OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 164, 23 August 1995

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [01] YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS COST RUSSIA BILLIONS.

  • [02] KARADZIC ACCUSES ENEMIES . . .

  • [03] . . . AND OFFERS CROATIA A DEAL.

  • [04] KRAJINA UPDATE.

  • [05] THE RAPID REACTION FORCE STRIKES BACK.

  • [06] KOSOVO REFUGEE UPDATE.

  • [07] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER IN GREECE.

  • [08] CHOLERA IN ROMANIA, MOLDOVA.

  • [09] TRANSDNIESTER RADICALS INTENSIFY ANTI-MARKUTSA DRIVE.

  • [10] FIRE IN BULGARIAN NUCLEAR PLANT.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 164, Part I,II, 23 August 1995

    RUSSIA

    [01] YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS COST RUSSIA BILLIONS.

    Following a Moscow meeting of the Russian-Yugoslav commission on trade and technical cooperation, Russian Deputy Minister of Economics Andrei Shapovalyants told ITAR-TASS on 22 August that Russia loses billions of dollars each year as a result of UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia. Shapovalyants estimated that before the sanctions, Russian-Yugoslav trade had been worth $7 billion annually. He added that the commission is currently preparing several economic agreements for signature but that only humanitarian aid could be sent to rump Yugoslavia until the sanctions are lifted. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Demurin said on 22 August that the meeting of the commission did not signal that Moscow is planning to unilaterally exit from the UN sanctions regime but is simply planning future joint projects which will enter into force "immediately after" the embargo is lifted by "collective action" of the UN. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] KARADZIC ACCUSES ENEMIES . . .

    Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic blamed his opponents, including those in Serbia, for trying to destabilize the Bosnian Serb leadership by circulating rumors that General Ratko Mladic had overthrown him in a coup or was chasing him around Bosnia. Reuters said on 22 August that Karadzic announced he had "withdrawn" his legal measures against Mladic because of the current dangers to the Bosnian Serb "state." He added that "everybody is doing their job. . . . We have a very strong and firm structure of power." He accused enemies of wanting "to create fear and uncertainty among the people and possibly force them to flee from certain offensives." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] . . . AND OFFERS CROATIA A DEAL.

    The Bosnian Serb leader floated a two- part "peace offer" to Croatia, AFP reported on 22 August. He said that the Croats should evacuate the area around Trebinje in return for a "peace accord." He also suggested that a 1993 text could be implemented, which gave Croatia a tiny bit of the heights overlooking Dubrovnik and from which the Serbs have shelled the medieval town, in exchange for granting the Serbs 30 kilometers of the Prevlaka peninsula down to Popovici. Prevlaka is Croatian territory with a UN presence, but it controls access to the strategic Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman has hinted in previous years that he might agree to such a deal, but there was firm domestic opposition to any yielding of Croatian territory. Karadzic has now warned the Croats, however, that "if Croatia does not accept either proposal, fighting will continue until we have liberated all Serb territory," i.e. Croatian territory recently retaken by the Croatian army. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] KRAJINA UPDATE.

    Reuters reported from Lasinja on 23 August that the Croatian inhabitants driven out by the Serbs in 1991 have begun returning. They said that the Serbs burned or dynamited their homes and the Roman Catholic church. Slobodna Dalmacija stated that the UN continues to accuse Croatia of systematically torching Serbian houses and looting. Zagreb has argued that any destruction was the result of military necessity or of isolated incidents. The BBC noted that EU Commissioner for Refugees Emma Bonino claims that some 10,000 Krajina refugees remain unaccounted for and that even the UN has no idea where they are. She also complained that rump Yugoslav authorities refused to see her when she visited Belgrade. Elsewhere, Croatian officials told AFP that some 11,782 victims of Serb "ethnic cleansing" arrived from the Banja Luka region between 14 and 24 August. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] THE RAPID REACTION FORCE STRIKES BACK.

