OMRI Daily digest II, No. 85, 2 May 1995

From: "Steve Iatrou" <siatrou@cdsp.neu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] CROATIA LAUNCHES NEW OFFENSIVE.

  • [02] WHAT LIES BEHIND THE CROATIAN ATTACK?

  • [03] WHAT WILL THE SERBS DO?

  • [04] BOSNIAN CEASE-FIRE ENDS.

  • [05] BULGARIAN PREMIER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.

  • [06] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD MAY DAY RALLY.

  • [07] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION HOLDS NATIONAL CONFERENCE, REELECTS LEADER.

  • [08] ALBANIAN POLICE BAN MAY DAY DEMONSTRATIONS.

  • [09] ALBANIA CLOSES BORDERS TO KURDISH IMMIGRANTS.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 85, Part II, 2 May 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] CROATIA LAUNCHES NEW OFFENSIVE.

    At dawn on 1 May, several thousand Croatian troops began an attack from the north, west, and east into Sector West of Krajina. It was the Croatian army's biggest offensive since Operation Maslenica in January 1993, which also had the stated goal of a limited strategic objective. The current thrust officially aims at securing the section of the Zagreb-Belgrade highway between Novska and Nova Gradiska following a series of incidents there on 28-29 April. But Croatian forces also took several villages and UN observation posts not only in Sector West but in Sector South as well. Troops in Sector West captured the site of the World War II concentration camp at Jasenovac and seem to be trying to take Okocani to the north of the highway. On 1-2 May, the Croats also sought unsuccessfully to bomb the bridge connecting Krajina with Bosanska Gradiska and Bosnian Serb supply routes beyond. International media added that the UN Security Council on 1 May called on the Croats to end their attack, while UN mediators tried to hammer out some sort of cease-fire agreement between Croats and Serbs. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] WHAT LIES BEHIND THE CROATIAN ATTACK?

    The size, speed, and scope of theattack suggest that it was well planned in advance and that the incidents on the highway, including the fatal stabbing of a Serb at a gasoline station, may not have been entirely spontaneous. Vecernji list on 2 May referred to the operation going according to plan, while Nasa Borba on 29 April noted that President Franjo Tudjman was holding a series of mass meetings aimed at mobilizing support for him and his government. The state-run media in Croatia have joined in the enthusiasm for the current offensive. Vjesnik ran a headline on 2 April calling it "a legitimate act of self-defense." The timing of the move is also suspect, coming just as the Bosnian cease-fire expires and UNCRO's mandate is about to be more clearly defined. Zagreb may well have calculated that a thrust aimed at securing the free flow of traffic on the highway would bring it little criticism from abroad. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] WHAT WILL THE SERBS DO?

    The first important response by Krajina forcesin Sector West was to retrieve their big guns stored under UN supervision. But Sector West is their weak link and was reassigned to Croatia under the Z-4 peace plan earlier this year. International media on 2 May quoted Krajina leader Milan Martic as threatening to shell Croatian cities. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic promised help; and on 1 May, his men shelled Dubrovnik. It appears, however, that the Croats and Bosnian government forces may be launching a concerted campaign to force the Serbs to fight on several fronts at once and thereby prevent them from concentrating their overextended forces. The obvious question now is not only what can Knin and Pale do to regain their footing but what will Belgrade do to back them. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] BOSNIAN CEASE-FIRE ENDS.

    As the cease-fire in Bosnia-Herzegovina came to an end on 1 May, Yasushi Akashi, UN envoy to the former Yugoslavia, expressed hope that hostilities would not escalate, AFP reported on 1 May. Akashi, who was in Sarajevo attempting to hammer out a new cease- fire agreement to no avail, said "each of the parties has separately assured me that it will demonstrate maximum restraint." Prior to the expiry of the cease-fire, the BBC on 29 April reported that two Galeb fighters entered Bosnian's northwestern Bihac pocket from the Serb- occupied Croatian region of Krajina. In a separate development, Bosnian Serb forces shelled the central Bosnian town of Maglaj on 29 April, using phosphorus bombs. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] BULGARIAN PREMIER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.

    Zhan Videnov, during a one-day visit to Romania on 28 April, met with President Ion Iliescu and his Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Vacaroiu. The two premiers said at a joint press conference that it was necessary to strengthen economic cooperation in the areas of transportation networks (including the construction of a new bridge over the Danube) and tourism, Radio Bucharest reported the same day. They also agreed to increase collaboration on joint foreign policy aims, such as integration into European structures and compensation for losses suffered as a result of the embargo on rump Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, former U.S. President George Bush paid a two-day private visit to Romania at the invitation of Invest Group, an organization uniting private entrepreneurs. Bush, in a speech broadcast live by Radio Bucharest on 29 April, said that Bucharest must accelerate economic reforms if the 1989 revolution is not to become a meaningless event. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD MAY DAY RALLY.

    The ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party, for the first time since the demise of communism, celebrated May Day with a rally, AFP reported. Prime Minister and BSP Chairman Zhan Videnov said that "the situation that we have inherited is especially serious" and that people are "living poorly and with difficulty." He noted that the government is committed to its pre-election promises and will continue to fight inflation and unemployment. Some 30,000 people took part in the rally, but the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions refused to participate. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION HOLDS NATIONAL CONFERENCE, REELECTS LEADER.

    The Union of Democratic Forces, at its seventh National Conference on 29-30 April, re-elected Ivan Kostov as chairman of the National Coordinating Council, Demokratsiya reported on 2 May. It also established a National Executive Council, which will take decisions between sessions of the Coordinating Council. The latter's membership was enlarged from 15 to 140 to include representatives of parliament factions and regional organizations. The conference abolished a ban on former communist party members becoming members of the UDF. Kostov said that the UDF must be open to all non-socialist voters and must broaden its program beyond anti-communist rhetoric. The conference proposed the cooperation of all non-socialist forces in the October local elections. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] ALBANIAN POLICE BAN MAY DAY DEMONSTRATIONS.

    May Day demonstrations planned by the Confederation of Albanian Trade Unions in Tirana were banned by the police, Koha Jone reported on 29 April. Only private meetings outside the city were reportedly allowed. Police argued that demonstrations in downtown Tirana would endanger public order and cause traffic chaos in the capital. Meanwhile, more than 3,000 people on 29 April protested the killing of an Albanian by Montenegrin border guards two weeks earlier, international agencies reported the same day. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] ALBANIA CLOSES BORDERS TO KURDISH IMMIGRANTS.

    Following reports about the illegal smuggling by boat of mainly Kurdish, Chinese, and Pakistani immigrants from Albania to Italy, Albania has closed its borders to Kurdish immigrants, Koha Jone reported on 30 April. The Interior Ministry allegedly ordered border checkpoints to refuse entrance to all those people "who have no justified reason" to enter the country, international agencies reported. Albania does not require visas for Turkish and many other citizens, but media reports failed to say whether visa requirements are now in force. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a Prague-based nonprofit organization.

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