OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 99, 23 May 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER EXPECTS SERBIAN RECOGNITION.

  • [02] RIFTS AMONG SERBS.

  • [03] SERBS TAKE GUNS, KILL THREE IN SARAJEVO.

  • [04] SLAVONIAN SERB REFUGEES MOVE INTO EASTERN SLAVONIA.

  • [05] MILOSEVIC REJECTS U.S.-BACKED PEACE PLAN.

  • [06] KOSOVO UPDATE.

  • [07] MACEDONIA, U.S. AGREE ON MILITARY COOPERATION.

  • [08] BULGARIA, RUSSIA TO LAUNCH JOINT ARMS PRODUCTION.

  • [09] JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES IN GREECE.

  • [10] CONFERENCE OF ALBANIAN, TURKISH POLICE.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 99, Part II, 23 May 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER EXPECTS SERBIAN RECOGNITION.

    Haris Silajdzic told Radio Bosnia and Herzegovina on 23 May that he expects Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to recognize his embattled republic soon because that "is the only way to peace." A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman told a Western agency the previous day that Belgrade will make a decision later this week. The Bosnian Serb parliament began an emergency session at which it is expected to condemn any recognition of the Sarajevo government by Serbia. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic again said that any Serbian recognition of the Bosnian government is a matter for his people alone and that "we will never do it." Meanwhile in New York, the UN Security Council extended sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs for another four months because Pale refuses to accept the current peace plan, international media reported. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] RIFTS AMONG SERBS.

    "Only solidarity saves the Serbs" is the historic Serbian motto, but Serbian and international media on 23 May suggested that unity is in short supply as Serbian forces prove increasingly vulnerable on the battlefield. The Krajina Serbs are divided over whether to draw closer to Pale or to trust Belgrade. The Bosnian Serbs are similarly split between hard-liners Karadzic and Chief-of-Staff General Manojlo Milovanovic, on the one hand, and pro-Milosevic army commander General Ratko Mladic and his backers Generals Zdravko Tolimir and Milan Gvero, on the other, AFP reports. Karadzic is quoted by a Western agency as saying that "only the [Serbian Orthodox] Church can now preserve the unity of the Serbs." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] SERBS TAKE GUNS, KILL THREE IN SARAJEVO.

    Bosnian Serb forces staged a pre-dawn raid on a UN heavy weapons collection point near the Bosnian capital on 22 May, taking two artillery pieces with them. They subsequently resumed shelling the town and renewed sniper fire, killing three and wounding six, international media reported. It is not clear whether the two cannons seized were used in the latest attacks, but artillery and rockets seem to be the Serbian response to their recent defeats by Muslims and Croats on various fronts. Meanwhile in Banja Luka, Croatian Bishop Franjo Komarica on 23 May entered the sixth day of his hunger strike. He is protesting Serbian attacks on Croats, the clergy, and churches, Vecernji list repored. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] SLAVONIAN SERB REFUGEES MOVE INTO EASTERN SLAVONIA.

    Nearly 4,000 Serbs displaced by the Croatian Operation Blitz on 1-2 May have left their temporary shelters in Bosnian Serb-held territory for eastern Slavonia, or Sector East, as the UN calls it. It is widely believed that Milosevic intends to hold onto that area--even if he turns his back on the rest of Krajina--since eastern Slavonia is rich in gas, oil, and first-class agricultural land. Not all of the refugees were enthusiastic about moving into Sector East, AFP said on 21 May. It appears that Belgrade wants to use the refugees to consolidate its hold on eastern Slavonia and Kosovo as well. Elsewhere, the Croatian authorities have admitted that at least 20 Serb civilians were killed in crossfire during Operation Blitz. UN investigators are on the scene, news agencies reported on 22 May. But previous UN reports said that the Croats behaved properly toward Serbian civilians, whose confidence they are anxious to gain. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] MILOSEVIC REJECTS U.S.-BACKED PEACE PLAN.

    The New York Times on 23 May reported that Milosevic has rejected a US-backed plan providing for the suspension of sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia in exchange for Belgrade's recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Milosevic reportedly insists that "the United Nations permanently lift all sanctions . . . rather than conditionally suspend them." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] KOSOVO UPDATE.

    A Pristina court has sentenced Pal Krasniqi, secretary of the Independent Teachers Trade Unions of Kosovo, to two months in prison for calling a meeting of his trade union branch at the premises of a Pristina secondary school on 17 November 1994. Meanwhile, the Serbian authorities in Rahovec have said they will accommodate Serbian refugees from western Slavonia in a local secondary school. According to the Democratic League of Kosovo, the school building has already been converted into a hotel and the first batch of refugees are expected to move in soon. The school has not been used since 1990 owing to the lack of Serbian students in the town. Local Albanian students have been attending classes in private homes, Kosova Daily Report said on 22 May. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] MACEDONIA, U.S. AGREE ON MILITARY COOPERATION.

    Macedonian Defense Minister Blagoj Handziski, on returning from an eight-day official visit to the U.S. on 20 May, said Macedonia and the U.S. have agreed on new forms of military cooperation, MIC reported. Macedonian military personnel will receive training in the U.S. in September, and the 1996 U.S. draft budget will allocate $1 million for Macedonia from the funds intended for member states of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Handziski said that "a new page" in U.S.-Macedonian relations has been turned as a result of Macedonia's constructive internal and foreign policy and its efforts to preserve peace in the region. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] BULGARIA, RUSSIA TO LAUNCH JOINT ARMS PRODUCTION.

    A bilateral defense commission on 22 May signed an accord on military-industrial cooperation, Reuters reported the same day. The agreement was signed by Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade Kiril Tsochev and Genady Voronin, deputy chairman of Russia's Defense Industry Committee. In 1994,a bilateral commission was established on restoring links between the Bulgarian and Russian defense industries. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES IN GREECE.

    Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, and the U.S. began military maneuvers in southern Greece on 22 May, AFP reported the same day. The "New Spirit 1995" exercise, which is part of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, is to held over five days in the town of Kalamata, where more than 300 soldiers will practice an urgent, coordinated response to major earthquakes. It is the first time that Albanian soldiers are taking part in maneuvers outside their own country. AFP cited a military expert in Athens as saying that the exercise is symbolic because it shows the deep interest of the U.S. in the Balkans and "the links between certain countries in this sensitive region." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] CONFERENCE OF ALBANIAN, TURKISH POLICE.

    Representatives of the Turkish and Albanian police are meeting in Ankara from 22-25 May, Rilindja Demokratike reported on 23 May. The conference is focusing on organized crime, drug trafficking, and possible cooperation on educational projects. The Turkish and Albanian interior ministers are expected to meet later this year. -- 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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