Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-17

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From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>

Jun 17, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW

CONTENTS

[01] SLOVENIAN PARTY OFFICIAL SAYS SLOVENIA IS EUROPE'S COLONY

[02] YUGOSLAV CENTRAL BANK DEPUTY GOVERNOR: DINAR STABLE, NO PRIMARY ISSUE

[03] YUGOSLAV SHIPS STILL PREVENTED FROM LEAVING U.S. PORTS

[04] TRIAL OF FERAL TRIBUNE JOURNALISTS LIKELY TO HARM TUDJMAN

[05] PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA BEGIN

[06] BOSNIA COMES CLOSER TO DIVISION INTO THREE ENTITIES

[07] RUEHE VISITS IFOR IN CROATIA

[08] DEMIREL VISITS SARAJEVO, TUDJMAN TO GO TO ANKARA

[09] SERBS FROM SLOVENIA DEMAND CLOSER TIES WITH YUGOSLAVIA

[10] WEU SEEKS EXTENSION OF IFOR MANDATE IN BOSNIA

[11] DEMIREL ARRIVES IN SARAJEVO, MEETS WITH IZETBEGOVIC

[12] GANIC ACCUSES BOSNIAN CROATS OF UNDERMINING JOINT FEDERATION

[13] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORIST WOUNDS POLICEMAN IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

[14] MORE THAN 25,000 REFUGEES REGISTERED IN MONTENEGRO

[01] SLOVENIAN PARTY OFFICIAL SAYS SLOVENIA IS EUROPE'S COLONY

the head of the second strongest opposition party in the slovenian parliament was speaking at a panel discussion in slovenj grac on sunday.

jelincic said that slovenia had 'paid a high price' for this act which slovenian authorities had celebrated as the most important confirmation that the secession from the former yugoslavia was justified.

the only difference is that 'in the former yugoslavia, slovenia was the first in the village and now it is the last in the city, jelincic said.'

he said that this and other mistakes will be corrected at the next parliamentary elections later this year.

jelincic accused both prime ministers slovenia has had since its 1991 forcible secession from the former yugoslavia, lojze peterle and janez drnovsek, of 'ruining slovenia, causing terrible social differences, pauperizing the people and selling off the (slovenian) economy to foreigners.'

[02] YUGOSLAV CENTRAL BANK DEPUTY GOVERNOR: DINAR STABLE, NO PRIMARY ISSUE

gazivoda said that this proved wrong those who had expected dinar's value to drop and who unnecessarily bought foreign currencies, which 'undermined the country's liquidity and lost money at the same time.'

stressing that the hard currency reserves were being kept at the previous level, with slight oscilations, gazivoda said that the national bank would continue to pursue a restrictive monetary policy and base the primary issue solely on the hard currency backing.

gazivoda said that the national bank realized the problem of the companies' lack of working capital and that it was ready to help successful companies in preventing bankruptcy, but only from realistic sources of finance.

according to gazivoda, it is necessary to carry out privatization in order to preserve a 'healthy economy,' but this process takes time because of big systemic changes which have to be ended in the most appropriate way.

gazivoda said that the financing of agriculture was one of the most important state problems and that more than 500,000,000 dinars, partly from primary issue and partly from commercial banks, had been invested in agriculture so far.

'further financing of agriculture has to be based on the return of these funds and on realistic budgetary sources, and one should take special care about the financing of seeds,' gazivoda said.

he said that the banking sector was the sore spot of yugoslavia's monetary policy.

the national bank has already cancelled five banks' working permits and it will continue to do so with all banks that do not fulfil the conditions of liquidity and other working conditions, he said.

[03] YUGOSLAV SHIPS STILL PREVENTED FROM LEAVING U.S. PORTS

washington, june 17 (tanjug) - u.s. authorities have been withholding the yugoslav ship durmitor in the port of baltimore for the past five years, in spite of the fact that the united nations sanctions against yugoslavia were suspended on november 22 last year.

the united states voted in favour of u.n. security council resolution 1022 on suspending the sanctions, and president bill clinton on december 27 signed a decree on bilateral suspension of the sanctions, thus removing the last formal obstacle for clearing the embargo against yugoslavia.

however, the durmitor is still in the u.s. port and it is hard to say when it is going to leave it. another three yugoslav ships, also owned by prekookeanska plovidba of the montenegrin port of kotor, are also unable to set sail.

the lovcen is stranded in new york and the moslavina and zeta in new orleans.

charge d'affaires of the yugoslav embassy in washington zoran popovic last weekend visited the 14 members of the durmitor crew, but was unable to give them any definite information about the ship's future.

