Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-05-17

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

May 17, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW

CONTENTS

[01] CROATIA REGRETS OVER REJECTED ADMITTANCE TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE

[02] EUROPE SHOWS WHAT IT REALLY THINKS ABOUT TUDJMAN'S DEMOCRACY

[03] YUGOSLAVS WILL NEED VISAS FOR ITALY AS OF JUNE 16

[04] BOSNIAN SERB SAYS VICTIM OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY, PLEADS NOT GUILTY

[05] RUSSIAN SOLDIER DIES IN BOSNIA

[06] YUGOSLAVIA, ROMANIA SIGN FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT

[07] KINKEL RECEIVES OFFICIALS OF THREE SERBIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES

[08] KINKEL INFORMED ABOUT PROBLEMS OF DISPLACED PERSONS IN YUGOSLAVIA

[09] SEVERAL REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PARTIES CONDEMN DISMISSAL OF KASAGIC

[10] US OFFICIALS DO NOT RECOGNIZE OUSTING OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PREMIER

[11] CROAT OFFICIAL:WORLD WILL HAVE TO RECOGNIZE AUTHORITY IN CROAT MOSTAR

[12] DISMISSAL OF PREMIER OF SERB ENTITY IN BOSNIA UNNECESSARY

[13] THOSE WHO REMOVED KASAGIC WERE DRIVEN BY WISH TO REMAIN IN POWER

[14] MILOSEVIC STARTS TALKS WITH ROMANIAN PRESIDENT

[15] GERMAN MEDIA: KINKEL'S VISIT TO BELGRADE WAS SUCCESSFUL

[16] OSCE CONDEMNS RELIEVING OF DUTY OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PRIME MINISTER KASAGIC

[01] CROATIA REGRETS OVER REJECTED ADMITTANCE TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE

news agencies quoted a statement, published two days after the foreign ministers of the 39 members of the council of europe made the decision, in which the ministry said that croatia was still committed to promote democracy and respect the council's criteria and norms.

the statement did not say which steps precisely zagreb might take to satisfy the council of europe, which has expressed concern over the renewed campaign of pressure on the media and the preventing of opposition parties to assume power in the croatian capital after a victory in local elections last autumn.

according to council sources in strasbourg, the conditions for croatia's admittance to the organization include an acceptance of repatriation of (over half a million) serb refugees to croatia, cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in the hague and acceptance of the democratically elected opposition authorities in zagreb.

[02] EUROPE SHOWS WHAT IT REALLY THINKS ABOUT TUDJMAN'S DEMOCRACY

the precedent set in croatia's case appears to be even greater viewed in the light of the fact that the council of europe has not automatically endorsed a decision by its parliamentary assembly that gave the green light for croatia's membership in this influential political institution on april 24, the paper said.

europe can simply no longer turn a blind eye to what is happening in croatia, the paper said.

since his occupation of the republic of serb krajina last summer, tudjman has become so self-willed, dispelling the west's hopes that he will rule the country in a democratic way, the paper said.

tudjman has for months been refusing to allow citizens of zagreb to elect their mayor, the paper said.

moreover, opposition press like the split feral tribune paper, the rijeka novi list paper and the nacional and panorama magazines, and all who disagree with him, are the constant target of his assaults.

tudjman has failed to keep his promise to enable the serbs' return to serb krajina and has shocked a large number of people with his open flirting with the world war ii fascist regime in croatia.

dnevnik also said in deciding whether to approve croatia's membership, the council of europe has taken into account zagreb's evident territorial claims to the moslem-croat federation in bosnia and its support for bosnian croats' separatist ideas.

[03] YUGOSLAVS WILL NEED VISAS FOR ITALY AS OF JUNE 16

a new visa department at the italian embassy in belgrade is expected to be opened on may 31, the embassy told tanjug.

yugoslav tourists who enter italy before the introduction of visas will not be able to stay in the country longer than 90 days from the day they entered.

individual tourists, except if they already have a valid schengen visa, will have to have an invitation from a relative or friend permanently residing in italy, verified at the local police station, or other papers proving their profession and income, the italian embassy said in the statement to tanjug.

