OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 148, 1 August 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] CROATS SHELL KRAJINA.

  • [02] MORILLON CALLS FOR "DESERT STORM" AGAINST SERBS.

  • [03] AKASHI, PORTILLO ARE "PESSIMISTIC."

  • [04] IRAN PROMISES AID FOR CROATIA, BOSNIA.

  • [05] CHANGING IDENTITIES IN MONTENEGRO?

  • [06] SPLIT IN SANDZAK PARTY?

  • [07] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN GANGSTER HANDED OVER TO BELGIUM.

  • [08] U.S. AIR FORCE SECRETARY ENDS VISIT TO ROMANIA.

  • [09] U.S. ASKS ROMANIA, BULGARIA, OTHERS TO TIGHTEN EMBARGO AGAINST RUMP

  • [10] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION STILL WITHOUT COMMON MAYORAL CANDIDATE.

  • [11] BULGARIAN ETHNIC TURKS DEMAND NEW VISA STATUTE FROM ANKARA.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 148, Part II, 1 August 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] CROATS SHELL KRAJINA.

    International media on 1 August reported that Croatian and Bosnian Croat forces are shelling Serb-held Strmica near the border between Croatia and Bosnia. Serbs continue to flee toward Knin or toward Drvar in Bosnia. Press reports from Knin say that the situation is bleak and the population demoralized. Croatian troops are also closing in on Donji Vakuf on the road to Jajce. The International Herald Tribune reported that the supposed Serbian withdrawal from Bihac was just a ruse to re-position personnel and that armor and artillery are still in place. UN spokesmen said that Bosnian Serb forces fired on the helicopter of UN commander General Ruppert Smith on 31 July as he was flying to a meeting with indicted war criminal General Ratko Mladic. Novi list reported that President Franjo Tudjman has promoted General Ante Gotovina, commander of the Croatian forces that took Grahovo and Glamoc on 28 July, to colonel-general. -- Patrick Moore

    [02] MORILLON CALLS FOR "DESERT STORM" AGAINST SERBS.

    Officials in Washington and some other Western capitals are privately hoping that the Croatian offensive will succeed and rid the international community of a conflict it has been unable to handle, the International Herald Tribune said on 1 August. AFP quoted former UN special rapporteur for human rights, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, as saying that the situation in Bosnia will worsen unless the West takes action against the Serbs. The head of UNPROFOR in 1992-1993 and now the commander of the Rapid Reaction Force, General Philippe Morillon, told the German weekly Stern that armed intervention on the model of the Gulf War may be necessary if there is no improvement on the ground soon. He said that one would have to deal with the Serbs the way Operation Desert Storm dealt with Saddam Hussein. -- Patrick Moore

    [03] AKASHI, PORTILLO ARE "PESSIMISTIC."

    UN special envoy Yasushi Akashi toldreporters on 1 August that he fears "a lot of bloodshed" if the Croats launch an offensive against Knin. "They seem very prepared to attack, the danger of a military offensive is still there, we are watching the situation with great concern," AFP quoted him as saying. Nasa Borba reported him as saying that the Krajina Serbs have never been more willing to negotiate. British Defense Secretary Michael Portillo shared Akashi's fears: "I don't want to be melodramatic, but the intervention of the Croats does now raise the prospect of an all-out war, at least between the Croats and the Bosnian Serbs, And that is of course of great concern to us," he told the BBC. -- Patrick Moore

    [04] IRAN PROMISES AID FOR CROATIA, BOSNIA.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati met with his Bosnian and Croatian counterparts in Split on 31 July. The three leaders called for NATO intervention to protect internationally recognized borders, Vecernji list reported on 1 August. Velayati went on to Mostar to discuss military aid with President Alija Izetbegovic. Bosnia and Croatia both enjoy good relations with the Muslim world as a whole, ranging from secular Turkey to fundamentalist Iran. (See related item in the Russian section) -- Patrick Moore

    [05] CHANGING IDENTITIES IN MONTENEGRO?

    Montenafax on 28 July reported theresults of a poll recently taken in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica in which respondents were asked to name their identity. Only 44.7% identified themselves as Montenegrin, down from the official 1991 census figure of 72.3%. The percentage who recognized themselves as Serbian also fell to 5.3%, from 7.7% in 1991. The number of Albanians remained constant, at 8.4%, while 4.8% identified themselves as Muslims, a decrease of 0.2%. Those calling themselves Yugoslavs increased from 3.3% in 1991 to 5.3%. Most of the remaining respondents described themselves in terms of hybrid categories blurring the Montenegrin and Serbian identities. -- Stan Markotich

    [06] SPLIT IN SANDZAK PARTY?

