Compact version |
|
Friday, 29 November 2024 | ||
|
Serbia Today, 96-09-27Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Yugoslav Daily Survey27 September 1996CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT EXPECTS DEFINITE REMOVAL OF SANCTIONSN o v i S a d, Sept. 26 (Tanjug) - President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zoran Lilic has said that Yugoslavia had become a crucial factor of peace, stability and goodneighbourliness in the region and that it was entitled to expect the U.N. Security Council to definitely remove all sanctions within a deadline stipulated by the Dayton peace accords.Lilic was speaking in an interview carried in the first issue of the magazine of Nedeljni Dnevnik, published in Novi Sad, the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. Lilic said that Yugoslavia had met all obligations stipulated in the Dayton accords and that the international community had acknowledged its constructive role and contribution to the peace process. By pursuing such a constructive policy, Yugoslavia has affirmed itself as an inevitable factor in the peace and stabilization processes in the region and europe, and as an attractive partner for bilateral cooperation with many states, Lilic said. The Yugoslav President said that a full normalization of relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina would take place after the setting up of Bosnian governing bodies, which obtained legitimacy at the Sept. 14 elections. The Dayton accords have secured international recognition to the Serb people and a legalization of the Republika Srpska (R.S.), which has been definitely confirmed by the holding of the elections, Lilic said. The national interest of the Serb people in the R.S. is peace, above all, and economic, democratic and social development and progress, Lilic said, adding that Yugoslavia had essentially contributed to the creation of such conditions. Lilic said that agreements on a normalization of relations with Macedonia and Croatia had confirmed Yugoslavia's readiness for cooperation and goodneighbourliness with all former Yugoslav republics. He said that talks were under way with the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina on the establishment of economic, transport and other ties. Future cooperation in the area of the former Yugoslavia should be part of a process of association with European and other integrations, which is in the interest of all states in the region and the reason why we fully support the European Union's regional approach and cooperation with southeastern Europe, Lilic said. Lilic said that a normalization of relations between Yugoslavia and Croatia was a decisive step in a final settlement of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia and regional stabilization. The agreement provides for ways to resolve the pending territorial issue of the Prevlaka peninsula, located on the Yugoslav-Croatian border, in a peaceful and negotiated way and in the spirit of the U.N. charter and goodneighbourly relations. Pending a final solution, the existing security system on Prevlaka, established with U.N. monitoring, remains in force, Lilic said, adding that a development of relations with Croatia would pave the way for a favourable solution to the issue in keeping with undisputable security, historic and other relevant arguments which should be respected and approved by both sides. Lilic has stated that the southern province of Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet) is an internal affair of the F.R.Y. and its Republic of Serbia, whose 'state integrity and wholeness cannot be a subject for discussion as regards any question.' This principled stand of Serbia and the F.R.Y., for which there is a consensus throughout the world, must be observed, President Lilic pointed out. Lilic said that the recent accord between President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova had crowned six years of efforts towards the establishment and operation of Serbia's educational system in Kosmet. Lilic pointed out that a large number of ethnic Albanians in Kosmet shut themselves in a ghetto, putting Albanian children and youths into a very bad epidemiological, health and educational situation. 'Despite a majority of Albanian population's obstructions of the social and political life of the F.R.Y., failures to respect the constitution and laws, phenomena of terrorism and blunt calls for separatism, the F.R.Y. - in observing all the standards and international norms in the field of human rights and the rights of national minorities - has been holding to the stand that the problem is solvable only by means of dialogues,' Lilic stressed. Lilic said he maintained that the priorities in the improvement of the situation in Kosmet were the humanitarian aspects of the problem: education, health and medical services, and social welfare services for children, women and the elderly, so that space would open for the settlement of the outstanding political issues. Recalling that the F.R.Y. is defined as a civil state inhabited by more than twenty national minorities or communities, Lilic said that the national minority rights in this country 'have in many a respect become superior to the known norms of international standards.' Inter-ethnic relations in Vojvodina, which can be regarded as a successful model for the whole world, warrant the future of national equality, Lilic assessed. [02] LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AFFECTS U.N.'S CREDIBILITYN e w Y o r k, Sept. 27 (Tanjug) - The lifting of the sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is an issue