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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 246, 20 December 1995

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [1] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER PLEDGES TO HELP IFOR.

  • [2] NEW SIGNALS TO SARAJEVO SERBS.

  • [3] U.S. OFFICIAL CRITICIZES BELGRADE ALLEGATIONS ABOUT ATROCITIES AGAINST MUSLIMS.

  • [4] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS RECOGNITION OF CROATIA ON HOLD . . .

  • [5] . . . BUT GRANTS AMNESTY TO DISSIDENT WRITER, MUSLIM LEADERS.

  • [6] LJAJIC REGARDS SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT AS "POLE OF OPPOSITION."

  • [7] HEAD OF MACEDONIAN PRIVATIZATION AGENCY FIRED.

  • [8] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HE DID NOT HIJACK 1989 REVOLT.

  • [9] UZBEK FOREIGN MINISTER CONCLUDES ROMANIAN VISIT.

  • [10] MOLDOVAN OFFICIAL ON RUSSIAN ELECTIONS, INDEPENDENCE.

  • [11] BULGARIAN FORMER PREMIER THREATENS VIDENOV AIDE.

  • [12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT LAMBASTES NATIONAL MEDIA BOSSES.

  • [13] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR GERMAN AID.


  • OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 246, Part II, 20 December 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [1] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER PLEDGES TO HELP IFOR.

    New Bosnian Serb Premier Rajko Kasagic delivered his first public statement on local television on 19 December, AFP reported. He told his audience that the Serbs "should cooperate with IFOR to ensure that they have peace and security, because our future will depend on such cooperation." Kasagic also made it clear that his men would help IFOR in keeping law and order and that stealing vehicles belonging to international organizations would stop. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has called the Dayton agreement "disastrous" but said that the Serbian cause will now have to be advanced politically and not with weapons. -- Patrick Moore

    [2] NEW SIGNALS TO SARAJEVO SERBS.

    The VOA's Croatian-language service reported on 20 December that the Serbian mayor of Ilidza, which is due to pass to Bosnian government control, has urged his people to stay. It appears to be the first public statement by a Bosnian Serb official in Sarajevo that it might be possible for his people to live under the new authority. Nasa Borba quoted the speaker of Pale's parliament, Momcilo Krajisnik, as also holding open some possibilities other than resettlement for the Serbs in the Sarajevo suburbs. He told a local audience that "the people who defended this city have a right to stay in it" and that "at this moment there are a significant number of arguments that point to a favorable solution." Krajisnik indicated that the Serbs would have to have their own authorities and police. -- Patrick Moore

    [3] U.S. OFFICIAL CRITICIZES BELGRADE ALLEGATIONS ABOUT ATROCITIES AGAINST MUSLIMS.

    Reuters on 19 December reported that U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright has criticized allegations by Belgrade that Bosnian Muslim forces were responsible for atrocities against fellow Muslims in Srebrenica in July, when the enclave fell to advancing Bosnian Serbs. Albright said charges made by rump Yugoslav representative to the UN Vladslav Jovanovic in a letter to the Security Council were "a big lie" (see OMRI Daily Digest, 19 December 1995). "I just hope Mr. Jovanovic was acting without instructions as it goes beyond my understanding of what he would gain by sending such a preposterous letter that has basically insulted the intelligence of the Security Council,'' Albright said. In a separate development, Tanjug reported that same day that Belgrade will honor a pledge to allow NATO forces to transit through rump Yugoslav territory. -- Stan Markotich

    [4] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS RECOGNITION OF CROATIA ON HOLD . . .

    Politika and Nova Makedonija on 20 December reported that Momir Bulatovic, speaking at a press conference the previous day, said Belgrade's recognition of Croatia will be withheld as long as Zagreb continues to control a small strip of coastal territory known as Prevlaka peninsula, flanking the Bay of Kotor, the base of the rump Yugoslav navy. He noted that Croatia agreed at Dayton to give up Prevlaka in exchange for territory near the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. "We do not wish recognize the Republic of Croatia . . . as long as it does not fulfill the obligations it agreed to. We will not give up our interests," Bulatovic commented. -- Stan Markotich

    [5] . . . BUT GRANTS AMNESTY TO DISSIDENT WRITER, MUSLIM LEADERS.

    Bulatovic on 19 December granted an amnesty to well-known writer Jevrem Brkovic, who is living in exile in Croatia, as well as to 82 other people, including leaders of the mainly Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Hina reported. Bulatovic told reporters that he wanted "to stress symbolically the significance of the peace accords" by stopping legal action against individuals and groups on the basis of their political, ideological, and religious beliefs. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [6] LJAJIC REGARDS SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT AS "POLE OF OPPOSITION".