[04] BOSNIAN SERB SAYS VICTIM OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY, PLEADS NOT GUILTY

at the first hearing in the investigative procedure lajic (28) said he did not even know where the camp keraterm in which he had allegedly committed the murders was, agencies report.

addressing the presiding judge claude jorda of france, lajic said he was not the man the indictment was addressed to and there could be many people in bosnia with the same name.

prosecutor grant niemann said that he was certain the tribunal had the right mand and asked for lajic's photograph so that witnesses of the prosecution could confirm his identity.

the date of the trial has not been set yet.

lajic was arrested by the german authorities in cooperation with interpol on march 18 and was transferred to the hague last monday.

he was indicted in july last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity for the alleged murder of at least five prisoners and and the torture of others in the keraterm camp near prijedor, northwestern republika srpska (bosnian serb state).

[05] RUSSIAN SOLDIER DIES IN BOSNIA

the associated press news agency said that the soldier was electrocuted on thursday morning in the russian camp in ugljevik, 35 km northeast from tuzla, region controlled by russian ifor troops.

the details of the incident and the name of the soldiers have not been revealed, only that the russian brigade has opened an investigation. end mb/mb

[06] YUGOSLAVIA, ROMANIA SIGN FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT

lilic and iliescu said that the agreement on friendship marked the beginning of a new phase in developing good-neighbourly relations between the two countries.

the yugoslav president said that the friedship agreement and the agreement on avoiding double taxation were the result of a number of talks and a true indicator of good relations and friendship between the two countries.

the signing of the agreements rounds off a series of agreements and contracts signed over the period, which creates conditions for a restoration of economic ties and establishing of higher forms of cooperation, lilic said.

he described the yugoslav and romanian economies as complementary, which creates possibilities for a much greater and more successful economic cooperation.

both sides believe that the strengthening of economic ties is a precondition for other forms of cooperation, and stress the importance of strengthening regional cooperation and good-neighbourly relations with all states, lilic said.

the principles of the dayton conference were re-affirmed in the talks and both sides agreed that this was the only and correct way for achieving durable and stable peace in the territory of the former yugoslavia, the yugoslav president said.

this is certainly a mark of recognition for the policy that the federal republic of yugoslavia has been pursuing continually since the outbreak of the crisis in the teritory of the former yugoslavia, lilic said.

the romanian president stressed the political importance of the talks and the agreements, which naturally concreticized the good relations between the two countries.

the agreement comes as a confirmation of the friendly relations and solidarity which characterize the relations between the two neighbouring countries, iliescu said, adding that it created possibilities for further strengthening of economic cooperation.

'i wish to stress the significance of this moment for our bilateral relations, as well as the importance of those relations as a factor of stability in the region where we live and in europe as a whole,' iliescu said.

after the signing ceremony, the yugoslav president gave a dinner in the romanian president's honour.

lilic said in the toast that the current yugoslav-romanian talks were proceeding in an atmosphere of intensive activities on the part of the international community, which aimed to stabilize peace and open a process of reconstruction in the territory of the former yugoslavia.

great responsibility lies on the federal republic of yugoslavia and the friendly neighbouring and other states to support that process and make possible the establishing of a lasting peace and mutual trust in these parts, lilic said.

returning the toast, iliescu expressed confidence that the current yugoslav-romanian talks would serve as a model for inter-state relations in this part of europe.

[07] KINKEL RECEIVES OFFICIALS OF THREE SERBIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES

kinkel, who was on a one-day visit to yugoslavia, met with vuk draskovic of the serbian renewal movement, zoran djindjic of the democratic party, and vesna pesic of the civic alliance of serbia in the residence of the german ambassador in belgrade.

draskovic told reporters after the meeting that kinkel had informed them about the talks he had had with serbian president slobodan milosevic in belgrade earlier in the day.

in the afternoon, kinkel also received officials of the liberal alliance of kosovo fehmi agani and hidajet hiseni. the liberal alliance of kosovo rallies ethnic albanians in serbia's southern province of kosovo and metohija.

kinkel also met with representatives of ethnic hungarians and croats from serbia's northern province of vojvodina, and the president of the muslim party of democratic action of sandzak, i.e. the raska region in southwestern serbia which is also known by its turkish name sandzak.

