Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-10
From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>
Jun 10, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW
CONTENTS
[01] BOSNIAN CROATS WANT TO SECEDE FROM FEDERATION
[02] HUNGARIAN DAILY: BOSNIA'S ALL THREE PEOPLES ORGANISED ON ETHNIC BASIS
[03] BELGRADE DAILY SAYS SERBS IN SLOVENIA ARE NOT EVEN NATIONAL MINORITY
[04] LONG-STANDING FRIENDSHIP BINDS GREECE, YUGOSLAVIA TOGETHER
[05] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA IS COMMITTED TO DAYTON ACCORD, SAYS PLAVSIC
[06] ENVIRONMENT ALTERS IN NATO-BOMBARDED REGIONS OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
[07] OSCE HEAD FLAVIO COTTI DEFIES U.S.
[08] TENSIONS RUN HIGH ALONG ETHNIC LINES IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA
[09] DISARMAMENT AGREEMENT FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA WILL BE SIGNED ON TUESDAY
[01] BOSNIAN CROATS WANT TO SECEDE FROM FEDERATION
belgrade, june 10 (tanjug) - top officials of the bosnian croat
republic of herceg-bosna have begun to openly propagate the division
of bosnia into three parts, radio free europe reported late sunday.
bosnian croat leaders say that this will become evident already
at local elections in mostar later in the month. bosnian croats want
mostar to be the capital of herceg-bosna, proclaimed at the outbreak
of civil war in bosnia-herzegovina in early 1992.
the radio's sarajevo-based correspondent said herceg-bosna had
strengthened some of its state elements, instead of abolishing them
as stipulated by the dayton peace accords for bosnia-herzegovina.
vice-president of the union of bosnian social democrats sejfudin
tokic told the radio that separatist tendencies in herceg-bosna and
public requests that it be attached to neighbouring croatia created
an atmosphere very much alike to that preceding the outbreak of
clashes between croats and moslems in late 1992.
tokic said it was nearer to the truth to say that the dayton
accords provisions referring to the moslem-croat federation were
being disregarded than complied with.
bosnian croats and moslems fought fierce battles for control of
territories with mixed population in central and southern
bosnia-herzegovina throughout 1993.
the hostilities ended in march 1994, when they bowed to u.s.
pressure and signed an agreement to set up a binational federation in
bosnia-herzegovina.
radio free europe said relations between the federation partners
had reached a critical point, which it said was reflected also in
their inability to reach agreement on law on a joint federation army.
[02] HUNGARIAN DAILY: BOSNIA'S ALL THREE PEOPLES ORGANISED ON ETHNIC BASIS
budapest, june 10 (tanjug) - all three peoples in bosnia have
been organised on ethnic basis since 1990, the hungarian daily
nepszabadsag reported on monday.
consequently, it is wrong to believe that supporters of a single
bosnia would get the upper hand if bosnian serb leaders radovan
karadzic and general ratko mladic were removed from power, the
paper's leading international politics commentator endre aczel said.
separatism prevailed in bosnia-herzegovina even before the world
new about karadzic or before gen. mladic arrived in its territory,
the paper said.
after the disintegration of titoist yugoslavia, a multiethnic
parliament was set up in bosnia-herzegovina that did not take a
single decision after 18 months of activity, because one of the
parties would always block decisions, the daily said.
moreoever, the war deepened antagonism among moslems, croats and
serbs to the extreme, the paper said.
nepszabadsag said september's elections in bosnia-herzegovina
would doubtless be free and democratic, but said moslems would vote
for moslem candidates, croats for the croat and serbs for the serb.
the paper said those who thought that liberal tendencies would
prevail in bosnia-herzegovina if karadzic and mladic were removed
from its political scene lived in a fool's paradise.
[03] BELGRADE DAILY SAYS SERBS IN SLOVENIA ARE NOT EVEN NATIONAL MINORITY
belgrade, june 10 (tanjug) - formally and legally, the serb
entity does not exist for slovenia, the belgrade daily borba on
monday quoted participants in a two-day conference on serbs in
slovenia as saying.
the conference, organized by the world serb community, was held
at the serbian people's institute in the town of sremski karlovci
last week.
the daily said that the slovenian legal terminology had reduced
the status of different nations of the former yugoslavia to the term
non-slovenes.
chairman, academician milos macura, said that 100,000
non-slovenes had been registered at the 1991 census in slovenia, that
there were presently 52,700 serbs there and that 38,000 believers
were registered in the serbian orthodox church's books in slovenia.
only italians and hungarians have the national minority status in
slovenia, borba said.
it was also said that conferences on the position of serbs had
also been held in hungary, romania and albania.
similar conferences will be held in macedonia and croatia by the
end of the year. the position of serbs in europe will be reviewed in
1997 and their position in the united states and australia in 1998,
borba said.