'we believed you would be able to set sail in january, then in march. that's what they promised us. i hope it will happen soon,' popovic said.

the u.s. authorities first said there would be no problems for the ships to leave right away, but then tried to justify the mysterious refusal to release them by claiming unpaid demurrage.

later, the ships waited for the expiry of a term given to former yugoslav republics to lay possible claims on the vessels.

the u.s. administration appears to be demonstrating political whimsicality as it has also delayed the restoration of new york-belgrade flights of the yugoslav airline jat, although no obstacles stand in the way for that and european countries have already done so.

[04] TRIAL OF FERAL TRIBUNE JOURNALISTS LIKELY TO HARM TUDJMAN

novi list said the court hearing that had opened on friday had taken a more complicated course than it had been expected, and said tudjman had sued ivancic and culic for libel 'not realising that in that way he opened a political case against himself.'

ivancic and culic ridiculed tudjman's plan to rebury the remains of ustasha, croatian fascists, near their victims in jasenovac, the site of the world war ii extermination camp where 700,000 serbs, jews, gypsies and croatian anti-fascists were brutally killed.

criticising tudjman's plan, ivancic and culic said tudjman was the avowed follower of the late spanish dictator francisco franco.

they said they had quoted tudjman's statements as well as interiviews with him in their articles that had led to the filing of charges against them, requesting that tudjman be heard at the trial, too, and that foreign minister mate granic and defence minister gojko susak also testify.

ivancic said tudjman had frequently stressed in his speeches that by turning the jasenovac memorial into a memorial to all croatian victims he wanted to reconcile croats the way franco tried to reunify his people and created conditions for the development of democracy.

he said the idea of reburying the remains of ustasha alongside their victims was in any case 'morbid.'

he said the public had condemned the plan, and said the director of the museum of holocaust in washington had recently called for putting an end to what he described as an insane attempt to retailor history.

novi list said the adjournment of the trial until september 25 was aimed at slackening the public interest in the case and easing the tensions that accompanied it.

[05] PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA BEGIN

forteen parties will vie in bosnia's serb entity republika srpska and 12 in the muslim-croat federation.

most parties will form electoral blocs among the center, left and national parties.

the democratic patriotic bloc, marked as a center, will be led by banjaluka's parliament speaker predrag radic. it includes the democratic center party, democratic party, national radical party 'nikola pasic,' peasant-labor party and fatherland party.

the left parties are headed by the socialist party under zivko radisic. their electoral partners are the party of independent social-democrats led by milorad dodik, yugoslav left of republika srpska and socialist labor party.

they will be joined by the social liberal party of miodrag zivanovic, one of the fiercest critics of the ruling serb democratic party and the bosnian serb leaders.

national parties have yet to declare themselves on forming joint electoral lists.

vying in the elections in the muslim-croat federation are the party of democratic action of alija izetbegovic, croatian democratic union, union of bosnian social-democrats, liberal party, croatian peasant party, muslim bosniak organization and the party for bosnia, whose president is former prime minister haris silajdzic.

[06] BOSNIA COMES CLOSER TO DIVISION INTO THREE ENTITIES

the decision was met with no surprise, said the daily telegraph, conceding that the dayton accord is threatened largely by relations between muslims and croats.

there is fear for the local elections in the divided city of mostar, scheduled for june 30, as the first serious test for the elections throughout bosnia in mid-september.

british analysts have said that the international community is thinking of a peaceful division of bosnia from the two entities republika srpska and the muslim-croat federation into three entities - muslim, serb and croat.

the only stronghold of a joint authority of the bosnian entities would be a central bank, said the analysts.

british diplomatic circles have indicated such a turn of events and admitted that, after the end of the civil war, that was bosnia's reality.

unlike journalists, analysts believe that the dayton accord is not threatened basically, as its chief aim is peace, which has been achieved.

