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OMRI: PURSUING BALKAN PEACE, V1,#1, Jan. 9, 1996
From: OMRI-L <omri-l@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu>
CONTENTS
[01] RADOVAN KARADZIC REAPPEARS.
[02] MORE MODELS FOR "SERBIAN SARAJEVO."
[03] BOSNIAN SERBS SEEK TO BREAK ISOLATION.
[04] SERBS CART OFF VOLKSWAGEN PLANT.
[05] CARL BILDT SETS UP SHOP IN SARAJEVO.
[06] CHECKPOINTS TO BE REMOVED FROM SARAJEVO-KISELJAK ROAD?
[07] SARAJEVO AIRLIFT ENDS.
[08] SEVENTH MASS GRAVE FOUND IN NORTHWESTERN BOSNIA.
[09] HOLD-UP ON PRISONER EXCHANGE.
[10] MUSLIMS THWART CROATS IN CENTRAL BOSNIA.
[11] MORE ON THE ISLAMIC FIGHTERS.
[12] "THE WORLD'S LARGEST DUTY-FREE ZONE."
[13] A FUTURE FOR A BIG EXPLOSIVES FACTORY.
[14] CROATIA EXPECTS THE DOLLAR TO ROLL.
[15] CROATIAN RULING PARTY TO BLOCK OPPOSITION IN ZAGREB AFTER ALL?
[16] SLOVENIAN NATIONALIST CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENT ON NATO.
[17] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ON MEANING OF BOSNIAN PEACE FOR HOME FRONT.
[18] RUMP YUGOSLAV MILITARY LEADER'S PROPAGANDA WAR.
[19] SERBIA TO COUNT ITS REFUGEES . . .
[20] . . . WHILE MONTENEGRO INTRODUCES AID PROGRAM.
[21] SERBIAN SOCIALISTS CLAIM SUPPORT FROM KOSOVO ALBANIANS.
[22] ETHNIC ALBANIAN WAR VETERANS CALL FOR INDEPENDENT KOSOVO.
[23] RUMP-YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT BLOCKS WHEAT AND FLOUR FOR ALBANIA.
[24] SANDZAK PARTY CALLS ON MILOSEVIC TO ISSUE AMNESTY . . .
[25] . . . AS DO THE VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS.
[26] CANADIANS INSTRUCTED ON RULES OF ENGAGEMENT IN BOSNIA.
[27] IFOR BRINGS EMPLOYMENT BONANZA TO HUNGARY'S TASZAR.
[28] FIRST CZECH TROOPS LEAVE FOR BOSNIA.
[29] U.S. IFOR SOLDIER ELECTROCUTED EN ROUTE TO BOSNIA.
[30] SHOULD SLOVAKIA HAVE JOINED IFOR?
[31] RUSSIA SENDS PEACEKEEPERS TO BOSNIA TO BOLSTER PRESTIGE.
[32] UKRAINE SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH SERBIA.
[33] FIRST GREEK IFOR TROOPS OFF TO BOSNIA.
[34] GREEK PLANE ABORTS LANDING IN SARAJEVO AFTER BEING SHOT AT.
OMRI SPECIAL REPORT: PURSUING BALKAN PEACE
Vol. 1, No. 1, 9 January 1996
[01] RADOVAN KARADZIC REAPPEARS.
Sky News on 6 January showed the
Bosnian Serb leader in his first public appearance in three weeks.
Knocking back glasses of plum brandy and chatting with soldiers and
civilians, he visited Serb-held areas to mark Orthodox Christmas. The
BBC the next day described his speech for the occasion as filled with
an "air of pessimism and defeat." Karadzic once again indirectly
accused Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic of selling out Bosnian
Serb interests at the Dayton peace talks, but made no reference to the
beating his own troops had taken on the battlefield in 1995. The
indicted war criminal pledged that the Serbs would make good their
losses but through political rather than military means. -- Patrick
Moore
[02] MORE MODELS FOR "SERBIAN SARAJEVO."
Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Rajko
Kasagic told Radio Kragujevac that the so-called Serbian Sarajevo
still should retain its own local government even if it comes under
the control of the Federation. Bosnian Serb Vice President Biljana
Plavsic, however, called for Sarajevo to be a divided city as Mostar
now is, Nasa Borba reported on 8 January. Given the recent track
record of Mostar, that suggestion could sound rather unappealing; and
Hina said that Bildt rejected the idea. The anti-nationalist Serbian
Civic Council had earlier called for a federal solution for the
capital, on the model of Washington, Brussels, or Mexico City. --
Patrick Moore and Daria Sito Sucic
[03] BOSNIAN SERBS SEEK TO BREAK ISOLATION.
