Browse through our Interesting Nodes on Tourism & Recreation in Greece Read the Convention Relating to the Regime of the Straits (24 July 1923) Read the Convention Relating to the Regime of the Straits (24 July 1923)
HR-Net - Hellenic Resources Network Compact version
Today's Suggestion
Read The "Macedonian Question" (by Maria Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou)
HomeAbout HR-NetNewsWeb SitesDocumentsOnline HelpUsage InformationContact us
Friday, 29 March 2024
 
News
  Latest News (All)
     From Greece
     From Cyprus
     From Europe
     From Balkans
     From Turkey
     From USA
  Announcements
  World Press
  News Archives
Web Sites
  Hosted
  Mirrored
  Interesting Nodes
Documents
  Special Topics
  Treaties, Conventions
  Constitutions
  U.S. Agencies
  Cyprus Problem
  Other
Services
  Personal NewsPaper
  Greek Fonts
  Tools
  F.A.Q.
 

OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 10, 15 January 1996

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [1] SERBS WITHDRAW ARMOR, BUT GOVERNMENT UNHAPPY. AF

  • [2] SARAJEVO SERBS REJECT MILOSEVIC'S PLEA.

  • [3] THREE MORE PRISONERS FREED.

  • [4] BELGRADE TO LIFT EMBARGO AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBS?

  • [5] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY INCREASES PRESSURE ON MOSTAR.

  • [6] KOSOVAR SHADOW-STATE PRESIDENT ASKS FOR HOLBROOKE'S MEDIATION.

  • [7] UNPREDEP MISSION IN MACEDONIA TO BECOME INDEPENDENT.

  • [8] NEW EVIDENCE ON CEAUSESCU'S MISSING FORTUNE.

  • [9] DNIESTER REGION IMPOSES STATE OF "ECONOMIC EMERGENCY."

  • [10] ANOTHER MOLDOVAN JOURNALIST BEATEN UP.

  • [11] ANOTHER BULGARIAN MINISTER RESIGNS.

  • [12] GREEK-MACEDONIAN TALKS "FRUITFUL."

  • [13] GREECE DECLINES TO EXTRADITE SERBIAN MURDER SUSPECT TO BELGIUM.


  • OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 10, Part II, 15 January 1996

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [1] SERBS WITHDRAW ARMOR, BUT GOVERNMENT UNHAPPY.

    AFP reported on 14 January that Bosnian Serb forces are pulling big guns and armor out of Sarajevo suburbs slated to pass to government control. The Bosnian government, however, argued that the materiel had been in the heavy weapons exclusion zone and should have been destroyed. An IFOR spokesman admitted that the British had even supplied the Serbs with fuel. It also seems clear that the Serbs are not removing thousands of land mines as the Dayton agreement obliges them to do and that this task will probably fall to the French. The Serbs have been trying in a variety of ways to test how far they can violate or bend provisions of the treaty. Elsewhere, IFOR troops defused tensions on 13 January between Croatian and government forces near Doboj. -- Patrick Moore

    [2] SARAJEVO SERBS REJECT MILOSEVIC'S PLEA.

    Milosevic on 12 January appealed to Serbs in the Sarajevo suburbs to stay put, but one of them told AFP that Milosevic's plea "was the best reason to leave." Many Serbs from Bosnia and Croatia are bitter at the Belgrade leader, whom they feel sold them out. Some have already transferred their most valuable property to Serb-held areas. Persistent but unconfirmed reports from Sarajevo suggest that tough police units have been moved in from Bijeljina and elsewhere to intimidate those Serbs taking a wait-and-see attitude. People are reportedly being pressured into joining a mass exodus that would wind up in Brcko to consolidate the Serbian hold on the disputed supply corridor there. -- Patrick Moore

    [3] THREE MORE PRISONERS FREED.

    As moves proceed toward a major exchange this week of prisoners between the Bosnian government and Serb sides, the Serbs freed three civilians on 14 January. Two civilians remain in their custody in a continuing violation of the guarantee of freedom of movement set down in the Dayton agreement. Reuters said that the two Serbs and one Muslim were freed after pressure from international representatives, including the UN civil affairs chief Antonio Pedauye. One of the two Serbs chose to remain on Bosnian Serb territory. Pedauye had been speaking to Bosnian Serb parliamentary speaker Momcilo Krajisnik about the incident on 9 January in which a Serb bazooka hit a tram. Oslobodjenje said two days later that the Bosnian Serb leadership must not be allowed to evade responsibility for the act by blaming it on rogue units. -- Patrick Moore

    [4] BELGRADE TO LIFT EMBARGO AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBS?

    Serbian PresidentSlobodan Milosevic and a Bosnian Serb delegation met in Belgrade on 11 January to discuss lifting Belgrade sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs and to begin the process of re-establishing bilateral economic ties, Nasa Borba reported on 15 January. The report notes that it is unclear when the Drina border will be re-opened but suggests it may take place in the near future. In the past, the Bosnian Serbs have demanded political, economic, and cultural ties with Belgrade that mirror Croatia's relations with the Muslim-Croatian federation in Bosnia- Herzegovina. -- Stan Markotich

    [5] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY INCREASES PRESSURE ON MOSTAR.

