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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 4, 5 January 1996

From: OMRI-L <omri-l@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu>

Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest Directory

CONTENTS

  • [01] SARAJEVO ABDUCTIONS IMBROGLIO CONTINUES.

  • [02] CROATIA, BOSNIA SIGN PACT.

  • [03] UNHCR RESUMES AID CONVOYS.

  • [04] VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS SUPPORT AMNESTY.

  • [05] ROCKY START TO OSCE ARMS CONTROL TALKS.

  • [06] MACEDONIA, TAJIKISTAN ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.

  • [07] FLOODS IN ROMANIA.

  • [08] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.

  • [09] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT, INTELLECTUALS ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

  • [10] WILL BULGARIAN MINISTERS RESIGN?

  • [11] COUNCIL OF EUROPE MEETS ALBANIAN JOURNALISTS.

  • [12] ITALIAN AMBASSADOR TO ALBANIA ANNOUNCES EU ASSOCIATION TALKS.

  • [13] BOMB ATTACK ON TIRANA JUDGE'S HOUSE.


  • OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 4, Part II, 5 January 1996

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] SARAJEVO ABDUCTIONS IMBROGLIO CONTINUES.

    International media on 4 January reported that Bosnian Serbs released the 16 Muslims they had been holding in Ilidza. The first three men freed said they had been held in a converted toilet and kicked and beaten. The BBC added that some of the 16 blamed IFOR for leaving them in the lurch. AFP noted that the Serbs appear to have achieved at least one thing; namely, intimidating other Muslims into not entering their territory despite the Dayton agreement's stipulations on freedom of movement. Civilian affairs coordinator Carl Bildt held talks with the Serbs on the evening of 3 January. The BBC on 5 January quoted a Bosnian official as saying that three more persons have been captured and held by the Serbs. AFP said they were a Croat, a Muslim, and a Serb. -- Patrick Moore

    [02] CROATIA, BOSNIA SIGN PACT.

    Presidents Franjo Tudjman and Alia Izetbegovic signed a cooperation agreement in Sarajevo on 4 January, Hina reported. The Bosnian leader said the meeting was at times "loud and polemical but certainly very useful." Tudjman added that "there is no more opposition but there are still problems to be solved." A joint cooperation council was set up and will meet in a month to iron out some remaining problems. Croatian-Muslim relations remain tense in Mostar, however. AFP said on 5 January that two Muslim policemen were wounded when their car was sprayed with machine gun fire from the Croatian sector of the divided town. -- Patrick Moore

    [03] UNHCR RESUMES AID CONVOYS.

    UN relief officials have returned to their mission in central Bosnia after Herzegovinian Croat officials agreed not to try to tax their vehicles, Reuters reported on 5 January. International media added that both President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II plan to visit Bosnia soon. Nasa Borba on 4 January wondered what the Americans will do about investigating the reported massacre of 6,000 Muslims by the Serbs in Srebrenica, which is in the U.S. sector. British media said that the U.S. military have yet to arrive in Srebrenica and are less than enthusiastic in becoming involved in what they regard as a political issue. -- Patrick Moore

    [04] VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS SUPPORT AMNESTY.

    Nasa Borba on 5 January reported that Andras Agoston, leader of the Democratic Community of Hungarians in Vojvodina, has pledged he and his party will back proposed federal legislation offering an amnesty to individuals who fled the country rather than fight in the wars throughout the former Yugoslavia. The previous day, the daily had reported that Srdjan Darmanovic, vice president of the Social Democratic party of Montenegro, had endorsed such legislation, saying conscientious objectors were "not deserters, but the genuine patriots." -- Stan Markotich

    [05] ROCKY START TO OSCE ARMS CONTROL TALKS.

    Scheduled to begin on 4 January, the OSCE arms control talks in Vienna did not get under way until 5 January after a disagreement over how the participatants were to be designated, international media reported. The BBC reported that the Bosnians objected to the nameplate given to the Bosnian Serbs, which, they said, implied that the Serbs were a separate polity and not part of a common Bosnian state. Vigleik Eide, who is chairing the talks, found a solution acceptable to the five parties (rump Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Muslim-Croatian federation, and the Republika Srpska) by designating each as a representative to the "negotiations among the parties to the Dayton agreement Annex 1b, Article 4." VOA's Croatian Service quoted the Croatian ambassador to the OSCE as noting that the Bosnian Serbs could not be put on the same diplomatic level as the internationally recognized Bosnian government. -- Michael Mihalka and Patrick Moore

    [06] MACEDONIA, TAJIKISTAN ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.

