OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 161, 18 August 1995

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

[01] BALTIC TROOPS IN CROATIA.

[02] CROATIA PREPARES TO RELIEVE PRESSURE ON DUBROVNIK.

[03] HAVE THE CROATS TAKEN DRVAR?

[04] MLADIC BLASTS KARADZIC.

[05] CROATIA EXPECTS UP TO 20,000 REFUGEES FROM SERB-HELD TERRITORY.

[06] MILOSEVIC MEETS HOLBROOKE, BILDT.

[07] DOLE OPPOSES LIFTING SANCTIONS AGAINST BELGRADE.

[08] RUMP YUGOSLAV PREMIER APPEALS TO DENMARK.

[09] BULGARIA DROPS AGAIN IN UN DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE.

[10] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER DISSATISFIED WITH CABINET.

[11] U.S. MILITARY DELEGATION VISITS ALBANIA.

OMRI DAILY DIGEST

No. 161, Part II, 18 August 1995

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

[01] BALTIC TROOPS IN CROATIA.

The Latvian Saeima on 17 August voted to approve the sending of a 40-member volunteer unit to Croatia as part of the Danish UN peacekeeping battalion, BNS reported. The unit, which has been training in Denmark for several months, is scheduled to fly to Croatia on 23 August. Similar units from Lithuania and Estonia recently ended six-month tours and their replacements will arrive in Croatia on 18 August. It appears likely that the Baltic units will not serve the normal six-month term since the UN is planning to reduce its troop levels by withdrawing the Danish battalion within several months. -- Saulius Girnius, OMRI, Inc.

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[02] CROATIA PREPARES TO RELIEVE PRESSURE ON DUBROVNIK.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote on 18 August that over 4,000 Croatian troops backed by tanks have assembled in the Dubrovnik region for an apparent assault on Trebinje. The goal is to take the heights over the medieval town and end the Serb shelling of the region. Mlada fronta dnes said that volunteer firemen are continuing to fight the blazes in the countryside caused by the shells. Reuters reported on 17 August that Dubrovnik's art treasures are being boarded up for safekeeping. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

[03] HAVE THE CROATS TAKEN DRVAR?

Bosnian Croatian troops have the westBosnian town of Drvar "under their control," according to Croatian Radio on 17 August. The broadcast added that the Serbs suffered heavy losses and that the elite Podrinjska Brigade was destroyed. The fleeing Serbs reportedly left behind large quantities of arms and ammunition, including long-range artillery. There has been no independent confirmation of the story. Meanwhile in the Bosnian government army, there has been a major shakeup of the command structure, particularly at the corps level, according to Vjesnik on 18 August. The move had been announced earlier by President Alija Izetbegovic. Reuters reported that Britain and France will ask the UN Security Council to "chastize Croatia and Bosnia publicly for political and financial demands they say will cripple the Rapid Reaction Force." The UN and NATO, meanwhile, have finalized plans to protect the remaining "safe areas" and have warned the Serbs that "hostile actions will be met with air strikes." The UN has announced, however, that it intends to remove all peacekeepers except for a skeleton force from Gorazde by mid-September. The Ukrainians will leave for sure and the British will probably follow. Malaysia has rejected an appeal to send 10 men to Gorazde, saying that a tiny force is likely to be taken hostage. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

[04] MLADIC BLASTS KARADZIC.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic had ordered that Drvar be defended at all costs, but Bosnian Serb military commander General Ratko Mladic remained silent in public. On 17 August, however, he faxed a fresh attack on Karadzic to news agencies. The message said that Karadzic "is probably aware that he has lost the support of the main pillars of our society, the people and the army." Meanwhile, Globus on 18 August reported that a former ally of the two internationally indicted war criminals, Bihac-pocket kingpin Fikret Abdic, is "under the supervision" of Croatian police in Zagreb's Palace Hotel. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

[05] CROATIA EXPECTS UP TO 20,000 REFUGEES FROM SERB-HELD TERRITORY.

