Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-11-26

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV FEDERAL PREMIER MEETS WITH REPUBLICAN PREMIERS

[02] AGREEMENT ON BUILDING THREE REFUGEE SETTLEMENTS

[03] MILUTINOVIC SAYS DAYTON ACCORD DOES NOT MENTION HAGUE TRIBUNAL

[04] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION VISITS MOSCOW

[05] SERBIAN MINISTER RECEIVES CHINESE DELEGATION

[06] GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS WORK OF UNICEF

[07] UNICEF SATISFIED WITH PROGRAMS IN YUGOSLAVIA

[08] YUGOSLAVIA'S DJUNIC: PRIVATISATION TO UNBLOCK HARD-CURRENCY SAVINGS

[09] OSCE OBSERVERS IN BELGRADE

[10] EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS END

[11] YUGOSLAV COMMISSION FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS PROTESTS WITH ICRC, CROATIA

[12] SERBIA HAS SEVEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

[13] YUGOSLAVIA, RUSSIA SIGN PROGRAM OF CULTURAL, EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC COOP ERATION

[14] YUGOSLAVIA SATISFIED WITH AGREEMENT ON SUBREGIONAL WEAPONS CONTROL

[15] YUGOSLAVIA, HUNGARY, ROMANIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON REGIONAL COOPERATION

[01] YUGOSLAV FEDERAL PREMIER MEETS WITH REPUBLICAN PREMIERS

Tanjug, 1997-11-24

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic met in Belgrade on Monday with the Premiers of the Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro, Mirko Marjanovic and Milo Djukanovic, to discuss economic policy for 1998. Special stress in the talk, which was attended also by Vice Premiers Zoran Lilic of Yugoslavia, Nikola Sainovic and Danko Djunic of Serbia and Vojin Djukanovic of Montenegro, was laid on public spending, a Government statement said. Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia (Central Bank) Dusan Vlatkovic, President of the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce Mihailo Milojevic, and competent federal and republican ministers also attended. They supported the proposed concept of policy for 1998, which is based on creating an open, efficacious, competitive and market-oriented economy, stabilisational in character, strongly export-oriented and based on further economic reforms. The Federal Government based its concept on clear and important targets, such as raising the domestic product and accelerating production and export. This pressupposes stable prices and a stable national currency, the dinar, as well as an acceleration of the economic reform process, especially privatisation. In order to attain these targets, certain prerequisites must be met - strengthening of the institutions of the legal state, and a significant inflow of foreign capital through privatisation, concessions and foreign investment, the statement said. The most important condition for attaining this is certainly for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to be reintegrated as quickly as possible in the international community, which means normalising relations with world financial and commercial bodies. The planned 10-percent increase of the domestic product and the other targets can be achieved if public spending, which must be financed only from real sources, is reduced or at least kept at the level of 1997, the statement said.

[02] AGREEMENT ON BUILDING THREE REFUGEE SETTLEMENTS

Tanjug, 1997-11-24

Serbian Comissioner for Refugees Bratislava Morina and the head of the Belgrade Office of the UNHCR, Margaret O'Keeffe, signed on Monday an Agreement on the construction of three permanent refugee settlements in the territory of Vojvodina. In the district of Backa Topola (village Backi Sokolac), Odzaci and Nova Crnja (village Radojevo), UNHCR will finance the building of 58 apartments for the same number of refugee families. The Commessariat is the coordinator of the entire project within which it has secured the land, and the communes the primary and secondary infrastructure, farming land and jobs for one family member. The building of all three settlements is scheduled for Spring and the first tenants are expected to move in by the Fall of 1998.

O'Keefe expressed satisfaction over the cooperation with the Commessariat and added that she hoped that such projects would continue in the future to enable as many as possible refugees to integrate into the local environment, find accomodation and work, thus securing a future for their families. Morina underscored the years-long good cooperation with the UNHCR Office and asked O'Keefe to convey to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata gratitude for her understanding for the serious humanitarian situation of the refugees in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The project calls for the construction in Backi Sokolac of 22 apartments, of which 18 for farmers and four for families whose one member will have a job. In Odzaci built will be 20 apartments, eight for farming families and 12 for those employed in offices, while in Radojevo built will be 16 houses solely for farming families.

[03] MILUTINOVIC SAYS DAYTON ACCORD DOES NOT MENTION HAGUE TRIBUNAL

Tanjug, 1997-11-24

Federal Foreign Minister and the Left Bloc candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections in Serbia Milan Milutinovic said on Monday that the Dayton Accord does not mention The Hague. He refuted allegations that Yugoslavia had pledged cooperation with The Hague War Crimes Tribunal.

