OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 87, 4 May 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] UKRAINE REFUSES TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM CROATIA.

  • [02] MORE SERBIAN ROCKETS HIT ZAGREB.

  • [03] CROATIAN TROOPS APPARENTLY IN CONTROL OF SECTOR WEST.

  • [04] WILL CROATIA'S APPETITE GROW WITH THE EATING?

  • [05] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS SURROUNDING YUGOSLAV CONFLICT.

  • [06] SERBIAN OPPOSITION BACKS KRAJINA SERBS.

  • [07] SULEJMANI SENTENCED IN MACEDONIA.

  • [08] BULGARIAN MINISTERS ANNOUNCE ANTI-CRIME MEASURES.

  • [09] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH BSP TO DISCUSS LAND LAW.

  • [10] GREEK AND KURDISH DEMONSTRATORS ATTACK TURKISH MINISTER.

  • [11] UN SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED OVER ALBANIAN SANCTIONS BUSTING.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 87, Part II, 4 May 1995

    EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE

    [01] UKRAINE REFUSES TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM CROATIA.

    Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma told reporters in Rome on 3 May that Ukraine will not withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Croatia, Reuters reported. The UN Security Council on 29 April approved plans to cut peacekeeping forces there following a request from the Croatian government. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko, who is accompanying Kuchma on his three-day official visit to Italy, said the UN request for the Ukrainian withdrawal was unexpected. He called it "illegal" and "groundless." Udovenko noted that Kuchma has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali requesting an explanation. A total of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers are participating in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. -- Sharon Fisher, OMRI, Inc. SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] MORE SERBIAN ROCKETS HIT ZAGREB.

    Another group of Orkan missiles landed on the Croatian capital on 3 May, killing one and wounding 43. A visiting Austrian ballet troupe and groups of children were involved, and UNICEF condemned the attack. International media reported that the mood in Zagreb was nonetheless defiant, and one journalist told the BBC that it is a mystery why the capital has not been hit more often in the four years of conflict. The nearest Serbian lines are 50 kilometers from Zagreb, and the Orkans have a range of 60 kilometers with payloads of 45 kilograms of explosives. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] CROATIAN TROOPS APPARENTLY IN CONTROL OF SECTOR WEST.

    The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 4 May reported that the Croatian army appears to have largely retaken all of the former UN protected area in western Slavonia. The BBC on 3 May said that the flow of Serbian refugees into Bosnia has stopped because the Croats now control the north side of the Sava bridge to Bosanska Gradiska. UN personnel held hostage by the Serbs have been freed, and a cease-fire negotiated. The Serbs took journalists to see the refugees and charged the Croats with massive human rights violations, but it is speculated that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and his lieutenants in Knin and Pale earlier decided to write off Sector West as indefensible and cut their losses. A journalist for Globus said that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman is not trumpeting the victory but that it is a big success for him because it will enable 40,000 west Slavonian refugees to go home. The refugee problem is Croatia's biggest domestic political and social issue. The United States and Russia, however, have called on Croatia to withdraw its forces to the positions they occupied before the current offensive. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] WILL CROATIA'S APPETITE GROW WITH THE EATING?

    Up to 1,000 Croatiansoldiers have begun moving into parts of Sector South of Krajina in the Dalmatian hinterland. Tensions are growing in the Gospic-Medak area in particular, as the Serbs fire back. AFP quoted France's UN ambassador and acting president of the Security Council as saying he "hopes this will not lead to new fighting." But the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung notes that France, which also holds the EU chair, has failed in its move to suspend that body's preliminary talks with Croatia on a trade and cooperation agreement in retaliation for the current offensive. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS SURROUNDING YUGOSLAV CONFLICT.

    International mediators Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg have invited Krajina President Milan Martic and Foreign Minister Milan Babic to talks in Geneva. Nasa Borba on 4 May reported that Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic has called off his planned trips to London and Paris from 6- 8 May in view of the current tensions in Croatia and Bosnia. Finally, 4 May marks the 15th anniversary of the death of former Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito. NIN, which features him on the cover of its latest issue, and Politika report on the debate over his legacy; and the daily runs the headline: "Tito lives, if only in polemics." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] SERBIAN OPPOSITION BACKS KRAJINA SERBS.