    The Macedonian and Tajik ambassadors to Turkey on 4 January signed a protocol establishing diplomatic relations between their countries, MIC reported the same day. Meeting in Ankara, they stressed the need to examine the possibilities of economic cooperation. -- Stefan Krause

    [07] FLOODS IN ROMANIA.

    Cornel Mitoiu of the State Waters Inspectorate on 4 January told Rompres that the current floods in Romania are worse than those in 1970. He said 25 counties (out of 40) have been affected, with thousands of hectares of farmland under water and several thousand homes destroyed. Mitoiu added that it was too early to evaluate the overall damage but suggested it may reach tens of billions of lei (tens of millions of US dollars). Only two persons have so far died as a result of the floods, which Mitoiu attributed to the precautionary measures and the population's response. -- Dan Ionescu

    [08] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.

    Mircea Snegur on 3 January started a ten-day vacation in the Romanian resort of Slanic Moldova, Radio Bucharest reported. Snegur, who is accompanied by members of his family, is expected to meet with representatives of the local authorities, the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania, and the Romanian government. His bodyguards, however, have been instructed to keep journalists away from his residence. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Moldovan Foreign Ministry on 4 January praised Romania's "consistent stance over the Dniester issue" and support for Moldova's search for a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Dniester region. -- Dan Ionescu

    [09] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT, INTELLECTUALS ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

    Zhelyu Zhelev is to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on what constitutes censorship of the media and what the legal consequences are, Pari reported on 5 January. He will also ask the court to decide what the lack of a media law means in constitutional terms. Zhelev called on the journalists from Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) who were dismissed following their protest against BNR's management (see OMRI Daily Digest, 27 November 1995 and 19 December 1995) to appeal to European institutions. Zhelev on 4 January took part in an round-table discussion among intellectuals and writers on freedom of speech, 24 chasa reported. The participants called on citizens to defend freedom of speech. -- Stefan Krause

    [10] WILL BULGARIAN MINISTERS RESIGN?

    Unnamed leaders of the rulingBulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) are demanding a cabinet reshuffle, 24 chasa reported on 5 January. According to Standart, Interior Minister Lyubomir Nachev and Agriculture Minister Vasil Chichibaba are ready to hand in their resignations, but the BSP daily Duma denied those reports. Nachev is under fire because of the high crime rate and Chichibaba because of the ongoing grain shortage. Trud names Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade Kiril Tsochev and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development Rumen Gechev as likely victims of a cabinet reshuffle. Meanwhile, Chichibaba said in an interview with RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service on 4 January that there is a grain crisis but rejected any personal responsibility. -- Stefan Krause

    [11] COUNCIL OF EUROPE MEETS ALBANIAN JOURNALISTS.

    Albanian journalists, meeting with the heads of the Council of Europe's Legal and Human Rights Commission and Political Commission, have expressed concern about the freedom of the media in Albania. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party and Democratic Alliance have submitted documents to the council that, they say, prove "Albanians are going to the next general elections this year with fewer freedoms and guaranties than in 1992 or in the 1994 popular referendum on the constitution." They argue that two recently approved laws on opening former communist files and banning high communist officials from running for public office violate citizens' rights. CE officials will issue a report to the council after their visit, Albanian newspapers reported on 5 January. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [12] ITALIAN AMBASSADOR TO ALBANIA ANNOUNCES EU ASSOCIATION TALKS.

    Paolo Foresti has said that Italy will use its EU Presidency to play a leading role in helping Albania integrate into the EU, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 5 January. Speaking at a conference titled Albania's Atlantic Association, he noted that a meeting is scheduled on 23-24 January in Rome to begin the process of negotiating Albania's EU association. The conference focused on Albania's relations with NATO as well as with Italy. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [13] BOMB ATTACK ON TIRANA JUDGE'S HOUSE.

    A bomb attack on the house of Qazim Gjonaj destroyed an armored door and parts of the wall, Albania reported on 5 January. Nobody was injured in the attack, which was carried out with industrial dynamite, normally used for mining. Police have launched an investigation but did not speculate on possible motives for the bombing. Gjonaj, however, said it might be related either to trials against former communist officials or to criminal cases, including disputes over land restitution. -- 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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