OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 110, 7 June 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] RUSSIA SOFTENS STANCE ON NATO FORCE FOR BOSNIA.

  • [02] SERBS FREE 108 HOSTAGES.

  • [03] SERBS TAKE WEAPONS FROM UN COLLECTION SITES.

  • [04] "PANIC IN KNIN."

  • [05] BELGRADE TALKS HIT IMPASSE.

  • [06] ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER RELEASED ON BAIL IN MACEDONIA.

  • [07]JAPAN CONTINUES TO ASSIST MACEDONIA.

  • [08] KULIKOV IN BULGARIA.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 110, Part I, 7 June 1995

    RUSSIA

    [01] RUSSIA SOFTENS STANCE ON NATO FORCE FOR BOSNIA.

    On 6 June, after talks with his British counterpart Douglas Hurd, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said he is "somewhat reassured" about the NATO plan to create a "rapid reaction force" to support UN peacekeepers in Bosnia. The weakening of earlier Russian objections to such a force followed assurances by Hurd and other Western officials that its deployment would have to be approved by the UN Security Council, Western agencies and Interfax reported. Kozyrev said Russia could agree to an additional deployment of troops under UN auspices, but said it could prove counterproductive and trigger an escalation of hostilities in Bosnia. Also on 6 June, Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev told Interfax that Russian peacekeepers would remain in Bosnia, although he said there are no plans to reinforce them. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 110, Part II, 7 June 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] SERBS FREE 108 HOSTAGES.

    International media reported on 7 June that Bosnian Serbs the previous night sent 108 of their captives to Novi Sad via Mali Zvornik, on the Serbian-Bosnian border. The men will be flown out from Belgrade and include 17 British, 32 French, and 58 Ukrainian soldiers, plus one Spanish military observer. The Serbs still hold about 150 peacekeepers, whom they indicated would also be released soon. Mlada fronta dnes said the three Czech hostages continue to be held. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic' s security chief had held long talks with the Bosnian Serb leadership, as had the Greek foreign and defense ministers, who then also met with Milosevic. Nasa Borba reported that the Greeks are claiming credit for the releases, but the BBC noted that Milosevic will be anxious to take credit for himself to pry more concessions from the UN on the lifting of sanctions against Serbia- Montenegro. -- Patrick Moore

    [03] SERBS TAKE WEAPONS FROM UN COLLECTION SITES.

    Bosnian Serb troops took one tank and a 100 mm gun from UN storage depots near Sarajevo, AFP said on 7 June. The M-36 tank was driven from Bare, where two French peacekeepers still refuse to let the Serbs take them hostage. Vjesnik reported from Orasje that the Serbian assault on the Croatian-held pocket in northern Bosnian has now gone on for over a month. The BBC noted that the food situation in many of the besieged, mainly Muslim areas of Bosnia is becoming acute, with supplies being given only to the weak and sick in some places. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] "PANIC IN KNIN."

    This is how Vjesnik on 7 June described the situationin Krajina following the advance by Croatian forces to within shelling range of the Grahovo road connecting Knin with Banja Luka. Western news agencies speculated on growing rifts within the Krajina leadership under President Milan Martic, who recently sacked the prime minister, considered Milosevic' s man in Knin. Nasa Borba added that the first refugees have already begun leaving Krajina for Bosnian Serb territory. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman' s top aide, Hrvoje Sarinic, said Zagreb is willing to talk with Knin. Krajina is impoverished, and speculation is rife that Milosevic has written it off in a secret deal with Tudjman that would let Serbia hold the rich area of eastern Slavonia in return for giving less desirable real estate back to Croatia. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] BELGRADE TALKS HIT IMPASSE.

    Negotiations between US envoy Robert Frasure and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic aimed at securing the rump Yugoslavia' s recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina in exchange for the lifting of sanctions broke down on 6 June, Reuters reported that same day. The talks hit an impasse when Milosevic objected to the idea of introducing a mechanism whereby a body other than the UN Security Council may reintroduce sanctions. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER RELEASED ON BAIL IN MACEDONIA.

    Nevzat Halili, leader of the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity-Party for the People' s Union (PPD-PUPM), has been released on DM 70,000 bail, Flaka reported on 6 June. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison on 19 May for preventing the police from carrying out their duties in connection with a police raid on the self-proclaimed Albanian-language university of Tetovo. The 17 February raid led to clashes between ethnic Albanians and police in which one Albanian was killed. Halili has been criticized by nationalist ethnic Albanians for his moderate stance in the parliament. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07]JAPAN CONTINUES TO ASSIST MACEDONIA.

    Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on 6 June said Japan will continue extending financial and technological aid, totaling $5.9 million, to Macedonia to help promote stability in the Balkans, Reuters reported the same day. Kono made the pledge at a meeting with his Macedonian counterpart, Stevo Crvenkovski, who currently is visiting Japan. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] KULIKOV IN BULGARIA.

    Marshal Viktor Kulikov, commander of the Warsaw Pact forces from 1977 until that organization' s demise in 1991, criticized aspects of Soviet foreign policy during a recent visit to Bulgaria, AFP reported on 5 June. Referring to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, Kulikov said "With the benefit of hindsight and as a soldier, I condemn this action." He did, however, defend current Russian policy in Chechnya, insisting that Moscow' s military action was in response to violations of the constitution. Kulikov also met with former Bulgarian communist dictator Todor Zhivkov. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

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

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