Pale's Vice President Nikola
Koljevic launched a publicity campaign on Greek television on 7
January (see OMRI Daily Digest, 8 January 1995). Kasagic, in his
interview with Radio Kragujevac, stressed the possibility of economic
cooperation of the Republika Srpska with the mainly Muslim and
Croatian Federation, as well as with all other entities created out of
the former Yugoslavia. AFP quoted him as saying that the Republika
Srpska would soon open talks with Croatia and with Montenegro as part
of an opening to "all sides." -- Patrick Moore and Daria Sito Sucic
[04] SERBS CART OFF VOLKSWAGEN PLANT.
Bosnian Serbs are dismantling and
removing the contents of the former car factory in Vogosca. Reuters on
8 January reported that Lt.-Gen. Sir Michael Walker, the commander of
NATO ground troops in Bosnia, was there and told reporters he was
discouraged by what was happening. The Serbs had converted the plant,
which was a symbol of economic progress in communist times, into an
arms factory. -- Patrick Moore
[05] CARL BILDT SETS UP SHOP IN SARAJEVO.
The international community's
High Representative in the Bosnian capital has arrived at a
headquarters that AFP described on 7 January as still resembling a
building site. Observers noted that the civilian side of the Dayton
program will necessarily trail behind the military one. The Swedish
career politician told reporters that he had just "managed to secure
some cash in a bank in Brussels and brought it down here in a bag." An
American diplomat added that "every diplomat in town runs like a drug
dealer carrying bags of cash." Bildt said that his organization,
unlike NATO, was having to "start from scratch," but that it would
urgently turn its attention to pressing issues, such as that of the
Serb-held territories slated to pass to government control in March.
He called that question "difficult, crucial, and critical . . . the
number one issue that needs to be addressed." -- Patrick Moore
[06] CHECKPOINTS TO BE REMOVED FROM SARAJEVO-KISELJAK ROAD?
Bosnian Serbparliamentary speaker Momcilo Krajisnik on 6 January discussed with
IFOR the possible removing of checkpoints from the Sarajevo-Kiseljak
road, Nasa Borba reported on 8 January. SRNA said that the Serbian
police would still reserve the right to control vehicles and
passengers they regard as suspicious. Krajisnik said that this meeting
was only the first in a series and that he expects it to lead to a
"political solution of a problem of Serbian Sarajevo." Meanwhile,
Reuters reported that a NATO spokesman announced that IFOR troops will
establish regular foot-patrols in Sarajevo's Serb-held areas of
Grbavica and Ilidza. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[07] SARAJEVO AIRLIFT ENDS.
On 9 January the UN's Sarajevo airlift made a
final symbolic flight. Slobodna Dalmacija wrote on 7 January that the
project had lasted 1,282 days, or three times longer than the Berlin
airlift, making it the largest humanitarian airlift in history. A
total of 13,000 flights by 20 countries provided 161,000 tons of food
and medicine. They carried out 1,100 wounded persons and brought in
numerous journalists and politicians. The BBC on 9 January described
the airlift as one of the UN's few success stories in Bosnia. --
Patrick Moore
[08] SEVENTH MASS GRAVE FOUND IN NORTHWESTERN BOSNIA.
Radio Bosnia and
Herzegovina on 5 January reported that yet another mass grave has been
located in the area of Sanski Most, the seventh since October 1995,
when the town was retaken by the allies. It contains 27 bodies of
Muslims who were gassed in July 1992 during their transfer from Sanski
Most to a concentration camp at Manjaca, near Banja Luka. The site was
identified by the Sanski Most war crimes commission on the basis of
statements by witnesses, and these findings were immediately reported
to the Hague-based tribunal, Vecernji list reported on 7 January. In
another development, Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic on 6 January
asked IFOR commander Admiral Leighton Smith for direct help with the
problem of mass graves around Srebrenica, the BBC reported on 8
January. IFOR to date has been wary of dealing with the issue of
collecting evidence of war crimes. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] HOLD-UP ON PRISONER EXCHANGE.
The Bosnian government has baulked at
completing preparations for a prisoner exchange as specified in the
Dayton agreement, Reuters reported on 8 January. The Sarajevo
authorities refused to include the agreement, saying that any list
would be incomplete until the more than 5,000 missing persons from
Srebrenica are accounted for. -- Patrick Moore
[10] MUSLIMS THWART CROATS IN CENTRAL BOSNIA.