[07] RUEHE VISITS IFOR IN CROATIA

the first meeting is expected in the coastal town of trogir, where the headquarters are based, and the polish military hospital that bundeswehr had opened for all members of the ifor.

during his two-day stay in the balkans, ruehe is expected to meet with international high representative for bosnia carl bildt, said a statement issued by the defense ministry.

ruehe will be visiting important sites in bosnia where german troops have been assigned tasks, such as reconstruction of damaged bridges and roads.

[08] DEMIREL VISITS SARAJEVO, TUDJMAN TO GO TO ANKARA

two years ago, washington brokered an agreement on forming the federation of bosnian muslims and croats, and ankara gave its own due contribution to that effect.

demirel, who has already arrived in sarajevo, will meet with izetbegovic on monday, while later this week he will host a meeting with croatian president tudjman.

demirel's new diplomatic offensive reflects turkey's aspiration to be the initiator of a future political situation in the troublesome balkan region, finding a solid partner in a muslim-dominated bosnia-herzegovina.

turkish foreign ministry spokesman nuretin nurkan on monday told a press conference that an agreement on military cooperation would be signed during tudjman's visit to ankara. among other things, the agreement will provide for mutual training of army troops and officers.

the turkish-croatian talks will focus on the settling of problems blocking the muslim-croat federation in bosnia, well-informed sources in ankara said.

the united states and turkey were the initiators of the artificial alliance in bosnia, which was formed to stop mutual conflicts between muslims and croats and to establish a balance with the bosnian serbs.

according to sources in ankara, demirel, tudjman and izetbegovic are expected to meet before bosnia-herzegovina's elections in mid-september.

many details concerning the summit are still unknown and it is still not clear where the meeting will take place.

[09] SERBS FROM SLOVENIA DEMAND CLOSER TIES WITH YUGOSLAVIA

belgrade, june 17 (tanjug) - serbs in slovenia do not ask for political autonomy, but a right to their own culture and civilization, to be achieved as fully recognized and valid european standards and through closer ties with the parent state.

the assessment was made at a conference on the position of serbs in slovenia, organized by the world serb community and held recently in the town of sremski karlovci in serbia's northern vojvodina province.

the serb entity makes up 2.44 percent of slovenia's population. slovenia recognizes the status of serbs and other nations of the former yugoslavia merely as non-slovenians.

the serbs who do not have slovenian citizenship face many difficulties, living in the new state outside of the law.

this has created a class of about 11,000 people, serbs 85 percent, 'harassed by every state institution, from health care centers to employment bureaus.'

these people are mainly employees of the former yugoslav people's army, their families and others who live in slovenia without adequate status, documents or health insurance.

viewed on the whole, the economic position of serbs in slovenia is not favorable, regardless of the fact that the financial situation of serbs who own about 1,500 small or medium-sized businesses, is estimated at about 20 million german marks.

the cultural position of serbs is poor owing to hindered physical contacts with serbia, lack of cultural institutions and representatives from their parent state.

one of the effects of such a position is the emergence of a blend of serbian and slovenian language, spoken chiefly by children and youth.

serbs from slovenia describe the phenomenon as a quiet, systematic and subtle assimilation and ask that the parent state help the survival of the serb community in slovenia with specific legal and administrative measures.

[10] WEU SEEKS EXTENSION OF IFOR MANDATE IN BOSNIA

criticizing the united states' decision to withdraw its troops from bosnia in december and january, the weu, meeting at a session in paris, warned that the decision might seriously affect nato's solidarity and cohesion.

the weu said that all european nato members could be considered responsible for keeping peace in bosnia after the expiry of ifor's mandate, but that the europeans nevertheless hesitated to extend the mission without the participation of u.s. ground troops.

western europe's military organization appealed that all nato allies cooperate in doing everything that is necessary toguarantee a durable peace in the balkans.

the organization expressed concern over difficulties in the implementation of the civilian segment of the dayton peace plan for bosnia, stressing particularly the disfunction of the muslim-croat federation in bosnia.

the weu warned that a considerable economic assistance to bosnia-herzegovina, divided equally to its constitutional entities (republika srpska and muslim-croat federation), was needed to secure a success of the dayton agreement.

the organization said that the bosnian serb entity could by no means be excluded from various reconstruction projects, and that the european union should provide continuing assistance in re-building bosnia.

