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Serbia Today, 96-10-22
Serbia Today
22 October 1996
CONTENTS
[01] TALKS BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT OF FRY AND THE LEADERSHIP OF GUINEA
[02] MILUTINOVIC VISITING VIENNA AT AN OPPORTUNE MOMENT
[03] RUSSIA ENDORSES THE URGENT RE-INTEGRATION OF FRY INTO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
[04] TALKS BETWEEN FRENCH AND YUGOSLAV BUSINESSMEN
[05] LOCAL ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA MIGHT BE POSTPONED
[06] ONLY A HANDFUL OF SERBS RETURNED TO CROATIA *
[07] "FERAL TRIBUNE" ON THE ABUSE OF THE AMNESTY LAW
[01] TALKS BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT OF FRY AND THE LEADERSHIP OF GUINEA
Yesterday, Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic had a number of
talks with the leading officials of Guinea - first of all with the
President of Guinea - Mr. Lansan Conte. President Lilic arrived in
Guinea for a two day visit which will mark the end of his African
tour. During the talks, both sides stressed the belief that these
talks will give a strong incentive to the evolution of traditional
good and friendly relations, established back in 1958, when Guinea
acquired independence. The Yugoslav delegation stressed that during
the crisis in former Yugoslavia, Guinea maintained a friendly and
condescending stand towards FRY, and maintained full diplomatic
relations with our country during the international sanctions.
Along with political talks, contacts between Yugoslav and Guinean
businessmen are taking place during the official visit of the
Yugoslav President. It has been anticipated that the two
governments will sign agreements on promotion and protection of
investments and avoidance of double taxation.
(Vecernje novosti, October 22, 1996)
[02] MILUTINOVIC VISITING VIENNA AT AN OPPORTUNE MOMENT
"Official Vienna is giving major importance to the visit of
the Yugoslav Foreign Minister due on October 23-24, prompted by an
invitation by Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Wolfgang
Shissel", said in an interview for Radio Yugoslavia the Austrian
Ambassador to FRY - Mr. Michael Wenninger. He also stressed that
Austria endorses the reintegration of FR Yugoslavia into the
international financial and economic community. Ambassador
Wenninger indicated that Mr. Milutinovic will discuss with his
hosts the further enhancement of bilateral relations and the
current situation in the region. He also pointed out that he
believes these talks will improve the political dialogue between
the two countries. He particularly underscored that the visit of
the Yugoslav Foreign Minister comes at an opportune moment for the
overall evolution of traditional neighborly relations and
cooperation.
(Politika, October 22, 1996)
[03] RUSSIA ENDORSES THE URGENT RE-INTEGRATION OF FRY INTO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolai Afanasyevsky endorsed
yesterday the urgent settlement of the question of reintegration
of FRY into the international community. "I state categorically
that FRY and Serbian President Milosevic personally gave palpable
proof of adhering to the peaceful solution of the Balkan crisis",
said Mr. Afanasyevsky in an interview for ITAR-TASS news agency.
All conditions set by the Dayton Agreement have been met and the
question of reintegration of Yugoslavia should be solved urgently -
he said - adding that, for example, it would be senseless to face
the issue of the Bosnian crisis without the presence of Yugoslavia.
Mr. Afanasyevsky stressed that Russia and Yugoslavia fully agree
on the establishing of stability and security in the Balkans.
Bilateral relations are progressively evolving, and next week a
inter-governmental meeting is due in Belgrade to discuss concrete
projects for cooperation.
(Politika, October 22, 1996)
[04] TALKS BETWEEN FRENCH AND YUGOSLAV BUSINESSMEN
At the meeting between Yugoslav and French businessmen,
organized in Paris by the Yugoslav Chamber of Economy and the
French Industry Association - it has been pointed out that as soon
as next year, the trade volume between Yugoslavia and France might
exceed a billion dollars. The two sides headed by the Chairman of
the Yugoslav Chamber of Economy - Mr. Mihajlo Milojevic on the one
side and Mr. Gerard Degas - "Alcatel" GM. and Chairman of the
Industry Ass. had talks to enhance and accelerate the linking
between the Yugoslav and French economy. Mr. Milojevic stated that
the Yugoslav companies managed to preserve their production
potentials in spite of the sanctions, and that our country
fulfilled all the conditions to be re-admitted into international
financial institutions. Federal Minister Vuk Ognjanovic remarked
that our legal and financial system has been harmonized with the
EU model, that foreign investments have been granted national
treatment and that absolute safety exists for all investors. The
third member of the Yugoslav delegation - Mr. Oskar Kovac asked the
French businessmen to help FRY re-acquire the same standing with
the European Union that former Yugoslavia had. In the talks
involving about 50 French businessmen and 20 general managers of
the largest Yugoslav companies concrete possibilities of
cooperation in given sectors have been indicated.
