OMRI Daily Digest No. 70, Part II, 7 April 1995

From: Steve Iatrou <siatrou@hilbert.cdsp.neu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] UN FIRES SMOKE SHELLS AT SERBS.

  • [02] CROATIA WANTS "INTENSIVE TALKS."

  • [03] KRAJINA SERBS REJECT "PEACE AT ANY PRICE."

  • [04] INDEPENDENT MONTENEGRIN RADIO IN TROUBLE.

  • [05] SCANDAL IN BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT OVER NEW LAND LAW.

  • [06] BULGARIAN NATIONAL BANK LOWERS PRIME INTEREST RATE.

  • [07] EUROPEAN COURT ADVOCATE SAYS GREEK EMBARGO IS LEGAL.

  • [08] ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT DENIES EMBARGO-BUSTING REPORTS.

  • [09] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES TREATY ON RETURN OF GOLD.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 70, Part II, 7 April 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] UN FIRES SMOKE SHELLS AT SERBS.

    The 7 April Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that UNPROFOR troops the previous day fired smoke shells at Serbs near Sarajevo. The Serbs had ignored an ultimatum from the peacekeepers to stop firing on the capital's only supply road, which crosses Mt. Igman. Serbs also shelled the government-held suburb of Hrasnica, killing at least two. News agencies reported US Undersecretary of State Richard Holbrooke as warning that the cease-fire is beginning to come apart. Outside Sarajevo, government forces pressed Serbian troops in the Doboj area and claimed to have surrounded the key Serbian television relay tower at Stolice, near Tuzla. Nasa Borba on 6 April reported that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has asked the UN to allow in shipments of oil "for agricultural purposes." NIN on 7 April, moreover, quotes his deputy, Nikola Koljevic, as warning Serbia that there will be "a civil war" among Serbs if Belgrade ever recognizes Bosnia-Herzegovina. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] CROATIA WANTS "INTENSIVE TALKS." Hina on 6 April quotes Foreign Minister Mate Granic as saying UN Security Council Resolution 981, which transforms UNPROFOR into UNCRO under a changed mandate, is the strongest d

    ocument in Croatia's favor that the body has ever approved. He now wants negotiations, first with the international community and then with the Serb rebels, on extending Zagreb's sovereignty throughout its internationally recognized territory. He also noted that of the prewar population of 650,000 in Serb-held areas, only about 200,000 remain. Even about 120,000 Serbs have left, Granic said. UN officials added that there are no signs of demilitarization in Sector East around Erdut and Vukovar, which Serbia reportedly intends to keep because of its oil and agricultural wealth. The 7 April Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted that Croatia and Hungary have signed an agreement aimed at protecting the rights of the roughly 30,000 ethnic Croats in Hungary and the 25,000 ethnic Hungarians in Croatia, many of whom have become the victims of Serbian "ethnic cleansing" in Sector East. The treaty is based on Council of Europe norms. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] KRAJINA SERBS REJECT "PEACE AT ANY PRICE." Nasa Borba on 7 April quotes Krajina Serb leader Milan Martic as saying that Resolution 981 is u

    nacceptable to his people. He blamed the new measures on the alleged domination of the Security Council by the U.S. and Germany. He accused the international community of trying to drive the Krajina Serbs "into a ghetto." Martic warned against attempts to station peacekeepers on Croatia's borders with Bosnia and Serbia, saying "there are no borders between Serbian territories." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] INDEPENDENT MONTENEGRIN RADIO IN TROUBLE.

    Nasa Borba on 7 April reports that Radio Elmag, the first independent radio station in the rump Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, is in dire straits. Government demands for fees and taxes is threatening to drive the station out of existence. Radio Elmag may become the latest victim in rump Yugoslavia's efforts to crackdown on the independent media. This campaign culminated in late 1994, when Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic attempted to eliminate the independent daily Borba, now reincorporated as Nasa Borba. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] SCANDAL IN BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT OVER NEW LAND LAW.

    The government's latest proposed amendment to the land law caused a scandal in the parliament on 6 April, Bulgarian newspapers reported the following day. The Socialist majority has proposed to restitute land on the basis of declarations submitted by owners when they joined farm cooperatives under communist rule. Vladislav Kostov of the Union of Democratic Forces said these declarations, submitted under pressure, were invalid, since many depicted the plots of land as smaller than in reality. Vasil Gotsev, deputy chairman of the UDF's National Coordinating Council, said the proposed amendment violates the right of ownership. One UDF deputy was expelled from the parliament for improper conduct. A vote was not taken on the amendment due to continuing disorder. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] BULGARIAN NATIONAL BANK LOWERS PRIME INTEREST RATE.

    The Bulgarian National Bank on 6 April lowered the prime interest rate to 65% from 72%, Demokratsiya reported the following day. A BNB official said the rate was lowered because of low inflation in the first months of 1995, not because the government had insisted. As a result, production and investment are expected to be stimulated, but there may be disturbances on the currency market. BNB Governor Todor Valchev, however, said the bank is capable of keeping the lev's exchange rate under control. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] EUROPEAN COURT ADVOCATE SAYS GREEK EMBARGO IS LEGAL.

    European Court of Justice Advocate General Francis Jacobs on 6 April said the court should dismiss a complaint over Greece's trade blockade against Macedonia, AFP reported the same day. He said the complaint, filed by the European Commission in April 1994, fell outside the jurisdiction of the court, as questions of national security are up to each country to decide. According to Reuters, Jacobs said that given historical tensions in the Balkans, it is not completely unreasonable for Greece to fear war. The court, which is not obliged to follow Jacobs' opinion, is unlikely to rule on the case before the fall. Greek government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said his country "can only be entirely satisfied." The Macedonian Foreign Ministry considered Jacobs' position to be the "inauguration of a new form of economic violence." It expressed its "deep shock at such a stand encouraging economic blockades in the settlement of bilateral problems." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT DENIES EMBARGO-BUSTING REPORTS.

    The Albanian Foreign Ministry has denied recent media reports that petrol and oil continue to be smuggled from Albania into Montenegro, Reuters reported on 6 April. It said "the Albanian government has taken the necessary measures to eliminate the smuggling of fuel in violation of UN sanctions." Reuters also quotes a senior police official as saying that smuggling from Albania to Montenegro has decreased since Romania and Bulgaria began to offer cheaper oil products. Albanian sanctions coordinator Arben Petrela said Albania's fuel imports dropped from 172,000 tons in the last three months of 1994 to 54,000 tons in this year's first quarter. But Gazeta Shqiptare carried a story on 6 April about large-scale oil smuggling on Lake Shkoder, which borders Montenegro. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES TREATY ON RETURN OF GOLD.

    The Albanian parliament has ratified a treaty on the return of 1,574 kilograms of gold, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 7 April. The U.S. and Albania signed the treaty on 10 March. Worth some $13 million, the gold was stolen by Germany during the occupation in World War II and later handed over to a commission, made up of the U.S., Britain, and France, for safekeeping. The Albanian parliament agreed that the U.S. can keep gold worth some $2 million for reparations to American citizens whose property in Albania was confiscated by the communists. Britain sanctioned the agreement in 1992. France has declared its willingness to return the gold without preconditions, but an accord has not yet been signed. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a Prague-based nonprofit organization.

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