Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-02-01

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

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

1 February 1996

CONTENTS

[A] BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

[01] IFOR: BOSNIAN SERBS WITHDRAW WEAPONS FROM SARAJEVO BEFORE DEADLINE

[02] FREE MOVEMENT FOR CIVILIANS ACROSS SARAJEVO BRIDGE

[B] I N T E R V I E W S

[03] SLOVAKIA BACKS YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION INTO INTERNATIONAL BODIES

[04] SERBIAN OFFICIAL PLEDGES HELP IN REBUILDING WAR-DEVASTATED SERB AREAS

[C] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[05] SDA WANTS MUSLIM STATE IN BOSNIA, FRENCH PRESS SAYS

[A] BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

[01] IFOR: BOSNIAN SERBS WITHDRAW WEAPONS FROM SARAJEVO BEFORE DEADLINE

Under the Dayton peace accord, Bosnian Serbs were to withdraw their heavy weapons from the parts of Sarajevo that will be placed under Muslim authority by midnight on Saturday.

The AFP news agency quotes IFOR Spokesman in Zagreb Elge Erikson as saying that things are moving according to schedule. Another Spokesman, Col. Konrad Freytag, said that French IFOR troops had escorted eight Serb tanks from the Sarajevo area on Wednesday.

Muslim forces have not completed their withdrawal. AFP said that the Muslims should pull out their artillery from Mt Igman overlooking Sarajevo by midnight on Saturday.

[02] FREE MOVEMENT FOR CIVILIANS ACROSS SARAJEVO BRIDGE

The bridge links the new part of Sarajevo, controlled by the Bosnian Muslim Government, with the suburb Grbavica, held by the Serbs, said the AFP news agency.

[B] I N T E R V I E W S

[03] SLOVAKIA BACKS YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION INTO INTERNATIONAL BODIES

In an interview to Tanjug, Meciar said that a project of a new form of cooperation between Slovakia and Yugoslavia had been launched during the two-day visit to Belgrade. The long-term project was set on a dynamic basis of commodity exchange, inclusion into the capital market, and on developing market services.

Meciar said that Slovaks, Serbs and Montenegrins had never had any differences in history. 'Rherefore our relations are close and friendly, like our mentalities and cultures,' he said.

There is a Slovak minority in Yugoslavia which is loyal to the state in which it lives, and considers it its homeland, said Meciar. He said ethnic Slovaks were satisfied with the civil and human rights in Yugoslavia.

Expressing optimism in view of future bilateral cooperation, cooperation could be intensified as we were linked not only by the Danube but other historical ties, said Meciar.

Ethnic Slovak representatives can play a positive role in the future period of extensive economic cooperation, said Meciar and added that they could act as real representatives and mediators in realizing the achieved inter-state accords. They know both languages, both mentalities, as well as the legal orders of the two states, said Meciar.

The Slovak minority in Yugoslavia is very active in developing its own culture, publishing books and papers. They have their own eminent writers and painters and have preserved their ethnic identity in the 250 years of their presence in these areas.

'Had there been ethnic oppression, none of this would have been possible,' said Meciar.

Asked how Slovakia, its Government and Prime Minister succeeded in keeping good relations with all the sides involved in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, Meciar said that Slovakia considered all the participants in the conflict as brother Slavs. 'When they fell into difficulty, it was our duty not to seek the culprit, but to help establish understanding and peace among them. We did this with all the sides equally. We urged opening doors for communication, emphasizing activity after peace had been achieved. I think that was the only right path,' said Meciar.

Speaking of the future of the peace process in the former Yugoslavia, Meciar said it should be kept in mind that the peace came from the outside.

All sides must accept it and strive to keep it. It is obvious that all problems have not been resolved, but it must be urged that the remaining problems be solved peacefully without creating any new tensions, said Meciar.

[04] SERBIAN OFFICIAL PLEDGES HELP IN REBUILDING WAR-DEVASTATED SERB AREAS

Morina said that all expert and financial assistance that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic had recently promised in an address to the people of the Rpublika Srpska must be given for rebuilding war-devastated areas.

Morina said that all the necessary conditions must be created and every opportunity given to the refugees from former Yugoslavia, 700,000 of whom have been received in Serbia, to return to their homes.

After that, work must begin on the integration of those that remain in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, she added.

[C] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[05] SDA WANTS MUSLIM STATE IN BOSNIA, FRENCH PRESS SAYS

Looking into consequences of Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic's resignation and of increasingly fierce disputes among Islamic leaders, France does not conceal its anxiety over the serious crisis in Muslim-Croat relations, which threatens to break up their artificially formed federation.

The Sarajevo authorities cannot be described as democratic in any case, Le Monde writes, noting that a handful of leaders of Izetbegovic's party have control over everything. SDA intervenes everywhere - builds schools, pays salaries to soldiers, distributes humanitarian aid, buys weapons ... The role of the Government is very limited compared to the almighty party, the paper writes.

Le Monde said that Izetbegovic's party wants to create a Muslim state separate from Serbs and Croats, and that a handful of SDDA chiefs control the Bosnian Parliament.

The West is concerned because political developments in the Muslim-Croat camp go against the fundamental principles contained in the peace accords - preservation of Bosnia-Herzegovina's statehood and its territorial integrity. It is now widely believed in the West that the crises sentence the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina to death, and that this state has really never existed in the internationally-recognized borders.

Silajdzic said in an interview published in Le Monde on Wednesday that it had become clear that a handful of members of the power-structure believed they could rule Bosnia-Herzegovina as their private domain. Anti-democratic tendency is gaining ground and the past is coming back, he said.

People now live in fear - fear of power, fear of authority ... There are totalitarian tendencies, Silajdzic said pointing to attempts to transform the army into a political instrument, thusexplaining his resignation and rift with SDA.

Paris press said on Wednesday that the real conflict between Izetbegovic and Silajdzic began in 1994 when SDA started to seize power from the Government at the request of the international Islamic community and Muslim nationalist intellectuals.