[11] DEMIREL ARRIVES IN SARAJEVO, MEETS WITH IZETBEGOVIC

demirel, who met with izetbegovic immediately upon his arrival, will leave sarajevo for mostar, a town in herzegovina divided between croats and moslems, where he will meet with the local leadership and attend the opening of a turkish consulate general.

demirel is expected to go als to zenica, industrial town in central bosnia, where he will visit turkey's contigent participating in the nato-led peace implementation force.

daring his two-day visit to bosnia, demirel will also attend the signinr of a contract between the turkish ekibank company and sarajevo's energoinvest firm on joint participation in bosnia's reconstruction.

[12] GANIC ACCUSES BOSNIAN CROATS OF UNDERMINING JOINT FEDERATION

in a report on the situation in the federation, which will be reviewed at the constitutional assembly on june 19, ganic said that unannounced freedom of movement was not possible in towns controlled by bosnian croat military units.

ganic said that in eight municipalities in the federation, muslims were being dismissed without reason, stimulated to move out and had limitations imposed upon their expression of religious feelings.

he quoted as an example the herzegovina town of pocitelj, south of mostar, where islamic cultural monuments were being desecrated and where muslim children attended schools under neighbouring croatia's curriculums.

the croat side has already described granic's report as a 'pamphlet against the croatian people.'

sources in sarajevo believe that the report will provoke violent reactions at the constitutional assembly and create a further strain on the shaken relations in the federation.

after one year of fighting for territories with mixed population, muslims and croats bowed to strong u.s. pressure in march 1994 and agreed to form a joint federation.

the federation has still not started functioning and muslims and croats accuse each other of hampering its functioning.

[13] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORIST WOUNDS POLICEMAN IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

mitrovic was wounded around 10 p.m. local time (2000 gmt) in an unlit street near the bus station in podujevo, in serbia's southern province of kosovo and metohija, reliable sources told tanjug.

an intensive search for the terrorist is underway.

over the past five years, some ten cases of assaults on serb policemen in and around podujevo have been registered.

five policemen were killed and another five people wounded, policemen as well as civilians, in a series of sinchronised terrorist attacks carried out throughout kosovo and metohija since april 21.

the police is still looking for those responsible for the attacks.

an illegal ethnic albanian terrorist organisation that calls itself 'the liberation army of kosovo' claimed responsibility for the latest attack.

the organisation, unknown up to this point, announced a series of similar terrorist actions in a bbc programme in albanian language.

the belgrade daily vecernje novosti quoted in early may the organisation as saying in the announcement also that the armed conflict in kosovo and metohija would resume and that it would spread throughout the balkans.

a strong ethnic albanian separatist movement has for decades been active in kosovo and metohija where ethnic albanians account for 90 percent of the population.

the movement's leaders have proclaimed the illegal 'republic of kosovo' and are trying to detach the province from serbia and its parent state yugoslavia and to attach it to neighbouring albania.

to achieve this goal, ethnic albanian separatists have not hesitated to launch terrorist attacks.

[14] MORE THAN 25,000 REFUGEES REGISTERED IN MONTENEGRO

the registration, which started on may 27 and originally should have ended on june 15, will end on june 22, because a number of refugees are believed not to have been able to turn out before, scepanovic told a press conference.

head of the podgorica office of the u.n high commissioner for refugees piere francesco nata has told reporters that between 27,000 and 28,000 people in montenegro used humanitarian aid every month.

he said that this was a realistic number of refugees for this area.

head of the unhcr humannitarian programmes in belgrade joe hegenauer said that between 8,000,000 and 9,000,000 dollars were beign alocated for montenegro's humanitarian needs. this is not enough and the aid is being distributed to those who need it the most, he added.

in the yugoslav republic of serbia, 525,000 refugees were registered by may 31. the registration was extended until june 15 and new data are expected.

Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996

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