There have been attempts to distort the Dayton Accord. The Accord merely states that the signatories and guarantors would cooperate in pursuing suspects of war crimes and crimes against humanity, said Milutinovic said in an interview to Politika television.

Serbian citizens suspected of war crimes should not be extradited to The Hague, Milutinovic said. He said the demands had been made subsequently as a form of pressure on Yugoslavia by some countries. Any attempt to revise the Accord or its annexes would lead to destabilizing the Dayton process, said Milutinovic. Milutinovic renounced statements by some opposition parties that Yugoslavia did not need to be within the United Nations, stressing that Yugoslavia cared very much to be part of the world organization, of which it is a founder. He recalled that Serbia was also a founder of the UN predecessor, the League of Nations. "The world expects us to win and be a part of the international community. We must be a part of this world, but not as its subordinates," said Milutinovic.

[04] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION VISITS MOSCOW

Tanjug, 1997-11-24

A Yugoslav delegation headed by Foreign Trade Minister Borislav Vukovic arrived in Moscow on Monday for talks on the results of bilateral economic cooperation and the prospects for its further development. Vukovic and Russian First Deputy Minister of the Economy Andrei Shapovalyants are co- chairmen of the Yugoslav-Russian Inter-Governmental Committee for trade, economic and scientific cooperation. They are expected to discuss on Tuesday the progress of implementing the agreements they had reached during their last meeting held in July in Moscow. The talks will also focus on inter-state agreements and other documents that have been drawn up and are expected to be signed during the forthcoming official visit of Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic to Russia.

[05] SERBIAN MINISTER RECEIVES CHINESE DELEGATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-24

Serbian Science and Technology Minister and academician Dusan Kanazir received in Belgrade on Monday a Chinese scientific delegation, headed by Henan Province's Assembly Vice President Hu Tingye. The Serbian Government said in a statement that both sides had voiced interest in establishing and promoting scientific and technological cooperation, for which conditions had significantly improved after Yugoslavia and China signed a relevant protocol. The statement said that the Chinese delegation's visits to and talks at institutes and scientific institutions would be an opporunity to establish more concrete forms for scientific and technological cooperation, especially in agriculture and food production. Serbian Assistant Science and Technology Minister Ratko Uzunovic and Deputy Director of the Serbian Institute for International Scientific, Educational, Cultural and Technological Cooperation Dragoslav Zdravkovic also participated in the meeting, the statement said.

[06] GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS WORK OF UNICEF

Tanjug, 1997-11-24

The Yugoslav Government and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) have been cooperating actively in the implementation of a three-year program since 1996, President of the Yugoslav Commission for cooperation with UNICEF Margit Savovic said today. Savovic opened a meeting devoted to the medium-term analysis of the implementation of UNICEF's program in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. UNICEF Regional Director John Donohue said that UNICEF was taking an active part in extending aid to children in FRY since November 1991. As of 1993 the Organization concentrated on lending support and financing developement projects in health care, protection of children and women, alimentation, education and psycho-social protection. UNICEF special representative for the former Yugoslavia Thomas Mc Dermott said that the Convention on child rights was used as the basis for a general framework for working out an operational program. The program's guidelines were objectives till the year 2000, adopted by UNICEF executive council, on the basis of an agreement at the world summit for children, he said. Presenting the results of UNICEF's program Children in Exceptionally Difficult Conditions, prof. Mila Kapor-Stanulovic explained that nine preventive, intervention projects were currently implemented. Their implementation has helped stabilize the child and social protection system and increase the national capacity for helping children in crisis, she added. UNICEF has in the past two years initiated many activities in the field of alimentation which have been very useful. The activities involved in the first place keeping permanent records of child growth and development and support to already existing activities for the promotion of breast-feeding, said prof. Draga Plecas, who presented the alimentation program.

[07] UNICEF SATISFIED WITH PROGRAMS IN YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1997-11-24

Federal Minister for Development, Science and the Environment Jagos Zelenovic received on Monday a delegation of UNICEF headed by the Director for countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics, John Donohue. Discussed was the realization of the program "Children in Exeptionally Difficult Conditions" which is being realized in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the period 1996-98, the Federal Secretariat for Information has announced. Donohue expressed satisfaction with the realization of the UNICEF program in Yugoslavia and underscored the cooperativeness of the Federal Government and other institutions which UNICEF has contacted. Expressing gratitude for the activities carried out so far, Zelenovic said he believed that UNICEF would in the future turn more towards development programs in order to overcome as soon as possible the effects of the war in the neighboring countries and the sanctions on the most sensitive categories - women and children.

