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Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-03-22Yugoslav Daily Survey DirectoryFrom: ddc@nyquist.bellcore.com (D.D. Chukurov)22 March 1996CONTENTS[A] THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA[01] LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH ROMANIA[02] PRESIDENT SHIRAC CONFERS WITH YUGOSLAV AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE[03] FRANCE CONSIDERS YUGOSLAVIA HAS THE RIGHT TO POLITICAL CONTINUITY[04] YUGOSLAV MINISTER: CHINA UPHOLDS YUGOSLAVIA'S RETURN TO WORLD BODIES[05] TALKS ON NORMALIZATION OF YUGOSLAVIA, IMF RELATIONS OPEN NEXT WEEK[06] SERBIAN PROVINCE: MANY MEDIA IN LANGUAGES OF NATIONAL MINORITIES[B] BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA[07] R.S. PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SEEKS PROTECTION OF SERB PROPERTY IN SARAJEVO[08] KOSCHNIK PROPOSES EXTENSION OF IFOR MANDATE[09] PENTAGON SAYS PEACE TROOPS ARE NOT ENOUGH FOR PEACE IN BOSNIA[10] U.N. SPOKESMAN SAYS IDEA ON MULTI-ETHNIC SARAJEVO BETRAYED[11] U.N. RAPPORTEUR REHN SEES SARAJEVO SERBS' EXODUS AS TRAGIC DEFEAT[C] USA - SREM-BARANJA REGION[12] ALBRIGHT SAYS SERBS SHOULD STAY IN SREM-BARANJA REGION[13] ALBRIGHT ON BALKAN TOUR: ALL PARTIES MUST MEET THEIR OBLIGATIONS[A] THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA[01] LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH ROMANIABelgrade, March 21 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Government determined a bill at its Thursday session to endorse the agreement with the Romanian Government on the promotion and protection of mutual investments. This provides a legal framework for the promotion of reciprocal economic relations and investments on the basis of the most-favoured nation clause, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said in a statement.The Yugoslav Government adopted reports on talks held by Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic with Premiers of Slovakia Vladimir Meciar and the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, who had recently paid official visits to Yugoslvia. It was assessed that Meciar's and Klaus's visits confirmed the importance accorded by Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the promotion of cooperation with Yugoslavia in all fields and their commitment to raise overall relations with Yugoslavia to a higher level. The talks also acknowledged Yugoslavia's role as a constructive factor and spearhead of positive trends in the area. [02] PRESIDENT SHIRAC CONFERS WITH YUGOSLAV AMBASSADOR TO FRANCEParis, March 21 (Tanjug) - French President Jacques Shirac received Thursday the newly-appointed Ambassador of Yugoslavia to France, Bogdan Trifunovic, and voiced content with raising the bilateral relations to the diplomatic level. Shirac pointed to the significance of renewing friendly relations between the Federal Repulic of Yugoslavia and France. He stressed that raising the diplomatic relations level would help the two countries develop their economic, political, cultural and other cooperation.The President of France, the first western country to institute level diplomatic relations with Belgrade, also showed interest in restoring a lasting peace in the areas of the former Yugoslavia. In their talk, Shirac and Trifunovic reviewed the possibilities of reinvigorating economic cooperation and carrying out a series of specific economic projects which, as Shirac said, were very important for both countries. President Shirac addressed special greetings to the Presidents of Yugoslavia and Serbia, Zoran Lilic and Slobodan Milosevic. He pointed to the significance of the talks he had held with President Milosevic concerning the maintenance of peace process in Bosnia and the renewing of bilateral cooperation. [03] FRANCE CONSIDERS YUGOSLAVIA HAS THE RIGHT TO POLITICAL CONTINUITYBelgrade, March 21 (Tanjug) - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (F.R.Y.) does not have to request membership in international institutions since the question of political continuity is different from that of succession, French Ambassador in Belgrade Gabriel Keller said Thursday. The F.R.Y.'s political continuity should not be disputed because one cannot ignore, when exmining consequences of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, that some republics wanted to leave the former Yugoslavia and others did not, Keller said.However, as for succession, it is a case of the five different successors to the former Yugoslavia, Keller said speaking at Belgrade's