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Serbia Today, 97-02-19
Serbia Today
CONTENTS
[01] YA COMBAT READINESS PRAISED DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONS WITH CROATIA
SUPPORTED
[02] CATHOLIC CEMETERY DEMOLISHED
[03] SERBIAN HOUSES IN PRIJEDOR AND GLAMOC IN FLAMES
[04] IZETBEGOVIC TRIAL CONTINUES
[05] CROATIA WILL NOT CARRY OUT THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL REQUEST
[06] WAITING FOR A RESPONSE FROM ZAGREB
[07] CONSTANT INTERNATIONAL MONITORING INDISPENSABLE
[08] THE SERBS SHOULD STAY
[09] LOANS FOR ENERGY SAVING PROJECTS
[10] YUGOSLAVIA MUST BE FULLY INTEGRATED INTO INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES
[01] YA COMBAT READINESS PRAISED DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONS WITH CROATIA
SUPPORTED
At the session of the Yugoslav Supreme Defense Council, held yesterday and
chaired by Mr. Zoran Lilic - President of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, the combat readiness of the Yugoslav Army units and
institutions has been discussed and analyzed and its members praised for
shouldering enormous difficulties together with the rest of the nation. The
Council also discussed the financing of the Yugoslav Army and reached the
conclusion that this year stable financing of the Army and other national
defense functions must be ensured. (Borba, February 19, 1997)
At the session held yesterday and presided by Prime Minister Radoje Kontic,
the Federal Government defined the platform for the talks that Federal
Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic will have with Croatian Deputy Premier
and Foreign Minister - Mr. Mate Granic, coming to Belgrade on February 19,
for a return visit. The Milutinovic - Granic talks in Belgrade reaffirm the
Yugoslav determination and readiness to develop relations with Croatia in
accordance with the Agreement on the normalization of relations between the
two countries. By enhancing these relations, Yugoslavia contributes to the
positive evolution of the situation in former Yugoslavia, and thus also
strengthens peace, stability and neighborly relations in the region. The
encounter of the two foreign ministers will also provide an opportunity to
stress to the Croatian side the necessity to coherently implement the Erdut
agreement and ensure the legitimate rights and status of the Serbs in the
Srem-Baranja Region.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Borba, 1997-02-19
[02] CATHOLIC CEMETERY DEMOLISHED
Croatian Radio reported yesterday that Islamic fundamentalists demolished
the Catholic cemetery in the zone of Zenica, causing much fear and protests
among the local Croats. New slogans "Ustashas, move out - this is Moslem
land" have been discovered on the walls of Croatian houses, making the
Moslem pressure on the local Croats practically unbearable - states the
same source. All the demands for personal safety and protection of their
property made by Croatian representatives have been ignored by the Moslem
cantonal authorities in Zenica. Member of the international institution for
the protection of human rights - ombudsman Branka Raguz, stated that the
events in Mostar provoked retaliations throughout the Moslem-Croatian
Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The situation in Mostar is still very
tense. Last week 28 Moslem families have been chased out from the western
(Croatian) part of Mostar. 23 have now returned but live in fear of a new
exile since they have received anonymous threats. During their one week
exile in the eastern part of Mostar, their houses and apartments have been
completely plundered. Yesterday, a Croatian family has been run out of the
Moslem part of Mostar.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Politika, 1997-02-19
[03] SERBIAN HOUSES IN PRIJEDOR AND GLAMOC IN FLAMES
Mr. Alun Roberts - spokesperson of the International Police Forces - stated
at a press conference held yesterday in Banjaluka that "every few days
several Serbian houses are set fire to and razed to the ground in Glamoc
and Prijedor". The destruction of these buildings - Mr. Roberts stressed -
is linked to the announced return of the Serbs that lived in these
localities. Underlining the excellent cooperation with the Serbian Police
conducting the investigation, Mr. Roberts mentioned a particularly serious
incident in Travnik when a 65 year-old man was killed and a little girl was
wounded - both of them Croatian. Mr. Roberts provided no concrete
information about the death of Cvijo Radic, a Serb whose body (his throat
was slit) was discovered floating down the river Una, after he had gone for
a visit to the town of Bihac.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Vecernje novosti, 1997-02-19
[04] IZETBEGOVIC TRIAL CONTINUES
Yesterday, the Banjaluka Court - presided by Judge Dragica Glusac,
continued the hearing in the trial against Bosnian Moslem leader Alija
Izetbegovic, charged of war crimes against civilians, wounded, sick people
and war prisoners. One of the most horrifying testimonies was given by
Branislav Dukic, a Serb from the village of Hrasnica (near Sarajevo) that
spent 702 days in solitary in the ill-famed Moslem prisons of Silos (near
Tarcin) and in the "Viktor Bubanj" garrison in Sarajevo. He was originally
arrested and charged for alleged attempted attacks on the leaders of the
Moslem Democratic Action Party, for collaboration with members of the
Russian UNPROFOR battalion and for contacts with BBC reporters. During the
imprisonment Dukic was monstrously tortured every day and lost 38
kilograms. The Court has heard 38 of the 297 witnesses summoned by the
prosecution.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Ekspres, 1997-02-19
[05] CROATIA WILL NOT CARRY OUT THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL REQUEST
Yesterday, Croatia officially refused request of the International Criminal
Court for War Crimes to turn over evidence relevant for the case against
general Tihomir Blaskic, accused of crimes of war in central Bosnia. The
Hague tribunal asked Croatia and Croatian Minister of Defense - Gojko Susak,
to submit these documents or that Mr. Susak appears before the Court on
February 19 to personally explain why they have been withheld. "The
Croatian Government believes that the Court request addressed to the
Republic of Croatia and its officials is impudent", states the Croatian
Government communiquE9.
UN Spokesman in Sarajevo - Mr. Aleksandar Ivanko stated that Bosnian
Federation Defense Minister Ante Jelavic and Croatian Defense Minister
Gojko Susak have been given a deadline (today at 14.00 hours) to submit the
requested documents regarding general Blaskic's case to the Hague Court.
Should the fail to comply the court session at the Hague will begin as
scheduled - said Mr. Ivanko.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Politika, 1997-02-19
[06] WAITING FOR A RESPONSE FROM ZAGREB
Dr. Vojislav Stanimirovic - Chairman of the Executive Council of the
Serbian Region of Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem - stated that
within a few days Zagreb should give its answer to the Serbian demands
concerning the modification of the territorial arrangement of the Region
after its reintegration with Croatia. This demand has been raised two days
ago in Zagreb during the meeting with Croatian President Tudjman. According
to the Croatian proposal, the existing five Serbian municipalities are to
be divided in 20 new ones, where Serbs would be a minority. "During the
talks with President Tudjman we reiterated that one integrated Serbian
County would be the best solution, but should this be unacceptable for
Croatia and the international community, a union of Serbian municipalities
might also be a solution", clarified Dr. Stanimirovic. Due to the constant
threat of future atomization of the Region, the local Serbs feel quite
insecure, and they continue to emigrate.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Vecernje novosti, 1997-02-19
[07] CONSTANT INTERNATIONAL MONITORING INDISPENSABLE
Special UN Reporter for Human Rights - Ms. Elisabeth Renn - who has been
touring the Srem-Baranja Region for three days now, stressed at a press
conference held yesterday at the UNTAES headquarters in Vukovar, that in
the past several weeks numerous Serbian families have been leaving the
region fearing for their personal safety after the departure of UNTAES. "It
is therefore highly important to quickly adopt an international plan on
international monitoring in the region after the withdrawal of UNTAES
forces, including a given military presence. It is also important to ensure
a strong presence of a large number of UN military monitors, and to find
solutions for international supervision of Croatian Army and Police that
will start to enter the region. This should also be done so that the people
that stay here shall not feel abandoned and unprotected by external forces",
Ms. Renn said. Stressing that the question of Croatian personal documents
is still "touchy", because different criteria are applied to people
applying for documents, Ms. Renn remarked: "It is unacceptable for me that
members of the same family be treated differently, to the point that one
ore more members of a family are granted documents, and the others are not.
This is in contrast with logic and human rights criteria." Asked about the
protests in Vukovar - which started two weeks ago, Ms. Renn said that these
are "very peaceful demonstrations", that these people have their reasons
for protesting and that "... we should consider the causes of their
protest."
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Vecernje novosti, 1997-02-19
[08] THE SERBS SHOULD STAY
Ms. Margit Savovic - Federal Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Federal
Committee for Relations with Religious Communities, received yesterday a
delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by His Grace Jovan -
Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana and Italy. In the talks about the use of
religious rights of Orthodox believers living in Croatia and Slovenia, and
about the collection of humanitarian aid and donations for refugees in
Yugoslavia, His Grace Jovan offered a personal testimony about the dire
events in Croatia after the exodus of the Serbian people. "The Serbs fled
leaving behind deserted villages and churches where no human voice is heard
any more. Not even animals nor birds - just silence" - the Metropolitan
said. Speaking about the threats to religious freedoms - especially in
Croatia - His Grace Jovan stated that, numerous mixed marriage families
submitted demands to change their faith and become Catholics. He also added
that he discussed this problem with President Tudjman and Cardinal Kuharic
because this problem does not exist in Slovenia or Italy. During the
meeting it has been stressed that the state and the Church must unite their
efforts to allow the Serbian population to stay on their homesteads and to
provide extensive guarantees for all their rights in the Srem Baranja
Region.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Borba, 1997-02-19
[09] LOANS FOR ENERGY SAVING PROJECTS
The Serbian Government Council for rational use of energy resources, will
imminently begin to allocate budget funding in form of favorable loans to
companies that have been chosen at a recent public competition. In fact, a
meeting was held yesterday at the Serbian Government building and 74
companies with different forms of ownership signed a document on the use of
such financing. Several scientific institutions are among them. Stressing
that the Government will monitor the savings effects in individual micro-
localities, Dr. Milun Babic, Council Chairman and member of the Serbian
Cabinet - offered a number of examples of such projects - construction of
micro-hydroelectric power plants, use of alternative energy sources, the
construction of corn drying plants using agricultural waste as fuel.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Politika, 1997-02-19
[10] YUGOSLAVIA MUST BE FULLY INTEGRATED INTO INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES
Russia will categorically oppose the "anti-Serbian syndrome" present in
western foreign policy - said First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian
Federation - Mr. Igor Ivanov. "Yugoslavia has to be fully integrated into
international structures as a sovereign and independent state", said Mr.
Ivanov in an interview for INTERFAX news agency. He particularly stressed
that the "outer wall of" sanctions, introduced unilaterally by the West
against Yugoslavia, by blocking its access to international financial and
economic organizations, is not corroborated by any of the UN Security
Council resolutions. Russia firmly opposes such policy, stressed Mr. Ivanov
newly endorsing full Yugoslav membership in OSCE. In his opinion this would
augment Yugoslav obligations, but also improve cooperation in resolving
specific issues.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-19 ; Politika, 1997-02-19
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