Vecernji list on 18 August quoted Minister Adalbert Rebic as saying that his government calculates the Serbs will expel to Croatia up to 20,000 Croats. Some 4,769 have come in recent days from the Banja Luka area plus another 406 from Srijem. Reuters said that 350 Muslims have arrived east of Travnik after being deported by the Serbs and that more are on the way. Meanwhile in Serbia, the French aid group Medecins du Monde called the situation of the Krajina Serb refugees "a humanitarian emergency under control." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

[06] MILOSEVIC MEETS HOLBROOKE, BILDT.

BETA reported on 17 August that on the same day Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke for five hours, but no agreement was reached on a resolution to the Bosnian crisis. Talks between the two resumed on 18 August, but were interrupted the previous day when European Union negotiator Carl Bildt made "an unexpected stopover" in Belgrade and himself met with Milosevic. Bildt is persona non grata in Zagreb, following his charge that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman may be guilty of war crimes, and Bosnian government officials have refused to meet with him, observing that the peace process he is promoting is dead. Finally, AFP on 18 August reports that Milosevic is slated to meet the Greek and Spanish foreign ministers the same day. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

[07] DOLE OPPOSES LIFTING SANCTIONS AGAINST BELGRADE. U.S.

Senate majority leader Bob Dole on 17 August sent a letter to President Bill Clinton, cautioning against lifting sanctions against Belgrade until a comprehensive regional peace settlement is reached, international media reported. At least a partial lifting of sanctions in exchange for Belgrade's recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia is reportedly part of the plan being discussed in the region by Assistant Secretary of State Holbrooke. "If we lift sanctions now for what are clearly minimal returns, such a comprehensive settlement will be virtually impossible to reach and implement . . . The bottom line is that sanctions are the only real leverage the international community has been willing to use on the Belgrade regime," wrote Dole. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

[08] RUMP YUGOSLAV PREMIER APPEALS TO DENMARK.

Rump Yugoslav premier Radoje Kontic has appealed to the Danish government to unfreeze Belgrade's bank assets, Tanjug reported on 16 August. According to Kontic, Belgrade's Danish assets would go towards procuring humanitarian aid for the Krajina Serb refugees in rump Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

[09] BULGARIA DROPS AGAIN IN UN DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE.

The UN Human Development Report puts Bulgaria in 65th place among the 174 UN members, Demokratsiya reports on 18 August. In 1991, Bulgaria ranked 33rd and in 1994 it was 48th. The report measures GDP, real spending power, life expectancy, and education level. According to the report, average life expectancy went down by almost four years since 1991, and is now 71.2 years. Men's life expectancy is only 67.6 years, and women's 74.4. Some 7% of the Bulgarian population are "absolutely illiterate." A ranking of women's emancipation, which includes women's participation in economic and political decision-making, puts Bulgaria in 20th place, two below Hungary. They are the only former Communist countries among the top 20. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

[10] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER DISSATISFIED WITH CABINET.

An unnamed cabinet member was cited by 24 chasa on 18 August as saying that Zhan Videnov is dissatisfied with the performance of some members of his cabinet. But according to an anonymous top official of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Videnov will not reshuffle his cabinet before Spring 1996. The report said Videnov is particularly dissatisfied with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Development Rumen Gechev. Also under fire are Interior Minister Lyubomir Nachev, Finance Minister Dimitar Kostov, Labor and Social Welfare Minister Mincho Koralski, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade Kiril Tsochev. Other ministers, including Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski, were also strongly criticized by Videnov. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

[11] U.S. MILITARY DELEGATION VISITS ALBANIA. A high-ranking U.S.

military delegation visited Albania on 17 August, BETA reported the same day. The delegation was received by President Sali Berisha, who described the situation in the Balkans as "very tense" and said that Serbia should not be thanked for its restraint after the Croatian offensive since that would be to "reward the aggressor." He also said that the settlement of refugees in Kosovo increases the danger of a spill-over of the conflict to the south. Meanwhile, Albania and the U.S. signed an agreement for $5 million worth of humanitarian aid. It contains mainly olive oil and is part of a $70 million aid package to Albania. -- 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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