The talks were attended by the Chairman of the Federal Government Commission for cooperation with UNICEF, Margit Savovic, and UNICEF Belgrade Office head Boris Tolstopyatov.

[08] YUGOSLAVIA'S DJUNIC: PRIVATISATION TO UNBLOCK HARD-CURRENCY SAVINGS

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Yugoslavia's Vice Premier said on Friday that a sale of social and s tate property would lay the groundwork for repaying the people's blocked hard- currency savings which, with interest, were estimated at 7.5 billion Deutschmarks. Vice Premier Danko Djunic was speaking at a news conference, presenting a Bill on the repayment of the blocked hard-currency deposits, drafted on Thursday.

"The repayment of the savings will be the duty of the Government, as guarantor of the deposits, as well as of the state, the Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro, the National Bank of Yugoslavia (Central Bank) and the commercial banks," Djunic said. He said that the necessary funds would be raised by selling state and socially-owned property, as well as from t he fiscal incomes of the federal state and the republics, and the incomes of the commercial banks and the Central Bank.

The bill regulates the repayment of hard-currency deposits made with the Central Bank by Oct. 14, 1988. Also, it refers to deposits made with the authorised banks which i n turn deposited the savings with the Central Bank by March 18, 1995, but have since started bankruptcy pro ceedings and cannot service their obligations. Hard-currency deposits made after March 18, 1995 are not guaranteed by the state, but by the competent banks. "However much we might wish to the contrary, we d o not believe that the hard-currency savings can be repaid in less than 12 years, because of our economic situation," Djunic said. The commercial banks would remain in debt to their clients, and the savin gs would be turned into time deposits tied for a period of 12 years, at an annual interest rate of 2 p ercent. All hard currencies would be converted into D-marks, he explained. Under the bill, the repayment sho uld begin on July 1, 1998.

[09] OSCE OBSERVERS IN BELGRADE

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

The OSCE will send at the repeated presidential elections in Serbia, on December 7, only 60 observers, as no serious problems had been detected at the September pres idential and legislative elections, Tanjug has learnt from OSCE Belgrade sources. OSCE has decid ed it was not necessary that observers control once again the voting process at polling stations and t he entire election procedure, but only some parts of it. At the repeated presidential elections OSCE will n ot send a classical observer mission, but only a team of experts for overseeing the election administr ation.

OSCE experts will, among other things, oversee whether some suggesti ons and recommendations had been adopted for improving the election procedure from the observer m ission's report following the September elections. The report had pointed to certain deficiencies at th e parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia, which were detected only in the pre- election process 2E The observer mission will be headed by an OSCE representative from Great Britain, Anthony Welch, who p erformed the same duty and the past presidential and legislative elections in Serbia.

It has been learnt from OSCE sources that the first group of observe rs headed by Welch has already arrived in Belgrade, while others are expected to arrive in the n ext few days.

[10] EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS END

Tanjug, 1997-11-23

Two-day early parliamentary elections in the Republika Srpska ended on Sunday as polling stations closed at 4 p.m. local time. Taking part in the elections for 83 Republi ka Srpska parliament seats were 28 political parties, three coalitions and 18 independent candidates. Offic ials of both the OSCE and the R.S. electoral commission said no incidents had been registered in the electio ns.

[11] YUGOSLAV COMMISSION FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS PROTESTS WITH ICRC, CROATIA

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Head of the Yugoslav Government Commission for humanitarian affairs and missing persons Maksim Korac protested on Friday with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the relevant Croatian Commission about the treatment of Serbs in Croatian pri sons, calling it impermissible.

In letters to head of the ICRC Mission Thomas Merkelbach and head of the Croatian Commission Ivan Grujic, Korac said seven Serbs that had been arrested in Croatia's O peration Lightning and Operation Storm in 1995 had gone on hunger strike three days ago dissatisfied with the way their case was being handled by Croatia's Supreme Court as well as prison conditions and treat ment. A first-instance court sentenced in the first half of 1996 Milenko Janjetovic, Jovan Jerinic, Pe ro Miljevic, Milan Mrzic, Ferhad Muhamedovic, Goran Pasic and Nikola Pavlovic, who are in Sisak prison, to between three and 14 years of imprisonment on the charge of having committed war crimes.

Korac said although 18 months had passed since the prouncing of sent ences, Croatia's Supreme Court had not yet dealt with the appeals of the seven prisoners who had t herefore decided to cut short by taking their lives Croatian courts' legal manipulations and uncertainty t hey were faced with in prison. The Yugoslav Commission urged ICRC offici als to visit the prisoners as soon as possible and the ICRC to influence relevant Croatian officials to start meeting the obliga tions as regards the humane treatment of prisoners.

