OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 112, 9 June 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] RUSSIA FEARS REPETITION OF SOMALIA IN BOSNIA.

  • [02] BOSNIAN SERBS SAY THEY WILL LIFT ROADBLOCKS TO SARAJEVO.

  • [03] NATO DEFENSE MINISTERS AGREE ON BOSNIA.

  • [04] SERBS HAND OVER REMAINS OF BOSNIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.

  • [05] MORE KOSOVAR POLICEMEN SENTENCED.

  • [06] KULIKOV: RUSSIA MAY GIVE BULGARIA TANKS.

  • [07] MILITARY SEA EXERCISE IN BULGARIA.

  • [08] DRUGS SEIZED IN BULGARIA.

  • [09] ENVER HOXHA'S SON SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR.

  • [10] TURKEY AND GREECE CLASH OVER TERRITORIAL WATERS . . .

  • [11] . . . AND AGREE ON NATO MILITARY BUDGET.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 112, Part I, 9 June 1995

    RUSSIA

    [01] RUSSIA FEARS REPETITION OF SOMALIA IN BOSNIA.

    Despite reassurances from Western leaders, the Russian government still has reservations about the deployment of a NATO rapid reaction force to Bosnia. A senior Russian diplomat told Interfax on 8 June that he feared the new peacekeeping troops might turn " into a group for enforcing peace, and then into a multi-national force like the one...in Somalia." He added that only the full incorporation of the NATO force into the existing UNPROFOR command would completely defuse such concerns. Also on 8 June, opposition deputies in the State Duma continued to criticize what they termed " unilateral power actions by NATO in Bosnia," Interfax reported. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] BOSNIAN SERBS SAY THEY WILL LIFT ROADBLOCKS TO SARAJEVO.

    The Bosnian Serb leadership on 8 June agreed to reopen land routes to the Bosnian capital, allowing humanitarian aid to pass, international media reported. According to Reuters, the Bosnian Serbs have also agreed to guarantee the safety of UN truck drivers delivering aid on the territory they control and to provide escorts. Bosnian Serb vice president Nikola Koljevic described the development as " an important step" and added that " we really believe in further peaceful developments." Meanwhile, the BBC on 9 June reported continued shelling of Sarajevo, where at least two people were killed, and Gorazde. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] NATO DEFENSE MINISTERS AGREE ON BOSNIA.

    The BBC on 9 June reported that NATO defense ministers, meeting in Brussels, reached a consensus on the creation of a rapid response force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The U.K. is slated to provide the bulk of the 10,000-strong reinforcement to the war-torn country. The New York Times on 9 June cites British Defense Minister Malcolm Rifkind as stressing that the new forces will fire in self-defense but will not " blast their way through resistance to ensure that relief supplies are delivered and other UN tasks are carried out." However, both Rifkind and French officials have raised the specter of withdrawal if the parties involved do not accept the UN role. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] SERBS HAND OVER REMAINS OF BOSNIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.

    Vjesnik and Nasa Borba on 9 June reported that the remains of Bosnian Foreign Minister Irfan Ljubjankic have been handed over to Bosnian authorities in Bihac. Ljubjankic was killed on 28 May when his helicopter was downed in Bihac by hostile Serbian fire. The Bosnian justice minister and five others also died in the incident. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] MORE KOSOVAR POLICEMEN SENTENCED.

    A court in Gnjilan on 8 June sentenced 15 ethnic Albanians to up to three years in jail, Reuters reported the same day. The former policemen are charged with creating a separatist shadow-state police force. Seven were tried in absentia and the court dropped charges against another four. In the largest legal proceedings ever in Kosovo, the trials of 159 ethnic Albanian former policemen are under way, while 16 policemen were sentenced in April. Defense lawyers have denied the charges, saying the policemen formed a trade union, not a paramilitary force. About 3,500 ethnic Albanian policemen were fired in 1991, after the abolition of Kosovar autonomy two years previously. -- Fabian Schmidt , OMRI, Inc.

    [06] KULIKOV: RUSSIA MAY GIVE BULGARIA TANKS.

    Marshal Viktor Kulikov, former military commander of the Warsaw Pact armed forces and now an adviser to Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, has suggested that Bulgaria might receive some of the tanks Russia must destroy under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, BTA reported on 5 June. This message was conveyed by Bulgarian Industry Minister Kliment Vouchev following his meeting that day in Sofia with Kulikov. Bulgaria would then destroy older tanks in its inventory to meet its CFE limits. Such a " cascading" of excess weapons is common within NATO but has not occurred among the former Warsaw Pact states. -- Doug Clarke , OMRI, Inc.

    [07] MILITARY SEA EXERCISE IN BULGARIA.

    A one-day military sea exercise took place along Bulgaria's Black Sea coast on 8 June, international agencies reported. Dutch, Greek, Italian, and Turkish ships from NATO's southern fleet in the Mediterranean and eight Bulgarian ships participated in the maneuvers, which are taking place within the framework of the Partnership for Peace. NATO ships are expected to hold another joint exercise in Bulgaria and Romania later this year. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] DRUGS SEIZED IN BULGARIA.

    Bulgarian customs officers seized 21.7 kg of heroin at the Turkish border on 7 June, AFP reported the following day. The heroin, worth an estimated $3.3 million, was hidden in a British truck and two British citizens were detained. The consignment brings the total heroin haul this year in Bulgaria to 101 kg. -- Fabian Schmidt , OMRI, Inc.

    [09] ENVER HOXHA'S SON SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR.

    Ilir Hoxha, the youngest son of Albanian communist dictator Enver Hoxha, was sentenced to one year in jail on 8 June, AFP and Reuters reported the same day. Hoxha was found guilty of " inciting national hatred by endangering public peace" and of calling for " vengeance" and " hatred against parts of the population" in an interview with the newspaper Modeste. Hoxha was quoted as saying during the trial that " The day will come when all those who have betrayed my father will have to answer for their actions." He is the first person to be tried under a new penal code that took effect in Albania on 1 June. Hoxha denied the charges, saying his trial was motivated by political revenge. -- Fabian Schmidt , OMRI, Inc.

    [10] TURKEY AND GREECE CLASH OVER TERRITORIAL WATERS . . .

    The Turkish parliament on 8 June passed a resolution empowering the government to take military measures against Greece, Reuters reported the same day. The resolution follows the Greek parliament's decision to ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, which would allow Greece to extend its territorial waters. The resolution says that " the parliament has decided to invest the government with all powers to take all measures including military steps deemed necessary to protect the vital interests of our country." The resolution, however, was proclaimed " to the world and Greece with friendly sentiments." Ankara claims that an extension of the six-mile zone to twelve miles around the Greek Islands would make 70 percent of the Aegean Sea Greek and choke Turkey's access to the high seas. -- Fabian Schmidt , OMRI, Inc.

    [11] . . . AND AGREE ON NATO MILITARY BUDGET.

    Turkey and Greece agreed at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels to freeze a series of bilateral disputes that have blocked the adoption of the 1995 NATO military budget, AFP reported on 8 June. Under pressure from NATO allies, Turkey agreed to lift for six months its veto on adopting the military budget. Greece, for its part, pledged that for a period of three to four months, it would suspend its opposition to the financing of key NATO headquarters in Izmir. -- 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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