OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 160, 17 August 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] RUSSIAFOREIGN MINISTRY CALLS FOR COORDINATION OF PEACE EFFORTS.

  • [02] CROATS PRESS TOWARD DRVAR.

  • [03] ARE THE CROATS ABOUT TO END THE THREAT TO DUBROVNIK?

  • [04] SERBS TREAT CROAT AND MUSLIM EXPELEES "WORSE THAN CATTLE."

  • [05] BOSNIAN UPDATE.

  • [06] MAYOR OF SUBOTICA PROTESTS ETHNIC CLEANSING.

  • [07] WHY THE CHANGE IN THE RUMP YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTRY?

  • [08] MONTENEGRIN UPDATE.

  • [09] REFUGEES CONTINUE TO ARRIVE IN KOSOVO.

  • [10] ROMANIA CURBS YUGOSLAV FLIGHTS.

  • [11] UNEMPLOYMENT RISES IN BULGARIA.

  • [12] NEW ALBANIAN INDUSTRY MINISTER APPOINTED.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 160, Part I,II, 17 August 1995

    [01] RUSSIAFOREIGN MINISTRY CALLS FOR COORDINATION OF PEACE EFFORTS.

    Alexander Gorelik, head of the International Organizations Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Interfax on 16 August that Russia could reach consensus with the U.S. on a single peace plan for former Yugoslavia. Gorelik said recent Russian and U.S. initiatives have much in common, although he noted that Russia opposed parts of the American proposal that reportedly call for the use of military force against any of the warring parties that refuse to accept a peace plan. Gorelik's comments represented a step back from President Yeltsin's failed bid last week to mediate a resolution of the Yugoslav conflict unilaterally. Also on 16 August, a convoy of 49 trucks loaded with 150 tons of humanitarian aid left the Moscow suburb of Noginsk, Russian and Western agencies reported. The convoy is the second of three planned shipments of Russian aid for Croatian Serb refugees. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] CROATS PRESS TOWARD DRVAR.

    Bosnian Croat forces (HVO) "stand before Drvar," Vecernji list wrote on 17 August. The apparent aim of the drive is to link up with the Bosnian government's Fifth Corps in Bihac and join up with HVO and government pincer movements from the north and south, all of which are moving in the general direction of Banja Luka. The International Herald Tribune said that military-aged men in Banja Luka are wearing uniforms in hopes of not being pressganged into the army, and that "fear and mistrust grip every quarter of the city." As to Dvar, some Croatian reports that the town has fallen have not been confirmed. AFP quoted Bosnian Serb sources to the effect that "the Serb defense lines are holding," but also that the 4,000 civilians there are being evacuated. News agencies cited Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic as saying that "the town must be defended at any cost." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] ARE THE CROATS ABOUT TO END THE THREAT TO DUBROVNIK?

    Regular Croatiantroops (HV) are massing around Dubrovnik for what appears to be a thrust into eastern Herzegovina and the Serb stronghold of Trebinje. The immediate purpose is to remove the threat to the medieval city and its environs posed by Serbian artillery in the surrounding heights. Over the weekend the Serbs gave the area its worst bombardment since 1991, although Dubrovnik itself apparently was not hit, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote on 17 August. Forest and brush fires are burning as a result of the shelling. UN special envoy Yasushi Akashi said that "there seem to be movements of Croatian troops in that direction so we may expect some intensification of fighting in the Dubrovnik area." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] SERBS TREAT CROAT AND MUSLIM EXPELEES "WORSE THAN CATTLE."

    JacquesMilano, the head of the Dutch branch of Medecins sans Frontieres, blasted the Serb treatment of Croats and Muslims being deported from Banja Luka to Croatia. "The transport of cattle is done better than this," Reuters quoted him as saying on 16 August. "We urgently appeal to the local authorities that if they are to indulge in 'ethnic cleansing', which we strongly disagree with, at least they do it with a little dignity." Elsewhere, the International Herald Tribune said on 17 August that the UN is concerned about the fate of around 20,000 Muslim refugees loyal to Bihac-area kingpin Fikret Abdic. They have been trapped in Croatia for about a week and the UN does not have access to them. The UN fears that they will be sent back to Bihac, which is under Bosnian government control, against their will. Nasa Borba wrote that similar concern surrounds the fate of a column of 10,000 Krajina Serb refugees whose situation remains unknown. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] BOSNIAN UPDATE.

    International media on 17 August reported much confusion over the secret peace plan being promoted by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke in the former Yugoslavia. Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey denied earlier accounts that the Muslims would have to give up Gorazde under the plan, but Bosnia's ambassador to Britain nonetheless called the project "legalizing Serbian crimes." The VOA said that President Bill Clinton wants a major diplomatic breakthrough lest the conflict spread elsewhere in the Balkans, although it is not clear just where he thinks that would be and how such a conflict would arise. Many remain suspicious of the diplomatic initiatives, and Vecernji list ran the headline: "the spirit of Yalta [hangs] over Bosnia." Meanwhile on the ground, the Rapid Reaction Force on Mt. Igman does not inspire much confidence in the UN's own Belgian and Dutch military drivers, who refuse to use the road under the present circumstances, AFP reported. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] MAYOR OF SUBOTICA PROTESTS ETHNIC CLEANSING.