    The leadership of the Party of Democratic Action(SDA) of the Sandzak has distanced itself from the party's coordinating body, BETA reported on 31 July. The SDA leaders questioned the legality of an extraordinary meeting of the coordinating body on 29 July, arguing that it was organized without their knowledge and that only two of nine regional committees were represented at the meeting. They also alleged that the only purpose of the meeting was to "prolong the political survival of [SDA leader] Sulejman Ugljanin." Ugljanin, who has lived in Turkey for the last two years, has been criticized by party members for a lack of credibility. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [07] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN GANGSTER HANDED OVER TO BELGIUM.

    Macedonia has handed over the ethnic Albanian Basri Bajrami to Belgium, BETA reported on 31 July. BETA describes Bajrami as "one of the best-known criminals in Belgium" and the "brain" behind the kidnapping of former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Boeyenants in February 1989. Boeyenants was freed one month later after a ransom of $1.8 million was paid. Bajrami was also one of the leaders of the "Patrick Haemers Gang," which specialized in robbing armored trucks. He was arrested in early 1993 but escaped shortly after from the prison of St. Jules in Brussels, taking a guard as hostage. Bajrami then fled to Macedonia, where he opened a disco and various luxurious boutiques. His extradition was requested by Interpol. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [08] U.S. AIR FORCE SECRETARY ENDS VISIT TO ROMANIA. A U.S.

    military delegation headed by Sheila Widnall, secretary of the Air Force at the Defense Department, ended a two-day official visit to Romania on 31 July, Radio Bucharest reported. Widnall stressed the "constructive character" of her talks with Romanian Defense Minister Gheorghe Tinca, Secretary of State for Defense Ioan Mircea Pascu, and Air Force Chief- of-Staff Maj. Gen. Ion Sandulescu. She also said that the U.S. is interested in expanding cooperation with Romania within the framework of the Partnership For Peace program. -- Dan Ionescu

    [09] U.S. ASKS ROMANIA, BULGARIA, OTHERS TO TIGHTEN EMBARGO AGAINST RUMP Y

    UGOSLAVIA. The Sofia daily Pari on 1 August reported that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke said the previous day the U.S. has asked Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Greece to tighten the embargo against rump Yugoslavia. The request comes at a time when Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece are considering a joint initiative to further ease the embargo. Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Radko Vlaykov told RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service that so far, the U.S. has not submitted an official request to Bulgaria. Standart cited an unnamed senior diplomat as saying that "calls to tighten the sanctions actually mean that we are not enforcing them as we should." -- Stefan Krause

    [10] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION STILL WITHOUT COMMON MAYORAL CANDIDATE. Representatives of 15 opposition parties and alliances on 31 July met to find a common mayoral candidate for Sofia, Bulgarian papers reported the f

    ollowing day. Stefan Sofiyanski of the Union of Democratic Forces was supported by 12 groups, and former interim Prime Minister Reneta Indzhova by three. Indzhova stressed the independent nature of her candidacy but refused to present her program before the Socialist candidate has been nominated. Sofiyanski, on the other hand, gave a detailed account of his plans if elected as mayor, Demokratsiya reported. Observers expect Sofiyanski to be officially nominated at a meeting scheduled for 1 August. -- Stefan Krause

    [11] BULGARIAN ETHNIC TURKS DEMAND NEW VISA STATUTE FROM ANKARA.

    The ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom (DPS) has asked Turkish authorities to allow ethnic Turks from Bulgaria to enter Turkey for up to three months without a visa, Duma reported on 1 August. They demanded equal treatment with ethnic Turks living in Greece, who under a Greek- Turkish agreement do not need a visa. The DPS leadership also requested that Bulgarian ethnic Turks be allowed to visit Turkey for urgent family business without a visa and that Turkey drops a regulation stating that tourist groups traveling there must not include more than 10 people with Turkish names. DPS officials on 31 July said that these questions are raised at every meeting with Turkish officials but that Turkey has not responded to the party's latest request. -- Stefan Krause

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

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