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Serbia Today 96-06-07
Serbia Today
7 June 1996
CONTENTS
[01] OVER 700 NEW TELEPHONE LINES THIS YEAR
[02] NORMALIZING RELATIONS - A TWO-WAY PROCESS
[03] TALKS ABOUT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA WITHOUT CONDITIONS
[04] THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF THE GREEK INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
[05] THE YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT BUREAU IN ZAGREB OPENS ON 15
[06] RUSSIA DEMANDS THE REMOVAL OF THE SANCTIONS AGAINST FRY
[07] EUROPE REJECTED CROATIA
[08] ORGANIZED TERROR OF THE CROATIAN STATE
[09] IMPOSSIBLE "COEXISTENCE"
[10] OGATA: EXAGGERATIONS OF THE SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT
[01] OVER 700 NEW TELEPHONE LINES THIS YEAR
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, received yesterday the top managers of the public company
PTT Serbia, headed by General Manager - Mr. Milorad Jaksic and Chairman of the Board - Mr. Radmilo
Andjelkovic. The managers of the Serbian Post informed the President about the realization of the
development projects and about the plans for the enhancement of the telecommunications and postal
services in Serbia. This year, 700,000 new telephone lines will be installed, marking a 30% increase
compared to the present capacities in our country. It is an investment that PTT Serbia will carry out in close
business cooperation with renown foreign partners - the French company Alcatel and the German firm
Siemens - and major involvement of the national electronics industry. The total investment is more than two
billion German marks. The modernization project envisages that 300,000 new lines will be installed
annually. (Politika, June 7, 1996.)
[02] NORMALIZING RELATIONS - A TWO-WAY PROCESS
The normalization of the relations with former Yugoslav republics, represents a priority of the
Yugoslav foreign policy - said Deputy Federal Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic in an interview for the
Belgrade magazine "Medjunarodna Politika" and the Austrian "Monitor" - a magazine involved in south-
eastern European issues. He also reminded that ever since 1992, when it issued a Constitutional Declaration,
FR Yugoslavia has been fully acknowledging the interests and the rights of the new states in former
Yugoslavia, confirming that it has no territorial pretensions regarding any of the surrounding countries.
"The settlement of numerous open questions, generated by the disintegration of the previous common state,
can be achieved only through political negotiations, patient enhancement of trust and understanding, based
on the principles of good neighborly relations", said Mr. Jovanovic. He particularly stressed the fact that
normalization is a two-way process and that the other partners in the region are expected to give their full
contribution to the effort. (Borba, June 7, 1996.)
[03] TALKS ABOUT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA WITHOUT CONDITIONS
Ms. Doris Pack - Chairman of he European Parliament delegation for south-eastern Europe, met in
Pristina with the Deputy Superintendent of the Kosovo County and with the Regional Secretary for
Information - Mr. Bosko Drobnjak. During the talks, the will to settle the problems in Kosovo and Metohija
has been stressed, and both sides agreed that it can be only reached through dialogue. It has been
particularly underscored that the negotiations, which must start immediately and without any conditions,
should honor the fact underlined by the international community - that Kosovo and Metohija is an internal
Yugoslav issue. Ms. Pack remarked that the financial aid by the international community would help the
reconstruction of the industry in the province and bring back the mutual trust of the people living in the
area. (Vecernje Novosti, June 7, 1996.)
[04] THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF THE GREEK INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
The first exhibition of the Greek industry and commerce has been inaugurated yesterday at the
Belgrade Fair by Mr. Vlajko Stojiljkovic - Chairman of the Yugoslav Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
The ceremony was attended by numerous officials including the Greek Ambassador to Yugoslavia. About a
hundred Greek firms displayed a broad range of goods and products. Geographic, economic, cultural and
business ties between our two nations are stable and lasting, and we will do everything possible to make
them stronger and richer - said Mr. Stojiljkovic. He also stressed that the collaboration between Serbian and
Greek companies should evolve from trade to long-term industrial cooperation, which would allow a joint
presence on third markets. (Ekspres Politika , June 7, 1996.)
[05] THE YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT BUREAU IN ZAGREB OPENS ON 15
The Zagreb Bureau of the Government of FR Yugoslavia will be opened on June 15, and will
assume certain consular activities. According to the communiqu released by the Federal Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Bureau will issue passports to Yugoslav citizens and visas to foreigners, and will
protect the interests of FRY as well as those of legal and physical persons from Yugoslavia regarding their
inheritance rights and submission of juridical and non-juridical documents. The Yugoslav side launched the
initiative for a meeting between Yugoslav and Croatian representatives of ministries of interior, foreign
affairs and customs by the end of June. (Borba, June 7, 1996.)
[06] RUSSIA DEMANDS THE REMOVAL OF THE SANCTIONS AGAINST FRY
Acting on the instructions given by Russian President Yeltsin, Foreign Minister Yevgeny
Primakov, speaking at the meeting of the Contact Group for Bosnia held in Berlin two days ago, asked that
the sanctions against FR Yugoslavia be abolished without waiting for the elections in Bosnia. This position
was revealed by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Grigory Karassin at the press conference held
yesterday in Moscow. The same official indicated that Moscow believes that the President Milosevic's
position regarding the implementation of the Dayton Agreement "deserves an adequate positive reactions".
