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Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-01-25Yugoslav Daily Survey DirectoryFrom: ddc@nyquist.bellcore.com (D.D. Chukurov)25 January 1996CONTENTS[A] FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA[01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RECEIVES UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER[02] YUGOSLAVIA, UKRAINE DEVELOP COOPERATION[03] YUGOSLAVIA, UKRAINE SIGN DOCUMENTS TO EXPAND COOPERATION[04] PRESIDENT OF SERBIA RECEIVES BOSNIA OSCE MISSION CHIEF[05] YUGOSLAV DEPUTY PREMIER MEETS WITH HAGUE TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT[06] YUGOSLAVIA WILL NOT IGNORE HAGUE TRIBUNAL[07] YUGOSLAV DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES HEAD OF ITALIAN DELEGATION[B] BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA[08] BILDT CONFERS WITH PREMIERS OF THREE STATE COMMUNITIES IN BOSNIA[09] ICRC SAYS MUSLIMS IN BOSNIA HOLDING UNREGISTERED POWS[C] INTERVIEWS[10] RS VICE PRESIDENT HOPES ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA WILL BE HELD[11] GALBRAITH: CROATIA DOES NOT HAVE GREEN LIGHT FOR MILITARY OPERATION[D] FROM FOREIGN PRESS[12] INCREASED SECURITY OF AMERICAN TROOPS IN BOSNIA[A] FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA[01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RECEIVES UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTERBelgrade, Jan 24 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic Wednesday received Ukraninian Foreign Minister Gennady Udovenko who is on a two-day official visit to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Yugoslavia and Ukraine are ready and determined to restore, promote and develop bilateral relations and to intensify high-level contacts, it was noted at the meeting.Kontic expressed gratitude to Ukraine for its constructive and objective stance towards Yugoslavia during the period under sanctions and for its contribution to resolving the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia's policy is an important factor of peace and stability in the Balkans, the Danube basin and Europe, Kontic said. The talk focused on the prospects of economic cooperation, including trade, cooperation in production and scientific and technical cooperation. Ukraine is one of Yugoslavia's principal economic partners, Kontic said. Bilateral trade could exceed two billion dollars soon, and it was therefore agreed to accelerate the implementation of basic economic agreements and to form an inter-governmental commission for trade and economic cooperation. [02] YUGOSLAVIA, UKRAINE DEVELOP COOPERATIONBelgrade, Jan 24 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav and Ukraine Foreign Ministers said on Wednesday that conditions were very favourable for stepping up the development of bilateral cooperation in the economy, culture, science and education. Ministers Milan Milutinovic and Gennady Udovenko said the two sides held close stands on key aspects of international relations. Both sides said they were ready to cooperate closely on the international scene in the promotion of peace, stability and cooperation on the basis of equality of all states, the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said in a statement.Ukraine paid tribute to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for its decisive contribution to the peace accord for Bosnia-Herzegovina, highlighting Yugoslavia's constructive role in stimulating positive trends in the Balkans. The Yugoslav side expressed appreciation of Ukraine's principled positions and attitude to Yugoslavia, its support of the efforts to deal with the crisis by peaceful means and through dialogue, and especially its solidarity with Yugoslavia under sanctions. [03] YUGOSLAVIA, UKRAINE SIGN DOCUMENTS TO EXPAND COOPERATIONBelgrade, Jan 24 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic and his Ukrainian counterpart Gennady Udovenko signed on Wednesday an Agreement on Cooperation in Education, Culture and Sport and a Protocol on Diplomatic Consultations. Speaking to reporters after the signing ceremony, Milutinovic said that the two sides had agreed also a series of new forms of cooperation in the economic sphere, in which both countries were especially interested.Udovenko said he was convinced that the visit to Belgrade would greatly contribute to the development of Yugoslav-Ukrainian relations. He said that new agreements had been negotiated on investments in transport, and stressed that bilateral commodity trade in 1996 was expected to exceed 1.5 billion dollars in value. Milutinovic said that agreements had also been drafted on cooperation in agriculture, industry, joint ventures and regulations to avoid double taxation. He again stressed that, during the three and a half years of international sanctions against Yugoslavia, Ukraine had maintained a principled position and upheld Belgrade's efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict in former Yugoslavia. [04] PRESIDENT OF SERBIA RECEIVES BOSNIA OSCE MISSION CHIEFBelgrade, Jan 24 (Tanjug) - President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic received on Wednesday the Chief of the OSCE mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina Smbassador Robert Frowick, with his associates.The Presidential Office in an announcement voiced support to the endeavours of the OSCE to contribute to the successful implementation of the peace agreement for Bosnia, and especially to the securing and protecting the human and civil rights guaranteed on the part of this organization. Attention centered on the current civilian questions in the peace plan, and particularly on the endeavours towards holding elections for legal institutions as scheduled which, as President Milosevic put it, represented the quickest road to the overall normalization of the situation, including the process of refugee return. It was assessed that the international community should concert its efforts on the stepped-up resolving of the outstanding civilian questions, presuming a quicker extension of assistance to the economic recovery of these areas. Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic also took part in the talk. [05] YUGOSLAV DEPUTY PREMIER MEETS WITH HAGUE TRIBUNAL PRESIDENTBelgrade, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Uros Klikovac on Wednesday received President of the Hague-based International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia Antonio Cassese.In an open discussion, the officials exchanged opinions about topical issues and communication between the Tribunal and Yugoslavia's competent authorities. Cassese informed Klikovac about the Tribunal's work. Special attention was paid to the possible forms of cooperation between the Tribunal and Yugoslavia, taking into account the constitutional and legal provisions.