    The head of the ethnic Muslim Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak (SDA), Rasim Ljajic, has met with a German parliamentary delegation in Belgrade, Nasa Borba reported on 20 December. Ljajic demanded the return of the OSCE monitoring mission to the rump Yugoslavia, which Belgrade evicted in 1993. He stressed that the SDA is cooperating with the Serbian Renewal Movement in its fight against reorganizing election districts in favor of the Socialist Party of Serbia and added that his party is also ready to cooperate with the New Democracy and the Civic Union of Serbia. The SDA Sandzak boycotted the last Serbian elections. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [7] HEAD OF MACEDONIAN PRIVATIZATION AGENCY FIRED.

    The Macedonian government on 19 December relieved Miroljub Sukarov, director of the country's privatization agency, of his duties, Nova Makedonija reported the next day. Strained communications between the cabinet and the agency and the former's disagreement with certain agency decisions were cited as reasons for the move. Sukarov, who had supervised the privatization process since 1991, will be succeeded temporarily by agency's deputy director. -- Michael Wyzan

    [8] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HE DID NOT HIJACK 1989 REVOLT.

    Ion Iliescu on 19 December rejected charges that he hijacked the December 1989 uprising to seize power for himself and old-guard Communists, Reuters reported. In a statement read by presidential spokesman Traian Chebeleu, Iliescu "indignantly" rejected what he described as a "new attempt to denigrate the Romanian revolution, to distort facts and launch a series of allegations." Iliescu was responding to recent accusations by Valentin Gabrielescu, a senator for the National Peasant Party-Christian Democratic and head of the parliamentary commission investigating the revolution. Gabrielescu holds Iliescu responsible for some of the 1,200 deaths during the revolt. He said he decided to issue his view of the events for fear that the commission's report would be ignored. -- Dan Ionescu

    [9] UZBEK FOREIGN MINISTER CONCLUDES ROMANIAN VISIT.

    Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov and his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Melescanu, have announced that the two countries will officially establish diplomatic relations and work on improving bilateral trade, ITAR-TASS reported on 19 December. During his visit, Komilov also met with Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu and President Ion Iliescu. -- Roger Kangas

    [10] MOLDOVAN OFFICIAL ON RUSSIAN ELECTIONS, INDEPENDENCE.

    Parliamentary chairman Petru Lucinschi on 19 December warned that the Communists' victory in the Russian elections could jeopardize his country's independence. In a statement quoted by BASA-press and Infotag, Lucinschi spoke of "possible attempts [by some Duma deputies] to call into question decisions concerning Moldova's independence and integrity." But he expressed the hope that "Russia is not going to base its policies on emotions and hasty decisions" and that it will continue to respect the commitments it made within the framework of the CIS. On a positive note, Lucinschi commented that the State Duma's activities were likely to become more stable and predictable, which, he said, "perfectly suits Moldova's interests." -- Dan Ionescu

    [11] BULGARIAN FORMER PREMIER THREATENS VIDENOV AIDE.

    Nevena Gyurova, public relations officer in the government's press center and an adviser to Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, said in a 19 December interview with RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service that former Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov has been blackmailing her over the past five years. She said Lukanov has threatened to publicize her former drug addiction. According to Gyurova, Lukanov has "intimate information about [former Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Aleksandar] Lilov and [President Zhelyu] Zhelev." She said his methods are typical for the former Sixth Direction of the Communist State Security, which dealt with political opponents. Gyurova said she turned to RFE/RL because the domestic media are afraid to get into a conflict with Lukanov. Lukanov is generally seen as one of the country's most influential politicians with good connections to financial and economic groups. -- Stefan Krause

    [12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT LAMBASTES NATIONAL MEDIA BOSSES.

    Zhelyu Zhelev, during his visit to Lisbon, on 19 December told journalists accompanying him to Portugal that the governing majority has "brutally usurped" the national media, Pari reported the following day. He said this could have consequences for Bulgaria's international standing. "Hardly anyone will talk to us seriously about EU membership when leading journalists are dismissed in the national media in such a brutal way," Zhelev said. Also on 19 December, the Union of Democratic Forces, the People's Union, the Movement for Rights and Freedom, and members of the Bulgarian Business Bloc demanded in a joint statement that the Bulgarian National Radio director-general be dismissed immediately, otherwise they will use all possible means to defend freedom of speech, Standart reported. BNR journalists the same day issued a declaration demanding that their dismissed colleagues be reinstated. -- Stefan Krause

    [13] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR GERMAN AID.

    Sali Berisha, during his visit to Germany, has signed an agreement for a DM 47 million ($33 million) aid package for infrastructure projects such as water supply and sewage treatment plants. The agreement is also designed to secure foreign investments through a legal framework. Another DM 13 million pledged to Albania remains to be allocated for future projects, international agencies and Deutsche Welle's Albanian-language service reported on 19 December. At a reception of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHT), Berisha said German companies Krupp and Preussag expressed interest in investments. -- Fabian Schmidt

    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 info@omri.cz

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