Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-04-09

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

From: ddc@nyquist.bellcore.com (D.D. Chukurov)

9 April 1996

CONTENTS

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - MACEDONIA

[01] THE ACCORD TO CONTRIBUTE TO STABILITY IN BALKANS, EUROPE

[02] KONTIC VOICES PLEASURE WITH NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH MACEDONIA

[03] SERBIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES MACEDONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

[B] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT - INTERVIEW

[04] YUGOSLAVIA HAS A FUTURE

[05] FOREIGN MINISTER SEES PEACE ACCORD AS CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM

[C] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[06] UNPRECEDENTED BRUTALITY OF CRIMES IN MRKONJIC GRAD

[D] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[07] BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL'S INDICTMENT HAS POLITICAL HUES

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - MACEDONIA

[01] THE ACCORD TO CONTRIBUTE TO STABILITY IN BALKANS, EUROPE

Addressing reporters after the signing ceremony, Milutinovic said he was confident that Yugoslav-Macedonian relations faced a great future because of spiritual closeness between the two peoples and a large number of interests the two states had in common.

'It is our determination to build our relations on the principles of equality, non-interference in internal affairs, respect of sovereignty, territorial integrity and mutual interests,' he said.

Milutinovic said by signing the agreement, Macedonia had shown that it respected the state continuity of Yugoslavia, this being a question of principle for Yugoslavia, and a significant choice for Macedonia.

'We have also agreed to deal with the succession issue through agreements, which will make it easier to find a final solution to this complex issue,' he said.

By establishing full diplomatic relations at the level of ambassadors, the two countries will create conditions for a broad communication and will set up intensive dialogue and contacts, he said.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frckoski said the two countries had regulated basic relations in a normal and dignified manner, and said the agreement would open a new page in the history of the two countries' relations. Frckoski said the agreement was also a considerable contribution to cooperation and prosperity in the region.

He said there was yet a lot to be done, because the agreement provided for a series of bilateral agreements on cooperation in the spheres of economy, culture and transport as well as in the sphere of foreign policy.

[02] KONTIC VOICES PLEASURE WITH NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH MACEDONIA

Kontic said he was convinced the agreement would significantly help stabilize peace, confidence and cooperation in the Balkans, a Federal Government statement said.

Kontic said the two economies were highly complementary and could successfully cooperate thanks, among other things, to good transportation links between the two countries. He said the value of Yugoslav-Macedonian economic cooperation could quickly reach one billion dollars.

The two sides agreed that, in the spirit of the traditional friendship, the Yugoslav-Macedonian border be a border of good-neighbourly relations and all-round cooperation in the common interest, the statement said.

[03] SERBIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES MACEDONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

A full normalization of bilateral relations represents an important factor of overall stability in the region, it was heard at the meeting. It was said that the building of confidence among the Balkan nations and states was the best contribution to the consolidation of peace and their economic progress.

The importance of developing stable and good neighbourly relations between the two countries and mutual interest in a speedy upgrading and successful promotion of comprehensive cooperation were stressed uring the talks.

[B] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT - INTERVIEW

[04] YUGOSLAVIA HAS A FUTURE

He said the state had been created as a 'response of the Serbian and Montenegrin peoples, a response of the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro to a dreadful set of events accompanying the break-up and disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.'

Asked about problems that arose in the functioning of Yugoslavia, Bulatovic said it would indeed 'be strange if someone were to expect that what with the international sanctions and war in our immediate surroundings, we managed to make a harmonious and ideal state.'

'All other issues are a matter of finishing touches. We will begin intensive political life, characterized by a period of peace, implementation of the Bosnia peace accord and normalization of circumstances in the former Yugoslavia,' he said

'And for the first time, we will essentially be able to solve problems that arise in the functioning of the Yugoslav federation on a long-term basis from the standpoint of the integration of Yugoslavia into Balkan, European and world trends,' said Bulatovic.

[05] FOREIGN MINISTER SEES PEACE ACCORD AS CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM

'It is up to us to consolidate that which we got at Dayton and to make sure we do not lose, in the course of the implementation of the accord, the autonomy of the Republika Srpska which has been confirmed and legitimatized in the accord,' Buha said.

Speaking for the Republika Srpska's television at Pale, he said that 'the international community is still weighing the situation on the ground and trying to reintegrate Bosnia-Herzegovina, but this is a uia pure and simple, to put it mildly.'

According to Buha, the international community has an alternative solution to use if the implementation of the Dayton peace accord should not go according to plan, but he would not elaborate.

[C] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[06] UNPRECEDENTED BRUTALITY OF CRIMES IN MRKONJIC GRAD

Stankovic was the head of an expert team which conducted exhumations from the mass graves in Mrkonjic Grad and identifications of the victims brutally killed by Muslims and Croats.

Stankovic said that out of 102 bodies with head injuries, 52 persons had injuries caused by a blunt object and 46 had combined injuries from a blunt object and firearms. Some were shot in the back of the head from a short distance and four bodies were found decapitated. Many bodies have treated wounds showing that the persons were killed later.

He said that the representative of the International War Crimes Tribunal John Garns attended the first days of the exhumation in Mrkonjic Grad and that he agreed to the way the ausies were conducted. Garns had taken notes and photographs of everything, especially in the first two days when six female bodies were exhumed, Stankovic said.

Out of the persons identified so far 11 are women, 13 were aged between 60 and 70, nine between 70 and 80 years and five were over eighty years old.

Reporters were told today there are indications that there are mass graves in different parts of the territory returned to Republika Srpska and that an investigation is underway.

[D] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[07] BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL'S INDICTMENT HAS POLITICAL HUES

The position is unpleasant and precarious not only from the legal point of view, but from the political viewpoint as well, the newspaper says.

The decision to indict Gen. Djukic is unreasonable, to say the least, according to the newspaper.

Many generals and politicians who has taken part in wars worldwide could be charged with the same offence as that laid at the door of the General of the Republika Srpska's Army by the Hague Tribunal, the newspaper says.

They, however, as different from Gen. Djukic, will never see the inside of a prison cell, the Washington Post adds in an article rarely seen in connection with the Hague Tribunal, especially where trials of Serbs are concerned.

The newspaper says that Gen. Djukic has been accused of taking part in the military siege of Sarajevo, a siege which was nothing new and differed in no way from what has always been done in wars to sap the enemy's morale.

The commentator says that, with this indictment, the tribunal has made itself vulnerable, all the more so since many Serbs regard it as an instrument of revenge and a political rather than a legal institution.

The nature of the case of Gen. Djukic is political rather than legal, the commentator stresses and quotes legal minds to the effect that the best thing for the Hague Tribunal to do would be to drop charges against Gen. Djukic.

Such a move might be important to the Tribunal's credibility and a demonstration of its objectivity, the Washington Post says in conclusion.