    International media on 23 August said that the new UN force in Sarajevo fired at a Bosnian Serb gun position the previous day after the Serbs deliberately targeted a UN observation post and wounded six Egyptian soldiers and numerous civilians. It was not clear what effect the Force's shells had. The world body also blamed both the Bosnian government and the Serbs for the latest exchanges of artillery fire in the Bosnian capital. Vjesnik reported that a new Croatian cultural center has opened in Sarajevo at a ceremony attended by political, diplomatic, cultural, and religious officials. Meanwhile in Tuzla, AFP said that the Serbs shelled the airbase, which is currently housing 3,200 refugees from Zepa and Srebrenica. The VOA stated that the U.S. has appealed "to the warring parties [in Bosnia] to give diplomacy a chance," while AFP on 22 August noted that Germany has told Croatia that negotiations are the only path to peace. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] KOSOVO REFUGEE UPDATE.

    Yugoslav Refugee Minister Morina Bratislava has rejected fears that Serb refugees would upset the demographic balance in Kosovo, AFP reported on 22 August. She argued that only a "relatively small number" of refugees would be moved to Kosovo. Out of a total of 160,000 refugees some 3,000 have so far been sent to Kosovo, where Belgrade wants to settle about 16,000. Slavica Rakovic, an adviser to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, in an interview with the right- wing Greek daily Adesmevtos Typos proposed changing the demographic balance in favor of the Serbs. Rakovic was visiting Greece on an invitation of the Greco-Serb Association, to coordinate Greek humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, Macedonian government speaker Ismail Gjuner denied that Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi and his Macedonian counterpart Stevo Crvenkovski discussed strategies in case of an outbreak of armed conflict in Kosovo, BETA reported. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER IN GREECE.

    Yugoslav Foreign Minister and former ambassador to Greece Milan Milutinovic paid a visit to Athens on 21 August, the BBC reported the following day. Milutinovic met the honorary chairman of the Greek New Democracy Party, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, to discuss developments in the former Yugoslavia and the Balkan region. Mitsotakis said that the Yugoslav crisis was at a critical point and added that "there are chances for a political solution but a clear risk is involved as well." He also expressed the hope that a peaceful, political solution would be found. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] CHOLERA IN ROMANIA, MOLDOVA.

    Romanian Ministry of Health officials said in a statement carried by Radio Bucharest on 22 August that the number of cases of cholera in the country is now 12. Those affected live in various localities on the river Danube, near the border with Ukraine. In neighboring Moldova, according to a dispatch carried by Infotag on 22 August, 151 cases of cholera were registered so far, mostly in Tiraspol and in the Slobozia area, both of which are close to Ukrainian territory. Unlike in Romania, where no vibrio has been detected in the water, it has been found in several Moldovan water sources, including the Dniester. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] TRANSDNIESTER RADICALS INTENSIFY ANTI-MARKUTSA DRIVE.

    The Bloc of Radical Patriotic Forces in Tiraspol, headed by Professor Vasily Yakovlev, has intensified its drive to oust Grigory Markutsa, chairman of the self-proclaimed republic's Supreme Soviet, Infotag reported on 21 August. The agency said Yakovlev's supporters were spreading leaflets in the city, demanding that Markutsa resign and ruling out his nomination for the forthcoming parliament elections. They accuse him of signing an agreement with Chisinau making the circulation of the Moldovan currency legal, which is viewed as "the first step toward the annihilation" of the breakaway region's independence. On 22 August Infotag reported that the forces headed by Yakovlev launched an initiative for holding an extraordinary congress of deputies at local and central government level. The congress, scheduled for 10 September, is to take place in advance of the next Chisinau-Tiraspol summit, which is due on 13 September and, according to the organizers, it should prevent further concessions to Chisinau to prevent "a final loss of Transdniestrian statehood." -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] FIRE IN BULGARIAN NUCLEAR PLANT.

    BTA reports on 23 August that a fire broke out at the Kozlodui nuclear power plant the previous day. According to the facility's deputy chief, the blaze was sparked when a breaker in the control room short circuited. The fire was quickly detected and contained before any major damage or injuries could result. -- Stan Markotich, 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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