OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 153, 8 August 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] SUSAK SAYS OPERATION STORM IS OVER.

  • [02] SERBIA SENDS TANKS INTO EASTERN SLAVONIA.

  • [03] "BIGGEST SINGLE MIGRATION OF SERBS IN HISTORY."

  • [04] ZAGREB CALLS BILDT PERSONA NON GRATA.

  • [05] BOSNIAN SERB LEADERS BLAME MILOSEVIC FOR KRAJINA'S COLLAPSE.

  • [06] BELGRADE CALLS FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST CROATIA.

  • [07] MARTIC FLEES.

  • [08] MLADIC CHOOSES GREEK DEFENSE LAWYER.

  • [09] MACEDONIAN-YUGOSLAV DONKEY SMUGGLING AFFAIR.

  • [10] ROMANIA ON CROATIAN OFFENSIVE.

  • [11] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS PRIVATIZATION RULES.

  • [12] CHIEF EDITOR OF ALBANIAN DAILY FINED.

  • [13] NEW ALBANIAN CONSULATE IN NORTHERN GREECE.

  • [14] GREECE SENDS AID TO KRAJINA REFUGEES, CRITICIZES WEST.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 153, Part II, 8 August 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] SUSAK SAYS OPERATION STORM IS OVER.

    Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak told Hina on 7 August that Croatia was demobilizing. He also said that military operations in the former Sector North and Sector South were over, the BBC noted on 8 August. He denied British and Serbian reports that there was a conflict of interests between Croatia and Bosnia. Some 6,000 Serbian soldiers had been resisting near Topusko, but Susak said they were surrounded and giving up. The UN, however, said that the Serbs were still fighting and that the Croats were shelling the area. International media reported that the agreement whereby the Serbs in effect surrendered broke down by mid-day on 7 August when the Croats said the Serbs had "tricked" them. Croatian artillery went into action and at least two Serbs were killed. Serbian resistance was strongest in the Banija and Kordun areas. There were confusing and sometimes contradictory reports -- including Bosnian Serb air raids on up to five Croatian towns, the downing of two Serbian Orao jets, a Croatian air raid on a column of Serbian refugees near Banja Luka, the burning of six Serbian villages by Bosnian government forces, and the blocking of roads into Bosnia by the Bosnian Fifth Corps, which reportedly trapped thousands of Serbian refugees. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] SERBIA SENDS TANKS INTO EASTERN SLAVONIA.

    International media on 7 August reported that columns of Serbian tanks were heading across the border into eastern Slavonia, the richest of Serbia's conquests in the Wars of the Yugoslav Succession. Croatia then sent two crack brigades to the border area, including the Tigers. Croatian media reported on 8 August that the Serbs shelled Osijek, but the area otherwise appeared to be quiet. AFP quoted the British Foreign Office as saying that Britain "would not welcome" a Croatian move into eastern Slavonia. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] "BIGGEST SINGLE MIGRATION OF SERBS IN HISTORY."

    This is how BelgradeRadio described the mass flight of Krajina Serbs into Bosnia and Serbia, the BBC reported on 8 August. If this description is accurate, the present migration would exceed that of 30,000 families into Habsburg territory in 1690 and the epic retreat of the Serbian army in World War I. The latest estimates are of 150,000 people on the move; but this is not certain, given Croatian reports that prewar Krajina had a total population of only 400,000. Croatian officials on 8 August said that the figure of 150,000 was grossly exaggerated and that the entire population of Serb-held Krajina was only 120,000. The refugees appear to prefer to go to Serbia than Bosnia, and the men in particular are reported to want to get as far from the front as possible. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] ZAGREB CALLS BILDT PERSONA NON GRATA.

    Croatian officials on 7 August slammed charges by EU mediator Carl Bildt that the flight of the Serbs was "ethnic cleansing" and declared him persona non grata for several of his recent remarks. The Croats noted that they encouraged the Krajina Serbs to stay while Serbian media urged them to leave. They also pointed out that many of the Serbs were living in homes and had property taken from Croats following the deliberate "ethnic cleansing" of the area that started in 1991. The UN said it would soon begin investigating reports of human rights violations by the Croats in Knin. International media reported cases of abuse of Serbian civilians and of looting, but there appears to be no evidence of the systematic brutality associated with Serbian forces in Bosnia and Croatia. The International Herald Tribune on 8 August quoted Croatian officials as denying charges by the UN that Croatian soldiers used Danish peacekeepers as human shields over the weekend. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] BOSNIAN SERB LEADERS BLAME MILOSEVIC FOR KRAJINA'S COLLAPSE.

    One of the casualties of Operation Storm was the myth of Serbian military invincibility, effectively embarrassing experts who predicted that only armies in the hundreds of thousands could dislodge them. Many Krajina Serbs were baffled and bitter that Knin fell in a single day, and one told the 7 August New York Times that "it's a great shock psychologically after it has been built up that we are winners. We all expected Serbia to protect us. Everyone thinks [Serbian President Slobodan] Milosevic has betrayed us." Radovan Karadzic and other Bosnian Serb leaders have also charged Milosevic with "betraying Serb interests," as "Vice President" Biljana Plavsic put it. Karadzic said that "several factors in Serbia were directly responsible for the destabilization of the Republic of Serbian Krajina," AFP reported. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] BELGRADE CALLS FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST CROATIA.