[12] SERBIA HAS SEVEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

The Serbian Election Commission announced on Friday that seven candi dates would run in the Dec. 7 presidential election in the republic. The seven presidential can didates are: Miodrag Vidojkovic - candidate of a civil group, Predrag M. Vuletic - Liberal-Democratic Party , Vuk Draskovic - Serbian Renewal Movement, Milan Milutinovic - joint candidate of the Socialist Party of S erbia, the Yugoslav Left and the New Democracy, Dragoljub Micunovic - Democratic Centre, Vuk Obradovic - S ocial Democracy, and Vojislav Seselj - Serbian Radical Party.

[13] YUGOSLAVIA, RUSSIA SIGN PROGRAM OF CULTURAL, EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC COOP ERATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

An inter-governmental program of Yugoslav-Russian cooperation in cul ture, education and science was signed on Friday. The document is the first concrete program of direc t cooperation between Yugoslavia and Russia in the three domains since the international sanctions against Yugoslavia were suspended. The program will enable the implementatio n of the signed inter- state agreement on cultural-educational cooperation. The program envisages exchanges of sch olarships, students, professors, exhibitions, and guest tours, among other forms of cooperation.

The Yugoslav delegation met on Friday with director of the Russian G overnmental Centre for international scientific and cultural cooperation Valentin Teryeshkov. Th e two sides pointed up the existence of wide possibilities for the diversification of cooperation between the two friendly countries in culture, education and science.

[14] YUGOSLAVIA SATISFIED WITH AGREEMENT ON SUBREGIONAL WEAPONS CONTROL

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Head of Yugoslav delegation to talks on an Agreement on subregional weapons control Ambassador Dragomir Djokic said here on Friday that he was satisfied with the way armament levels were reduced in the signatory countries. Personal envoy of the Chairman of th e OSCE Ambassador Vigleik Eide of Norway previously said that the stage of armament reduction had been s uccessfully completed in line with the Agreement on subregional weapons control in the Balkans.

The Agreement was the result of talks held in Vienna in the January- late May 1996 period. It was signed in Florence, Italy, on June 14, 1996, by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.

Djokic said that the expiry of the reduction period on Oct. 31, 1997 , ended a significant stage of the Agreement, as all sides had abided by the set limits in five armament categories (combat tanks, armoured personnel carriers, fighter planes, helicopters and artillery).

Despite certain difficulties in the reduction process, the expected target has been reached, Djokic told Yugo slav reporters in Vienna.

A consistent compliance with the Agreement can contribute to more st able relations in the Balkan region, development of trust and establishment of new relations between t he countries-signatories, he said. Djokic said the Dayton Peace Accords had proved once again to have been o f major importance to this territory, as it had laid the foundations for new relations. "There is no alternative to the Dayton Peace Accords," he underscored. Under the open-ended accord, the signatories' a rsenals will be inspected over the next four months. "We are joining the same system that has been in u se in most of Europe," Djokic said, referring to an agreement on reduction of conventional weapons, sig ned between NATO and the Warsaw Treaty member-countries in 1990.

This makes a major step towards our territory's integration into the systems of safety and weapons control applied in all of Europe, he said.

[15] YUGOSLAVIA, HUNGARY, ROMANIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON REGIONAL COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Top officials in Serbia's northern Province of Vojvodina and four Hu ngarian and four Romanian counties signed here on Friday an Agreement on lasting cooperation in the Danube-Mures-Tisza region. The Agreement was signed by Vojvodina's Premier Bosko Perosevic, Parliame nt Speakers in Hungary's counties of Csongrad, Bekes, Bacs-Kiskun and Szolnok, and heads of the Ti misoara, Arad, Craso and Hunedoara counties. Also present was Vojvodina's Vice-Premier Damnjan Ra denkovic, Yugoslav Ambassador in Budapest Balsa Spadijer and Yugoslav Embassy Economic Advis er Dusan Dimitrijevic. The Agreement provides for closer ties among local authorities and instit utions in the sphere of economy, culture, sport and other spheres. Commenting on the Agreement, Perosevic told the Hungarian Nepszabadsag daily that the Agreement would enable speedier economic deve lopment, promotion of goodneighbourly relations and even more consistent exercising of minority rights. Perosevic said Vojvodina would in this way gain the right to qualify for the Phare-progr amme and would more efficiently take part in the international division of labour. He said Yugoslavia wa s an indispensable factor in building peace and security in the Balkans and that the country was becoming incre asingly attractive for foreign partners.

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