Institute for International Politics and Economics. The French Foreign Ministry has undertaken to help Yugoslavia return to international institutions, he said adding that the relations between the two countries were 'excellent on the political level while there were ambitious plans on economic and other levels'. The recent raising of reciprocal diplomatic representations to ambassadorial level bears out this claim and acknowledges the role played by the two countries in the peace process, he said. Many European countries have made the restoration of their relations with Yugoslavia contingent on the mutual recognition of Yugoslavia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Among the E.U. countries, however, there are also different ideas on the normalisation of relations with Yugoslavia, Keller said. He said that France considered the issue of the Serbian province of Kosovo to be Yugoslavia's internal issue but was watching this problem with a view to its resolution. [04] YUGOSLAV MINISTER: CHINA UPHOLDS YUGOSLAVIA'S RETURN TO WORLD BODIESBelgrade, March 21 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Defence Minister saidon Thursday that China was determined to use its influence in the U.N. and the Security Council for a speedy return of Yugoslavia to international political and financial organisations.Speaking on his return from a several-day official visit to the Chinese armed forces, Minister Pavle Bulatovic said that the friendly and fruitful talks had brought to light mutual interest in resuming and promoting cooperation. Good conditions exist for resuming and promoting cooperation in all fields, especially in the military industry, science and technology, it was said during the talks, according to Bulatovic. Bulatovic further said that his host, Chinese Defence Minister Chi Haotian, had accepted an invitation to visit Yugoslavia. [05] TALKS ON NORMALIZATION OF YUGOSLAVIA, IMF RELATIONS OPEN NEXT WEEKWashington, March 12 (Tajug) - Talks between Yugoslavia and the International Monetary Fund on the normalization of the mutual relations will open in Paris next week. Relations have been frozen because of the developments in the former Yugoslavia and the mandatory comprehensive international sanctions against the Yugoslavia.'We believe that... our cooperation with the I.M.F. and the World Bank will soon be renewed,' Yugoslav National Bank Governor Dragoslav Avramovic has said here. Avramovic said the Paris talks would be focused on two essential issues - the normalization of Yugoslavia's relations with the I.M.F. and the World Bank and financial problems and programmes and Yugoslavia's needs for credits in the coming period. The initiative for the talks came from Governor Avramovic, who sent a letter to that end to I.M.F. Director Jean-Michel Camdessus on Feb. 12. A reply arrived two weeks later, saying the I.M.F. agreed to talks on the normalization of relations with Yugoslavia. Avramovic said the Yugoslav side and the I.M.F. cooperated well in preparations for the Paris meeting. He said the first talks with the I.M.F. since the sanctions against Yugoslavia were introduced were expected to be successful. Avramovic said he was optimistic about prospects for Yugoslavia'sr eintgeration into international financial institutions. [06] SERBIAN PROVINCE: MANY MEDIA IN LANGUAGES OF NATIONAL MINORITIESNovi Sad, Yugoslavia, March 21 (Tanjug) - The Hungarian Government highly appreciates that many Hungarian-language media are still operating in Serbia's Vojvodina Province through state subsidies, press attache of the Hungarian Embassy to Yugoslavia Joszef Pandur said Thursday. These media have a significant role in preserving the identity of the Hungarian minority, Pandur said in talks with Provincial Information Secretary Ljubomir Lukic in the Vojvodina Capital of Novi Sad.Lukic said there was a developed network of papers and radio and television programs in languages of ethic minorities in Vojvodina, and that most of these were in Hungarian, said a communique on the talks. Minorities in Yugoslavia have all the rights guaranteed under international documents, from education and information in their native language to participation in the country's political life. About 20 national minorities live in Vojvodina which has a population of two million. Ethic hungarians are the most numerous - about 340,000 of them account for 17 percent of the Province's population. [B] BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA[07] R.S. PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SEEKS PROTECTION