International attention has
been focused on Mostar, where the Croats are in the dominant position
and the Muslims are the underdog. But in central Bosnia, the roles
have been reversed since the internecine war of 1993, when Muslim
forces drove Croats out of areas that had been Roman Catholic since
the Middle Ages. Vecernji list reported on 8 January that an incident
took place near Vares -- which was largely Croatian before the war --
in which a monk was beaten up by Muslim police. The paper also said
that European monitors have stated that it is still too early for
Croatian civilians to return to Bosnian government-controlled Bugojno.
Slobodna Dalmacija wrote on 7 January that the Croatian former local
council from Bugojno, which is now based in Livno, is anxious to
restart the economy and prepare for elections. Turning to
Mostar,Vecernji list on 8 January was pessimistic: "Many journalists
have arrived, and that's not a good sign." -- Patrick Moore
[11] MORE ON THE ISLAMIC FIGHTERS.
It never was completely clear how many
foreign and Bosnian Islamic fighters fought on the side of the Bosnian
army. Serbian propaganda greatly inflated the number of these
determined irregulars, while Bosnian government sources would rather
not talk about them at all. By the end of 1995 there were probably
some 2,000 left, and they are obliged to leave by Dayton's 19 January
deadline. NATO countries have been pressuring Sarajevo since the
agreement was signed to send them on their way. An IFOR spokesman said
that they do appear to be leaving, and that most came from Iran and
Afghanistan, Vecernji list reported on 8 January. There has been
special concern that Iranian fighters and U.S. troops near Tuzla do
not come in contact with each other. Novi list wrote that Egyptian
officials are concerned that the fighters might make Egypt their next
stop. -- Patrick Moore
[12] "THE WORLD'S LARGEST DUTY-FREE ZONE."
This is how someone once
described the Herzegovinian-dominated Croatian Community of
Herceg-Bosna. Globus on 5 January suggested that the Croatian oil
company Inter-INA in 1994 sold at least 14,000 tonnes of gasoline from
Krk island via Rogatin to the Bosnian Serbs in the old chetnik center
of Trebinje. The shipment was allegedly supervised by Herzegovinian
military police, or HVO police, who have their own place to stay in
Trebinje. -- Patrick Moore
[13] A FUTURE FOR A BIG EXPLOSIVES FACTORY.
Slobodna Dalmacija wrote on 7
January that the Vitezit military plant -- once one of the largest in
the Balkans -- still employs 750 people and plans a future based on
internationally competitive industrial explosives. The director said
that neither Herceg-Bosna nor Croatia has a proper arms and service
industry, and that this must change. Back to politics, Novi list on 8
January looked at the shaky relations between Zagreb and Sarajevo in
the wake of Tudjman's visit. Some observers suggest that Tudjman seeks
to strengthen his dominant role in the partnership and to shore up
Herceg-Bosna in its quest to stay outside the authority of Sarajevo.
-- Patrick Moore
[14] CROATIA EXPECTS THE DOLLAR TO ROLL.
Vecernji list wrote on 9 January
that the republic's business community awaits big money from the
presence of IFOR. A total of $7,000,000 is expected, and some
$1,300,000 has already been paid into the Croatian economy. About
$5,600,000 of the total will go to the southern parts of the country,
where it is expected to help revive the once lucrative tourist
industry. But life is not all easy, however: the Vinogorje hotel and
catering company of Nova Gradiska claims that U.S. military police ran
up a bill of over $11,000 between Christmas and New Year's -- but left
without paying. -- Patrick Moore
[15] CROATIAN RULING PARTY TO BLOCK OPPOSITION IN ZAGREB AFTER ALL?
Croatiandailies reported on 5 January that the government the
previous day recommended to President Franjo Tudjman that he reject
the Zagreb mayor and county assembly speaker chosen by
opposition-dominated bodies on 2 January. It is not clear what the HDZ
intends to gain by this move, since popular opposition to the
governing party's stubbornness is strong and new elections are likely
to deal the opposition an even stronger hand. Globus on 5 January said
that 54% of the respondents to a poll in Zagreb felt that Tudjman
intends to block the election of Goran Granic as mayor, that 72%
regard Granic as the legal mayor, and that 61% would vote for the
opposition coalition now. -- Patrick Moore
[16] SLOVENIAN NATIONALIST CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENT ON NATO.
