OMRI Daily Digest, No. 76, 18 April 1995

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


CONTENTS

  • [01] KARADZIC THREATENS WAR "UNTIL FINAL VICTORY."

  • [02] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS.

  • [03] SERBIAN UPDATE.

  • [04] MACEDONIAN BORDER PATROL KILLS ALBANIAN.

  • [05] BULGARIAN BUSINESS BLOC LEADER LOSES PARLIAMENT SEAT.

  • [06] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT AMENDS LAND RESTITUTION LAW.

  • [07] BULGARIA, GREECE, RUSSIA AGREE ON OIL PIPELINE PLAN.

  • [08] GREECE, RUSSIA SIGN ACCORD ON CLOSER RELATIONS.

  • [09] BLACK SEA CONFERENCE ENDS IN ATHENS.


  • OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 76, Part II, 18 April 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] KARADZIC THREATENS WAR "UNTIL FINAL VICTORY." At a two-day session of the Bosnian Serb parliament in Sanski Most, General Ratko Mladic spoke for nearly three hours and lambasted the politicians for not doing enough to win the war against the Bosnian government, Nasa Borba r

    eported on 17 April. The BBC said that the Bosnian Serb army is well integrated with the armed forces of Serbia-Montenegro and Krajina and that its only real problem is a shortage of manpower. But Mladic and his fellow officers feel, the broadcast continued, that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and other civilians are interested in prolonging the conflict so that they can profit from the black market in fuel and other goods. Karadzic nonetheless told the parliament that he will press for a military victory if a political solution proves impossible, Vecernji list reported on 18 April. He also stressed the need to unite the Bosnian Serb territories with Krajina. Nasa Borba, however, stresses that Karadzic's aggressive words ring hollow in view of the deep divisions between the military and civilians. Politika adds that the parliament was characterized by a militant "Patton syndrome." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS.

    Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic has said that relations between the Bosnian Serbs and rump Yugoslavia are getting better, according to Nasa Borba on 14 April. Meanwhile in Sarajevo, two French peacekeepers were killed in separate incidents over the Easter weekend. French television showed the second killing, and Minister of Defense Francois Leotard flew to the Bosnian capital to investigate the soldier's death at Serbian hands. The minister threatened to withdraw French peacekeepers unless safety improves, but Politika senses that Leotard's dramatic words may have been prompted chiefly by considerations stemming from the upcoming French presidential election. Vjesnik on 18 April quoted Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic as saying that the solution to the conflict in his republic lies in the hands of the international community. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] SERBIAN UPDATE.

    Nasa Borba on 18 April suggested that relations between Zoran Djindjic, leader of the Democratic Party (DS), and former rump Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic are improving and may be aimed at a political alliance. The daily quotes Djindjic as saying that Cosic is "one of the people that we [the DS] are counting on" to exercise a decisive influence over Serbian politics. Cosic responded by saying that "I believe in the DS." Also on 18 April, the independent Belgrade daily ran an article suggesting that sources in Russia are aiding Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on Serbia's independent media. It reported that shipments of much-needed production materials are being prevented from reaching their destinations in Serbia. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] MACEDONIAN BORDER PATROL KILLS ALBANIAN.

    A Macedonian border patrol killed a 19-year-old Albanian who illegally crossed the border to Macedonia in the night of 14-15 April, international agencies reported. The Macedonian Interior Ministry said police were tipped off that a criminal group would try to sneak across the border near Debar. There were reports that the man was killed in a shoot-out, but the Albanian Interior Ministry said he died immediately and made no mention of a shoot-out. Reuters quoted the ministry as saying that a "commission of Albanian experts concluded that it was a premeditated killing by Macedonian authorities." Albania has protested the killing. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] BULGARIAN BUSINESS BLOC LEADER LOSES PARLIAMENT SEAT.

    The Constitutional Court has ruled that the election of Georges Ganchev to the parliament was illegal, Bulgarian newspapers reported on 14 April. He was stripped of his parliament seat because he had dual citizenship at the time of the December 1994 elections. Under the Bulgarian Constitution, a Bulgarian citizen who holds another citizenship cannot run for the parliament. Ganchev claimed that President Zhelyu Zhelev and the opposition Union of Democratic Forces were responsible for his ousting. He said he would appeal the ruling to the European Court of Justice. Constitutional Judge Mladen Danailov said that Ganchev's dual citizenship was proved in a letter from U.S. Ambassador William Montgomery, Demokratsiya reported. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT AMENDS LAND RESTITUTION LAW.

    The Socialist parliament majority has passed a controversial amendment to the land restitution law, Reuters reported on 14 April. The amendment states that owners wishing to sell their land have to offer it first to the state, which has two months to decide whether to buy it. It also restricts the right to sell small plots that are part of larger land blocks and to plant crops different from the ones in the rest of the block. The opposition boycotted the vote on the amendment. Vladislav Kostov of the Union of Democratic Forces said his party will take the matter to the Constitutional Court, Demokratsiya reported on 15 April. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] BULGARIA, GREECE, RUSSIA AGREE ON OIL PIPELINE PLAN.

    The Bulgarian, Greek, and Russian foreign ministers have agreed to speed up the construction of a pipeline that will bring Russian crude oil from the Urals via the Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Greek harbor of Alexandroupolis, Reuters reported on 14 April. The $700 million pipeline is to be completed in 1997 and will have a daily capacity of 600,000 barrels of oil. Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias was quoted as saying that experts from the three countries will meet in Moscow soon to discuss details and sign a protocol agreement. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] GREECE, RUSSIA SIGN ACCORD ON CLOSER RELATIONS.

    Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and his Russian counterpart, Andrei Kozyrev, on 15 April signed an accord on bilateral relations, AFP reported the same day. Greece will open consulates in Saint Petersburg and Novorossiisk, while Russia will open a consulate in Thessaloniki. Kozyrev said he and Papoulias also discussed cooperation in resolving problems in Bosnia- Herzegovina and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] BLACK SEA CONFERENCE ENDS IN ATHENS.

    The Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization ended its conference in Athens on 15 April with an agreement to develop an international center to study the economics, industry, and technology of the region, Western agencies reported. Member countries are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The group failed to agree to a Greek proposal to demand that sanctions against rump Yugoslavia be lifted. But Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine joined Greece in sending a statement to the UN requesting that the sanctions be lifted because of the long-term damage to the region's economy. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said Russia did not add its signature to the statement because it felt it was too far away geographically to be hurt by the embargo. -- Michael Mihalka, OMRI, Inc.

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


    HTML by the HR-Net Group / Hellenic Resources Institute
    news2html v2.05 run on Tuesday, 16 May 1995 - 13:12:57