YDS 12/15

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

From: [email protected] (D.D. Chukurov)

15 DECEMBER 1995 YDS-1039

C O N T E N T S :

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA - MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN, IZETBEGOVIC SIGN BOSNIA PEACE ACCORD IN PARIS - MILOSEVIC SAYS PEACE IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA IS IN COMMON INTEREST - CLINTON RECEIVES MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN AND IZETBEGOVIC - MILOSEVIC ON PARIS CONFERENCE - MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT ON PARIS CONFERENCE - BOSNIAN SERB VICE-PRESIDENT: NO MORE WAR IN BOSNIA AS MOST IMPORTANT - YUGOSLAV PREMIER: TRIUMPH OF PEACE FORCES OVER WAR OPTION FORCES - CLINTON AND CHIRAC ON PROBLEM OF SARAJEVO SERBS - CHIRAC WARNS SARAJEVO WILL REFLECT ALL OF BOSNIA - CHIRAC INSISTS ON POLITICAL SETTLEMENT FOR SREM-BARANIA REGION

BOSNIA - DISARMAMENT - CONFERENCE ON BOSNIAN ARMS CONTROL TO BE HELD IN BONN ON MONDAY

YUGOSLAVIA - FRANCE - SERBIAN PRESIDENT SEES NO OBSTACLE TO FRIENDLY TIES WITH FRANCE

YUGOSLAVIA - BRITAIN - BRITAIN OFFERS TO HELP REBUILD YUGOSLAV ECONOMY - BRITAIN WANTS SPEEDY RESUMPTION OF ECONOMIC TIES WITH YUGOSLAVIA

LIFTING OF THE SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA - CZECH PRESIDENT SIGNS ACT ABOLISHING SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

SARAJEVO - EXPLOSIONS - EXPLOSIONS GO OFF IN SARAJEVO

MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN, IZETBEGOVIC SIGN BOSNIA PEACE ACCORD IN PARIS Paris, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - At 11.50 a.m. sharp on Thursday a peaceagreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina was signed in Paris, receiving a big applause from officials of more than 50 states attending the signing ceremony. The agreement was signed by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic who heads the Yugoslav delegation to the Paris peace conference, his Croatian counterpart Franjo Tudjman and Bosnian Moslem leader Alija Izetbegovic. It was signed in the presence of U.S. and French Presidents Bill Clinton and Jacques Chirac, British, Spanish and Russian Prime Ministers John Major, Felipe Gonzalez and Victor Chernomyrdin, and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl,

who then countersigned the agreement.

MILOSEVIC SAYS PEACE IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA IS IN COMMON INTEREST Paris, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic welcomed the signing of the peace agreement for Bosnia Thursday and said peace was in the interest of all peoples and individuals living there. Milosevic said after the signing ceremony at the Elysee Palace that the war had taken a great many human lives and caused immense devastation. He said much time, funds and energy would be needed for reconstruction, and the sufferings and pain experienced by people would leave a longlasting trace. Milosevic underscored that peace was the fore most and indispensable condition for the devastation and sufferings to stop. He did say, however, that peace could not resolve all the problems in relations between peoples and individuals affected by the war in the past three years. Serbia's President set out that peace did, however, create conditions for the outstanding problems to be resolved by other, civilized and humane means. He said those means were the only ones permissible in human communications, even when there were differences in opinions. Milosevic expressed the conviction that a common tongue would be found in relations among the peoples in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He said that, despite the agony those peoples had gone through, they were at the threshold of reaching solutions which would enable them to live in keeping with their own interests. Milosevic expressed a deep conviction and sincere wish that the first elections in the Bosnian Serb Republic Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation would lead to the setting up of authorities capable of securing a modern and humane way of life in peace. He said impartiality was the key to a successful implementation of the peace plan and role of the international peace force, just as bias was a key to the failure of both. Milosevic said he was convinced that all international and internal factors interested in peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the implementation of the Dayton agreement would adopt an impartial stand. Milosevic wished all the peoples in the former Yugoslavia longlasting peace. He thanked the international community for everything it had done for peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially the U.S. without which Milosevic said the Dayton agreement would not have been possible.