    Serbia on 7 August called for sanctions to be imposed against Zagreb, international media reported. In a letter to the UN, Belgrade described Croatia's victory over the Krajina Serbs as an act of "shameless aggression" and said the international community "must undertake concrete and resolute measures against such criminal and genocidal acts." Meanwhile, Nasa Borba on 8 August reported that the Serbian Orthodox Church has issued an appeal for humanitarian aid for Serbian refugees. It also said that the Serbian and Montenegrin republican governments are no longer "fit" to lead the Serbian nation. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] MARTIC FLEES.

    BETA on 7 August reported that the "president" of the former Republic of Serbian Krajina had fled following Croatia's victory in Krajina and is currently somewhere on Serb-occupied Bosnian territory. Earlier reports concerning Milan Martic's whereabouts had speculated that he had either committed suicide or had been assassinated. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] MLADIC CHOOSES GREEK DEFENSE LAWYER.

    Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic has appointed Greek lawyer Alexandros Lykourezos to defend him at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, AFP reported on 7 August. A spokesman for the lawyer said Lykourezos is currently in Belgrade to discuss details of the defense. Mladic was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity by the tribunal, and in July a warrant for his arrest was issued. Lykourezos is one of Greece's most prominent lawyers. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] MACEDONIAN-YUGOSLAV DONKEY SMUGGLING AFFAIR.

    A group of rump Yugoslav citizens are suspected of having organized a smuggling enterprise at the border between Kumanovo and Presevo, BETA reported on 7 August. The smugglers used donkeys without riders to transport goods across the border. Their activities were discovered when a donkey lost its baggage, which contained "something very valuable." Smuggled goods were allegedly drugs and arms. BETA also noted that the price for donkeys in Macedonia has risen to between 500 and 1,000 DM, depending on how well trained the donkeys are. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] ROMANIA ON CROATIAN OFFENSIVE.

    Romania's Foreign Ministry, in a statement released on 7 August and broadcast by Radio Bucharest, expressed "deep concern" over the Croatian offensive in Krajina. The statement said the recent offensive "contributed to perpetuating an extremely dangerous situation that could lead to the expansion of military operations with wider implications for the entire zone." It stressed that Romania, as a neighbor, "directly perceives the state of insecurity" in the region. Bucharest called for an immediate resumption of peace talks and offered to mediate in the conflict. The leading daily Adevarul described the outburst of joy in Zagreb over the victory in Krajina as "grotesque." It also deplored the fate of the 200,000 Serbs who have had to take refuge in neighboring Bosnia. -- Dan Ionescu, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS PRIVATIZATION RULES.

    The Bulgarian government on 7 August adopted the regulations for mass privatization, Reuters reported the same day. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Development Rumen Gechev said the program is based on the Czech coupon privatization model. Companies will be on sale for both vouchers and cash. "The combined approach pursues two aims: to transfer state property into private ownership, and . . . to allow an inflow of fresh funds into the enterprises," Gechev said. Up to 200 enterprises will be included in the first round of mass privatization, which is scheduled to start by the end of 1995. Between 31% and 70% of state-owned enterprises will be privatized with vouchers, depending on investor interest. Some 20% will be offered to the employees at a preferential price, while 10% will be kept in reserve for possible restitution claims, Kontinent reported the following day. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [12] CHIEF EDITOR OF ALBANIAN DAILY FINED.

    Arban Hasani, editor in chief of Populli PO, has been fined 100,000 lek ($1,000), for defamation, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 5 August. The secret service SHIK brought charges against him for wrongly reporting that a SHIK officer ordered the killing on 14 January 1994 in Shkoder of Xhovali Cekini, a member of the opposition party Democratic Alliance. A man has since been arrested for committing the crime. Allegations that the killing was organized by circles close to the ruling Democratic Party appeared in the independent media but were never confirmed. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [13] NEW ALBANIAN CONSULATE IN NORTHERN GREECE.

    An Albanian consulate has opened in the northern Greek town of Ioannina, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 5 August. Preparations for the new consulate began in 1992, but the opening was delayed owing to deteriorating relations between the two countries in 1994. The Albanian Foreign Ministry has reportedly not yet appointed a consul-general. Meanwhile, construction of a new facility at the Albanian-Macedonian border checkpoint at Qafe e Thanes have gotten under way, BETA reported on 4 August. The new facility is expected to speed up considerably cross-border traffic. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [14] GREECE SENDS AID TO KRAJINA REFUGEES, CRITICIZES WEST.

    Greek Defense Minister Gerasimos Arsenis on 7 August announced Greece will send medicine, food, and clothing to Serbian refugees from Krajina, international agencies reported the same day. The first two planes will leave on 8 August, and the aid will be distributed by the UN. Greece will also send doctors to the region and is considering treating some of the wounded at Greek military hospitals. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias condemned the Croatian offensive against Krajina, saying "no difference was ever solved by military means" and urging a peaceful solution. Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs Georgios-Alexandros Mangakis the same day criticized the U.S. and Germany for backing Croatia's offensive against the rebel Krajina Serbs. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

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

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