OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 178, 13 September 1995

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [1] NATO PLANES HIT SERBS AGAIN.

  • [2] HOW FAR WILL NATO GO?

  • [3] PESSIMISM ON BOSNIA, OPTIMISM ON SLAVONIA.

  • [4] DONJI VAKUF FALLS TO ALLIED FORCES.

  • [5] SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT CRITICIZES BOSNIAN SERBS.

  • [6] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS OPPOSITION MOTION.

  • [7] ROMANIA AND NATO.

  • [8] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT ENDS MOLDOVA VISIT.

  • [9] COURT RULES AGAINST MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT IN CHURCH DISPUTE.

  • [10] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES AGAINST GOVERNMENT.

  • [11] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION WANTS PREMIER TO RESIGN.

  • [12] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH CLINTON.

  • [13] ALBANIA PROTESTS SERBS' USE OF KOSOVO MEMORIAL CENTER FOR REFUGEES.

  • [14] GREEK-MACEDONIAN TALKS FAIL TO GET OFF THE GROUND.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 178, Part II, 13 September 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [1] NATO PLANES HIT SERBS AGAIN.

    Clear skies on 12 September enabled NATO aircraft to resume their attacks on Bosnian Serb military targets. Nasa Borba on 13 September said the munitions complex at Vogosca near Sarajevo was especially hard hit. In Tito's Yugoslavia, much of the defense industry was centered in Bosnia-Herzegovina and was subsequently taken by the Serbs. NATO therefore has a wealth of targets, including the air defense system, which was based in Banja Luka as a key component of Tito-era strategy. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [2] HOW FAR WILL NATO GO?

    NATO officials denied comments by the Bosnianforeign minister to the effect that the alliance's aircraft are ready to hit Bosnian Serb troops, Nasa Borba said on 13 September. The International Herald Tribune quoted a UN officer as saying that "if we hit individual fighting units, we become a warring faction." Meanwhile, Italy has threatened not to allow U.S. Stealth bombers to be based on its soil until Rome is given a full-fledged role in the peace process. It had only observer status at the 8 September Geneva talks but wants a larger role as a regional power. AFP on 12 September said that U.S. negotiator Richard Holbrooke told Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli that Italy should be content to stay quiet and sit behind EU mediator Carl Bildt. Agnelli replied that "as long as I am foreign minister no Italian will sit behind anyone." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [3] PESSIMISM ON BOSNIA, OPTIMISM ON SLAVONIA.

    Holbrooke on 12 September appeared to dampen expectations that the vague declaration signed in Geneva could quickly lead to a concrete settlement. AFP quoted him as saying a particular problem is "the way the parties avoid committing themselves to individual parts of the agreement. They can all at any time renege on anything they've agreed to." He also noted the presence of "almost completely incompatible positions." Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said he was optimistic that a peaceful solution could be found in eastern Slavonia, Serbia's richest and only remaining conquest in Croatia. Christopher urged Croatia to show "flexibility and statesmanship," Reuters reported. AFP quoted UN mediator Yasushi Akashi as saying that "very intensive, quiet diplomacy is going on." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [4] DONJI VAKUF FALLS TO ALLIED FORCES.

    Akashi also confirmed that Croatian, Bosnian Croat, and Bosnian government troops took Donji Vakuf from the Serbs. Croatian Television on 12 September said that Bosnian Croat troops pushing east from Drvar took the strategic mountain pass of Mliniste and the key peaks of Demirovac and Vitorog. Meanwhile, Bosnian government troops continue to advance in the central Mt. Ozren area. AFP on 13 September reported that President Alija Izetbegovic congratulated his men in the newly taken town of Vozuca, telling them: "you have broken the backbone of the Chetnik [Serb] enemy. You show the way . . . how we could continue with the aim of liberating our country." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [5] SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT CRITICIZES BOSNIAN SERBS.

    BETA on 13 September reported that the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) has sharply criticized the Bosnian Serb authorities. According to SPO spokesman Ivan Kovacevic at a press conference in Belgrade, the Bosnian Serb leaders of the Republic of Srpska are alone responsible for "carrying out the war against NATO and against the whole world." Kovacevic singled out Bosnian Serbian military leader Ratko Mladic for criticism because of Mladic's willful refusal to remove heavy weapons from around Sarajevo. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [6] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS OPPOSITION MOTION.

    The Chamber of Deputies on 12 September rejected an opposition motion accusing Nicolae Vacaroiu's government of mishandling the bumper 1995 wheat crop, Romanian and international agencies reported. The debate was carried live by Radio Bucharest. The motion, launched by the Democratic Convention of Romania and the Democratic Party-National Salvation Front, was defeated by a vote of 155 to 116. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

    [7] ROMANIA AND NATO.