CLINTON RECEIVES MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN AND IZETBEGOVIC Paris, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - U.S. President Bill Clinton received here Thursday Presidents Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia and Franjo Tudjman of Croatia and Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic. The talk held in a cordial atmosphere at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador covered all aspects of the peace agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina to be signed at the Elysee Palace Thursday.

MILOSEVIC ON PARIS CONFERENCE Paris, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - The Paris Conference presents the symbolic end of the long road to peace which is present in all its elements in the peace accords signed today, and defined in Dayton, Ohio, Yugoslav delegation head and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic said on Thursday. 'I am certain that this historic day should mark a turning point toward peace, understanding, cooperation in the region of the Balkans. It is time all peoples in the region turned to economic recovery, developement, construction and mutual cooperation,' Milosevic told Tanjug and Serbian Radio-Television. 'A great contribution has been made to the interests of all nations and all people who live in the Balkans and I am certain this peace, which was symbolically signed in Paris today, is in the interests of all nations and all people, all states of the region, and, I would say, all of Europe as a whole,' he said. 'I am confident that every side will do its utmost to respect the articles of the peace accords and implement them fully,' Milosevic said. Assessing today's meetings with U.S. President Bill Clinton, President Milosevic said: 'The main characteristic of the meetings was doubtless an openness and mutual understanding. I am sure we are facing full normalization of relations between Yugoslavia and the U.S. and an intense cooperation,' he said. Presidents Milosevic and Clinton met twice today, and also entered into dialogue at the official lunch. Asked to comment the matter of resolving the problem of Sarajevo, President Milosevic said: 'The Dayton accords call for a series of articles guaranteeing freedom, which prevent discrimination, which enable free choice of the place of residence, which protect the safety of all people, all citizens in Bosnia-Herzegovina. There is no place for fear or apprehension. During the period of transition, there will be sufficient time for all wishes to be coordinated with possibilities,' Milosevic said, addressing Serbs in Sarajevo, which will entirely become part of the Croat-Muslim Federation. 'It is clear that the war is over. The mechanism of thinking under circumstances of war should be eliminated, and be replaced by thoughts on how to organize peace,' he said. 'With the engagement of the entire international community, including, of course, and primarily, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, I am sure that we shall successfully resolve many worries, many, I would say, justified concerns of the citizens of the Serb part of Sarajevo. I think they should trust both us and the international community that this will indeed be so.'

MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT ON PARIS CONFERENCE Paris, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic said Thursday the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic 'made a very important and recognizable contribution to the entire peace process, crowned in Paris today.' After the Paris peace conference on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulatovic told Tanjug and Serbian Radio-Television much remained to be done in implementing the peace accords. Bulatovic said Yugoslavia had managed, during the negotiating process which he said ran in parallel with the war in Bosnia, to demonstrate to the world the strength of its arguments, to show that the media presentation of Yugoslavia, and Serb people outside the country, was not absolutely correct. The Montenegrin President, who was a member of the Yugoslav delegation to the Conference, underscored that the negotiating process had been intensified since the beginning of the year, when the U.S. became more actively engaged. Bulatovic said that it had been evident on Thursday, during many diplomatic contacts, 'how many people, especially individually, are warming up toward us, and how little they still know about the actual position, actual intentions of Yugoslavia's policy, and even less about the actual causes of the war in Bosnia.' 'This is a time when we can really do much more and affirm in the international community the accepted values which are an integral part of the internal political life and democratic development of Yugoslavia. This is the key to our intergration into the world community,' Bulatovic said.

BOSNIAN SERB VICE-PRESIDENT: NO MORE WAR IN BOSNIA AS MOST IMPORTANT Paris, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic) Vice-President Nikola Koljevic said Thursday the most important thing was that there would be no more war in Bosnia and that this was backed by the biggest powers. Koljevic, who represented Republika Srpska in the Yugoslav delegation to the Paris Conference, told Tanjug and Serbian Radio-Television that 'the way to peace will not be easy' and that the most important thing for Republika Srpska was that 'it now begins to exist on the international stage as an entity with great independence.' Koljevic said he had received assurances that the problem of Sarajevo Serbs would also be resolved, as this city is entirely to be within the Muslim-Croat Federation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Koljevic said guarantees had been received from the international community and Yugoslavia that those Serbs who wish to remain in Sarajevo would be protected. This will be discussed in detail already on Friday with Carl Bildt and his associates, who will visit the Serb municipalities of Sarajevo, Koljevic said. He said it was necessary that Sarajevo Serbs know they need not leave, that they are assured they will be safe, but also that they may leave, and that they have somewhere to go to. Koljevic pointed out that Republika Srpska had been given the possibility to cooperate with Yugoslavia practically in all areas - from the economy to culture - and that Republika Srpska would do this very soon.

