . . . WHILE TURKEY REJECTS LEGALITY OF RESOLUTION.
The Turkish Foreign
Ministry, meanwhile, termed the European Parliament's resolution "devoid
of any legal basis" and noted that the parliament is maintaining its
"biased and far from constructive stance," Reuters reported on 15
February. The ministry the same day summoned a Greek envoy to demand
that Greece withdraw a speedboat reportedly anchored off the Kardak/Imia
islet in the Aegean. -- Lowell Bezanis
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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