    German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel on 14 January was promised by his Croatian counterpart, Mate Granic, that Croatia will try to restrain Croatian extremists. Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey also attended the meeting in Mostar, Western and local media reported. Granic said after the meeting that "overall relations between Bosnians and Croats are good, and there are difficulties only in the field." Meanwhile, Mijo Brajkovic, mayor of the Croatian sector of Mostar said he will continue to resist efforts to unify the city, which, under the terms of the Dayton accords, must take place by 20 January. Brajkovic said Croats want to remain in "ethnically pure" neighborhoods. -- Michael Mihalka

    [6] KOSOVAR SHADOW-STATE PRESIDENT ASKS FOR HOLBROOKE'S MEDIATION.

    Ibrahim Rugova said he expects and wishes U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke to mediate in solving the Kosovo problem, international agencies reported. Rugova also welcomed the planned opening of a Kosovar shadow-state office in Washington by the end of January. Holbrooke has asked Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic for permission to open a U.S mission in the Kosovar capital, Pristina. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [7] UNPREDEP MISSION IN MACEDONIA TO BECOME INDEPENDENT.

    As of 1 February, the UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) mission in Macedonia will be independent of the UN command in the other parts of former Yugoslavia and will report directly to the UN headquarters in New York, MIC reported on 12 January. The decision was announced by UN special envoy Kofi Annan before he ended a two-day visit to Macedonia. Annan emphasized that the UNPREDEP mission was a success for the UN. He said that UNPREDEP's mandate has been extended for another six months and will most likely be extended after that. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [8] NEW EVIDENCE ON CEAUSESCU'S MISSING FORTUNE.

    Valentin Gabrielescu, head of a parliamentary inquiry into the December 1989 uprising against Nicolae Ceausescu, was quoted by the Romanian media on 12 January as saying that there is new evidence supporting old allegations that the dictator frittered away more than $1 billion. According to Gabrielescu, former Premier Theodor Stolojan, who is currently working at the World Bank, has provided evidence that the money was held at the Romanian Bank for Foreign Trade in two accounts used in the past mainly by Dunarea, a company controlled by the former Securitate. During the Ceausescu era, Stolojan, who could not be reached for comment, headed a government department in charge of hard currency transactions. -- Dan Ionescu

    [9] DNIESTER REGION IMPOSES STATE OF "ECONOMIC EMERGENCY."

    Igor Smirnov,president of the self-styled Dniester republic, on 12 January issued a decree declaring a state of "economic emergency" in the region for six months, Infotag reported. But the measures are primarily administrative and may be intended as an excuse for political repression. Smirnov's decree provides for stricter control over public order; a special regime for entry and exit from the region; traffic restrictions and more checks on local roads; immediate expulsion of foreigners who disturb public order; strict control over copy machines and radio transmitters; and censorship of the media. The administration is also empowered to suspend the activities of political parties and public organizations that "hinder the normalization" of public life. -- Dan Ionescu

    [10] ANOTHER MOLDOVAN JOURNALIST BEATEN UP.

    A reporter for Mesagerul, the mouthpiece of the opposition Party of Democratic Forces, has been beaten up by four unidentified men in a Chisinau street, BASA-press and Infotag reported on 12 January. Ilie Lupan is the third Mesagerul journalist to fall victim to such an attack over the past two weeks (see OMRI Daily Digest, 8 January 1996). The assailants took only his brief case, which contained a file. Lupan said the police were slow to react to his call and, in a protest addressed to the authorities, has accused the Ministry of Security of involvement in the attack. -- Dan Ionescu

    [11] ANOTHER BULGARIAN MINISTER RESIGNS.

    Agriculture Minister Vasil Chichibaba on 12 January handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, Bulgarian and Western media reported. He is the second member of the Socialist cabinet to resign in two days. Videnov said he will accept the resignation of both Chichibaba and Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Kiril Tsochev, who resigned last week. Both ministers have been blamed for the ongoing grain crisis. Videnov admitted that they "had not received a sufficient amount of trust and assistance from within the governing party." -- Stefan Krause

    [12] GREEK-MACEDONIAN TALKS "FRUITFUL."

    Greece and Macedonia on 12 Januarybegan a second round of UN-sponsored talks in New York under the mediation of UN negotiator Cyrus Vance, AFP reported the same day. The talks are aimed at finding a permanent solution to the disputed issue over the name of the former Yugoslav republic. A statement issued on 12 January said the talks were "fruitful" and were conducted in a "cordial atmosphere." No other details were given. In related news, Nova Makedonija on 12 January reported that the head of the Greek liaison office in Skopje handed his credentials to the Macedonian foreign minister. Under the September 1995 interim accord, both sides are to set up liaison offices in each other's capital by the end of January. -- Stefan Krause

    [13] GREECE DECLINES TO EXTRADITE SERBIAN MURDER SUSPECT TO BELGIUM.

    Greek Justice Minister Jannis Pottakis decided that a Serbian man accused of killing a Kosovo Albanian leader will be extradited to rump Yugoslavia and not to Belgium, AFP reported on 13 January. Darko Asanin is accused of taking part in the murder of Enver Hadri in Brussels in 1990 and of murdering one of his suspected accomplices in Germany a year later. A Greek court ordered Asanin's extradition to Belgium, but Pottakis overruled the decision. -- Stefan Krause

    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

    Back to Top
    Copyright © 1995-2023 HR-Net (Hellenic Resources Network). An HRI Project.
    All Rights Reserved.

    HTML by the HR-Net Group / Hellenic Resources Institute
    news2html v2.20 run on Monday, 15 January 1996 - 18:45:18