OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 98, 22 May 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] KARADZIC THREATENS TO OVERRUN "SAFE AREAS."

  • [02] KRAJINA SERBS REJECT UNCRO.

  • [03] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA.

  • [04] SERBIAN PATRIARCH DEFENDED BY STATE PRESS.

  • [05] SESELJ IN KOSOVO.

  • [06] ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER SENTENCED IN MACEDONIA.

  • [07] RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER IN BULGARIA.

  • [08] MEETING OF BULGARIAN TRADE UNION LEADERS.

  • [09] GREECE'S WEU MEMBERSHIP IN DOUBT.

  • [10] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT JUDGE REJECTS DRAFT ON JUDICIARY.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 98, Part II, 22 May 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] KARADZIC THREATENS TO OVERRUN "SAFE AREAS."

    Bosnian Serb leader RadovanKaradzic has said he will take UN troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina hostage if air strikes are ordered against his forces. He also threatened to capture the mainly Muslim UN-declared "safe areas" in eastern Bosnia-- Srebrenica, Zepa, and Gorazde--which the UN is considering abandoning under a new plan to scale down its presence. Nasa Borba on 22 May also quotes Karadzic as promising that Bosnian Serb forces will not give up. He added that his government alone among Serbs can recognize the Bosnian government and that it has no intention of doing so. This last remark is in apparent response to media reports that U.S. and British diplomats think they can extract the recognition of the Sarajevo government from Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Karadzic is taking part in a session of the Bosnian Serb parliament in Banja Luka, during which his differences with the military are expected to hold center stage. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] KRAJINA SERBS REJECT UNCRO.

    The Krajina Serb legislature, meeting in the Slavonian town of Borovo Selo over the weekend, passed resolutions in favor of unity with the Bosnian Serbs and rejecting the new UN mandate for peacekeepers in Croatia. The peacekeeping force's new name contains the word "Croatia," which the Krajina Serbs feel is an automatic negation of their claim to independence. Vreme on 22 May reported on rifts within the leadership, namely between those reluctant to attract the ire of Milosevic and those who fear he has already sold out their interests to the Croats. Nasa Borba on 19 May noted how these tensions have extended to the local media and that journalists staged a brief strike the previous day. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA.

    International media reported that there was intense fighting around Brcko in the Posavina corridor on 19-20 May but that the battle fronts in Bosnia were fairly quiet on 21 May. In Banja Luka, the local Roman Catholic bishop continues a hunger strike he began on 18 May to protest Bosnian Serb "terror" against Croats and the destruction of churches. Vecernji list on 22 May says he has received wide support from Bosnian Catholics. Finally, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quotes UN sources as claiming that some 1,400 Croatian troops failed to leave buffer zones in the Dalmatian hinterland as of the 20 May. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] SERBIAN PATRIARCH DEFENDED BY STATE PRESS.

    Serbia's state-run Borba on 22 May defended Patriarch Pavle against what it called a gross affront by the Ljubljana government against the religious Orthodox leader and Slovenia's 22,000-strong Serbian community. Ljubljana authorities on 18 May denied Pavle an entry visa, saying that while it was not their intention to interfere with religious freedoms, they feared that the Patriarch's arrival could trigger ethnic tensions within Slovenia. Borba, however, insisted that Ljubljana's decision was the product of "cynicism" and "two-facedness." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] SESELJ IN KOSOVO.

    Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Radical Serbian Party and alleged war criminal, called for Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's resignation on 20 May, accusing him of abandoning the Bosnian Serb republic and the Republic of Serbian Krajina "to satisfy the demands of major powers." Seselj was taking part in a rally outside the medieval orthodox monastery of Gracanica, which was attended by only some 200 people from the 200,000-strong Serbian community in Kosovo. He also criticized Milosevic for not taking "urgent measures to protect Serbs" against the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo. The gathering adopted a declaration and formed a National Council for Kosovo, which includes Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and Krajina Serb leader Milan Martic, international agencies reported. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER SENTENCED IN MACEDONIA.

    Nevzat Halili, leader of the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity--Party for the Peoples' Unity, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, international agencies reported on 19 May. Halili was convicted for preventing police from carrying out their duties in connection with a police raid on the self-proclaimed Albanian-language university in Tetovo. The 17 February raid led to clashes between ethnic Albanians and police in which one Albanian was killed. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER IN BULGARIA.

    Reuters quoted foreign diplomats as saying that Viktor Chernomyrdin's visit to Bulgaria on 18-19 May gave a boost to bilateral relations. Talks between Chernomyrdin and his Bulgarian counterpart, Zhan Videnov, focused on liberalization of bilateral trade, rebuilding industrial cooperation, and energy projects. A declaration and 15 economic, cultural, and scientific accords were signed, including one on building a pipeline to transport Russian gas from Bulgaria to other Balkan countries. Chernomyrdin warned that rapid expansion of NATO may lead to a new Cold War and a division of Europe. He added that the question of Bulgaria's possible membership in NATO was not discussed in any depth during his visit. Joining NATO is a controversial subject in Bulgaria. President Zhelyu Zhelev advocates membership, while Videnov says NATO has to be reformed first. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] MEETING OF BULGARIAN TRADE UNION LEADERS.

    For the first time in three years, leaders of the two biggest trade unions in Bulgaria met to discuss their position on government policy, Standart reported on 20 May. Konstantin Trenchev of Podkrepa and Krastyo Petkov of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria signed a declaration to jointly oppose the government's "monetarist and anti- union policy." They also agreed on further talks to coordinate their positions on social and trade-union issues. Trenchev refused to say whether Podkrepa will change its official decision not to hold talks with the confederation, which it considers to be procommunist. In other domestic news, former Bulgarian party leader and head of state Todor Zhivkov was allowed to leave Sofia on 21 May, Reuters reported the same day. Zhivkov went to his home town, Pravets, where he was received by hundreds of people chanting "Long live Zhivkov." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] GREECE'S WEU MEMBERSHIP IN DOUBT.

    Greece's membership in the Western European Union has been put in doubt after the country unilaterally added a special clause to the document ratifying its entry to the defense alliance, AFP reported on 19 May. The clause says Greece will not accept the International Court of Jurisdiction's competence in matters related to national defense. Greece was admitted to the WEU in March on the basis of a document, signed by other members in 1992, in which the court's competence is accepted without any reservation. Alfonso Cuco, a Spanish senator, said the Greek clause can be valid only with the formal agreement of other WEU members. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT JUDGE REJECTS DRAFT ON JUDICIARY.

    Chief Supreme Court Judge Zef Brozi has accused the Justice Ministry and the ruling Democratic Party of trying to undermine the independence of the judiciary, Reuters reported on 19 May. According to Brozi, a new draft law placing the judiciary under the financial and administrative authority of the Ministry of Justice is an attempt to muzzle the courts. He also claimed that the government earlier this year tried to undermine the independence of the judiciary by asking the parliament to lift his immunity. The majority of legislators, however, rejected the move. -- 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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