OMRI Daily Digest, No. 26, Part II, 6 Feb 95 [*]

Ta nea ths hmeras, apo to OMRI:

  • . To BBC kai h nea "Mpormpa" metadidoyn oti Serbika elikoptera petajan panw apo thn Bosnia, kai yposthrizoyn oti o Milosebits qelei na yperballetai h diastash toy me ton Karantits.
  • . Kroates kai Moysoylmanoi desmeyontai na apodexqoyn to apotelesma diamesolabhshs stis diafores toys.
  • . Bosnia kai Rwssia symfwnhsan sthn antallagh diplwmatwn kai na laboyn peraiterw metra gia plhreis diplwmatikes sxeseis.
  • . Dystokia stis Serbo-Kroatikes diapragmateyseis.
  • . H Boylgaria parabiazei to empargko kata ths Gioygkoslabias.
  • . H serbikh kybernhsh ejakoloyqei na "parenoxlei" thn nea "Mpormpa".
  • * To albaniko antipoliteyomeno komma "Aleanca Demokratike" kathgorei ton Albano YpEj gia laqremporia oplwn pros to Mayroboynio, me telikoys apodektes toys Serboys ths Bosnias.

    Dhmhtrhs Paneras

    Boston, MA

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 26, Part II, 6 February 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • SERBIAN HELICOPTERS FLY OVER BOSNIA. The BBC on 5 February and Nasa Borba the following day report yet another story suggesting that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's break with the Bosnian Serbs is not as complete as he would have people believe. The accounts quote Dutch UNPROFOR sources as saying that as many as 20 helicopters flew from Serbia to Bosnian Serb lines around the besieged Muslim enclave and "safe area" of Srebrenica on 3 February. Elsewhere, the BBC reported on 6 February that the Bosnian Serbs agreed to a limited reopening of the Sarajevo airport route. The new rules for use of the road benefit the Serbs and exclude the commercial traffic that the Bosnian government had wanted. Relief agencies will benefit most from the new system. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

  • CROATS AND MUSLIMS AGREE TO BINDING ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Nasa Borba on 6 February report that U.S. mediators have succeeded in convincing top-level Croatian, Bosnian Croat, and Muslim delegations to accept binding arbitration of disputes. The two sides will have two months to list the problems that have hamstrung setting up the Croat-Muslim federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The nine-point plan for arbitration was adopted in conjunction with a major international gathering of security experts in Munich and a meeting of the Contact Group. The Croats and Muslims agreed to a federation in Washington almost a year ago, but it has proven difficult to put this arrangement into practice. EU-appointed chief administrator of Mostar Hans Koschnik sounded the alarm last month by making it clear that the Herzegovinian Croats, in particular, will have to become more cooperative or he will be forced to give up his mandate. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

  • BOSNIA AND RUSSIA AGREE TO CLOSER TIES. Nasa Borba reports on 6 February that Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic and Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev held a joint press conference the previous day in Moscow. The two countries agreed to exchange diplomatic representatives and to take further steps toward establishing full relations. Kozyrev said that Russia, which is a member of the Contact Group, supports the territorial integrity of all former Yugoslav republics and urges the Bosnian Serbs to accept the Contact Group's peace plan. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

  • CONTINUED LOGJAM IN CROATIAN-SERBIAN RELATIONS? Croatian and Serbian dailies on 4 February discussed extensively relations between the two peoples. Attention centered on the international Z-4 group's plan for the Serb-occupied territories of Croatia. The project would make the Knin and Glina areas part of Croatia in name but largely self-governing in practice. Western Slavonia would revert to Croatian government control, but occupied Srem would be placed under temporary international administration. The plan sounds too much like the partition or federalization of Croatia to be acceptable to Zagreb, while for most Serbs it does not go far enough toward ensuring their independence. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

  • EMBARGO ON RUMP YUGOSLAVIA VIOLATED BY BULGARIAN "PHANTOM" COMPANIES. The UN embargo on rump Yugoslavia is being violated by Bulgarian companies with falsified registration documents, Demokratsiya reported on 4 February. The "phantom" companies are engaged mainly in large-scale fuel smuggling. The Bulgarian authorities began investigating the matter last year, but so far no company has been taken to court, owing to a lack of evidence. Deputy Director of the National Investigation Service Vladimir Stoykov said in an interview with Demokratsiya on 6 February that 37 cases involving 12 companies are being examined. Meanwhile, 168 chasa reported on 6 February that two Bulgarians who were arrested for trying to smuggle 5,000 tons of gasoline into Serbia are now living in Belgrade. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

  • SERBIAN GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO HARASS NASA BORBA. The independent daily Nasa Borba on 6 February reports that its employees are in effect being "thrown out of their offices." The staff has been deprived of such vital materials as fax services, telephone connections, and direct links to AFP and Reuters. Nasa Borba reincorporated itself in January after the government appropriated the name and masthead of Borba. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

  • ALBANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER CHARGED WITH ARMS SMUGGLING. Deputies from the opposition party Aleanca Demokratike have charged Zafet Zhulali with involvement in arms smuggling to the former Yugoslavia, Koha Jone reported on 4 February. Deputy Perikli Teta and Aleanca Demokratike secretary-general Arben Imami have claimed that in at least one case, weapons were sent to Montenegro, suggesting they were destined for Bosnian Serbs. In another case, weapons allegedly were brought to Croatia on board the Vela Luka, which was loaded in Durres but arrived empty in Slovenia. Documents submitted to the press by Teta and Imami show that from April 1992 to February 1993, eight cargoes were sent to Slovenia but do not appear in Slovenian customs records. Another document, reportedly signed by Zhulali, authorized the Albanian company Mjekes to export mortars to Croatia. Zhulali, in an interview with Rilindja Demokratike on 4 February, described the charges as irresponsible. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [As of 12:00 CET] Compiled by Jan Cleave