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Serbia Today, 97-01-13
Serbia Today
CONTENTS
[01] STRENGTHENING STABILITY AND TRUST AMONG NATIONS AND STATES
[02] BRCKO IS A CRUCIAL ISSUE FOR THE SERBS
[03] CIA MONITORING IZETBEGOVIC
[04] FORGERIES ON JASENOVAC CONTINUE
[05] A CLASSICAL TRAP FOR THE SERBS
[06] A NEW STAGE IN THE YUGOSLAV-ISRAELI RELATIONS
[07] CHINESE VIEWS REGARDING THE INVOLVEMENT OF FRY IN THE INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
[08] STABLE, PEACEFUL AND PROGRESSIVE YUGOSLAV POLICY HAS THE GREATEST
IMPORTANCE FOR GREECE
[01] STRENGTHENING STABILITY AND TRUST AMONG NATIONS AND STATES
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic received Greek Foreign Minister
Theodoros Pangalos, who is currently visiting Belgrade as a guest of his
Yugoslav colleague Milan Milutinovic. During a cordial and friendly
conversation, opinions have been exchanged about the current situation and
about the most important issues influencing the successful evolution of
bilateral relations and the joint efforts to strengthen stability and trust
among states and nations in the region. It has been jointly stressed that
issues concerning the internal development of every country should be
settled within the framework of their legal institutions and that the
harmonious development of every country is in the best interest of all that
pursue stable and prosperous relations between states and peoples, based on
partnership, equality and non-involvement in internal affairs of others. FR
Yugoslavia and its peoples are endorsing such relations with Greece and its
people, offering an example and an important contribution to the creation
of a better future.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Politika, 1997-01-13
[02] BRCKO IS A CRUCIAL ISSUE FOR THE SERBS
Reacting to the escalation of the controversies concerning the town of
Brcko, the Presidency of the Serbian Intellectual Forum addressed an open
letter to the political parties in the republic of Srpska and the Bosnian
Federation, to the members of the Bosnian Presidency, the Co-Chairmen of
the Ministerial Council and to Mr. Karl Bildt. The letter stresses that "in
the spirit of the Dayton Document, all open questions can be settled and
lasting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved". The same letter warns
that even though a year of peace has gone by, "the phraseology and the
rhetoric of the period that preceded the war" are being used once again for
the Brcko controversy. The same document stresses that "the hard-line
attitude pursued by the Moslem leadership, inciting dangerous tension with
exclusive statements" is particularly alarming, especially because these
same politicians are well aware that "the Dayton Agreement defines Brcko as
part of the Republic of Srpska territory". The letter underscores the fact
that the Republic of Srpska is entitled to an integrated territory, that
the town of Brcko has crucial importance for the Serbian people in Bosnia
and that pressures to turn it over to the Federation would lead to a new
war and consequent suffering of all three peoples in Bosnia.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Politika, 1997-01-11
[03] CIA MONITORING IZETBEGOVIC
The Croatian pro-government daily "Vjesnik" published an article yesterday
revealing that last September, Iranian representatives gave half a million
dollars to Alija Izetbegovic for his Democratic Action Party (SDA)elections
campaign. The same newspaper indicates that the secret transaction -
symbolically dubbed "charity donation" - was monitored by the Americans,
i.e. the CIA, through agents operating in the immediate vicinity of
Izetbegovic and other SDA leaders. The CIA took care to reveal this fact
only now that this favors American interests - remarks "Vjesnik". The
Zagreb daily reminds that Iranians appeared in Bosnia back in 1992,
magnanimously dispensing humanitarian aid. Iran also achieved something
that seemed impossible until then: at the end of 1993 and throughout 1994,
with the permission of Croatia as a transit country, and the tacit consent
of the United States, the Bosnian Moslem Army was supplied with sufficient
quantities of arms and ammunition from Iran, allowing the subsequent change
the of balance of forces in Bosnia in favor of the Moslems. It would be
unrealistic to expect that Izetbegovic might easily forget this aid, says
the "Vjesnik" article and underscores that in spite of the strong American
pressure and the numerous conditions set by the Dayton Agreement, SDA and
the ruling circles around Izetbegovic (even after he leaves the political
scene) will not completely sever the relations with Iran.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Ekspres Politika, 1997-01-13
[04] FORGERIES ON JASENOVAC CONTINUE
In an attempt to minimize as much as possible the crimes committed by
Croatian fascists and the Ustasha-ruled Nazi puppet state of NDH
(Independent State of Croatia), those that feel nostalgic about it in
present-day Croatia are insisting on the symbolism of the Jasenovac
concentration camp, obviously believing that if they question this crucial
crime of Croatian fascists everything else will be forgotten more easily.
And whilst the entire modern European and global civilizations are based on
clear anti-fascist orientation, and prosecute those that use or advocate
the fascist tradition or symbols, in the past several years thousands of
monuments erected in memory of the anti-fascist struggle have been
demolished and replaced by numerous monuments bearing Ustasha insignia;
declared and well-known followers of Ustashi and NDH are being given
regular Croatian Army ranks, and war criminal Ante Pavelic - the Croatian
"Furher" - is been celebrated with public mass. Obviously, if all this is
permitted, the desecration of Jasenovac - the most terrible Ustasha
extermination camp for Serbs, Jews and Gypsies - comes as no surprise. The
latest efforts in this sense are based on statements that the Ustasha camp
(destroyed at the beginning of 1945, mostly by Ustashas in an attempt to
eliminate traces of their horrendous crimes) operated for several more
years as a "communist camp for the extermination of Croats". This unfounded
and morbid thesis - launched rather recently when Mr. Franjo Tudjman
announced his plans for the re-modeling of the Jasenovac Memorial - is
probably best denied by the fact that none of the Allied delegations that
passed through the area after the war, saw any kind of "communist camp".
Mr. Slavko Goldstein - a renowned intellectual, writer and publisher from
Zagreb - was the first to dare stand up against such forgeries of history,
and was consequently attacked by the regime daily "Vjesnik". Mr. Goldstein
is accused of not having offered any evidence that the "ghost" camp did not
exist. In making these accusations "Vjesnik" disregards the fact that no
such evidence exists.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Politika, 1997-01-13
[05] A CLASSICAL TRAP FOR THE SERBS
The Serbian People's Party in Zagreb stresses that the Croatian
"memorandum" offered to the Serbs in Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western
Srem, infringes the UN Resolution and is not consequential to the Erdut
Agreement. The statement released by the same party stresses that the
content of the document is a "classical trap" promoting the well-known
scenario according to which "all possible rights" are granted to the Serbs
in Croatia, but then all is done to force them "to leave their homesteads".
The objective of the document in question is to complete the ethnic
cleansing of the Serbian population in Croatian and therefore the Serbian
People's Party refuses it. According to Party representative Mr. Milan
Djukic, the Serbs in Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem want a county as a
territorial entity and 13 deputies in the House of Representatives of the
Croatian Parliament - because they are entitled to that many according to
the Constitution. The "memorandum" suggests only 3 deputies and this is why
the Serbian electorate should be calculated according to the 1991. Mr.
Djukic also warned that the "memorandum" also doesn't mention the right of
the Croatian citizens - Serbs that have temporarily fled to FR Yugoslavia -
to vote for their Parliament representatives in the localities they lived
in until 1991.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Politika, 1997-01-11
[06] A NEW STAGE IN THE YUGOSLAV-ISRAELI RELATIONS
The arrival in Belgrade of the new Israeli Ambassador to Yugoslavia - Mr.
David Sason, marks the beginning of a new stage of relations between Israel
and Yugoslavia - said Mr. Aca Singer - President of the League of Jewish
Communities in Yugoslavia. He also reminded that the diplomatic relations
were severed three decades ago by unilateral decision of former Yugoslavia,
and added that this was a "tragic mistake", especially because Yugoslavia
was one of the first countries that recognized the state of Israel in 1948.
The new authorities in FR Yugoslavia made a wise move, and this will help
intensify the economic relations between the two countries - Mr. Singer
observed. He also stated that the peoples of Israel and Yugoslavia have
deep respect for each other and that they have a deeply rooted conviction
that they suffered a similar fate from the same enemy during World War Two.
A feeling of friendship towards the peoples living in this country is
harbored by Israelis throughout the world because they are aware that in
Yugoslavia great tolerance for the Jews always existed - added Mr. Singer.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Vecernje novosti, 1997-01-13
[07] CHINESE VIEWS REGARDING THE INVOLVEMENT OF FRY IN THE INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
One of the top priorities of the Yugoslav Government in 1997, is to bring
back its country into the international organizations and to carry out
coherently the economic development policy - stresses the commentary
diffused today by the Chinese news agency Hsinhua. In accordance with the
official Chinese stand that due to its peaceful policy Yugoslavia deserves
to be readmitted to all international organizations as soon as possible,
the same agency points out that this is particularly important for the
revitalization of the Yugoslav national economy weakened by the
international embargo. In a commentary authored by its Belgrade
correspondent the China Daily offers a review of the efforts made by the
Yugoslav authorities and people to secure the recognition of other states
and of the fact that FR Yugoslavia is the successor of former Yugoslavia.
China never had any dilemmas in this regard, and it has coherently endorsed
and supported the Yugoslav efforts for the lifting of the sanctions and the
re-admission of the country into the global economic and political flows.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Borba, 1997-01-11
[08] STABLE, PEACEFUL AND PROGRESSIVE YUGOSLAV POLICY HAS THE GREATEST
IMPORTANCE FOR GREECE
Stressing his satisfaction for the visit that Greek Foreign Minister
Theodoros Pangalos is paying our country, Federal Foreign Minister Milan
Milutinovic stressed that it is "part of a regular exchange of opinions,
primarily concerning further enhancement of our - already good - bilateral
relations." He also added: "We have agreed that the political dialogue
should be intensified on all levels in order to strengthen the tradition of
friendly relations." The two foreign ministers remarked that since they
have last met, progress has been made in important spheres of cooperation.
Full mutual consent has been expressed regarding the importance of FR
Yugoslavia in stabilizing and promoting the peace process in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and for the overall situation in the region and Europe. "I
would like to take this opportunity to stress once again the constructive
role played by Greece and its efforts for the settlement of all questions
in accordance with democratic principles, as well as the support it has
given for the full participation of FRY in the OSCE activities and a
quicker enhancement of the relations with the European Union", said
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milutinovic. "For Greece, and the other Balkan
states, it is extremely important to have a stable, peaceful and prosperous
Yugoslavia as our neighbor. In Greece we believe that such a Serbia and
such a present-day Yugoslavia, are of our utmost interest. This is not
merely a political interest, but a material, economic one as well", said
the Greek Foreign Minister at the joint press conference.
Serbia Today, 1997-01-13 ; Borba, 1997-01-13
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