YUGOSLAV PREMIER: TRIUMPH OF PEACE FORCES OVER WAR OPTION FORCES Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (F.R.Y.) Radoje Kontic assessed on Thursday that the signing of the peace agreement for Bosnia represented a triumph of the forces of peace over those which had in the recent past advocated a war option. In a statement to journalists, following a ceremony in Paris, Kontic also said that the policy of peace of the F.R.Y. was crowned with this act. 'This is a day to remember, for history. This is the triumph of peace and human dignity,' said the Prime Minister of the F.R.Y. Kontic underscored the need for Yugoslavia's speedy reintegration into the internatinal community, the U.N. and the OSCE in order to 'really fully assume the role of peace - and stability-maker in this region.' He warned that the 'signing of the peace agreement does not mean the final victory of peace and that the international community has a big resposibility to consistently implement the peace agreement.' 'If the international community and the multinational force in Bosnia and the Srem-Baranja region (U.N. Sector East) treat all involved parties in an equal and unbiased way, I am certain that peace will finally be established in this region,' Kontic said. Kontic said that Yugoslavia 'certainly has a big responsibility for the consistent implementation of the Dayton peace agreement (signed on Nov. 21) and the Srem-Baranja region agreement (signed on Nov. 12), but it also 'has a big responsibility to turn towards internal problems, development and the reconstruction of the Yugoslav economy and for the final reintegration of Yugoslavia into the international community.'

CLINTON AND CHIRAC ON PROBLEM OF SARAJEVO SERBS Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Presidents Bill Clinton of the U.S. and Jacques Chirac of France conferred in Paris on Thursday on how to remove the apprehension of Sarajevo Serbs over the passing of the entire city under the authority of the Croat-Muslim Federation, in line with the articles of the Bosnia-Herzegovina peace accords. White House Spokesman Michael Mccurry said in Paris that the talks, held just before the signing ceremony at the Presidential Palace, had focused on issues concerning the implementation of the agreement and related problems, the French news agency AFP reported from Paris. The basic subject of their talks was how to assure Serbs that they could safely remain. Chirac and Clinton pointed out that Sarajevo Serbs should be made to feel confident that a United Sarajevo is in their interest, Mccurry said. Clinton personally spoke about the problem of the fate of Sarajevo Serbs in a brief talk with Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic on Thursday morning, AFP said.

CHIRAC WARNS SARAJEVO WILL REFLECT ALL OF BOSNIA Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday in talks with Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic that the picture on Bosnia-Herzegovina will largely depend on what will be happening in Sarajevo. Chirac sad that, essentially, the most delicate points of the peace accords signed in Paris were the ones pertaining to Sarajevo's Serb population, the Presidential Palace said, as quoted by the French news agency AFP. All citizens must be respected, Chirac said, pointing out that France had most strongly defended the principle of a united Bosnia-Herzegovina.

CHIRAC INSISTS ON POLITICAL SETTLEMENT FOR SREM-BARANIA REGION Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - French President Jacques Chirac insisted in a talk with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Thursday on a political settlement for the Srem-Barania region. French Presidential Spokeswoman Catherine Colonna quoted Chiracas stressing to Tudjman the importance of a speedy signing of a mutual recognition agreement between Croatia and Yugoslavia, the AFP reported from Paris.

BOSNIA - DISARMAMENT

CONFERENCE ON BOSNIAN ARMS CONTROL TO BE HELD IN BONN ON MONDAY Bonn, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - A conference on arms control in Bosnia-Herzegovina will be held in the German Government residence near Bonn next Monday, the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday. The statement said that the conference would focus on 'building measures of trust and arms control' based on the Bosnian peace agreement. The Yugoslav delegation at the meeting will be headed by Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, the Government decided at a session on Thursday.

