OMRI Daily DIgest II, No. 79, 21 April 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO EXTEND CEASEFIRE.

  • [02] SERBS TO "TRY" ARRESTED FOREIGNERS.

  • [03] ARKAN IN FAVOR OF PEACE.

  • [04] NO AGREEMENT ON CROATIAN PEACEKEEPERS.

  • [05] FORMER YUGOSLAV DISSIDENT DIES AT 83.

  • [06] MORE ALBANIANS SENTENCED IN KOSOVO.

  • [07] GERMANY TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT MACEDONIA.

  • [08] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT VETOES LAND RESTITUTION LAW.

  • [09] GENERAL STRIKE IN ALBANIA.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 79, Part II, 21 April 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO EXTEND CEASEFIRE.

    News agencies on 20 April reported that Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic told visiting UN mediator Yasushi Akashi that the Sarajevo government is unwilling to extend the current ceasefire when it expires after 30 April. Silajdzic charged that the UN has wasted the six-month negotiating period provided by the truce by offering the Serbs only "carrots and not sticks." The result, he said, was that the UN has helped preserve the status quo, which is unacceptable to the Bosnian government. Akashi, for his part, said he would persist in trying to secure a new and tighter agreement, arguing that it is better to have a truce than no truce. "When we have it, we can pinpoint the ceasefire violations," he concluded. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] SERBS TO "TRY" ARRESTED FOREIGNERS.

    Bosnian Serbs plan to try two Swiss citizens and a German they detained earlier this month, AFP reported on 20 April. The relief workers are charged with illegal border crossing and helping the Bosnian army, an accusation based on their having Bosnian army stamps in their documents. Five members of the Pharmacists without Borders, who were arrested in March, are also expected to go into the dock. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] ARKAN IN FAVOR OF PEACE.

    Vjesnik on 21 April quoted internationally wanted war criminal Zeljko Raznatovic, alias "Arkan," as confirming that the rift between the Bosnian Serb civilian and military leaderships has recently deepened. Arkan, who is a loyal backer of Serbian President Milosevic, said that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has tried to replace members of the officer corps on his own and that he, Arkan, backs General Ratko Mladic. Arkan added that the Bosnian Serb soldiers should be supplied "with clothing and food" and that the civilians should accept the current peace plan on offer. He also suggested that Karadzic's headquarters at Pale could be swapped for land in northeastern Bosnia in order to widen the Serbs' key supply corridor. Karadzic wants not only to keep his ski-resort base but to take some of Sarajevo as well. Milosevic is widely believed to be courting Mladic as an alternative to Karadzic. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] NO AGREEMENT ON CROATIAN PEACEKEEPERS.

    International media reported on 21 April that UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali has failed to meet his deadline to get the Croatian authorities and the Krajina Serbs to agree on specifics for a new mandate for UN troops there. The Croats want about 5,000 highly trained soldiers of West European origin, while the Serbs want at least 10,000 men from Russia, Kenya, and various other countries. Zagreb insists that they must be stationed on Croatia's international borders and interdict arms shipments by the Serbs. Knin wants the men on the Croatian-Serbian front lines to play a monitoring role. Croatia wants many checkpoints, while the Serbs agree to about 20. Boutros Ghali on 21 April is to propose a plan to the UN that would authorize 8,750 troops to monitor Croatia's internal and external borders as well as human rights in Serb-held territories. Peacekeepers finding arms shipments would be authorized to warn the guilty parties that they are violating UN resolutions and will be reported to the Security Council. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] FORMER YUGOSLAV DISSIDENT DIES AT 83.

    Belgrade dailies Nasa Borba and Politika reported on 21 April that Milovan Djilas, a leading dissident in socialist Yugoslavia and one-time confidant of Communist leader Josip Broz Tito, died the previous day in Belgrade. Djilas, who was the last survivor of the first Politburo under Tito, became government vice president in 1953 and was generally regarded as a possible successor to Tito. But by the end of that year, he was criticizing the socialist authorities and the communist system, which led to his falling out of favor with Belgrade. The publication of his books The New Class and Conversations With Stalin led to prison sentences at home and acclaim abroad. More recently, Djilas was a critic of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his ultranationalist policies. He was born in Montenegro on 12 June 1911. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] MORE ALBANIANS SENTENCED IN KOSOVO.

    The local court of Pec sentenced three ethnic Albanians on 20 April for "jeopardizing the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia," international agencies reported the same day. Elsewhere, another six Kosovar Albanians were detained for "associating in order to carry out hostile activity" in Gnjilane. The six were allegedly planning to build the headquarters of a territorial defense force for the Kosovar shadow-state. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] GERMANY TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT MACEDONIA.

    German Minister for Economic Cooperation Carl-Dieter Spranger, during a two-day visit to Macedonia, said his country will continue to support Macedonia, Western agencies reported on 19 March. After talks with Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski, Spranger told the press he would back Macedonian interests at the spring meeting of the World Bank in Washington next week. According to Vecher on 21 April, he also said Germany will help realize infrastructure projects in Macedonia. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT VETOES LAND RESTITUTION LAW.

    Zhelyu Zhelev on 20 April vetoed amendments to the land restitution law, Reuters reported the same day. The amendments, passed by the parliament on 14 April, restrict the right of land owners to sell their plots (see OMRI Daily Digest, 18 April 1995). Zhelev said he has "strong objections to these amendments and [intends] to send the law straight back to parliament." He also commented that the law "touches the essence of Bulgaria's democratic reforms. The question about the land . . . cannot be a party issue." Under the Bulgarian Constitution, the president can veto a law once, but the parliament can override his veto. Zhelev said he will appeal to the Constitutional Court if the parliament returns the law to him unaltered. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] GENERAL STRIKE IN ALBANIA.

    The Albanian Confederation of Trade Unions, successor to the communist labor unions, and the post-communist Independent Trade Unions have announced a one-day strike for 22 April, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 21 April. The announcement was made following a meeting with the government, which says it is unable to meet union demands for a 35% wage increase to cover higher consumer prices. A one-hour general strike took place in Albania on 11 April. Meanwhile, a court of appeal has decided not to hold a retrial of Communist dictator Enver Hoxha's widow. Nexhmije Hoxha, who still has three years to serve in prison for embezzlement, requested a new trial in the hope of receiving a milder sentence. -- 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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