OF SERB PROPERTY IN SARAJEVOPale, March 21 (Tanjug) - Republika Srpska (R.S.) Parliament Speaker Momcilo Krajisnik met with High Representative of the internatiponal community for civilian affairs Carl Bildt in Pale on Thursday and urged the protection of Serb property in parts of Sarajevo which have come under Muslim-Croat control.After the meeting in Pale, Bildt said the situation in Sarajevo was gradually stabilizing and that the property of Sarajevo Serbs was protected under the agreement reached in Geneva on Monday. Bildt said the international community did not want any checkpoints at borders between Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation in the area of Sarajevo. He said he had conferred with Krajisnik also on the opening of a bus line between Sarajevo's districts of Lukavica (under Serbian control) and Ilidza so as to facilitate contact between Serbs in R.S. and those who have stayed in Ilidza. Krajisnik said the international community, which is obliged to secure full freedom of movement, must settle the question of the roads from Lukavica to the R.S. towns of Pale and Trnovo which partly cut through Muslim-Croat territory. Krajisnik said in the talks that he hoped all prisoners would be released by the ministerial meeting of the Contact Group in Moscow on Saturday, March 23. This obligation of all the sides was confirmed at the enlarged meeting of the Contact Group in Geneva on Monday, Krajisnik said. [08] KOSCHNIK PROPOSES EXTENSION OF IFOR MANDATEBonn, March 21 (Tanjug) - E.U. Administrator in the southern Bosnian town of Mostar Hans Koschnik proposed the extension of IFOR's Bosnia mandate to three years to prevent an outbreak of new clashes and preserve peace in the Balkans. Koschnik said the U.S. could withdraw its troops from Bosnia at the end of the year, when the IFOR mandate expires, but should continue to provide air support and the other countries should leave part of their forces there.'All three sides in bosnia (Serb, Muslim and Croat) understand IFOR's importance perfectly,' he said. He said there were still strong dissensions between the Bosnian Croats and Muslims, which he predicted would last until the formation of the joint Muslim-Croat Federation army, which will take about three years. [09] PENTAGON SAYS PEACE TROOPS ARE NOT ENOUGH FOR PEACE IN BOSNIAWashington, March 21 (Tanjug) - A warning to the Administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton that stable peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina cannot be based only on the presence of peacetroops has been issued by Pentagon, which was not expected to give such an analysis and still less a warning. In a confidential report, drawn for the needs of the U.S. Senate, the Director of the Military Intelligence Agency, Gen. Patrick Hughes said that peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina had stabilized from the military point of view and that there were no real threats that anybody would launch hostilities as long as NATO troops were presentin the area.Hughes said, however, that in order to maintain and stabilize peace it was necessary for the international community to launch programmes of economic reconstruction in Bosnia. In the report, made public here on Wednesday, Hughes said that unless serious steps were made on the civilian plane, chances for peace were poor. If peace in Bosnia does not have its economic support, it can be jeopardized after the departure of the peace troops, Gen. Hughes said. [10] U.N. SPOKESMAN SAYS IDEA ON MULTI-ETHNIC SARAJEVO BETRAYEDBelgrade, March 21 (Tanjug) - Spokesman for the U.N. Office in Belgrade Susan Manuel said Thursday the idea on multi-ethnic Sarajevo had been grossly betrayed with the massive departure of Serbs.Manuel said the transfer of authority had been completed 90 days after the signing of the Dayton Accords but that it had unfortunately been utterly chaotic in Sarajevo. She pointed out that a large part of the Serb population had left Sarajevo and described this as a tragic course of events which had cast a shaddow on the peace which should be established. Manuel said the U.N. sincerely hoped people would start returning to Sarajevo, as well as to other towns and villages which they had left. She added that about 2,000 mostly elderly Serbs from Sarajevo's district of Grbavica had approached the International Police Force indicating they wished to remain in their homes. She said there were only about a thousand Serbs in Grbavica now, and that the situation in the district of Ilidza had considerably improved, as