On 4 January
Slovenian Radio reported that the ultranationalist leader of the
Slovenian National Party, Zmago Jelincic, sharply condemned the
Slovenian government for permitting NATO troops to transit the
country. Jelincic charged that the transit agreement amounted to a
serious compromising of security interests and national sovereignty.
He also accused the governing coalition of violating procedure in
failing to bring the issue to a discussion before parliament, alleging
that the government feared that the legislature would have rejected
it. -- Stan Markotich
[17] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ON MEANING OF BOSNIAN PEACE FOR HOME FRONT.
At
his 4 January press conference Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO)
leader Vuk Draskovic warned that regional peace may offer few, if any,
prospects for genuine democratic reforms on Serbia's home front, Nasa
Borba reported the next day. "I am afraid that nothing will come of
peace -- not a national calming-down, economic revival and democratic
restoration. The regime [constantly] thwarts reform. International
credits, without which there is no recovery of any kind, are not
forthcoming . . . " said Draskovic. He also warned that the government
may be planning fresh crackdowns on the independent media. -- Stan
Markotich
[18] RUMP YUGOSLAV MILITARY LEADER'S PROPAGANDA WAR.
On 4 January
Television Serbia reported comments by Lt.-Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic,
commander of the First Army district of the rump Yugoslav army.
Ojdanic used the occasion to laud the efforts of Milosevic in bringing
about regional peace, and maintained that any debates, public or
otherwise, aimed at establishing a cause or guilt for the Bosnian war
were "futile." He added that "it is most crucial to look for answers
and ways of protecting peace from the destructive and
counterproductive debates inciting polemics around the question of who
is responsible." The general's remarks may suggest a renewed Belgrade
campaign to dodge responsibility for the conflicts throughout the
former Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich
[19] SERBIA TO COUNT ITS REFUGEES . . .
Serbia's refugee commissioner
Bratislava Morina announced that Belgrade wants a census of all
refugees in rump Yugoslavia, the BBC monitoring service reported,
citing Tanjug accounts of 6 January. Morina said it was vital to know
precisely how many displaced persons and refugees were in the country,
since their numbers would determine levels of humanitarian aid
funding. "There are 430,000 registered refugees in Serbia, in addition
to the 212,000 expelled from the Republic of Serbian Krajina, but the
High Commissioner for Refugees has the wrong figure of 330,000
refugees and displaced persons," she said. Morina added that any
repatriation campaigns would be undertaken in an orderly and
humanitarian fashion. -- Stan Markotich
[20] . . . WHILE MONTENEGRO INTRODUCES AID PROGRAM.
Meanwhile, the
Montenegrin government has organized a republic-wide drive for
humanitarian aid to assist the Serbs in Herzegovina, Tanjug reported
on 7 January. According to Podgorica, some 70, 000 individuals are
expected benefit from the program, which is estimated to cost some
$650,000. The first delivery convoys are slated to begin their journey
sometime during the week of 15 January. -- Stan Markotich
[21] SERBIAN SOCIALISTS CLAIM SUPPORT FROM KOSOVO ALBANIANS.
The President
of the Socialist Party of Serbia's provincial committee in Kosovo,
Vojislav Zivkovic, claimed that about 70 ethnic Albanians in Glogovac
and 15 in Kacanik joined the SPS, the BBC cited Tanjug as reporting on
7 January. Zivkovic reportedly said the new members demonstrated the
"first sign of a positive change in the ethnic Albanians' attitude and
of their opposition to pressure exerted by their separatist leaders."
The same account added that an unspecified number of Albanians also
joined the party of Milosevic's wife Mirijana Markovic, the Yugoslav
United Left. The report alleges that in fact many Albanians do not
want it to be known that they have joined the SPS for fear that they
may become victims of "Albanian extremists." No figures were, however,
given about the total number of ethnic Albanians in either of the
Serbian parties. In September 1991, 87% of the total population in
Kosovo, by a margin of 99.8%, voted for independence in an illegal
referendum. -- Fabian Schmidt
[22] ETHNIC ALBANIAN WAR VETERANS CALL FOR INDEPENDENT KOSOVO.
The
organization of ethnic Albanian veterans of World War II in Kosovo
sent a letter to the UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros Ghali, the Contact Group, and the respective organizations of
Partisan veterans in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Macedonia, Montenegro, and Albania, demanding independence for Kosovo.