YUGOSLAVIA - FRANCE

SERBIAN PRESIDENT SEES NO OBSTACLE TO FRIENDLY TIES WITH FRANCE Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic said late on Thursday that he saw not a single obstacle to the resumption of friendly ties between France and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Milosevic was speaking after meeting with Chirac at the Elysee Presidential Palace earlier in the day, according to the AFP reporting from Paris. Milosevic said that Yugoslavia and France had a long tradition of friendship and agreed that there was not the smallest obstacle anymore to further strengthening that friendship and keeping the tradition alive. He said that he and Chirac had discussed various forms of cooperation, primarily in the economic sphere. A spokesperson for the Elysee Palace quoted Chirac as saying that the return of peace to former Yugoslavia paved the way for a progressive normalisation of the international community's relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. To Milosevic's invitation that the E.U. states' Ambassadors return to Belgrade, Chirac replied that the 15 E.U. states would take a decision in the matter together in the near future. The source said that Chirac had thanked Milosevic for his part in the release of two French pilots after 104 days in Bosnian Serb captivity.

YUGOSLAVIA - BRITAIN

BRITAIN OFFERS TO HELP REBUILD YUGOSLAV ECONOMY Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Under-Secretary at the British Ministry of Trade and Industry Neil Thornton and Charge d'affaires of the British Embassy in Belgrade Ivor Roberts said on Thursday that British companies were willing to help rebuild the Yugoslav economy. Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade, Thornton said that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia needed skilled partners and could find them among Britain's big firms in the telecommunications, railway, power and other industries. He said he foresaw no special obstacles, now that the anti-Yugoslav sanctions of three and a half years had been removed, to Yugoslavia's setting up with the E.U. the same relations that the defunct Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had had. Thornton promised to do his best to help Yugoslavia establish relations with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international financial institutions.

BRITAIN WANTS SPEEDY RESUMPTION OF ECONOMIC TIES WITH YUGOSLAVIA Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Under-Secretary in the British Ministry of Trade and Industry Neil Thornton said on Thursday that Britain was interested in a speedy resumption of economic ties withthe Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Thornton was speaking with First Vice Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia (central bank) Zarko Trbojevic. The Vice Governor's Office said in a statement that Trbojevic had informed Thornton about the positive results achieved to date in the implementation of Programme 2 - phase two of the Yugoslav Economic Recovery Plan. He informed his guest about last week's decision of the International Monetary Fund to extend the deadline for the regulation of the status the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Trbojevic spoke also about preparations for resuming cooperation with international financial institutions and the international capital market and the preparation of concrete projects that should attract foreign capital. In the interest of the two countries' economies, the competent bodies in London should take the necessary steps as soon as possible that would allow the national firms to appear in Yugoslavia, it wassaid during the talk. British authorities should also take a clearer position on the use by the yugoslav economy of its assets in Great Britain now that the sanctions against Yugoslavia have been suspended, it was said.

LIFTING OF THE SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

CZECH PRESIDENT SIGNS ACT ABOLISHING SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA Prague, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel signed on Thursday the act which abolishes the sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (F.R.Y.) on the basis of U.N. Security Council decisions. This fulfilled the last remaining condition for the act to goin to effect and for the two countries' economic cooperation to begin to be renewed. The former Czechoslovakia and former Yugoslavia were the third and fourth biggest economic partners to one another, respectively.

SARAJEVO - EXPLOSIONS

EXPLOSIONS GO OFF IN SARAJEVO Belgrade, Dec. 14 (Tanjug) - Several explosions went off in Sarajevo Thursday but did not cause any casualties or any greater material damage, agencies report. The shells fell near the Jewish cemetery, close to the center of Sarajevo, and near the bridge separating the Serb suburb of Grbavica and parts of town under Muslim control. U.N. representatives said they had no information about the cause of the explosions or who could have set them off. Representatives of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Croat-Muslim Federation and Republika Srpska meeteing in Paris for the Bosnia peace conference, unanimously condemned this morning's explosions in Sarajevo, a statement issued through the French Foreign Ministry said.