Epilogh OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 64, 30 Mar 95

From: "Demetrios E. Paneras" <dep@bu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] RUSSIANS COVER SERBIAN TROOPS AND TANKS MOVING INTO CROATIA.

  • [02] IZETBEGOVIC WARNS THAT MILOSEVIC STILL WANTS A GREATER SERBIA.

  • [03] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS MEET WITH VAN DER STOEL.

  • [04] MACEDONIA SEEKS FINANCIAL AID.

  • [05] BULGARIAN JUDICIAL COUNCIL WANTS INVESTIGATION SERVICES HEAD DISMISSED.

  • [06] TWO MAIN ALBANIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES SAY THEY COOPERATE.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 64, Part II, 30 March 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] RUSSIANS COVER SERBIAN TROOPS AND TANKS MOVING INTO CROATIA.

    Newsday reports on 30 March that the Russian commander of UN forces in Serbian- occupied eastern Croatia told Belgian troops recently not to block a Serbian military convoy moving in from Serbia. The shipment involved at least 900 rump Yugoslav soldiers, up to 20 tanks, ground-to-ground rockets, and various other weapons. The paper says that "this was the largest movement of Yugoslav troops into the zone since they withdrew as part of a ceasefire negotiated in 1991." It also notes that the arrival of new M-84 and T-72 tanks tips the military balance in the area in the Serbs' favor. Croatia has protested the development as proof of the UN's inefficiency and of Belgrade's direct involvement in the conflict. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] IZETBEGOVIC WARNS THAT MILOSEVIC STILL WANTS A GREATER SERBIA. Slobodna Dalmacija on 30 March quotes Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic as telling his mainly Muslim party's convention two days earlier that Serbian President Slobadan Milosevic has cut ties to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic but that Milosevic remains close to the Bosnian Serb m

    ilitary establishment. He also noted that the Serbian president still aims at setting up a greater Serbia at the expense of Croatia and Bosnia. Meanwhile on the Bosnian battle fronts, the VOA says that heavy snowfalls have reduced fighting to sporadic levels, while Vjesnik reports that Serbian forces still control the key television transmitter in the Majevica hills northeast of Tuzla. Nasa Borba covers Karadzic's latest statements, in which he threatens to take Tuzla and Sarajevo if the government offensive continues. He also said he will consider UN forces hostile if the world body calls in NATO air strikes against his troops. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS MEET WITH VAN DER STOEL.

    Bedredin Ibrahimi, secretary of the ethnic Albanian Democratic People's Party (PDP), and other party representatives met with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Max van der Stoel, Flaka reported on 30 March. The PDP representatives claimed that the Macedonian government is making no serious effort to eliminate discrimination against ethnic Albanians and to improve the human rights situation in the country. The PDP recently boycotted parliament sessions following a police crackdown on the self- declared Albanian-language university in Tetovo in February. Van der Stoel called on the Albanians to continue a dialogue with the Macedonian government in order to solve the university conflict and other problems. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] MACEDONIA SEEKS FINANCIAL AID.

    Nova Makedonija on 30 March reported that Macedonia is seeking loans totaling $85 million from the EBRD and the World Bank. The money is intended for Macedonia's private sector, primarily for small industrial, agricultural, and tourist companies. Deputy Minister for Development Spase Lazarevski was quoted as saying that talks with the EBRD are about to start, while negotiations with the World Bank have reached the final stage. It was also reported that a fund aimed at creating and securing new jobs in the private sector will be set up. Macedonia and Germany will each pay 10 million German marks ($7 million) into the fund. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] BULGARIAN JUDICIAL COUNCIL WANTS INVESTIGATION SERVICES HEAD DISMISSED. The Supreme Judicial Council on 29 March recommended that Ani Kruleva, director of the National Investigation Service, be dismissed for i

    ncompetence, BTA reported the same day. The 25-member council voted in a secret ballot to relieve Kruleva of her duties. Under Bulgarian law, President Zhelyu Zhelev has to approve the decision. Kruleva, who was appointed by Zhelev in 1992, came under fire when eight members of the council introduced a motion for her dismissal on 15 March on the grounds of serving political interests, incompetence, and lack of professionalism. The Presi-dent's Office did not comment on the council's vote, but Kruleva was cited by Reuters as saying that "only a presidential decree can relieve me from my post . . . . I am still NIS director until such a decree is issued." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] TWO MAIN ALBANIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES SAY THEY COOPERATE.

    The leaders of the Albanian Socialist Party and the Democratic Alliance passed a declaration on 29 March saying that their parties "are not in conflict," Gazeta Shqiptare reported the following day. The Democratic Alliance considers itself a center-right party, while the SP is the successor of the Communists. SP deputy leader Namik Dokle stressed that both parties cooperate on "many important political questions, such as supporting the creation of a constitutional state, the battle against corruption, the protection of human rights, and especially efforts to base privatization on a law passed in the parliament and not on decisions by the government." -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc. [As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Jan Cleave

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

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