The veterans argued that the "Albanian people in Kosovo gained the
right to self-determination in the armed antifascist war and the
constituting conference of the National Liberation Committee of
Kosovo, which met on 2 January 1944 in Bujan and included
..[agreement] on a parliament and a provisional government." They
argued that at the conference a resolution was adopted, guaranteeing
the population of Kosovo "the right of self-determination and of
separation" from Serbia. The veterans also claim the
self-determination right was guaranteed by the Allied powers, but not
used due to the Kosovars' political inertia, Nasa Borba reported on 9
January. -- Fabian Schmidt
[23] RUMP-YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT BLOCKS WHEAT AND FLOUR FOR ALBANIA.
On 9
January Zeri i Popullit reported that Belgrade banned the export of
wheat and flour to Albania. The decision was made on 6 January, and
followed an increase in bilateral trade after the lifting of the UN
sanctions against rump-Yugoslavia. Wheat and flour are cheaper to
import into Albania from the Yugoslav market than from Italy or
Greece. The export ban likely triggered the subsequent 17% price jump
on the domestic Albanian market. -- Fabian Schmidt
[24] SANDZAK PARTY CALLS ON MILOSEVIC TO ISSUE AMNESTY . . .
The Party of
Democratic Action of Sandzak's (SDA) leader Rasim Ljajic, in an
interview given to Nasa Borba of 9 January, called on Milosevic to
issue a general amnesty for deserters and draft evaders as well as for
other political prisoners. Ljajic pointed out that a large number of
Muslims from the region in northern Montenegro and southern Serbia
left rump-Yugoslavia because they feared the draft and war. Altogether
45 Muslims have been arrested for desertion or draft evasion. Another
24 people were sentenced in October 1994 for allegedly building up a
paramilitary group attempting to secede from the rump Yugoslavia.
Ljajic, however, proclaims their innocence and said they should be
released. He pointed out that Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic
had pardoned 21 Muslim prisoners on New Year's eve, people whom Ljajic
described as political prisoners. -- Fabian Schmidt
[25] . . . AS DO THE VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS.
The Executive Deputy Chairman of
the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, Sandor Egressy, said that every
citizen of rump Yugoslavia who left the country to avoid being drafted
should be pardoned and assured a safe return. He pointed out that such
an amnesty law is overdue and should have been passed already in 1992.
According to the Union, between 1991 an 1994 an estimated 35,000 to
40,000 ethnic Hungarians left the province, while altogether about
200,000 mainly young people left Serbia. Egressy said that these
refugees "did not want to take part in the fratricidal war of the
Yugoslav peoples." He also said that last September his party rallied
for an amnesty but that "unfortunately this demand was not supported
by any party or movement with a democratic orientation." Nasa Borba
carried the story on 5 January. -- Fabian Schmidt
[26] CANADIANS INSTRUCTED ON RULES OF ENGAGEMENT IN BOSNIA.
Canadian troops
partaking in the NATO Bosnia mission have been issued with a special
set of conduct rules, international media, citing Canadian Defense
Ministry sources, reported on 7 January. Along with other
instructions, Canadians have been specifically told to not "torture,
kill or abuse prisoners" and will not be allowed to use deadly force
in situations where others may. Troops are issued a special set of
written instructions, and restrictions defining troop conduct are
reportedly being brought into line with existing Canadian law. At an 8
January press conference Col. Michel Maisonneuve said this "needed to
be done this time to make sure there was nothing left to chance."
Prompting the Canadian military's actions is the legacy of a tarnished
peacekeeping mission in Somalia, where members of the former Airborne
Regiment were charged with being involved in the torture and killing
of four Somali civilians. -- Stan Markotich
[27] IFOR BRINGS EMPLOYMENT BONANZA TO HUNGARY'S TASZAR.
According to
Hungary's National Job Exchange Center, Americans have employed nearly
600 local workers to build the infrastructure of the Kaposvar-Taszar
logistics base, while a further 350 people are being selected and can
start work within days, Hungarian media reported on 5 January. The
employees can earn nearly double the average Hungarian wage. In other
news, Nepszabadsag reports that Hungary's telecommunications company,
MATAV, has received orders to build more than 600 new telephone lines
for the peacekeepers. The value of the project approaches 50 million
forints ($360,000). In addition, NATO headquarters has ordered 100
million forint worth of telephone lines based on radio links. --
Zsofia Szilagyi
[28] FIRST CZECH TROOPS LEAVE FOR BOSNIA.
An advance party of 25 soldiers
left their base in southern Bohemia on 4 January to join the IFOR
troops in Bosnia, Czech media reported. The soldiers are to prepare
for the arrival of the full Czech contingent, a mechanized battalion
of around 865 men. The first main part of the Czech contingent, some
160 soldiers, is due to arrive on 16 January to serve in the British
sector in northwest Bosnia. -- Steve Kettle
[29] U.S. IFOR SOLDIER ELECTROCUTED EN ROUTE TO BOSNIA.