[06] YUGOSLAVIA WILL NOT IGNORE HAGUE TRIBUNALBelgrade, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Uros Klikovac said on Wednesday that Yugoslavia's position towards the Hague-based International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia had not changed, but that the fact that the institution existed and operated could not be ignored.Commenting on a meeting with President of the Tribunal Antonio Cassese, Klikovac said that Yugoslavia had laws regulating relations with international courts and forms of cooperation with foreign countries, but that they did not allow that Yugoslav citizens be handed over to the Tribunal. Klikovac said that if Yugoslav authorities found out that there were people who violated the international humanitarian law, they would be prosecuted by Yugoslav competent authorities. Criminal proceedings against five such persons are in progress in Yugoslavia. Klikovac said that in addition to preparing bills, the Yugoslav Government would also deal with economic and foreign trade issues and relations with foreign countries. All activities regarding foreign trade isseus and relations with foreign countries will be directed towards Yugoslavia's reitegration into the international community, primarily international orgaizations such as the United Nations, the OSCE, the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Klikovac said that the restoration and normalization of relations with the former Yugoslav republics was also an important task. It is especially important to regulate the issue of Yugoslavia's continuity, succession, division of debts and assets, and return of refugees, he added. [07] YUGOSLAV DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES HEAD OF ITALIAN DELEGATIONBelgrade, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Deputy Foreign Minister Radoslav Bulajic on Wednesday received head of an Italian economic delegation Mario Piersigilli. Bulajic and Piersigilli, who is Deputy Director of the Italian Foreign Ministry's Economic Directorate, conferred about the prospects for a comprehensive economic cooperation between the two countries, the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Special attention was paid to the renewal of Italy's technical assistance to Yugoslavia, the statement said.[B] BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA[08] BILDT CONFERS WITH PREMIERS OF THREE STATE COMMUNITIES IN BOSNIABelgrade, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - The Prime Ministers of the three state communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina met in Sarajevo on Wednesday with High Representative of the International Community for Bosnia Carl Bildt. Bildt told reporters that the meeting was important both as a watershed and in its contents because it showed that the former warring sides had confirmed peace and that there was freedom in the entire country. The meeting was attended by outgoing Muslim Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic and Muslim Premier-elect Hasan Muratovic, and the Prime ministers of the Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska, Izudin Kapetanovic and Rajko Kasagic.Bildt said the talks covered the need for a wide amnesty in the Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Sprska in order to strengthen peace. The officials also spoke about necessary constitutional amendments, and Bildt said an agreement had been reached on setting up working groups for TV and radio frequences ahead of the forthcoming elections in Bosnia. [09] ICRC SAYS MUSLIMS IN BOSNIA HOLDING UNREGISTERED POWSBelgrade, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - The Sarajevo Muslim Government is holding at least several scores of unregistered POWs in Tuzla and has for four months rejected requests of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit this town, the ICRC said on Wednesday. The ICRC said all three sides still had 645 POWs, but that the figure did not include the POWs from Tuzla or other neighboring towns. ICRC mission head in Bosnia-Herzegovina Beat Schweizer said they had very reliable information that the POWs were in Tuzla.[C] INTERVIEWS[10] RS VICE PRESIDENT HOPES ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA WILL BE HELDPale, Jan 24 (Tanjug) - The Vice President of Republika Srpska (RS), Nikola Koljevic expressed hope Wednesday that democratic elections would be held in Bosnia-Herzgovina in 1996 in keeping with the Dayton peace accords. In an interview to the AP news agency, Koljevic warned that if the other did not cooperate and still called Serb representatives the aggressors, he did not think there would be any elections, at least not for common bodies. 'It is unimaginable to see people who still call each other fundamentalists or aggressors sitting in one parliament or in one presidency,' Koljevic said.Koljevic said that Serbs would not attempt to block investigations of suspected mass grave sites but added he hoped graves of Serb dead would also be investigated. 'They (the investigators) will be able to see everything. We are not going to hide anything,' Koljevic said. [11] GALBRAITH: CROATIA DOES NOT HAVE GREEN LIGHT FOR MILITARY OPERATIONZagreb, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - U.S. Ambassador in Zagreb Peter Galbraith has said that Croatia does not have a green light for a military operation in the Srem-Baranja Region and that the implementation of the agreement on a peaceful solution in the region was in the interest of both Serb and Croatian sides. Galbraith told the Zagreb weekly Globus in an interview that a Croatian military operation could cause tragic consequences in the entire world and that it would be neither understood nor accepted.He said that both sides had to observe the agreement, because there would be disastrous consequences otherwise. Serb forces have to be disarmed and Croatian troops are not allowed to enter the region, Galbraith said. Regarding places where Krajina Serbs could live, one should bear in mind that every citizen has the right to live wherever he wants in Croatia. This is the basic human right and Croatia has agreed to observe it when it became a U.N. member. [D] FROM FOREIGN PRESS[12] INCREASED SECURITY OF AMERICAN TROOPS IN BOSNIANew York, Jan 24 (Tanjug) - Security of American soldiers in Bosnia has been increased for fears of attacks by Muslim militant groups, The New York Times daily said on Wednesday. The daily invoked intelligence sources as asserting that in recent days there have been signs of intensified activity of the Islamic volunteers who work with the army of the Muslim Government.Islamic volunteers (who should have left Bosnia by January 19, according to the peace agreement) are watching American installations and movements of American troops. At times they try to be discrete, then at other times they do not care whether we do or do not see them watching us, The New York Times quoted an unnamed American military official as saying. Intelligence sources mention as one reason for this the fact that the federal court in New York had earlier this month sentenced to life the Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman for planting a bomb in New York's trade centre, the paper said. Another reason is seen to be in American pressure on the Muslim government in Sarajevo to drive out foreign volunteers who came from Islamic countries. The paper quoted American officials as saying that the key American positions in Bosnia were highly alerted and that the security measures were strengthened. |