(Borba, October 22, 1996)
[05] LOCAL ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA MIGHT BE POSTPONED
US officials in Washington confirmed that the decision on the
postponement of local elections in Bosnia is "almost inevitable",
and that a formula is now being sought to solve this disagreeable
situation "in a dignified way". The postponement would mean that
a large US military contingent should stay in Bosnia, which is
something that would not favor Mr. Clinton's election campaign.
Formally, the decision on the postponement of the elections in
Bosnia should be made by Mr. Robert Frowick - heading the OSCE
"Bosnian Office". Allegedly, he already informed Washington that
the postponement of the elections is inevitable, because the Serbs
do not want to take part in the elections that might mark the
victory of Moslem candidates that don't even live in the Republic
of Srpska. Practically the elections can not be staged without the
active participation of the Serbian side - not only in the Republic
of Srpska but in entire Bosnia and Herzegovina as well. Members of
the Contact Group - Great Britain, France, United States, Italy,
Germany and Russia - are convening in Sarajevo today and it is
expected that they will take a clear stand about elections being
held in November or next spring.
(Politika, October 22, 1996)
[06] ONLY A HANDFUL OF SERBS RETURNED TO CROATIA *
UNHCR spokesman in Geneva - Ron Redmond, confirmed that this
year, under the coordination of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees and the International Migration Organization, only 196
Serbian refugees returned to Croatia, and 700 to Bosnia and
Herzegovina. "Bearing in mind that some 290.000 Serbian refugees
from Croatia are currently residing in FR Yugoslavia, as well as
230.000 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, one can easily
conclude that a mere handful of people returned home" said Mr.
Redmond. He also expressed hope that the repatriation of Serbian
refugees will be much faster adding that a great encouragement in
this sense comes from the recent signing of the Yugoslav - Croatian
agreement on the normalization of relations. The question why the
repatriation of Serbian refugees to Krayina and Western Slavonija
is progressing so slowly has been answered on various occasions by
Ms. Elisabeth Renn - Special UN Reporter on Human Rights in Former
Yugoslavia, and by Mr. Jose Ayala Lasso - UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights. The problem is that Croatia still refuses to allow
a mass return of the Serbs, that it hasn't ensured even minimum
human rights in Krayina, that Serbian homes have mostly been seized
by Croats and that the handful of elderly Serbs that decided to
stay still don't feel safe, and that Serbian property is still
being destroyed and plundered.
(Politika, October 22, 1996)
[07] "FERAL TRIBUNE" ON THE ABUSE OF THE AMNESTY LAW
The very moment it became effective, the new Croatian Law on
General Amnesty was abused- and those that were granted amnesty,
soon ended-up behind bars again - states the Split newspaper
"Feral Tribune". In the general shortage of information on the
arrests of released prisoners, it is only certain that the Karlovac
County Prosecutor - Mr. Dragan Novosel, issued eight arrest
warrants, because of founded suspicion of war crimes - says "Feral
Tribune". The same dissident newspaper stresses that there are no
official data on the number of persons released from prison since
the General Amnesty Law became effective. This makes it impossible
to establish how many of them have been newly arrested, especially
because this is being kept confidential. "Those that make inquiries
in this regard - like Parliament Member Veselin Pejnovic, are
harassed by the Police, and their homes are searched" - says the
same article. The Split newspaper remarks that "all this indicates
that the arrest of the released prisoners is being coordinated by
the top authorities, the key role being played by the Minister of
Justice - Mr. Miroslav Separovic".
(Nasa Borba, October 22, 1996)9
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