    North Atlantic Assembly chairman Karsten Voigt, at an improvised press conference in Bucharest, responded to a question about Romania's chances of admission to NATO by saying "in the Warsaw Pact it was easy to get in, but difficult to get out. It's the other way around with NATO." He noted that the main purpose of his visit was to discuss with Romanian officials about Romania's future in Euro-Atlantic structures for a report under preparation. He said Romania's chances depended to a great extent on its progress on reform. Asked whether Budapest and Bucharest could be admitted into NATO at the same time, Voigt diplomatically said "If they develop in similar manner and fulfill the same conditions, then this is possible." Meanwhile, AFP, citing the daily Cronica romana, reported on 12 September that a group of Romanian farmers who were apparently unaware that a NATO military exercise was taking place near the Transylvanian town of Sibiu (see OMRI Daily Digest, 11 September 1995) grabbed pitchforks and axes to rush to the rescue of Romanian troops. Officers reasssured the farmers and the exercise was able to continue. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

    [8] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT ENDS MOLDOVA VISIT.

    Alyaksandr Lukashenka on 12 September ended a two-day visit to Chisinau, signing agreements aimed at improving ties between the two states, ITAR-TASS reported the same day. At a joint press conference, Lukashenka and President Mircea Snegur pledged to lift barriers to bilateral trade that resulted from Belarus's exclusive tariff agreement with Russia. Snegur said Moldovan food exports to Belarus markets are still facing problems because of that agreement. According to a protocol signed during the visit, problems arising from the non-implementation of agreements between Moldova and Belarus will be solved by 1 December, Infotag reported. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

    [9] COURT RULES AGAINST MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT IN CHURCH DISPUTE.

    A Chisinau court on 12 September ruled that the Moldovan government must legally register the Bessarabian Metropolitan Seat, which is subordinated to Bucharest. Radio Bucharest said the government can appeal to the Supreme Court within 10 days. The government has refused to register the seat for three years (see OMRI Daily Digest, 29 August 1995). The Moldovan Orthodox Church, to which most Orthodox believers in the country belong, is subordinated to the Moscow Patriarchate. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES AGAINST GOVERNMENT.

    The Constitutional Court on 12 September ruled that the government "cannot dispose of state-owned real estate where the president, the parliament, and the judicial authorities are accommodated" without the consent of those institutions, Bulgarian media reported the same day. The decision was in response to the government's attempt to evict the Constitutional Court from the government building where it is housed (see OMRI Daily Digest, 4 August 1995). The Constitutional Court contested the case before the Supreme Court, which has yet to make a ruling but is likely to support the Constitutional Court on the issue. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION WANTS PREMIER TO RESIGN.

    The parliamentary faction of the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) on 12 September decided to ask for a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Zhan Videnov in connection with the death of 14 soldiers on 11 August (see OMRI Daily Digest, 11 September 1995), Demokratsiya reported the following day. SDS Chairman Ivan Kostov said the vote forces all parliamentary deputies to make a "dramatic moral-political choice." 24 chasa and Standart reported that the vote will be requested when Videnov is in Moscow next week. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [12] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH CLINTON.

    Sali Berisha and U.S. President Bill Clinton on 12 September discussed Albania's economic and political development as well as the Balkan conflict, AFP reported the same day. Berisha said the NATO air attacks on Bosnian Serbs are the "right way to contribute to peace and stability." With regard to the Kosovo crisis, he told journalists that Clinton assured him "that the United States will fully support the restoration of human and national rights of Albanians in Kosovo." Clinton praised Berisha for the country's economic and democratic reforms and urged him to make more progress on Greek-minority rights. He also offered to help establish a training program for judges, prosecutors, and police and to equip and outfit the Albanian peacekeeping contingent under the NATO Partnership for Peace program. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [13] ALBANIA PROTESTS SERBS' USE OF KOSOVO MEMORIAL CENTER FOR REFUGEES.

    The Albanian government strongly protested the settling of Krajina Serb refugees into the facilities of the 1878 Pristina League Memorial Center, Montena-fax reported on 12 September. The Albanian statement called the Serbian authorities' move a "heavy provocation by the Serbian occupying forces" and "an open attack on a symbol of the Albanian people's resistance and their culture." The memorial is under UNESCO protection. The International PEN center also protested the move. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [14] GREEK-MACEDONIAN TALKS FAIL TO GET OFF THE GROUND.

    Direct talks scheduled for 12 September between the foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia, Karolos Papoulias and Stevo Crvenkovski, were postponed several times and finally did not take place, AFP reported the same day. An unnamed UN diplomat said the two spent the day "niggling over the tiniest things" in meetings with UN mediator Cyrus Vance. The main sticking point seems to be the timing of the lifting of the Greek embargo. Macedonia wants the embargo lifted as soon as the accord is signed and will then change its flag and constitution within 30 days. Greece insists that those changes take place simultaneously with the lifting of the embargo. Papoulias and Crvenkovski decided to put off a face-to-face meeting until their differences are resolved. -- Stefan Krause, 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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