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Serbia Today 96-08-01
Serbia Today
1 August 1996
CONTENTS
[01] AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SURPLUS EXPECTED
[02] VOLLEYBALL TEAM IN THE SEMIFINALS - BASKETBALL TEAM IN THE FINALS
[03] 60 000 SERBS MISSING FROM ELECTORAL LISTS
[04] ISRAELI DAILY HAARETZ - JASENOVAC THE SERBIAN AUSCHWITZ
[05] THE REPUBLIC OF HERZEG BOSNIA IS BEING DISSOLVED
[06] MOSLEMS ASKED FOR AID
[07] RS CITIZENS WILL NOT GO TO THE HAGUE
[08] SLOVENIA ADMITTED THE ORGANIZED ARMS SMUGGLING
[01] AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SURPLUS EXPECTED
The two day visit of the Serbian Prime Minister Marjanovic to
the Province of Kosovo and Metohija, ended with a tour of the JUKO
agricultural plant in Gnjilane. Talking with the local officials
from the Kosovo-Morava County, the Prime Minister reminded that the
Serbian Government refuses to print money to solve the problems in
the agricultural sector, but relies exclusively on real state
income; due to the limited funds available additional efforts are
required to achieve the preset goals. "As soon as next week the
Government will approve a plan for the autumn agricultural
activities and define the conditions for the purchase of wheat,
vegetables and fruit, and livestock, as well as measures aimed at
improving the production. Furthermore, the long-term project for the
development of agriculture is being completed in collaboration with
scientific institutes, the Development Fund, business banks, and
export companies" - Mr. Marjanovic said. As far as the agricultural
sector in Kosovo and Metohija is concerned, it contributes to the
domestic product far above the average rate, and the Serbian
Government is determined to put to a better use all the agricultural
and food processing potentials, so that the increased production may
create more jobs and improve the standard of the local population.
(Politika, August 1, 1996)
[02] VOLLEYBALL TEAM IN THE SEMIFINALS - BASKETBALL TEAM IN THE FINALS
Having reached the semi-finals of the Olympic volleyball
tournament the Yugoslav national team achieved far more than it was
originally expected. In the quarter-finals duel with the current
Olympic champion - Brazil, the Yugoslav team won a historical
victory, and is one of the four top teams at the Olympics. This is
the best result ever of the Yugoslav volleyball that now joined the
world's best. Tonight at 2 a.m. (Yugoslav time) the Yugoslav
basketball team will meet with Lithuania; last year in the European
Championships our team triumphed against the same competitor.
(Vecernje Novosti, August 1, 1996)
[03] 60 000 SERBS MISSING FROM ELECTORAL LISTS
At the meeting that the Chairwoman of the Yugoslav Federal
Committee for aid to the refugees for the elections in Bosnia - Mr.
Bratislava Morina had with Mr. Hans Peter Kleiner, OSCE Chairman,
Andreas Kolshoter, Advisor to the OSCE Chairman, and Zivota de Luca,
head of the OSCE temporary office in Belgrade, the Yugoslav side
presented remarks concerning technical and other difficulties in the
registration of the refugees for the forthcoming September election.
"Some 60,000 refugees that were registered in FRY for the elections
are missing from the lists that OSCE compiled and which should
reflect the situation defined by the 1991 census. "This means that
one out of three registered refugees is missing from the list." said
Ms. Morina. Another problem lies in the required citizenship
document because the Temporary Office accepts only a "paper" issued
at the time that former Yugoslavia existed, which most of the
refugees do not have. It has been stressed that the personal
identity card, which required the submission of a citizenship
certificate should be deemed sufficient for the registration of the
voters. Among the voters that should go to Bosnia for the elections,
there are some 30,000 wounded, sickly and people over 65, and the
problem is how to warrant their right to vote. "I think" said Ms.
Morina "that we are newly witnessing a discrimination especially
since every demand made by the Moslem side is being met.
(Politika, August 1, 1996)
[04] ISRAELI DAILY HAARETZ - JASENOVAC THE SERBIAN AUSCHWITZ
"For the Serbs, Jasenovac is like Auschwitz for the Jews",
remarks the Israeli daily "Haaretz" adding that a monument was
erected there - a sort of a Yugoslav Yad Vashem (holocaust memorial
center in Jerusalem). Bearing all that in mind it is not surprising
that the decision of the Croatian President to bury the remains of
the Croatian fascists (Ustashi) there, caused heated reactions in
Europe - even in Germany - says the same newspaper. The author of
the article - Teddy Proyce reminds that Jasenovac, set up by the
Croats - Hitler's allies against the Serbs - was the third largest
extermination camp in Europe - and the largest one beyond the
borders of the Third Reich. German historians have estimated that
750,000 Serbs, 25,000 Jews and an unknown number of Gypsies were
massacred there. Ever since he has become president of Croatia, Mr.