Such a support should be displayed by an abolition of the sanctions - the Russian diplomat stated. He did
not provide details or explanations why the proposal has not been adopted. His remarks seemed to indicate
that the western countries were not willing to take such a step. (Ekspres Politika, June 7, 1996.)
[07] EUROPE REJECTED CROATIA
Yesterday, the European Parliament deputies rejected with a overwhelming majority the proposal
to admit Croatia to the Council of Europe. They also passed a resolution which condemns the non-
democratic actions of the Zagreb government , in particular the suppression of the freedom of the press and
the policy pursued by Mr. Tudjman's ruling party - which prevents the freely elected opposition
representatives from taking the office in the Zagreb municipality. The resolution demands insists that the
Croatian government should abandon the project of transforming the Jasenovac concentration camp "...into
a memorial that will reconcile the victims and the followers of the Pavelic regime". The Parliament
resolution also demands that all negotiations about a broader Croatian involvement in the aid program for
eastern European countries, as well as the suspension of talks on a individual agreement on trade and
cooperation with Croatia. These talks were interrupted by EU after the Croatian military operations last
summer - causing the mass exodus of the Serbs from Krajina and Western Slavonija.
The reactions of the Croatian media to this decision, give prime attention to the Council of Europe
demand for a Croatian cooperation with the International Tribunal for Crimes of War, and the
implementation of the peace plan for Bosnia. It is particularly stressed that the Council of Europe will pay
special attention to the Croatian attitude towards Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem and the respect of
human and minority rights in this region. (Politika, June 7, 1996.)
[08] ORGANIZED TERROR OF THE CROATIAN STATE
"The testimonies and other evidence about the crimes committed against Serbs in Vukovar, eastern
Slavonija and the rest of Croatia that we have gathered, are part of our effort to topple part of the arguments
invoked by the Hague Tribunal and the Croatian propaganda - namely that the local Serbs organized an
armed rebellion. We have demonstrated that Croatian authorities terrorized the Serbian population before
the armed conflicts broke out, and that the Serbs merely exercised their legitimate right of resisting and
defending their lives. We also refuse to accept the tendency to ascribe such crimes to individuals, but insist
that the system be accused. In fact, the downfall of certain figures that the Croatian authorities are willing
to sacrifice now, did not stop the crimes - and this proves the responsibility of the Croatian state structures.
State terrorism is involved, namely the pathology of a system, and not the individual pathology." This is
part of the statement delivered yesterday in Vukovar by Prof. Dr. Vojin Dabic - Chairman of the Serbian
Information Center in Belgrade. An investigative team of the Hague Tribunal came to Vukovar on May 21,
and the Serbian Information Center and the Association of Croatian Regime Victims, organized interviews
with witnesses of crimes against Serbs. Dr. Dabic quoted several most drastic examples from the
documentation encompassing several thousand pages of evidence, such as the arrest of Serbs listed as blood
donors, which were then drained of their blood until they died. "We are well aware of the fact that the
Hague Tribunal is a means of political pressure against the Serbs. After we have submitted all the evidence,
we will make public all the cases it shall disregard - using this as grounds for criticizing the Tribunal." -
remarked Dr. Dabic. (Politika, June 7, 1996.)
[09] IMPOSSIBLE "COEXISTENCE"
The persecution and maltreatment of the remaining Serbs continues in Sarajevo in spite of the
promises about muti-ethnic Bosnia given by the Moslem Government and the international commitments to
offer them protection. According to an article published yesterday by the Washington Post, Moslem gangs -
silently and actively supported by the local authorities are harassing, beating and forcibly evicting the
remaining Serbs. Officials of the UN International Police in Sarajevo have received some 40 complaints
regarding maltreatment and persecution, but the Moslem authorities did nothing in this regard. On the
contrary - foreign reporters state - the Moslem police is directly involved in some of these intimidation
activities. According to the Washington Post, neither NATO troops nor UN forces are doing anything to put
a stop to such abuses. (Vecernje Novosti, June 7, 1996.)
[10] OGATA: EXAGGERATIONS OF THE SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT
The tragic balance of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ranges between 30 and 60 thousand dead,
said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata in Paris, replying to the question whether the
estimates of 200.000 dead suggested by the Sarajevo Government are true. Serious sources do not confirm
the exaggerated estimates of the Moslem authorities - said Ms. Ogata. This is the first time that a high UN
official revealed data concerning the number of victims that died in the Bosnian tragedy. The Sarajevo
Government, controlled by the Moslem Democratic Action Party - defined absolutist and hegemonic by the
Paris "Le Mond" - is insisting on far greater numbers for purely political reasons. Such strategy has been
always used by certain forces, especially part of the Western media in the anti-Serbian campaign. Speaking
about the refugees, Ms. Ogata also observed that in the field there are no political conditions which would
allow the return of the refugees. She particularly stressed that "...the Zagreb Government is making all sorts
of obstacles for the return of Serbian refugees expelled from Krajina and Western Slavonija." (Borba, June
7, 1996.)
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