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Serbia Today, 96-12-09
CONTENTS
[01] REGIONAL LINKS
[02] THE AGREEMENT HAS BEEN HONORED ONLY PARTIALLY
[03] MEDALS FOR CROATS FROM HERZEGOVINA
[04] 1.2 BILLION DOLLARS FOR RECONSTRUCTION
[05] AIRPORT FOR A NEW JIHAD
[06] TURKISH AID TO THE BOSNIAN MOSLEM ARMY
[07] THE PROBLEMS OF THE REFUGEES SHOULD BE PERMANENTLY SOLVED
[08] NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE YUGOSLAV OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
[09] NOW OBSTACLES FOR MEMBERSHIP
[10] HIGHER STANDARD
[11] MUJAHEDIN FROM THE BOSNIAN WAR
[01] REGIONAL LINKS
A two day symposium entitled "General Agreement and Regional Economic
cooperation" held in the Hungarian town of Debretzin involves government
officials, businessmen and bankers from Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia
and Yugoslavia. The objective of the meeting is to discuss economic and
banking cooperation on the region and the role that ethnic minorities could
play in this type of cooperation.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Tanjug, 1996-12-08
[02] THE AGREEMENT HAS BEEN HONORED ONLY PARTIALLY
Last Saturday, 625 people from the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and
Western Srem visited cemeteries in Croatia to pay tribute to their dear
departed. The visit of the Serbs to the cemeteries in Croatia is part of
previous agreements made by the Serbian and Croatian sides with the
mediation of UNTAES. However, unlike the visit of the Croats that came to
Eastern Slavonia on November 1st, organizational problems have arisen when
the Serbs crossed the border in the other direction. Apart from providing
an insufficient number of busses the Croatian side did not respect the
agreed number of people allowed to visit the cemeteries.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika Ekspres, 1996-12-09
[03] MEDALS FOR CROATS FROM HERZEGOVINA
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman decorated members of the Croatian Defense
Council HQ, including Gen. Tihomir Blaskic, indicted by the Hague Tribunal
for war crimes against Bosnian Moslems. Decorations and medals for taking
part in the "Operation Storm" conducted last August against the Krajina
Serbs have been presented by General Zivko Budimir - Croatian Defense
Council (HVO) Chief of Staff. The decorations and medals awarded to Gen.
Blaskic (in detention in the Hague) have been received in his behalf by his
spouse.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika, 1996-12-09
[04] 1.2 BILLION DOLLARS FOR RECONSTRUCTION
It is very significant that the international community has openly shown
for the first time some interest for the reconstruction of the Region of
Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem, and raised the question of
economic revitalization to an international level. I have, however,
stressed that we do not want only donations but investments as well, since
we are confident that the countries investing capital in the Region would
be more interested in the survival and improving the standard of life of
the people living in the Region", said the head of the Regional government
commenting the major meeting of international donors for the reconstruction
of the Region, held in Zagreb and entitled "The Challenges of
Reconstruction". Addressing the donors, the Chairman of the regional
Government particularly stressed that the return f the refugees, being an
essential part of the peace process must not be unilateral, but rather a
two-way effort. "We can not accept that only Croatians return to the Region,
and that our fellow Serbs can not return to their homes ", said Dr.
Stanimirovic and reminded that some 60.000 Serbian refugees from other
parts of Croatia are now living in the Region, and that they must be given
the possibility to return home.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika, 1996-12-08
[05] AIRPORT FOR A NEW JIHAD
The apparent pacification of the tense relations between the federal
partners in Bosnia has been shaken by the Croatian daily "Slobodna
Dalmacija" with an article accusing the Moslems "of preparing for war in a
increasingly atmosphere in B&H." Quoting British and US sources, as well as
diplomatic circles, the same Split newspaper affirms that the Bosnian army
is quickly and secretly building an airfield in the vicinity of Visoko."
The construction of a super-modern military airport coincides with the
"alarming American analyses, indicating extremely hostile attitude of
Moslems in a number of localities with the tendency to provoke a war
solution in near future. According to "Slobodna Dalmacija", the
controversial project to arm the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina called
"Equip and Train", giving the Bosnian Croats ammunition and helicopters,
and tanks and other armored vehicles to the Moslems: "further complicates
the dire events in the Bosnian Federation". The article further stresses
that as far as the survival of B&H is concerned, hard times are only yet to
come" and warns that the creation of a unitary Moslem state particularly
distresses American circles that have experienced the "boomerang effect"
coming from "Iranian connections" on various occasions.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika Ekspres, 1996-12-09
[06] TURKISH AID TO THE BOSNIAN MOSLEM ARMY
A new group of Moslem-Croatian Federation Army soldiers has arrived in
Turkey, where they will undergo training at the local military academies
and bases. Some 90 Bosnian soldiers and officers have arrived in Ankara and
their training will last three months. This is the third group of Bosnian
Army members that has come to Turkey for training since May. Turkish Army
bases are also used to train Albanians, Azarbeigany, Turkmenians and
soldiers from other Central Asia states that have acquired independence
after the break-up of the former Soviet Union.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Tanjug, 1996-12-08
[07] THE PROBLEMS OF THE REFUGEES SHOULD BE PERMANENTLY SOLVED
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees - Ms. Sadako Ogata will meet in
Zenica (Bosnia) on December 16th with all the key protagonists of the
Working Group for Humanitarian Issues for former Yugoslavia, and present
new proposals for a quicker repatriation of refugees to Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The objective of this fundamentally new plan for repatriation
is to permanently solve the problem of refugees in former Yugoslavia within
the next two years. According to the Dayton Agreement, two basic principles
are applicable to refugees - the right to return home and the right to
choose another place to permanently settle in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A third principle is to be added - the right of the refugees to stay (under
given conditions) in the countries that have given them shelter, which
would require additional financing by the international community.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Borba, 1996-12-09
[08] NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE YUGOSLAV OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
Mr. Dragan Kicanovic - former member of the Yugoslav basketball team - has
been elected Chairman of the Yugoslav Olympic Committee and will replace
current Chairman - Mr. Aleksandar Bakocevic. As a player of the national
team, Mr. Kicanovic won numerous medals in European and World championships
and Olympic games. Having withdrawn from the field, Mr. Kicanovic stayed
active in the world of sports: first as the Serbian Minister of Sports and
then as the Director of the Yugoslav basketball national team.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika, 1996-12-07
[09] NOW OBSTACLES FOR MEMBERSHIP
The letter Federal Premier Radoje Kontic submitted to the International
Monetary Fund represents the last set of documents needed for the renewal
of our country's membership in this international organization. The meeting
of the Directors of the Executive Board, due on December 14th, should
provide an answer - said in an interview for Radio Kragujevac, Mr. Oskar
Kovac - head of the Yugoslav negotiating team with IMF. There are no longer
any financial obstacles for our new membership in the Fund. There are
numerous investors throughout the world that are waiting for us to become
IMF member in order to star the cooperation, added Mr. Kovac.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika Ekspres, 1996-12-09
[10] HIGHER STANDARD
The Serbian Government prepared its economic program for 1997. harmonizing
it with the federal documents and the analogue program adopted by the
Government of Montenegro. The Government will summit to the public and to
the Serbian Parliament a clear concept of ownership transformation, thus
creating the conditions for equal footing relations with rest of the world.
The program has been compiled by an expert team that managed to reconcile
the need for privatization and the national economic heritage. The
stability of prices and that of the exchange rate of the dinar, increase of
exports and production, structural changes and growth of the standard of
living - are the prime objectives of the Serbian economic policy in 1997.
According to the economic policy document, the national product growth
should be 13 per cent, and exports are to be increased by 37 per cent, the
public expenditures being kept below 47,5 per cent of the national product.
The basic economic policy goals are well defined and adapted to the
existing business environment, and they realistically reflect the Serbian
need to quickly revitalize its economy and re-propose it to the global
market - members of the Serbian Cabinet stressed.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika Ekspres, 1996-12-08
[11] MUJAHEDIN FROM THE BOSNIAN WAR
The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) - the most radical organization of the
Algerian Islamic fundamentalists - that its new leader is Sliman Maherzi, a
Mujahedin that first fought in Afghanistan and then in Bosnia - in the
ranks of the Moslem army. His rise to power is being interpreted as a sign
of growing influence in GIA of the Algerian veterans.
Serbia Today, 1996-12-09 ; Politika, 1996-12-09
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