OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 119, 20 June 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] SERBS REJECT SARAJEVO' S CEASE-FIRE OFFER.

  • [02] BOSNIAN CROATS BACK ALLIANCE WITH MUSLIMS.

  • [03] RUSSIAN EMISSARY MAKES LOW-KEY VISIT TO BELGRADE AND PALE.

  • [04] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BELGRADE.

  • [05] SERBIAN GUARD SHOOTS ALBANIAN CHILD IN KOSOVO.

  • [06] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT IN PARIS.

  • [07] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REJECTS LAND LAW.

  • [08] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS.

  • [09] ALBANIAN COURT REJECTS APPEAL BY SOCIALIST LEADER.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 119, Part II, 20 June 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] SERBS REJECT SARAJEVO' S CEASE-FIRE OFFER.

    The Bosnian Serbs have turned down an offer by President Alija Izetbegovic on 18 June to end the government' s current offensive. The condition was that the Serbs respect the 20-km-wide heavy weapons exclusion zone around Sarajevo, the BBC and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said on 20 June. The International Herald Tribune added that UN sources have confirmed Serbian claims that the strategic Pale-Lukavica road remains in Serbian hands. The Serbs have launched a counter-offensive and announced that victory would be theirs. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] BOSNIAN CROATS BACK ALLIANCE WITH MUSLIMS.

    The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 20 June quotes Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir Zubak as saying his side will back the government forces and continue the offensive to stop the blockade of Sarajevo "to the end." A top Bosnian Croat defense official told Vecernji list that the two sides will continue to stage coordinated actions to defeat the common Serbian enemy. Meanwhile in northern Bosnia, the Serbs have stepped up artillery pressure on the Croat-held territories on the Bosnian side of the Sava River. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, for his part, has begun a visit to Australia, which has large emigre communities from throughout the former Yugoslavia. Nasa Borba reported his arrival touched off noisy protests by the local Serbs, but the Zagreb dailies note that Australian Croats gave him a rousing welcome. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] RUSSIAN EMISSARY MAKES LOW-KEY VISIT TO BELGRADE AND PALE.

    Former Russian special envoy Vitaly Churkin has visited Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in a previously unannounced visit. Western and Serbian media on 20 June noted that the official purpose of the trip was simply to "exchange ideas" and that Churkin brought along no new proposals. France, meanwhile, has urged the new EU negotiator, former Swedish Prime Minister Karl Bildt, to make fresh efforts to relaunch the peace process. It said the release of the last hostages provides a good opportunity for such an initiative. The International Herald Tribune notes that the Bosnian government suspects the West of wanting to make a quick peace deal with the Serbs that would give the Serbs far more than offered by the existing peace plan. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BELGRADE.

    Georgi Pirinski on 19 June met with his rump Yugoslav counterpart, Vladislav Jovanovic, and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Demokratsiya reported the following day. After the meetings, Pirinski confirmed the Bulgarian government' s position that a peaceful solution to the Yugoslav crisis can be reached only by political means and a gradual lifting of UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia. While he stressed that Bulgaria is not violating the embargo, he said he agrees with Milosevic on strengthening "bilateral political and economic relations." Pirinski is slated to meet with other ranking officials on 20 June, including rump Yugoslav Premier Radoje Kontic. -- Stefan Krause and Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] SERBIAN GUARD SHOOTS ALBANIAN CHILD IN KOSOVO.

    A Serbian guard shot and killed a 10-year-old ethnic Albanian in Hani i Elezit, near the Macedonian border, while he was herding sheep, Kosova Daily Report said on 19 June. The child reportedly walked into the courtyard of the army barracks, about 70 meters from his home, to round up a stray sheep. The army has not officially admitted any involvement in the incident but informed the boy' s family that his body is in Pristina' s main hospital. The incident brings the number of Albanians killed in Kosovo by Serbian police and military in 1995 to 17. More than 100 Albanians have been killed in Kosovo since the abolition of Kosovar autonomy in 1989. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT IN PARIS.

    Nasa Borba on 20 June reported that Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov is in Paris together with an official Macedonian delegation. Gligorov is slated to address a plenary session of the Western European Union, meeting from 19-22 June in the French capital. Observers believe this is a sign that Macedonia may soon be granted associate membership in the European defense body. Meanwhile, Macedonian Premier Branko Crvenkovski returned from a state visit to Turkey, where he met with Premier Tansu Ciller and President Suleyman Demirel. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REJECTS LAND LAW.

    The Constitutional Court on 19 June rejected an amendment to the land restitution law as unconstitutional, Bulgarian Radio reported the same day. The law, which restricts the rights of land owners to freely sell their plots and favors the establishment of agricultural cooperatives, was adopted by the Socialist majority on 14 April and vetoed by President Zhelyu Zhelev two weeks later. After parliament overruled his veto on 10 May, Zhelev asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the amendment. Constitutional Court Judge Georgi Markov said the law contradicts the inviolability of property guaranteed by the constitution. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS.

    Zhan Videnov arrived in Athens on 19 June on a two-day official visit, international agencies reported the same day. He met with President Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, and Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias to discuss the planned trans-Balkan oil pipeline. Also on the agenda were the opening of new border checkpoints, the easing of visa requirements for Bulgarians, and increased Greek investment in Bulgaria. Both premiers stressed that relations between the two countries were good. Papandreou said the planned pipeline is of greatest strategic economic importance for Greece. An agreement between Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece to construct a pipeline from the Bulgarian port of Burgas to Alexandroupolis, in Greece, was signed in Moscow on 15 June. The pipeline, which will have a daily capacity of 600,000 barrels, will give Russia access to Western markets without having to ship its oil through the Bosporus. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] ALBANIAN COURT REJECTS APPEAL BY SOCIALIST LEADER.

    A court in Tepelena on 19 June rejected an appeal by Socialist Party leader and former Prime Minister Fatos Nano to review his trial. Nano was sentenced to 12 years in prison in April 1994 on charges of misappropriating state funds and forging documents. His sentence has been reduced in various amnesties and under the new penal code, which took effect on 1 June. Defense lawyers argued that Nano should receive a milder sentence under the new penal code and be freed until then. Nano has claimed that the trial is politically motivated, Populli PO reported on 20 June. -- 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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