    Nasa Borba on 16 August reported on an open letter by Mayor Jozsef Kassa to Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic to protest forced changes in the local demographic structure since 1990. He noted that 2,000 new settlers had arrived before 1995 and a further 10,000 have come this year. Some 10,000 Hungarians and Croats have left in the meantime and the entire ethnic map of northern Backa is being changed. Another article in the same paper said that the new refugees are "occupying the empty homes of Hungarians." Meanwhile in Montenegro, the head of the People's Party, Novak Kilibarda, said that the Krajina refugees should be sent to Kosovo or to Vojvodina. The latter area has a Serbian majority but before the Serbian authorities launched ethnic cleansing it had strong minorities of Hungarians, Croats, Slovaks, and other Central Europeans as a result of Habsburg colonizing policies when the area was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] WHY THE CHANGE IN THE RUMP YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTRY?

    BETA reported on16 August on Belgrade-watchers' interpretations of Vladislav Jovanovic's sudden removal as foreign minister the previous day. According to one line of thought, Jovanovic had to be removed because of his "hardline" position on Krajina. While Jovanovic is a staunch ally of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, the argument goes, his political leanings may entice other malcontents within Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia to manipulate Jovanovic into becoming the foil for their opposition to Milosevic's handling of developments in Krajina. According to another interpretation, Jovanovic's removal is mere coincidence, and facilitated by circumstances. Jovanovic's replacement, Milan Milutinovic, was allegedly considered for the job at least two years ago, but could not be moved into the post, largely because of opposition by then federal President Dobrica Cosic. BETA also comments that Milosevic and Milutinovic are long-time friends. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] MONTENEGRIN UPDATE.

    Montena-fax reported on 16 August that the number of Krajina refugees in the republic has climbed to at least 700. The agency also reports that ultranationalist, pro-Serbia politicians and groups in the republic continue their public condemnations of rump Yugoslavia's federal and republican governments for their refusal to defend alleged Serbian national interests in Krajina. On 16 August the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) in Montenegro reiterated its now familiar charge that Krajina would still be under Serbian control were it not for "the cowardly behavior of the regimes in Belgrade and Podgorica." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] REFUGEES CONTINUE TO ARRIVE IN KOSOVO.

    About 2,000 refugees from Krajina have so far arrived in Kosovo and another 1,300 are expected on 17 August, including the majority of the 800 who refused for two days to go to the region (see OMRI Daily Digest 16 August 1995). Serbian officials estimate that about 5,000 hectares are needed to accommodate altogether 10,000 refugees in Kosovo. In one case, a Serbian refugee family reportedly occupied an Albanian house, but no other incidents have been reported. Meanwhile, Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova repeated charges that Serbia plans to colonize Kosovo with refugees against their will. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] ROMANIA CURBS YUGOSLAV FLIGHTS.

    Romania has limited Yugoslav state airlines (JAT) flights following accusations Belgrade was using the trips to break UN sanctions against it, Reuters reported on 16 August. According to a Timisoara airport official, Romania's Transport Ministry has decided that JAT will operate only one flight a day from Belgrade to Bucharest, instead of two. The move followed an official inquiry into media reports that Romania was allowing Yugoslav passenger jets to overtank copiously during stopovers at Timisoara airport. The rump Yugoslav federation is under a fuel embargo as part of a UN economic sanctions package. Also on 16 August, a spokesman for the Romanian Foreign Ministry said that his country would "actively support any realistic proposal or action aimed at reactivating the peace process" in the region. -- Dan Ionescu, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] UNEMPLOYMENT RISES IN BULGARIA.

    Ilcho Dimitrov, director of the National Employment Service and deputy social minister, on 16 August said that unemployment increased in July for the first time in 1995, Bulgarian media reported the same day. Some 415,438 people were registered with the service, markedly less than the 499,176 registered at the beginning of the year. The reports do not give figures for June. Dimitrov attributed the rise to the fact that many young people finished their education recently, and have not yet found a job. The number of people under 30 who are entitled to social benefits was given as 22,112. In other news, the National Statistical Institute announced that industrial production in July was 9% higher than the same month last year. For the first seven months of 1995, the growth rate was 2% compared to 1994. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [12] NEW ALBANIAN INDUSTRY MINISTER APPOINTED.

    President Sali Berisha has appointed Suzana Panariti as the new minister for industry, transport and trade. Panariti replaces Albert Brojka, who was elected as the head of the Tirana branch of the Democratic Party on 9 August. Panariti previously worked as Brojka's deputy and is not a member of any political party. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz

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