A 19-year-old U.S.
private suffered serious second and third-degree burns on 5 January
from a railway power line in the Czech Republic, Czech and
international media reported. Travis Wayne Bourret was aboard a
military train carrying IFOR troops and equipment from Germany to
Hungary. At a scheduled stop at Breclav on the Czech-Austrian border,
Bourret climbed onto the roof of the train and struck a high-voltage
electricity cable. His heart stopped beating for 27 minutes before
being restarted by an ambulance team, Reuters reported, quoting a U.S.
army spokesman. After treatment in a local hospital, Bourret was
airlifted to Germany in critical condition and was due to be flown to
a specialist burns unit at a U.S. army medical center in Texas when
his condition permitted. It was the first accident to affect more than
100 IFOR trains that have passed through the Czech Republic so far. --
Steve Kettle
[30] SHOULD SLOVAKIA HAVE JOINED IFOR?
The liberal Slovak daily Sme on 18December ran an editorial suggesting that Slovak troops should have
been sent to be part of IFOR in Bosnia rather than UNCRO in eastern
Slavonia. "We missed an opportunity to show NATO the firmness of our
determination to gain membership and to willingly bear all the
consequences of this decision. And we missed a suitable chance to
[show] our citizens that NATO is not an umbrella which shields us
without us even lifting a finger. No one will bring us security and
NATO membership on a golden platter. We will have to deserve them and
to bear certain sacrifices." -- Sharon Fisher and Patrick Moore
[31] RUSSIA SENDS PEACEKEEPERS TO BOSNIA TO BOLSTER PRESTIGE.
In a
presentation to the Russian Federation Council on 5 January, a
representative of the Russian General Staff, Col.-Gen. Leontii
Shevtsov, argued that Russia must participate in IFOR or it will be
marginalized in the creation of a new European security order, Ekho
Moskvy reported. If Russia did not take part, he said, "everything
will be done in Europe without us." Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolai
Afanasievsky then told the assembled deputies that the deployment was
"necessary for the prestige of Russia on the international scene."
Despite some critical comments about the command arrangements for the
Russian brigade, which place it under de facto NATO command, the
Council approved the deployment by a vote of 137-2 with 2 abstentions.
According to Izvestiya on 5 January, however, it remains unclear just
how the project will be funded. The one-year operation will cost over
$40 million according to military officials, who added that the 1996
military budget does not provide funds for the Bosnia deployment. --
Scott Parrish
[32] UKRAINE SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH SERBIA.
Agreements on
cultural and economic cooperation were signed between Serbia and
Ukraine following a four-day visit by a Ukrainian delegation to
Serbia, Serbian television reported on 26 December. The agreement on
economic cooperation calls for joint investments and developing trade
relations between the countries. The cultural agreement was directed
at cooperation between the universities in Banja Luka -- which is on
Bosnian Serb territory -- and Chernivtsi. Ukrainian foreign ministry
officials have recently made statements on their readiness to
establish ties with Serbia. -- Ustina Markus
[33] FIRST GREEK IFOR TROOPS OFF TO BOSNIA.
The first contingent of Greek
troops departed for Bosnia on 3 January, Greek and international media
reported. Some 53 soldiers and 26 vehicles were scheduled to leave on
3 January for Ploce aboard the armored vehicle landing craft Samos,
and from there to the Bosnian town of Visoko northwest of Sarajevo. A
16-member reconnaissance unit had left Greece at the end of December.
A total of 250 Greek soldiers are to be deployed on territory
controlled by the Bosnian government as part of a supply unit. Greece
will also furnish three military vessels and helicopters. -- Stefan
Krause
[34] GREEK PLANE ABORTS LANDING IN SARAJEVO AFTER BEING SHOT AT.
A Greek
Hercules C-130 plane on the evening of 6 January came under fire as it
approached Sarajevo airport , AFP and Greek media reported the
following day. The plane was bearing equipment for the Greek IFOR
contingent, as well as medical and other supplies. "We don't know if
the plane was targeted. It wasn't hit, but the crew thought it was
best to turn back," AFP cited a Greek official as saying. The crew
aborted the landing approach and continued to the next scheduled stop
in Tuzla. There was no damage, and celebratory fire for Orthodox
Christmas may have been responsible for the shots. -- Stefan Krause
Copyright (c) 1996 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights
reserved.
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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