some of the Serbs were returning to their homes. Manuel explained that after the sharp public criticisms of Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic, the U.N. had evidently ordered the Federal police to correct their manner in Sarajevo, and that this had been successful. Manuel said the U.N. was concerned regarding the situation in Sarajevo's districts of Dobrinja i and Dobrinja IV, as the line of separation cut through blocks of buildings so that certain people were forces to apply for visas to enter their own bathroom. Speaking about the situation in the Srem-Baranja Region, Manuel said no funds would be obtained for its reconstruction until it was reintegrated into the Republic of Croatia. Manuel said Croatian refugees could not move into this area until expelled Serbs began returning to Western Slavonija. [11] U.N. RAPPORTEUR REHN SEES SARAJEVO SERBS' EXODUS AS TRAGIC DEFEATBelgrade, March 21 (Tanjug) - Special U.N. Human Rights Rapporteur for former Yugoslavia Elisabeth Rehn was quoted on Thursday as saying in Helsinki that Serbs' exodus from Sarajevo was a catastrophe and a defeat. If Serbs who have left the city want to return, they should begiven guarantees of security for their property and their homes, otherwise they will have no reason to come back, Rehn told a news conference, according to AFP.[C] USA - SREM-BARANJA REGION[12] ALBRIGHT SAYS SERBS SHOULD STAY IN SREM-BARANJA REGIONErdut, March 21 (Tanjug) - The U.N. transitional administration for Eastern Slavoania (Srem-Baranja Region) will do everything to enable the local population to live in security, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Madeleine Albright said in Erdut on Thursday. After one-hour talks with head of the Serb delegation in negotiations with Croatia Milan Milanovic, Albright said that she had stressed to the Serb side the importance of the Erdut Agreement and determination on the part of the U.N. and the U.S. to have it implemented.Albright said she had conveyed her country's stand and wish that the region retain its multi-ethnic nature. She said that the people who now live there should remain in the region after its reintegration into Croatia at one point in the future. Milanovic said that the Serb side was ready to cooperate with the U.N. administration and to fully respect the provisions of the Erdut Agreement. The talks were also attended by U.N. Administrator, U.S. diplomat Jacques Klein, U.S. Ambassador in Zagreb Peter Galbright, Commander of the Slavonia-Baranja Army Corps Maj.-Gen. Dusan Loncar and President of the Executive Council of the Srem-Baranja Region Borislav Drzajic. [13] ALBRIGHT ON BALKAN TOUR: ALL PARTIES MUST MEET THEIR OBLIGATIONSIlok, March 21 (tanjug) - The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. said in Ilok, Eastern Slavonia, on Thursday that it was absolutely necessary that all parties discharge their obligations in order that the 1995 Croat-Serb agreement should be implemented. Ambassador Madeleine Albright, who is on a Balkan tour, said she would be stressing this need in bilateral contacts with the Croatian Government and with representatives of the Serb population of the Eastern Slavonia, Barania and West Srem (Srem-Barania) Region.Hundreds of protesters shouted abuse at Albright as she walked through the market place of the Srem-Barania Region's biggest town of Vukovar. Commenting on the incident later, Albright said that the protests were proof that nobody should underestimate the complications and difficulties that the implementation of the peace agreement was bringing in its wake. However, she said, the significance of the protests should not be blown out of proportion, and that the important thing was that the Serb leadership had demonstrated in talks in Erdut in the morning its commitment to cooperate in the implementation of the agreement. The Serb side had warned the international community's delegation that an unscheduled walk in the market place might provoke an incident, but the warning war disregarded, Vukovar Press Office chief Ljubinko Strojanovic said. Madeleine Albright visited the region accompanied by U.S. Ambassador in Zagreb Peter Galbraighth and U.N. Administrator for the Srem-Barania Region Jacques Klein. Albright visited two other towns in the Srem-Barania Region - Borovo and Sarengrad - where she had talks with Serbs displaced from many parts of Croatia who have settled there. In Ilok, she held a meeting with the town's Croats and Slovaks in the local Roman Catholic Church. |
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