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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 22, 31 January 1996

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [1] NEW BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER FACES DAUNTING TASKS.

  • [2] SREBRENICA WOMEN TEMPORARILY STOP DEMONSTRATIONS.

  • [3] ELECTION COMMISSION SET UP IN BOSNIA.

  • [4] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA ASKS FOR ASSETS TO BE UNFROZEN.

  • [5] SLOVENIAN MINISTERS TENDER RESIGNATIONS.

  • [6] ROMANIAN TELECOMMUNICATION MINISTER SUSPENDED.

  • [7] FRENCH MILITARY DELEGATION VISITS ROMANIA.

  • [8] MOLDOVAN-DNIESTER SUMMIT POSTPONED.

  • [9] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION WANTS PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN TO RESIGN.

  • [10] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

  • [11] ALBANIAN ELECTION LAW OPPOSED BY TWELVE PARTIES.

  • [12] ALBANIA, ISRAEL SIGN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS.

  • [13] GREECE, TURKEY WITHDRAW FORCES IN ISLET DISPUTE.


  • OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 22, Part II, 31 January 1996

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [1] NEW BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER FACES DAUNTING TASKS.

    After being named prime minister on 30 January, Hasan Muratovic outlined the social and other issues facing his administration, saying they would "frighten any government in the world." Oslobodjenje on 31 January said he mentioned huge social obligations to war refugees, the injured, and the families of dead soldiers and missing persons. Pensioners, demobilized soldiers, the police, the army, and the education system pose additional problems. Muratovic noted that Bosnia wants to join both the EU and NATO, adding that "as for . . . Croatia, we'll do our best to make that relationship an example for good cooperation between countries in this region." Regarding Serbia-Montenegro, the new prime minister said "we must develop and normalize that relationship step by step." Earlier, Fifth Corps commander General Atif Dudakovic said that the Bosnian army will be reorganized along NATO lines. -- Patrick Moore

    [2] SREBRENICA WOMEN TEMPORARILY STOP DEMONSTRATIONS.

    Women refugees from Srebrenica, who have staged demonstrations in Tuzla on 29-30 January, have agreed to stop their protest until a 1 February meeting between the Bosnian and Tuzla-Podrinje governments and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Oslobodjenje reported on 31 January. Some 1,000 women and children have been demonstrating against the ICRC's "passivity" over 8,000 missing men from Srebrenica. They have promised to step up their action if more information on their relatives is not provided by 1 February. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [3] ELECTION COMMISSION SET UP IN BOSNIA.

    A commission responsible for overseeing Bosnian elections under OSCE auspices was named on 30 January in Sarajevo, international and local media reported. The seven-member panel is composed of representatives from the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, and the three Bosnian factions. Under the Dayton peace accords, elections must take place before September. Meanwhile, the current, past, and future OSCE Chairmen-in-Office--Foreign Ministers Flavio Cotti (Switzerland), Lazlo Kovacs (Hungary), and Niels Helveg Petersen (Denmark)--met in Sarajevo on 30 January with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, vice president of the Moslem-Croatian Federation Ejup Ganic, and vice president of the self-declared Republika Srpska Nikola Koljevic. Cotti said the meeting was "extremely positive," but Koljevic stressed that the issues of refugees, control over the media, and Serbian control over Sarajevo may prove obstacles to holding elections by September. -- Michael Mihalka

    [4] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA ASKS FOR ASSETS TO BE UNFROZEN.

    Nasa Borba on 31 January reports that rump Yugoslav Premier Radoje Kontic has sent a letter to his French, British, Swiss, and Danish counterparts, as well as to U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, asking that overseas assets of Belgrade's national bank be unfrozen. Those assets were frozen in 1992, following the introduction of sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia for its role in supporting and fomenting the Bosnian Serb war effort. Kontic reportedly wrote that "since sanctions have been suspended there is no further need to block [rump Yugoslav] assets. . . . Continuation of the embargo would call into question the principle of equal treatment of all parties . . . of the former Yugoslavia." -- Stan Markotich

    [5] SLOVENIAN MINISTERS TENDER RESIGNATIONS.

    Four Slovenian ministers, all members of the United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD), handed in their resignations on 30 January. This move follows in the wake of the ZLSD's split with the governing coalition. The outgoing ministers held the economics, labor, science, and culture portfolios, Reuters reported. ZLSD secretary Dusan Kumer said both the resignations and the party's split with the governing coalition were prompted by the ZLSD's disapproval of government policy, which, he said, does not offer enough help to underprivileged people and troubled companies. -- Stan Markotich

    [6] ROMANIAN TELECOMMUNICATION MINISTER SUSPENDED.

    Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu on 30 January suspended Adrian Turicu as telecommunications minister, Romanian media reported. Turicu is one four ministers appointed in August 1994 by the chauvinistic Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) to the cabinet, which is dominated by the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR). He was accused of having illegally replaced the director of the Romtelecom company, a member of the PDSR, last autumn. A PDSR official said the PUNR will continue to have the portfolio. But PUNR Deputy Chairman Ioan Gavra was quoted by Jurnalul national as saying that Turicu's dismissal may mean the end of the current cabinet. Friction between the PDSR and PUNR has increased since PUNR Chairman Gheorghe Funar attacked the ruling party in two letters to President Ion Iliescu. -- Dan Ionescu

    [7] FRENCH MILITARY DELEGATION VISITS ROMANIA.

    A military delegation from the French Defense Ministry's Strategic Affairs Department, led by General Alain Faupin, has met in Bucharest with members of the bicameral parliament's defense commissions, Romanian media reported on 30 January. Faupin said Romania's integration into NATO will probably not take place in the near future, since this move needed to be carefully prepared. -- Matyas Szabo

    [8] MOLDOVAN-DNIESTER SUMMIT POSTPONED.

    A meeting scheduled for 31 January between Moldovan President Mircea Snegur and president of the self- proclaimed Dniester republic Igor Smirnov has been postponed, BASA-press and Infotag reported. According to Moldovan officials, the chief reason for the postponement was Tiraspol's insistence that Chisinau allow the delivery of Dniester bank notes printed in Germany through Moldovan territory. At a 30 January meeting with the head of the OSCE mission in Moldova, Snegur deplored the fact that the Dniester leadership was setting pre-conditions for the dialogue with Chisinau. He also described the idea of the Dniester's own currency as "inadmissible" and contrary to the Moldovan constitution. -- Dan Ionescu

    [9] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION WANTS PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN TO RESIGN.

    The Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) on 30 January demanded that Blagovest Sendov resign as chairman of the parliament, Pari reported. Sendov, meeting with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow the previous day, had said "there is no necessity for NATO expansion." The SDS issued a declaration saying Sendov had violated the constitution by expressing a position not approved by the parliament. On returning to Sofia, Sendov did not deny having made the statement, but parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Nikolay Kamov said Sendov had told him in a telephone conversation that he had not made it. -- Stefan Krause

    [10] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

    The SDS National Coordinating Council (NKS) on 30 January proposed that preliminary elections be held in order to find a joint opposition candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for late 1996. The SDS candidate is to be nominated by secret ballot at a national conference in March. Standart reported that the NKS adopted another proposal stating that anyone who has opposed SDS interests or has left the union cannot be nominated as SDS candidate. This provision is directed against incumbent President Zhelyu Zhelev. SDS Chairman Ivan Kostov will not be a candidate, Standart added. Vasil Mihaylov, chairman of the New Social Democratic Party and a member of the SDS leadership, told Trud it would be "high treason" if the opposition did not nominate a joint candidate. -- Stefan Krause

    [11] ALBANIAN ELECTION LAW OPPOSED BY TWELVE PARTIES.

    Twelve opposition parties in Albania have opposed a new election law scheduled to reach the parliament on 1 February, Reuters reported on 30 January. The opposition argues that the law would favor the ruling Democratic Party by increasing the number of direct candidates to the parliament from 100 to 115 and decreasing the number elected by proportional representation to 25. Under this provision, smaller parties would have only a limited chance to gain parliamentary representation, the opposition claims. Elections are expected to take place in June. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [12] ALBANIA, ISRAEL SIGN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS.

    Albanian President Sali Berisha has signed two economic cooperation agreements with Israeli Premier Shimon Peres, international agencies reported on 30 January. The agreements establish "favored-nation-status" between the two countries and provide for Albanians to be trained in Israel. Berisha urged Israeli businessmen to invest in Albania. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [13] GREECE, TURKEY WITHDRAW FORCES IN ISLET DISPUTE.

    The crisis over the uninhabited islet of Imia eased on 31 January, as Greece and Turkey started pulling back their naval forces following mediation by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, Reuters reported the same day. U.S. President Bill Clinton and UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali urged the two sides to seek a peaceful solution. Greece agreed to take down its flag from the disputed islet and withdraw its soldiers, while Turkish troops will leave a nearby islet they landed on last night. Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said a bilateral agreement was reached and "the biggest units have already been disengaged." But his Turkish counterpart, Deniz Baykal, denied the existence of such an agreement, saying the withdrawal simply means a return to the status quo ante. -- Stefan Krause

    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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