OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 86, 20 May 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] EXPLOSIONS ROCK ZAGREB.

  • [02] MILITARY SITUATION IN CROATIA REMAINS TENSE.

  • [03] VOLUNTEERS COME FROM SERBIA, KARADZIC PLEDGES HELP.

  • [04] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAUGHT OFF BALANCE.

  • [05] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENTS MEET.

  • [06] KOSOVAR TRIAL UPDATE.

  • [07] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES PROGRAM.

  • [08] CAR BOMB KILLS BULGARIAN LOCAL POLITICIAN.

  • [09] AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT IN ALBANIA.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 86, Part II, 20 May 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] EXPLOSIONS ROCK ZAGREB.

    A series of blasts in the Croatian capital on 2 May left at least five dead and well over 100 wounded. Hina said the following day that the injured were taken to local hospitals and visited by President Franjo Tudjman. Several explosions occurred in the heart of downtown Zagreb, but UN sources counted as many as nine in different parts of the city, according to local peace groups. Croatian military sources blamed the blasts on Serbian rockets, but peace groups and Vjesnik on 3 May quoted witnesses as having seen small bombs lying on the ground. U.S. ambassador Peter Galbraith condemned the attack in an interview with CNN. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] MILITARY SITUATION IN CROATIA REMAINS TENSE.

    Talks between Serbian and Croatian representatives near Zagreb airport were suspended because the safety of the Serbs could not be guaranteed. Hina on 3 May added that Tudjman met the previous night with his top security advisers and declared the military action in western Slavonia over. Croatian forces took Okucani, and peace groups said the military are negotiating near Pakrac with the last significant group of armed Serbs in UN Sector West. The news agency noted that the region accounts for 11% of Croatia's total territory. Refugees are fleeing in droves from Bosnian Serb areas, despite Tudjman's assurances that only war criminals have anything to fear from Croatian authorities. The BBC added that UN officials are bracing for a major influx of displaced people in the Banja Luka area. Serbian authorities throughout Krajina have put out air raid warnings, Nasa Borba reported on 3 May. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] VOLUNTEERS COME FROM SERBIA, KARADZIC PLEDGES HELP.

    Nasa Borba on 3 May said that some 1,500 "volunteers" from Serbia are present in western Slavonia and that the rump Yugoslav Red Cross is assisting in the area. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic promised to help Krajina, saying that "we will fight together because we are one people and we regard Krajina as our land." It is not clear what Karadzic can do in view of the pressure on his own troops from government and Croatian forces, but his men shelled Sarajevo on 2 May. Meanwhile, Serbian forces in Krajina are holding at least 117 UN personnel, according to the Belgrade daily. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAUGHT OFF BALANCE.

    The major powers appear to have been taken unawares by the Croatian thrust into Sector West on 1 May, despite the fact that the Croatian military has been infiltrating units into the area for almost a month. Attention has been focused on Bosnia, where the four-month-old cease-fire ran out the same day. The U.S. State Department and the UN Security Council condemned the Croatian attack, and Interfax reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 2 May demanding that hostilities cease at once and that negotiations resume. International media note a widespread fear in the Balkans and beyond that the current fighting in Croatia and Bosnia could lead to an expanded regional war. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] RUMP YUGOSLAV PRESIDENTS MEET.

    Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his Montenegrin counterpart, Momir Bulatovic, met with federal President Zoran Lilic on 2 May to discuss Croatia's military actions against the rebel Krajina Serbs, Nasa Borba reported the following day. The three leaders roundly condemned Zagreb, saying its moves were criminal and inexcusable attacks on civilians. Also present at the meeting were other key Belgrade officials, including Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic and chief of the army General Staff, Momcilo Perisic. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] KOSOVAR TRIAL UPDATE.

    Seven ethnic Albanian former policemen were sentenced to between two and six years in prison on 28 April for allegedly forming a Kosovar shadow-state police force with the aim of seceding from Serbia. Of the 159 former policemen who have been arrested since November 1994, 16 have so far been sentenced. Lawyers claim that the charges are contrived and deny there is evidence that the ethnic Albanians planned to secede from Serbia. Hydajet Hyseni, vice president of the Democratic League of Kosovo, said Serbia's attempts to prevent any international presence in Kosovo showed its real intention. He also noted that the overall situation in the region was becoming untenable, with numerous dangers of further escalation, Kosova Communication reported on 1 May. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES PROGRAM.

    The Socialist-led government on 2 May began discussing its four-year program. Standart reported the next day that the 200-page document concentrates on macroeconomic policies and legislative initiatives. It forecasts an increase in the standard of living, foreign investment, and economic growth in 1996-97. Deputy Prime Minister Doncho Konakchiev said the main targets are economic stabilization, the fight against crime, and integration into European structures. According to Demokratsiya, some ministers wanted the program to include figures only on estimated GDP, inflation, and the exchange rate. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] CAR BOMB KILLS BULGARIAN LOCAL POLITICIAN.

    Lyudmil Vodenicharov, a member of the Parvenec local council, was killed by a car bomb on 2 May, Bulgarian newspapers reported the following day. Vodenicharov was also chairman of the local liquidation council, which oversees the privatization of agricultural cooperatives. He was elected to the local council on the ticket of the Union of Democratic Forces. According to Kontinent, Vodenicharov had succeeded in repaying 2 million leva ($30,800) of a local cooperative's debts without selling off any of its property. Residents of Parvenec said Vodenicharov wanted to buy the cooperative's cold-storage depot, which is one of the largest in Bulgaria. This plan interfered with the business interests of wholesale fruit traders and may have been the reason for his killing. Duma reported that this was the first death by car bomb in Bulgaria. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT IN ALBANIA.

    Austrian President Thomas Klestil, Foreign Minister Alois Mock, and Justice Minister Mickolaus Micklalek visited Albania on 2 May. It was the first visit to Albania by an Austrian president. Klestil was received by his Albanian counterpart, Sali Berisha, and Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi. The leaders discussed Albania's democratization process and integration into Europe as well as the Yugoslav crisis. -- 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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