[04] LONG-STANDING FRIENDSHIP BINDS GREECE, YUGOSLAVIA TOGETHER
belgrade, june 10 (tanjug) - greece's newly-appointed ambassador
to the federal republic of yugoslavia vlasopoulos panagiotis said on
monday that the two countries share a long history of friendly
relations which have never been burdened by any problems.
panagiotis arrived in belgrade on monday to assume the post of
ambassador in belgrade after a several-year period, during which
greece was represented by a charge d'affaires.
i am delighted to come to yugoslavia which is bound to greece by
long-standing historical and traditional ties, panagiotis said,
adding that over the past few trying years, the greek people had
showed solidarity and friendship towards yugoslavia.
we are in a phase of strengthening and implementation of the
dayton agreement, in which yugoslavia plays an important and
constructive role thus contributing to balkan peace and stability,
the ambassador said.
greece supports yugoslavia's reintegration into all international
institutions and i hope that during my stay i will contribute to a
deepening and strengthening of relations between our countries, the
new greek ambassador to yugoslavia said.
panagiotis said that he believed that the two countries shared
common stands and willingness to upgrade and strengthen bilateral
relations.
[05] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA IS COMMITTED TO DAYTON ACCORD, SAYS PLAVSIC
kragujevac, yugoslavia, june 9 (tanjug) - a ranking bosnian serb
official said on sunday that last week's geneva agreement had given a
fresh impact to the dayton peace accord, to the spirit and letter of
which the republika srpska would continue consistently to adhere.
acting president of the (bosnian serb state) republika srpska
biljana plavsic was speaking for radio kragujevac in central serbia,
federal republic of yugoslavia.
the dayton accord is binding on and is being consistently
implemented by the republika srpska, and problems in its application
should be sought on the other side, plavsic said.
the implementation of the accord must not be jeopardised from any
side, she added.
presidents slobodan milosevic of serbia and franjo tudjman of
croatia, and bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic met in geneva
last week with u.s. secretary of state warren christopher, officials
of the five-state 'contact group' and of the world community.
they reaffirmed their determination that elections in
bosnia-herzegovina should be held in mid-september.
speaking about the upcoming elections in bosnia-herzegovina and
in its two entities -- the republika srpska and the muslim-croat
federation -- plavsic said that the authorities in the serb part were
quite ready for the vote.
difficulties about the elections could emerge only in the
federation, because the federal partners -- muslims and croats --
have not settled their mutual relations, plavsic said.
[06] ENVIRONMENT ALTERS IN NATO-BOMBARDED REGIONS OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
belgrade, june 10 (tanjug) - environmental changes in parts of
republika srpka, which have a negative effect on people, flora and
fauna, were most likely caused by nato air strikes against bosnian
serb positions in 1994 and 1995, the belgrade daily politika ekspres
said on monday.
the daily's correspondent in the western bosnian serb city of
banja luka said that the number of patients in republika srpska
hospitals had considerably increased and that most of them had
headaches, neuroses, bad circulation, muscle fatigue, breathing
difficulties and sore throats.
the symptoms are evident especially when the ozone level drops
after storms, which local population have started to call 'american
rains,' the daily said.
quoting sources at the republika srpska defence ministry and
civil defence, politika ekspres said that changes had been registered
in the regions of mts. ozren and majevica and plateaus in the western
republika srpska, the targets of most violent bombing.
many fruit trees have not bloomed at all, the daily said and
added that bad appetite and reduced ability to move and conceive,
especially of cows and sows, had been registered.
there are less migratory birds, american crows have completely
disappeared, while owls, which have never lived in these areas, have
appeared, the daily said and added that the number of rodents and
reptiles had grown considerably.
detailed analyses will show what kind of disorder this is and
whether weapons with low radioactive charge were used against the
republika srpska, politika ekspres said.
