OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 126, 29 June 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] BOSNIA FIGHTING CONTINUES.

  • [02] NATO ENDORSES PULL-OUT PLAN.

  • [03] FERAL TRIBUNE BURNED IN PUBLIC.

  • [04] BULGARIAN BUSINESS BLOC SPLITS.

  • [05] GREEK PREMIER ATTACKS EU PARTNERS.

  • [06] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT ALBANIA.

  • [07] MACEDONIA TO LEGALIZE PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOLS.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 126, Part II, 29 June 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] BOSNIA FIGHTING CONTINUES.

    Nasa Borba reports on 29 June that on the previous day Bosnian government forces launched three separate attacks on the approaches to the capital Sarajevo. Bosnian Serb forces retaliated in part with renewed shelling of the city. One of the targets of the 28 June attacks on the capital was the media facility of Radio and Television Sarajevo. Vjesnik reports that at least four people were killed and 38, including foreign journalists, injured as a rocket exploded after slamming into the building, gutting the complex. At least three other civilians were killed in Sarajevo as other parts of the city also came under shelling. For at least the 12th consecutive day Sarajevo civilians have been casualties of the unrelenting crisis. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] NATO ENDORSES PULL-OUT PLAN.

    NATO on 28 June endorsed a plan, known as Operation 40104, for withdrawing peacekeeping operations from the former Yugoslavia in case the peacekeeping mission collapses. The International Herald Tribune on 29 June quotes one NATO official as emphasizing that withdrawal is "only a last resort. . . . [and NATO] strongly supports the continued presence of UN forces." If the plan were invoked, however, up to 60, 000 troops, including some 25, 000 US soldiers, would be dispatched to the former Yugoslavia to oversee the withdrawal of peacekeeping forces. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] FERAL TRIBUNE BURNED IN PUBLIC.

    Thugs publicly burned copies of the satirical independent weekly Feral Tribune in the center of Split on 26- 27 June. The action on the 27th also involved stealing large quantities of the paper from kiosks. Journalists and television crews were present, but the police were not to be seen. Novi list on 28 June quotes the editors of Feral as suggesting that the ruling party may have been behind the incident. The opposition Social Democratic Action, Dalmatian Action, and Istrian Democratic Party have condemned the attacks. The editors of the weekly fear that physical violence may now be used against them. -- Patrick Moore, in Krk, Croatia., OMRI, Inc.

    [04] BULGARIAN BUSINESS BLOC SPLITS.

    Six of the 12 deputies of the Bulgarian Business Bloc (BBB) left the party on 28 June, Demokratsiya reported the following day. They are expected to leave the BBB caucus on 29 June and declare themselves independent, together with another faction member who does not belong to the party. The deputies left the BBB after a fight with party leader Georges Ganchev over who should become vice-president of the parliament. Ganchev tried to secure the support of the Bulgarian Socialist Party for his candidate, Hristo Stoyanov, which the six were not willing to accept. As one BBB deputy declared himself independent earlier this year, the caucus will be reduced to five members from the original 13. Ganchev himself had to leave the parliament in April after his election was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] GREEK PREMIER ATTACKS EU PARTNERS.

    On his return from the EU summit in Cannes, Andreas Papandreou on 28 June fiercely attacked other EU members for staging what he called an "orchestrated campaign" against his country and asked his compatriots to form a "sacred union" to fight it, AFP reported the same day. Papandreou had been isolated at the summit on two central issues of Greek foreign policy, Macedonia and Turkey. He said he had "seen the work of the directorate of the European Union," and that decisions are being taken by a "triumvirate of the great powers." The Greek premier attacked French President Jacques Chirac for his position on Macedonia (see OMRI Daily Digest, 28 June 1995), saying it is a "provocation for Greece and myself personally." Papandreou made it clear that Greece will not leave the EU, from which it will have received a total of $45 billion by the year 2000. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT ALBANIA.

    Gerasimos Arsenis will visit Albania in early July to hold talks with his counterpart Safet Zhulali, President Sali Berisha, the head of the Albanian Orthodox Church Anastasios, and high-ranking army officials, AFP reported on 28 June. Arsenis will be the first Greek defense minister to visit Albania in 50 years. Albanian diplomatic sources were cited as saying that the visit is designed to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] MACEDONIA TO LEGALIZE PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOLS.

    Education Minister Emilija Simoska on 27 June announced that a new draft law on middle and higher education will allow private high schools to be opened, MIC reported the following day. Foreign legal entities will be allowed to open high schools at which the classes will be conducted in one of the world languages. Classes at the university will still be held in Macedonian, but classes at the pedagogical faculties can be conducted in the languages of the nationalities, such as Albanian or Turkish. Nova Makedonija reported that tuition in one of the minority languages in middle schools will also be possible. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

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

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