Tudjman is making constant attempts to warp history - says the
Israeli newspaper - especially regarding the crimes Nazis committed
during the occupation. In sign of gratitude to Germany - the first
country that recognized Croatia, he even banned the screening of
anti-fascist movies, re-dubbed all the streets and squares named
after resistance fighters with names of notorious Croatian
nationalists. The same journalist reminds the readers that Tudjman
wrote and anti-Semitic book called "Wastelands of Historical
Reality", in which he affirmed that the number of Jews executed in
Jasenovac is an exaggeration of the Jewish propaganda and that the
Jews always had murderous instincts.
(Politika, August 1, 1996)
[05] THE REPUBLIC OF HERZEG BOSNIA IS BEING DISSOLVED
After the meeting they had yesterday with Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman the leaders of the Bosnian Croats agreed to dissolve
the institutions of the "Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia" because its
existence jeopardizes the survival of the Moslem-Croatian Federation
and peace in Bosnia. The communiqu issued by Mr. Tudjman's Office
and reported by Radio Zagreb, indicates that the "Republic of
Herzeg-Bosnia", proclaimed by the Bosnian Croats in 1993, will soon
be transformed into a "political community of the Croatian people"
in Bosnia. The decision still has to be passed by the parliament of
the Bosnian Croats.
The American Mediator for Bosnia - Mr. John Cornbloom stated
in Sarajevo that the officials of the Bosnian Moslems and Croats
agreed that the "Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia" be dissolved.
The negotiations Mr. Cornbloom had with both the Croatian and Moslem
high officials came after the talks western emissaries had in Zagreb
in order to solve the stale-mate situation created by the refusal
of the Bosnian Croats to accept the results of the local elections
in Mostar.
(TANJUG, August 1, 1996)
[06] MOSLEMS ASKED FOR AID
Bosnian Prime Minister Hassan Muratovic invited the
international community to exert economic and political pressure on
Croatia, remarking that this is "the last chance" to end the
conflict within the Bosnian Federation threatening the fragile
peace. At the Geneva meeting of the Contact Group of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference for Bosnia, Muratovic asked
that international pressure be applied against Croatia and added:
"It should encompass a blockade of economic relations and
coordinated political pressure." He invited the participants to put
pressure on Serbia as well, and force it to carry out the peace
agreement - although he did not explain what Serbia and FRY failed
to do.
(Borba, August 1, 1996)
[07] RS CITIZENS WILL NOT GO TO THE HAGUE
The Minister of Justice of the Republic of Srpska (RS) - Mr.
Marko Arsovic stated that the Hague Tribunal accepted the RS
position that it can not extradite its citizens to the Tribunal.
"They had a different position, but accepted our stand. We offered
strong arguments why the RS can not extradite its own citizens in
the present situation", said Mr. Arsovic. We managed them to
convince, he added, that the current indictment policy - reflected
by the number of Serbs accused compared to Moslems and Croats - was
not an objective one; most of the indictments were against Serbs.
The Tribunal officials gave assurances that indictments are being
prepared against individuals belonging to the other two sides
involved in the conflict. The RS delegation and the Hague Tribunal
stressed in a joint statement that "all war criminals, regardless
of their ethnic origin or religion, should be brought before the
court in the Hague or in their countries."
(Borba, August 1, 1996)
[08] SLOVENIA ADMITTED THE ORGANIZED ARMS SMUGGLING
Slovenia has officially admitted that ever since 1987. it had
been arming illegally and purchased arms abroad to prepare for the
forcible secession. Later on Slovenia supplied arms and military
equipment to Croatia and to the paramilitary formations in former
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The report on arms sales - prepared by the
Slovenian Government and submitted to the Parliament - organized
state smuggling was coordinated (until 1995) by the ministries of
Defense and Interior. Arms sales to Croatia and to the Bosnian
Moslems also involved several western European and Asian. The same
report also reveals that Slovenia provided comprehensive logistic
support to Croatia and to the Bosnian Moslems. All the main
decisions were made by the Slovenian Defense Council headed by
President Milan Kucan. The report particularly stresses that arms
were shipped to the Croats and Moslems "to fight against the
Yugoslav People's Army and the Serbs".
(Politika, August 1, 1996)
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