[07] OSCE HEAD FLAVIO COTTI DEFIES U.S.
by stevan cordas
geneva, june 10 (tanjug)- head of the osce, swiss foreign
minister flavio cotti, is defying the united states and refusing to
announce will there be elections in bosnia-herzegovina and when,
according to well-informed sources here.
the sources quoted monday diplomatic circles in bern as saying
that cotti is under strong pressure from the white house to take a
stand on the issue and announce the date of the balloting.
under the dayton peace accords, the elections are to be held by
sept. 14 this year.
cotti has resisted the u.s. pressure and tried to be totally
independent as head of the organization for security and cooperation
in europe.
he has, however, made statements which have added to doubts that
the crucially important part of the dayton accords can be
implemented.
according to sources in geneva, u.s. secretary of state warren
christopher had asked cotti to announce the date of the elections on
the day of the recent meeting of dayton signatories in geneva.
when he failed, christopher insisted that the date be announced
at the european union meeting in florence on june 14.
according to the same sources, cotti received christopher's
request with total silence, as a sign of rejection.
he recently said that if a minimum of conditions was not secured,
it was better to put off the elections, since it would be equally bad
for all sides if the elections were to turn into a farce.
the bosnia elections are viewed as a foreign-policy priority of
the clinton administration on the eve of the national elections.
there is no doubt that the u.s. will do its best to have the
balloting in bosnia take place.
osce representative in bosnia-herzegovina, u.s. diplomat robert
frowick has of recently been making optimistic statements, quite
different from cotti's.
frowick is soon to submit a crucial report, in which he will
precisely say whether conditions exist for elections in
bosnia-herzegovina.
sources in geneva expect that, despite cotti's reservations and
pessimism, the report will be ready by june 14 and the date of the
balloting in the former yugoslav republic announced at the e.u.
meeting.
[08] TENSIONS RUN HIGH ALONG ETHNIC LINES IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA
belgrade, june 10 (tanjug) - violence and total disrespect for
international humanitarian law during the war in the former
yugoslavia may pose a threat to the peace process for a long time,
the international committee of the red cross (icrc) said in its
latest report released in geneva.
the peace process may be particularly endangered by tensions
along ethnic lines of separation in bosnia-herzegovina and croatia,
the report said.
developments in february 1996, when the serbs fled all the
sarajevo suburbs which were taken over the muslims, have shown that a
transfer of power, even when agreed, can lead to a new displacement
of population.
the report warned that the future of the serb people in the area
of eastern slavonia, baranja and western srem, which will be under
croatian rule after the u.n. transitional administration, was a
particular source of concern.
the icrc will strive to obtain assurances that security and
dignity of the endangered local serbs and return of croats will be
respected, the reported added.
in the period to come, the icrc will focus its activities on the
creation of a climate which will guarantee security and freedom of
movement for all in bosnia-herzegovina, collection of data on all
unaccounted persons and visits to the still detained persons in
bosnia and croatia, the report said.
the red cross warned that food and medical assistance was most
needed in the republika srpska and eastern slavonia.
the red cross will continue to work on projects of reconstruction
of social institutions (health centres, centres for the old and
handicapped, orphanages) and rehabilitation of buildings and warm
water and heating systems, the report said.
[09] DISARMAMENT AGREEMENT FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA WILL BE SIGNED ON TUESDAY
oslo, june 10 (tanjug)- the agreement on arms control in the
former yugoslavia will be signed here tuesday, the norwegian foreign
ministry said monday.
a ministry statement said yugoslavia, croatia, the
muslim-controlled government in sarajevo, the muslim-croat federation
and republika srpska had agreed to sign the agreement in line with
article 4 of the dayton peace accords.
the document will be signed in the presence of representatives of
the contact group (u.s., great britain, france, russia, germany), the
organization for security and cooperation in europe (switzerland,
demark, hungary) and italy, as the country which holds the e.u.
presidency.
the talks on arms control in the former yugoslavia opened in
vienna on jan. 5 this year and were mediated by norwegian general
vigleik eide on behalf of the osce.
the signing of the agreement had been brought in question by the
muslim-controlled government in sarajevo, which rejected that the
bosnian serb entity, republika srspka, be treated as as an equal in
the preamble to the agreement.
Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996
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