Subject: Epilogh OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 55, 17 Mar 95 [*] Ta nea ths hmeras, apo to OMRI: [01] . CROATIAN AND MUSLIM LEADERS GATHER IN WASHINGTON. [02] . SANTIC AFFAIR CASTS SHADOW OVER FESTIVITIES. [03] . DIFFERING AGENDAS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA? [04] . RUMP YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER IN ROME. [05] . MILOSEVIC MEETS WITH PAVLE? [06] * MACEDONIA WANTS CHANGE IN STATUS OF UN TROOPS. [07] . RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER POSTPONES VISIT TO BULGARIA. [08] * BULGARIAN NUCLEAR REACTOR SHUT DOWN AFTER LEAKS. [09] . ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO LIFT LEGISLATORS' IMMUNITY. [10] . ALBANIAN BUDGET FOR 1995. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 55, Part II, 17 March 1995 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE [01] CROATIAN AND MUSLIM LEADERS GATHER IN WASHINGTON. Meetings took place on 16 March to mark the first anniversary of the U.S.-sponsored Croatian- Muslim federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Vecernji list on 17 March said that Presidents Franjo Tudjman and Bill Clinton held a private discussion for about an hour before Tudjman went on to New York to talk with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali. Both meetings presumably focused on the future of international peacekeeping operations in Croatia. Bosnian Croat leader and federal President Kresimir Zubak was the only original signatory present in Washington, although Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic took part via a video hookup while visiting Bonn. From there, he told reporters that there will be no extension of the current cease-fire unless the Serbs accept the Contact Group's peace plan, since the present arrangement only freezes Serbian conquests. In Washington, Bosnian and federal Vice President Ejup Ganic called on Clinton to pressure Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to recognize his government's sovereignty over Bosnia and Herzegovina. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. [02] SANTIC AFFAIR CASTS SHADOW OVER FESTIVITIES. While the VOA's broadcasts in Serbo-Croatian on 17 March stress the positive aspects of the federation, the BBC's emphasize its problems. One commentator called it "an anti-Serbian political idea" that has achieved nothing except to stop the 1993 Croatian-Muslim war. The BBC discussed at length the tensions stemming from the kidnapping in the Bihac pocket on 8 March of the Bosnian Croat commander there, General Vlado Santic. The Muslims have admitted that their military police were last seen with him after a drinking session but deny knowing where he is now. One theory holds that he has been killed in a settling of old scores, while another suggests it is the work of rogue Muslims who have never wanted peace with the Croats. The BBC and Nasa Borba both quote Bosnian Croat representatives as saying they are "freezing" official contacts with the Muslims until the affair is cleared up. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. [03] DIFFERING AGENDAS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA? Nasa Borba on 17 March, reporting on apparent differences of strategies among the five countries of the Contact Group, says Russia is interested primarily in shoring up its status as a great power. Britain and France, the paper continues, wants to prevent conflict; but fears of an alleged American or German preponderance in the post-1989 world have long been evident in their policies in the former Yugoslavia. Those policies often seem aimed at shoring up the Serbs and blocking the Croats and Muslims, who are perceived in London and Paris as clients of Bonn or Washington. The article adds that in reality, the U.S.'s "special relationship" in Europe is now with Germany, not Britain. The Frankfurter Allge-meine Zeitung picks up the theme, noting that Washington and Bonn are in the forefront of efforts to bolster the Croatian-Muslim alliance. That federation "is the cornerstone on which the Contact Group's peace plan rests, not the other way around," the German daily comments. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. [04] RUMP YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER IN ROME. Vladislav Jovanovic met briefly with his Italian counterpart, Susanna Agnelli, in Rome on 16 March, Nasa Borba reported the next day. The leaders described the meeting, which focused in part on international sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia, in positive terms. Agnelli added that Italy may support the idea of easing the embargo. Nasa Borba also adds that Jovanovic is expected to meet with Vatican officials. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. [05] MILOSEVIC MEETS WITH PAVLE? According to Nasa Borba on 17 March, "Belgrade political circles" have revealed that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recently held "secret" talks with the leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle. Sources within the Church have not confirmed those reports, but nor have they denied them. High Church officials from the Republic of Srpska and the Republic of Serbian Krajina are believed to have attended the meeting, which reportedly included discussion of Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic's recent contacts with Vatican officials. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. [06] MACEDONIA WANTS CHANGE IN STATUS OF UN TROOPS. Macedonia is demanding that the UN peacekeeping forces stationed on its territory be made independent of the UN forces in the former Yugoslavia, AFP reported on 16 March. UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali was quoted as saying that, like Croatia, Macedonia wants an "independent operation that is not linked to other countries" that were part of Yugoslavia. Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski said that the government is seeking a new mandate with a "separate military, logistical and administrative structure under a special [UN] representative." The UNPROFOR mandate in Croatia expires on 31 March. Some 1,100 peacekeepers are currently in Macedonia. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc. [07] RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER POSTPONES VISIT TO BULGARIA. Viktor Chernomyrdin has postponed a visit to Sofia scheduled for 23-25 March, Bulgarian newspapers reported on 17 March. Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Aleksandr Avdeev said that the postponement was due to Russian domestic reasons and to the fact that President Boris Yeltsin is going on vacation on 27 March. But had added that Chernomyrdin will come "at the end of spring." Avdeev denied that disputes over Russia's $100 million debt to Bulgaria or Sofia's aspirations to join NATO were reasons for postponing the visit. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc. [08] BULGARIAN NUCLEAR REACTOR SHUT DOWN AFTER LEAKS. The No. 5 Reactor at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant was shut down on 16 March, AFP reported the same day. The reactor had to be turned off after a leak was discovered in a generator cooling system. Officials at the power plant said the incident posed no danger of a radioactive leak, as the generator is located outside the reactor's nuclear core. Ivan Ivanov, deputy director of the Kozloduy power plant, was quoted by Bulgarian Radio as saying that the pipeline will be repaired within 24 hours and that the reactor will then be operational again. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc. [09] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO LIFT LEGISLATORS' IMMUNITY. The Albanian parliament on 16 March refused to lift the immunity of two deputies from the ruling Democratic Party, Gazeta Shqiptare reported the next day. The prosecutor-general asked for former Finance Minister Genc Ruli and former Agriculture Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Rexhep Uka to be stripped of their immunity in order to investigate allegations of abuse of office and corruption. Sixty-three legislators voted against lifting their immunity, while 44 cast their ballot in favor. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc. [10] ALBANIAN BUDGET FOR 1995. The Albanian Finance Ministry has presented the 1995 budget after consultations with the International Monetary Fund, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 16 March. The government expects revenues to total 53.4 billion lek (compared with 46,2 billion in 1994) and expenditures 87.2 billion lek (72.9 billion). The budget deficit is expected to increase from 26.8 to 33.9 billion lek but would fall from 8% to 7% of GDP. One US dollar is about 92 lek. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc. [As of 12:00 CET] Compiled by Jan Cleave