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Serbia Today, 97-03-12
Serbia Today
CONTENTS
[01] MAJOR INCREASE OF EXPORTS
[02] ELECTIONS IN EASTERN SLAVONIJA ON APRIL 13TH
[03] KOTOV: YUGOSLAV BORDERS WILL NOT BE ALTERED
[04] NEW MEDIA LAW ONLY AFTER A PUBLIC DEBATE
[05] LATE CONFESSION BY FORMER US DIPLOMAT
[06] HARASSMENT OF SERBS IN KNIN
[07] REPORTS ON THE PERSECUTION OF SERBS
[08] CROATIA IS THE PRIME THREAT FOR THE DAYTON ACCORDS
[09] UNCONVINCING AND ILLOGICAL INDICTMENTS
[10] THE DRAFT LAW ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE FRY-RS AGREEMENT APPROVED
[11] DEMACI REJECTS OSCE STANDS
[12] SERBIAN NATIONAL TREASURE
[01] MAJOR INCREASE OF EXPORTS
"In the first two months of this year, Yugoslav exports have grown 48,9%
compared to the same period last year. Foreign trade deficit persists, but
it is due to the fact that our industry depends upon imported raw materials
and components - representing two thirds of our imports. Bearing in mind
the planned 42.3% increase of exports in 1997 and the import growth by 20,1
per cent, then the current trends in our foreign trade can bee deemed
satisfactory", said Mr. Milovan Zivkovic, Director of the Federal
Statistics Institute. The overall volume of Yugoslav foreign trade in the
first two months reached 917 million dollars. The deficit amounts to 351
million dollars, which was to be expected according to Mr. Zivkovic,
because after the lifting of the international embargo the national economy
had to re-stock raw materials for industrial production.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Borba, 1997-03-12
[02] ELECTIONS IN EASTERN SLAVONIJA ON APRIL 13TH
The UN Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonija - Gen. Jacques
Klein, confirmed yesterday that elections in the region will take place on
April 13th, along with the elections in the other parts of Croatia. He
specified that the Region includes 30 counties and that the recently
established county border are in accordance with the Serbian demands,
although the counties of Tenja and Mirkovci will enjoy a one year
transitional status as part of the, and that they will then become suburbs
of the towns of Osijek and Vinkovci - respectfully. Gen. Klein said that
there are 106.999 voters in the region, that 84.000 applications for
Croatian documents have been submitted, and that 68.000 ID cards have been
issued until now. The deadline for the registration of voters is March 25th,
and the registration of candidates and political parties opened today. The
lists of voters will include all those that lived in the region before 1991,
provided that they have Croatian documents, as well as people that came
here from other parts of Croatia before January 15th 1996, i.e. before the
beginning of the UNTAES mandate, but expressed the desire to vote in their
previous place of residence.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Politika, 1997-03-12
[03] KOTOV: YUGOSLAV BORDERS WILL NOT BE ALTERED
Russian Federation Ambassador to FR Yugoslavia - H.E. Yuri Michailovich
Kotov and the Embassy First Secretary Oleg Levitin talked yesterday in
Pristina with the Superintendent of the Kosovo County - Mr. Milos Neskovic
and provincial Secretary of Information - Mr. Bosko Drobnjak. Ambassador
Kotov stressed that the international community and his country believe
that "a change of borders in the Balkans, and especially in Yugoslavia,
can't and must not occur." He also underscored that "the position of
certain western countries based on the use of the outer wall of sanctions
in the solution of the Kosovo and Metohija issue can not be taken into
consideration", adding that all problems must and will be settled through
dialogue and consensus with the Yugoslav Constitution framework.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-03-12
[04] NEW MEDIA LAW ONLY AFTER A PUBLIC DEBATE
Serbian Minister of Information Ms. Radmila Milentijevic received yesterday
the Czech Ambassador to Yugoslavia - H.E. Ivan Busniak. During the meeting
the traditional Serbian Czech friendship has been stressed, and the need to
further improve it and the cooperation in all fields. Responding to the
interest displayed by the Czech Ambassador regarding the new draft law on
public information, Ms. Milentijevic stated that after the presentation of
the first draft version, a forum will be formed to include parliamentary
parties, experts, representatives of the press, universities, institutes,
ethnic minorities and illustrious personalities. After the public debate
within the forum and the harmonization of stands, the new law will be
passed. As a state body, the Ministry of information has given the people
of Serbia a platform that will allow them to become constructively involved
in the dialogue and contribute to the final formulation of the draft law,
Minister Milentijevic said.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Politika, 1997-03-12
[05] LATE CONFESSION BY FORMER US DIPLOMAT
Former State Department official George Kenny, who insisted five years ago
that the US should bomb Bosnian Serbs and strategic objectives in Serbia,
recently stated in Bonn that the US - under German influence - made a big
mistake in recognizing two secessionist republics: Slovenia and Croatia.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Kenny literally said that the premature
recognition of Croatia and Slovenia - something that Germany persistently
insisted on - boosted the crisis in former Yugoslavia. Formerly a State
Department "falcon", changed opinion an bluntly stated that his country
also had a erroneous approach in the Bosnian conflict, because crucial
decisions were made under the pressure of partial media, and were not based
on the real state of things in this former Yugoslav republic. Instead of
helping mitigate the war in Bosnia, right when it started, the American
Administration - says Mr. Kenny - became deeply involved in the conflict
because government officials primarily paid attention to the position of
powerful media. This is just another of the revelations made by prominent
foreign protagonists of the crisis in former Yugoslavia. Once they stepped
down from office, Lord Carrington and Lord Owen, accused the US and its
allies of committing "major mistakes" at the time of the break-up of
Yugoslavia, which led to the Yugoslav tragedy - like Mr. Kenny affirmed.
The obstinacy of government officials in Washington and several other
western capitals, is sill quite alarming, because they maintain their
stereotyped vision of "good" and "bad" sides in the Yugoslav conflict,
reserving all negative connotations for the Serbian side.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Politika, 1997-03-12
[06] HARASSMENT OF SERBS IN KNIN
Mr. Jens Sorensen - Member of the OSCE Mission in Croatia - stated that
even though a year has passed since "Operation Storm", Croatian authorities
did not create a safe atmosphere in the zone of Knin, and that the
robberies and harassment continue. In an interview for the "Novi List"
daily, published in Rijeka, Mr. Sorensen provided data gathered by the OSCE
regional office in Knin, indicating that only 770 Serbian refugees returned
there. He also added that even if the Serbs now living in Eastern Slavonija
were to return to Knin, tensions are to be expected because their homes
have been usurped by Croats that fled from Banjaluka and the Bosnian
Federation - some 10-12 thousand in the Knin area. Commenting the attitude
of Croatian authorities regarding international organizations, Mr. Sorensen
stated that even though OSCE opened its regional office in Knin six months
ago, the Croatian Government official in charge of the region did not
officially receive office representatives.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Politika, 1997-03-12
[07] REPORTS ON THE PERSECUTION OF SERBS
Two reports on the breach of human rights in Croatia have been verified as
official documents for the debate at the 53rd annual session of the UN
Human Rights Committee in Geneva. The first document is the report prepared
by the UN Special Reporter for Human Rights in former Yugoslavia - Ms.
Elisabeth Wren, and the second is the report drawn by UN Secretary General
Koffi Annan. Both documents insist with the Zagreb government to take
concrete measures in preventing the violence against Serbs, i.e. breaches
of international humanitarian law. Still, both reports affirm that "certain
progress has been made" in Krayina, but that numerous reasons for concern
remain, because the harassment of Serbs continues, as well as the robberies
and physical maltreatment. It is particularly alarming that the Croatian
Police is involved in flagrant breaches of human rights. Lately, there have
been numerous speculations about the number of Serbian refugees that want
to return to Croatia, to that they are very few of them, whilst 90%
allegedly would prefer to stay in Yugoslavia. In this regard, the Secretary
General reminds that only 10 per cent of the 337.000 Serbian refugees in FR
Yugoslavia stated the desire to immediately return to Krayina, but also
remarks that a far greater number would be ready to return home provided
they are warranted personal safety and economic security.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-12
[08] CROATIA IS THE PRIME THREAT FOR THE DAYTON ACCORDS
Former US Mediator for former Yugoslavia - Mr. Richard Holbrooke stated
that Croatia constitutes the major threat for the Dayton Accords. In a
statement for the Italian daily "Corriere della Sera", quoted by "Novi
List" ( Croatian newspaper published in Rijeka), Mr. Holbrooke observed
that Zagreb has major influence over the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and that Bosnian Federation territories inhabited by Croats might very
easily pass under Croatian control. Mr. Holbrooke stressed that the Croatia
territories within the Bosnian Federation are already tied to Croatia -
both monetarily and transport-wise, that they have the same telephone
network - which represents a major problem.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Nasa Borba, 1997-03-12
[09] UNCONVINCING AND ILLOGICAL INDICTMENTS
Mr. Gojko Klickovic - Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska addressed a
letter to the Chief Prosecutor of the Hague tribunal - Ms. Luise Arbour, in
which he expresses his disappointment regarding certain parts of the
indictment against Zejnil Delalic, Hazim Delic, Esad Landzo and Zdravko
Mucic, accused of war crimes against Serbs held at the Celebici camp. The
only indictment against perpetrators of crimes against Serbs does not
contain the legal qualification of crime against humanity, and the
qualification that the crimes were committed during the "international
conflict and partial occupation" is quite "unconvincing and illogical" -
says Mr. Klickovic in his letter. Since the indictment does not specify who
were the occupation forces, ample space is left to use analogy and
association of indictments in reaching the "conclusion" that "Serbs
occupied the Konjic County - where they were arrested and murdered as an
ethnic minority", says Mr. Klickovic. He also deems unacceptable the
tendency of the tribunal to make a percentage evaluation of crimes on all
three sides in Bosnia and Herzegovina and warns that the Hague Court should
"consider only crimes that actually occurred and their perpetrators." "The
initial position of the Court - that the Serbs committed 80% of the crimes
in the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, constitutes a politically
imposed stand and a collective imputation against the entire Serbian people,
which has no grounds. The rare indictments for crimes against Serbs - in
spite of the fact that ample evidence on numerous such crimes and
perpetrators have been submitted to the Hague tribunal - minimize Croatian
and Moslem crimes and lead us to believe that the Court has been set up to
prosecute only Serbs", remarks in his letter the Prime Minister of the
Republic of Srpska. He also reminds that the CIA report published by the
New York Times and quoted by the Resolution of the UN Commission for Human
Rights, indicates that 90% of the crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina were
committed by the Serbs, and concludes: "Accepting an intelligence agency
report on the percentages of indictments that are to be raised, represents
a specific political assignment carried out by the tribunal and thus
proving that it is neither independent nor impartial."
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Nasa Borba, 1997-03-12
[10] THE DRAFT LAW ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE FRY-RS AGREEMENT APPROVED
At its session held yesterday the Government of the Republic of Srpska
approved the draft Law on the Ratification of the Agreement on Special and
Parallel Ties between FR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Srpska signed on
February 28th in Belgrade. RS Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic stated after
the cabinet session that the enhancement of cooperation with Yugoslavia is
indispensable to the economic prosperity of the Republic of Srpska, adding
that the ratification of the document is completely within the domain of
RS. Today, the RS government will convene again to appoint officials
heading various groups that will cooperate with the Government of FRY in
agriculture, industry, trade, customs, and payments.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Ekspres, 1997-03-12
[11] DEMACI REJECTS OSCE STANDS
Mr. Adem Demaci - Chairman of the Kosovo Parliamentary Party informed Mr.
Max Van der Stoole - Personal Envoy for Kosovo of the OSCE Chairman - that
ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija can not accept the stands and
suggestions put forth by this organization. In his letter, Mr. Demaci says
that OSCE has been treating ethnic Albanians in Kos-Met as a national
minority and that it has accepted "the Serbian aggression on Kosovo."
Demaci also states that the question of Kosovo has not been discussed at
the peace conferences at the Hague, in London and in Dayton and adds that
OSCE has accepted the position that Kosovo is an internal problem for
Serbia which can be settled by granting autonomy to the Province. Kosovo
did not take part in the creation of the new federation of Serbia and
Montenegro, Demaci says, adding that "a nation can not be an internal issue
of another nation." Besides opposing the coordinated position the entire
international community assumed regarding Kosovo - namely that the problems
are to be settled as a Yugoslav and Serbian internal affair, Demaci denies
historical facts as well. For example, he insists that Kosovo was not part
of Serbia at the time its independence was proclaimed at the Berlin
Congress in 1878, nor at the time that Yugoslavia was being shaped after
World War II. He seems to have forgotten the historical truth that Kosovo
has always been part of the Serbian state - being separated from it only
during World War II when it was occupied by fascist Italy and annexed to
Albania which was occupied by the same Axis power.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-03-12
[12] SERBIAN NATIONAL TREASURE
The 15th volume of the dictionary of Serbian folk and literary language
prepared by the SANU Language Institute has been promoted yesterday at the
Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences (SANU). Speaking about the essence and
purpose of this fundamental work in our culture, Academician Pavle Ivic
remarked that "the history of delays and obstruction on the dictionary is
well known since it reflected all the crises that our nation faced in the
20th century. This was a cruel century that made our people shoulder
numerous tragedies." The Dictionary - initiated by the brave vision of
Stojan Novakovic during the first years of rule of King Aleksandar
Obrenovic - like all similar works, demanded decades of devoted work by
numerous individuals and many generations of experts. Pavle Ivic also
stressed that the Dictionary constitutes a capital work and one of the most
comprehensive and unabridged dictionaries in the world. However, the 15th
volume marks the midway of the planned edition.
Serbia Today, 1997-03-12 ; Borba, 1997-03-12
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