which most directly affects the credibility of the international community and the process of the implementation of the Dayton agreement itself, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic said on Thursday evening.Milutinovic said that the lifting of the sanctions does not present a problem in itself, rather at stake is the principle of the matter which was agreed in Dayton and recorded in a special U.N. Security Council resolution. In a statement following talks on this topic conducted in New York over the past few days with almost all the representatives of the Security Council and the Contact Group, Milutinovic said that not a single one of them had questioned two things: the success and regularity of the Bosnia elections, and that Yugoslavia had done everything to secure the success of the Dayton agreement. Milutinovic said that his talks in New York had also clearly shown that the lif ones. Yugoslavia has been handicapped by the dramatic events in the Balkans during the embargo, but there are good chances of recuperating what has been lost - said Dr. Vujovic at the meeting of the departamental ministers from some 30 countries, a large number of top executives of renowned global and American companies, as well as US Government representatives. (Borba, September 27, 1996) [03] YUGOSLAV INDUSTRY PRESENTATION IN HUNGARIANYesterday in Belgrade, the latest edition of the "Zurnal eksport" magazine dedicated to the economic cooperation between Serbia and Hungary has been presented. In the past years, this specialized magazine, destined to foreign businessmen, was regularly published in two dozen languages, even during the sanctions. Each edition was intended for a different country and printed in respective language (English, Russian, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Italy, Greek, Polish, Czech, Portuguese). The latest edition "Serbia- Hungary" printed naturally in Hungarian, presents many of our reputable companies interested in attracting partners from this neighboring country or appearing on the Hungarian market. (Politika, September 27, 1996)[04] RAPID SETTLING OF SERBIAN HOMESImmediately after the adoption of the Croatian Law on General Amnesty - representing the basis for the return of all refugees and displaced persons - it has become evident that its just another attempt to throw dust into the eyes of the international community - said Croatian Parliament Member Milan Djukic in his letter to President Tudjman. He also indicates that throughout the region of Krayina Serbian homes are being relentlessly and rapidly settled by Croats, and that alleged refugees from neighboring Bosnia and all parts of Croatia are being brought in, to prevent the return of Serbs. Mr. Djukic also underscored that the colonization has been planned and instructed by the government because Croatian Army and Police are allowing the settlers to freely pick out a house and move in, whilst at the same time they prevent Serbian refugees form returning to their homes. Thus the Croatian state evades its own Constitution, breaching the private property principle and all international conventions protecting basic human rights, and threaded upon all fundamental moral and humane principles with its hypocritical actions - warns Mr. Djukic. (Politika, September 27, 1996)[05] IFOR AND THE MOSLEMS IGNORE AGREEMENTMr. Dragan Kijac - Minister of Interior of the Republic of Srpska, warned IFOR Commander - General Michael Walker that in the border villages of Mahala, Dugi Do and Jusici, in Zvornik County, the negotiated deadlines - set after the incidents caused by the incursion of Moslems - have not been met, thus placing the Serbian side in a very delicate position. In his note, Minister Kijac also reminds that the Dayton Agreement does not limit the authority of the Republic of Srpska in the territories assigned to it by the Document, nor does it suspend the RS laws that are in accordance with the Dayton Agreement. Both You and your field commanders have witnessed that in this particular case paramilitary armed units are involved and have displayed clear aggressive intentions - Mr. Kijac remarks. He also warns that these troops have not been completely disarmed and does not exclude the possibility of arms still being smuggled from the Moslem-Croatian Federation across the internal border between entities. Although the deadline for their withdrawal has expired, more than 400 Moslems are still in the village of Jusici, refusing to go back where they came from. "We are faced with a insolent Moslem manipulation of the Dayton Agreement" - says Mr. Dragomir Vasic - Superintendent of the Public Security Center in Zvornik. (Vecernje Novosti, September 27, 1996)[06] TRAVNIK PARTITIONED AS WELLThe representatives of the Croat community in Travnik requested that the town be divided and the territorial/political system already established in Mostar be introduced, Croatian Radio Herzeg-Bosnia reported yesterday. The Croatian side proposes that Travnik should consist of two Croatian and two Moslem municipalities. The demand has also been motioned by Mr. Kresimir Zubak - President of the Moslem-Croatian Federation - at the elections rally held in this town on September 8th. He also warned that there will be no local elections until the new territorial divisions between the municipalities in the Federation are carried out. A similar initiative has been launched for the town of Tuzla. Apart from Mostar, the towns of Gornji Vakuf (Uskoplje) and Novi Travnik have already been divided between Moslems and Croats. (Vecernje Novosti, September 27, 1996)Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |