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Serbia Today 96-06-10
Serbia Today
10 June 1996
CONTENTS
[01] MILOSEVIC - COHERENTLY FOR PEACE
[02] SERBIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVED THE EU DELEGATION
[03] THE NEW OIL-GAS PLANT HAS BEEN OPENED
[04] THE LATEST CAMPAIGN OF THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
[05] THE MEDIA VICTIMIZED THE SERBS
[06] AKASHI: MARKALE MASSACRE - A MOSLEM DOING
[07] CATASTROPHE IN KRAJINA
[08] CASH REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE USTASHI
[09] FABRICATED CROATIAN VICTIMS
[10] TOURISM AND LIVE AMMUNITION
[11] "POSITION OF THE SERBS IN SLOVENIA" - CONFERENCE
[01] MILOSEVIC - COHERENTLY FOR PEACE
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic gave an interview for the most highly circulated German
weekly - "Der Spiegel". Remarking that the responsibility for the war in Bosnia falls upon all three
nations and some members of the international community, Mr. Milosevic reiterated the suggestions that
the conflict can be settled with the respect of the endorsing equally the interests of all three nations.
"The Dayton agreement is being implemented successfully, primarily because it acknowledged the necessity
to observe the interest of all three nations. Its durability and full affirmation depend on the extent
in which this approach will be honored - equal treatment of the interests of all three peoples in Bosnia
- Moslems, Croat and Serbs." Mr. Milosevic stated. Asked to comment what did the war bring to the peoples
of former Yugoslavia, the Serbian President remarked: "I have always endorsed the preservation of
Yugoslavia, stressing that keeping Yugoslavia together would be in the interest of all Yugoslav peoples.
And as the President of Serbia I have insisted that Yugoslavia is in the interest of the Serbian people,
because it would allow all Serbs to live in a single country. Still Yugoslavia was not only an interest
of the Serbs. It was a good thing for all Yugoslav nations. Lamentably, the true interests of the
Yugoslav peoples lost the battle with their nationalisms, which was not only highly aggressive but also
endorsed by foreign forces. The fact that in Yugoslavia we have managed to preserve a multi-ethnic state
and avoid nationalist conflicts is a major achievement in itself - in view of the great fire that raged
in the Balkans." President Milosevic also added that the media presentation of Yugoslavia during the
crisis years was modeled by the forces that disintegrated the country, and did not serve the truth. Now
no one can deny that we that fought and created a multi-ethnic state - the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia were called nationalists and even aggressors and were brutally punished for it with
international community sanctions, whilst those that seceded and created ethnically cleansed -
nationalist states were defined democratic and given the support of the international community. These
are facts that, fortunately, no propaganda campaign can hide forever. I firmly believe that in future,
no one will deny the fact that in the Yugoslav crisis, Europe worked against itself - said President
Milosevic in his interview for "Der Spiegel". (Politika, June 10, 1996)
[02] SERBIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVED THE EU DELEGATION
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic received the delegation of the European Union, headed by
European Commission Chairman - Mr. Jacques Santer, and the Chairman of the EU Ministerial Council -
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini. During the meeting, the positive results achieved in the current
implementation of the Peace Plan for Bosnia, which constitute a good basis for the continuation and
coherent realization of the commitments assumed by the signatories of the Dayton Agreement. Priority must
be given to the preparation of the forthcoming elections, which will undoubtedly help the overall
stabilization of the situation and of the relations. During the talks it has been jointly agreed that
FR Yugoslavia and the European Union have a common interest in enhancing their cooperation. The full
normalization of relations between FRY and EU will be the best confirmation and contribution to such a
policy - both sides agreed. (Politika, June 8, 1996)
[03] THE NEW OIL-GAS PLANT HAS BEEN OPENED
In the village of Melenci (near Zrenjanjin) in the Banat region of the Vojvodina province, a new
oil-gas plant has been opened. The modern collecting and distribution station which required an
investment of 30 million dollars - has been opened by Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic. "This is
a good occasion to stress the importance of the production of energy from domestic sources. This fact
has been particularly confirmed during the sanctions. Thanks to our domestic production of oil and other
forms of energy - even during the direst embargo - we have managed to provide heating, to ensure the
operation of the food processing and pharmaceutical industry, and to allow the schools to operate
regularly. Another very important fact is that the domestic production of oil allowed us to cover the
needs of the agricultural production", said Prime Minister Marjanovic at the opening ceremony of the
"Rusanda" oil well which is expected to yield about half a million tons and 500 million cubic meters of
natural gas. (Politika, June 8, 1996)
[04] THE LATEST CAMPAIGN OF THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
In its campaign against the Bosnian Serbs, the UN tribunal for war crimes in former Yugoslavia has
included group of British soldiers that were deployed in Bosnia. The Tribunal contacted five British
soldiers that were kept against their will in Gorazde last year by Republic Srpska forces. Allegedly they
were harassed, and the Tribunal believes that this represents a breach of the Geneva Convention. The
London evening paper "Mail on Sunday" affirms that the soldiers were threatened with death after the NATO
air strikes against Bosnian Serb positions and affirms without any proof that "the Serbs tortured the
British soldiers." The maltreatment of British soldiers is the prime evidence in the indictment of two
Republic of Srpska Army colonels. The Tribunal also intend to prove that these soldiers were POW's and
that consequently the UN was at war with the Bosnian Serbs. During the crisis when Blue Helmets were held
hostage in the Republic of Srpska, the UN and the international community - including the United Kingdom
insisted that they are not at war with the Bosnian Serbs. (Tanjug, June 10, 1996)
[05] THE MEDIA VICTIMIZED THE SERBS
Mr. Kai Eide - Norwegian diplomat and former UN peace mediator in former Yugoslavia - stated that
the western media reporting on the conflict in ex-Yugoslavia, made a major mistake in accusing only the
Serbs of crimes committed by all three sides involved. In a debate about the media coverage of the civil
war in former Yugoslavia - held in the Norwegian town of Bergen, Mr. Eide - Assistant to the former ICFY
Co-Chairman Thornwald Stoltenberg - remarked that the Moslems were the ones that used the media the best.
With the help of the media they convinced the international public that Sarajevo was a Moslem town
besieged by Serb forces - said Mr. Eide. In his opinion some 90% of the reports were generated from the
Moslem side, and only 10% from the Serbian side. The Norwegian judge - Ms. Hane Sophie Geeve, involved
in the procurement of evidence on crimes of war, remarked that the media played a key role in documenting
the events. The reputable Norwegian intellectual - Mr. Tron Egrim publicly asked the media world why did
they deliberately create a negative picture about the Serbs, insisting at the same time on the innocence
of the Moslems and Croats. (Borba, June 10, 1996)
[06] AKASHI: MARKALE MASSACRE - A MOSLEM DOING
The high UN official admitted for the first time the existence of a secret report of the world
organization - accusing the Bosnian Moslems for the massacre of civilians in the Sarajevo Markale bazar -
occurred in February 1994. In a statement for the German news agency DPA, Mr. Yasushi Akashi - who was
Head of the UN in Bosnia at the time of the massacre - remarked that the existence of the secret report
was never a secret." The report not only exists, but numerous reporters have copies of it - said Mr.
Akashi. One of them is the American journalist David Binder who affirmed that the Moslem police prevented
the UN police from accessing the scene of the explosion, that doctors were not allowed to give immediate
medical help to the victims, and that 197 wounded were transported to the hospital in record time - in
vehicles that "happened to be there". UN investigators established without any doubt that the grenade
was fired from Moslem-held territory and stressed that on that particular day there were no activities
by the Bosnian Serb forces. In spite of all that, the Serbs were given the ultimatum to withdraw all
heavy weaponry from their positions around Sarajevo. (Vecernje novosti, June 8, 1996)
[07] CATASTROPHE IN KRAJINA
The remaining Serbs in Krajina face a catastrophic situation: they are not protected by the
authorities, and are constantly exposed to robberies, maltreatment and murder. In Krajina it is better
to die than to stay alive. This was revealed at the press conference held yesterday by Milan Djukic,
Milorad Vojvodic, Nedeljko Visnjic and Dragan Hinic, who just returned from Krajina. Since the region
was "liberated" ten months ago - those that have stayed and survived still do not have electricity or
potable water. The Croatian Red Cross is not distributing aid, the elderly farmers have been robbed of
their livestock, and many have begged us to kill them and end their suffering - said the leaders of the
Serbian National Party. The also remarked that the Croatian authorities have created such unbearable
conditions that international humanitarian organizations have started evacuating all those that have
someone to go to. (Vecernje Novosti, June 8, 1996)
[08] CASH REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE USTASHI
The surviving members of Pavelic's Ustashi forces and the terrorists that committed crimes in
former Yugoslavia have already been granted "well deserved" pensions, and now they will be paid for the
"years of torture and psychological torture in the prisons" of the former common state. Some 7.500
confirmed Ustashi, Domobran and other "fighters for the Croatian state", sentenced between 1945 and 1947
for crimes they had committed during and after World War Two, have been granted political prisoner
status. The Croatian Government also decided to grant cash awards to these individuals. In fact, 2.8
million marks have been earmarked from the state budget to pay these "political prisoners" 15 marks for
every day they spent in jail. (Ekspres, June 8, 1996)
[09] FABRICATED CROATIAN VICTIMS
As part of the latest efforts to present the Serbs and partisans as criminals and thus justify
the way they are being treated in Croatia today, imagination has no limits, and a 300 year old grave
containing the remains of "Croatian patriots" that died in the last war. The general rehabilitation of
the Ustashi Movement and Pavelic's "Independent State of Croatia" insisting that they were cornerstones
of the "realization of the aspirations of the Croatian nation", and that these troops were "Croatian
patriots" led to the discovery of Slavonska Jazovka, a locality where - as "Vecernji List" reported
exclusively - massacred Croatian patriots were buried. The same newspaper insists in its exclusive report
that numerous human bones have been discovered near the Orthodox church of Holy Salvation. This would
have been just another of the numerous stories about "the suffering of the Croatian people" caused by
the "Serbian criminals", but other witnesses came forward. In an article published in the latest edition
of "Hrvatske Ljevica", Antun Turkalj reveals that the tom was discovered back in 1951. The expert team
of the Zagreb Archaeological Institute established that several hundred years ago a mosque and a Moslem
graveyard stood where the church was later built. The bones discovered there were about 300 years old.
This means that the Moslem tomb has now been rediscovered and used for political purposes by the Croatian
authorities. The whole story might even seem comical if it did not involve desecration and abuse of human
remains. (Politika, June 10, 1996)
[10] TOURISM AND LIVE AMMUNITION
Slovenian citizens that own summer houses, bungalows or trailers in the zone of Premantura - in
the Croatian part of the Istrian Peninsula, presented numerous protests to Mr. Niko Bulic - President
of the Croatian Tourist Federation, because of demolition, robberies and maneuvers carried out with live
ammunition in the immediate vicinity by the Croatian Army. When the Slovenians came to their villas for
the first time after last summer, they found in a terrible state. Many houses have been demolished,
damaged and robbed. Some of the owners said that this seems to indicate that the so-called "Krajina
syndrome" has now been directed "to other parts of Croatia - this time against Slovenians". (Politika,
June 9, 1996)
[11] "POSITION OF THE SERBS IN SLOVENIA" - CONFERENCE
The Serbian ethnic entity in Slovenia does not exist formally and legally. In fact the Slovenian
legal terminology relies on the term "non-Slovenians" for all those belonging to any of the former
Yugoslav nations. This has been remarked at the conference "Serbs in Slovenia" held at the Serbian People
Institute in Sremski Karlovci and organized by the World Serbian Community. Ms. Margit Savovic - Federal
Minister of Human Rights stressed that FRY differs from other states created in former Yugoslavia because
its Constitution defines it a state of all its citizens, and the rights of the minorities are broader
than those required by the international community. One of the prime objectives of FRY is to ensure the
rights defined by international conventions to all Serbs living in newly formed states in ex-Yugoslavia.
(Borba, June 10, 1996)
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