    Serbian opposition leaders are emerging as strong backers of the Krajina Serbs. Nasa Borba on 4 May reported that Democratic Party of Serbia leader Vojislav Kostunica, at a news conference the previous day, sharply criticized Belgrade for its alleged failure to defend the Krajina Serbs against what he dubbed "the criminal act of the Croatian military against Serbian civilians." Kostunica stressed that Belgrade has an obligation to defend ethnic Serbs in Krajina. He also commented that the Croatian authorities' attacks have not been undertaken unilaterally but are part of an alleged anti-Serbian international conspiracy supported by Western powers, especially Germany and the U.S. Meanwhile, Vojislav Seselj, ultra- nationalist leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and an accused war criminal, has urged anyone interested in supporting the Krajina war effort to contact a local SRS office for help, AFP reported on 2 May. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] SULEJMANI SENTENCED IN MACEDONIA.

    Fadil Sulejmani, director of the self- proclaimed Albanian-language university of Tetovo, was sentenced to two- and-a-half-years in prison for inciting a riot, Flaka reported on 4 May. One man was killed when hundreds of ethnic Albanians protested the closure by police of the university after its inauguration in February. Milaim Fejziu, deputy leader of the local branch of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, was sentenced to six months in prison for "participating in a rally obstructing the police from performing their duties." Macedonian law does not provide for universities teaching only in Albanian, but negotiations on Albanian- language courses at Skopje University are under way. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] BULGARIAN MINISTERS ANNOUNCE ANTI-CRIME MEASURES.

    Justice Minister Mladen Chervenyakov and Interior Minister Lyubomir Nachev on 3 May discussed measures against rising crime in Bulgaria, Bulgarian newspapers reported the following day. Chervenyakov was quoted as saying that "non-traditional crime necessitates non-traditional measures," including telephone-tapping and audio and video surveillance. He also noted that the proposed measures are temporary ones and will not turn Bulgaria into a police state. The measures are expected to be approved by the government on 4 May. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH BSP TO DISCUSS LAND LAW.

    Zhelyu Zhelev on 3 May met with representatives of the Bulgarian Socialist Party to discuss their controversial views on an amendment to the land law. Standart reported the following day that Zhelev proposed a compromise but the Socialist rejected his proposal. No details on the compromise were given. Zhelev vetoed the amendment on 27 April and said he will take the matter to the Constitutional Court if the parliament overrides his veto. Also on 3 May, the parliament approved the budget of the Justice Ministry, which amounts to 610 million leva ($9.4 million). The Supreme Judicial Council had asked for 2.5 billion leva ($38.5 million). -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] GREEK AND KURDISH DEMONSTRATORS ATTACK TURKISH MINISTER.

    Turkish government spokesman and Minister of State Yildirim Aktuna was attacked by about 500 demonstrators outside the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki on 3 May, AFP reported the same day. The demonstrators threw stones, lemons, and other objects at Aktuna's car as he tried to enter the consulate to attend a dinner in his honor. At least two persons were injured, Reuters reported. Aktuna arrived in Greece on 2 May on an unofficial visit to Eastern Thrace and Thessaloniki. Speaking in Komotini, he referred to the Muslim population of Eastern Thrace as "Turkish." This remark triggered complaints from Greece, which insists there are only "Muslims of Greek citizenship." Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou described Aktuna's behavior as "unacceptable." Meanwhile, Turkey protested the attack on Aktuna to the Greek ambassador. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] UN SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED OVER ALBANIAN SANCTIONS BUSTING.

    A Security Council committee monitoring UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia has expressed concern about the illegal flow of oil from Albania to Montenegro. According to Argentine Ambassador to the UN Emilio Cardenas, the Security Council believes that "between 100% and 150% in excess of local [Albanian] consumption may be flowing north." But he admitted that he does not know the origin of the oil, Reuters reported on 3 May. The Albanian government earlier announced it will take measures against oil smuggling. Other news agencies report that sanctions busting by Albanians has reduced drastically since prices for oil smuggled from Romania dropped. -- 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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