[08] KINKEL INFORMED ABOUT PROBLEMS OF DISPLACED PERSONS IN YUGOSLAVIA

president of the committee for the protection of rights and interests of displaced persons borislav mikelic informed kinkel about the problems of the officially estimated 700,000 refugees and displaced persons from the former yugoslavia, including 130,000 non-serbs.

mikelic requested kinkel and the german government to intercede with the european union and the united nations to speed up the process of resolving the problems of displaced persons, in keeping with the dayton accords for bosnia, and to settle property claims of those choosing to return to their homes and those who decide to stay in yugoslavia or leave for third countries.

he said that croatia should abide by its constitution in view of the autonomous regions of glina and knin, which were predominantly serb-populated until the spring of 1995, when the croatian army expelled more than 250,000 krajina serbs.

mikelic told kinkel that for the past five years croatia had been avoiding to pay pensions to some 57,000 persons who had earned them in croatia while it had been a part of the former yugoslav federation.

he said that the serb side was strictly implementing the serb-croatian accord of nov. 1995 on the eastern slavonia, baranja and western srem region, and expressed hope that gen. jacques klein, chief of the u.n. transitional administration for eastern slavonia, would do his utmost to enable the serbs to stay in the region.

[09] SEVERAL REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PARTIES CONDEMN DISMISSAL OF KASAGIC

they said that karadzic had thus attempted 'to leave the serb people in isolation' and 'to prevent the implementation of the dayton accords.'

a statement released after a meeting kasagic and banjaluka mayor predrag radic had with representatives of four political parties said that karadzic's move was 'hasty', causing indignation in most of the population.

'such a move on the part of the pale leadership leads to a blockade of the use of international capital for the reconstruction (of the republika srpska) and threatens to divide the serbs in the republika srpska,' the statement said.

the participants in the meeting expressed full support to kasagic in his hitherto efforts and said that they continued to consider him the legitimate prime minister, the statement said.

'in order to resolve the current crisis, we request prime minister rajko kasagic to call an urgent meeting of the republika srpska government in banjaluka and to continue to work in the interest of further opening of the republika srpska toward the world,' the statement quoted the parties' officials as saying.

[10] US OFFICIALS DO NOT RECOGNIZE OUSTING OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PREMIER

spokesman nicholas burns said that united states officials 'don't recognize karadzic's authority to dismiss any official or to make any political decision like that.'

'we've worked well with mr. kasagic in the past ... we're going to continue working with him,' he said.

karadzic dismissed kasagic wednesday, alleging he had been arbitrary in conducting state policy and had overstepped authority.

kasagic renounced the dismissal saying that he only recognized decisions of the republika srpska parliament.

[11] CROAT OFFICIAL:WORLD WILL HAVE TO RECOGNIZE AUTHORITY IN CROAT MOSTAR

the authority of the croat part of mostar will be formed democratically, through the will of the people, and the world will have to acknowledge it, said mile puljic.

mostar is divided between the muslims and croats, though it should be a united city under the terms of the dayton peace accord. the muslims have objected to the election rules.

puljic said the terms of the dayton accord, whereby muslims in refuge cannot vote, are not the actual reason for the boycott of the bosnian muslim party of democratic action (sda) or any other muslim party.

he said the real reason was that sda stood no chance of winning the rival croatian democratic union (hdz).

while hdz and the radio everyday called on croats to vote at the may 31 elections, sda and muslim radio sarajevo called on muslims to boycott them.

muslim radio said the proposed conditions, the date and rules of the elections had 'finally split mostar in two.'

muslims in mostar are dissatisfied because the rules prescribed by the european union allow the right of vote only to those citizens whose names are on the 1991 census lists and who are present in the city on election day.

the muslims are also angered because eu adminsitrator ricardo perez cassado would not postpone the election date merely because muslims would not take part, said the muslim radio.

mostar numbered more than 120,000 inhabitants, approximately the same number of muslims, croats and serbs, before the war broke out in bosnia.

muslims and croats routed the serbs and fought ferociously for a year over control of the city.

[12] DISMISSAL OF PREMIER OF SERB ENTITY IN BOSNIA UNNECESSARY

in a statement broadcast by radio banjaluka, milanovic said that the national assembly had the legal capacity to dismiss premier rajko kasagic.

'the government can be debated by the body that elected it', milanovic specified.

rs president radovan karadzic dismissed on wednesday kasagic because of his alleged arbitrary policy and for overstepping his mandate.

kasagic said he did not recognize the dismissal until the rs parliament made the decision.

kasagic's efforts were aimed at 'removing hatred for serbs who have been turned into pariahs sincre 1991 and he was on the right way to diminish it...as much as possible in these difficult times and was successful', said milanovic assessing the work of premier kasagic.

[13] THOSE WHO REMOVED KASAGIC WERE DRIVEN BY WISH TO REMAIN IN POWER

the republika srpska (rs) leadership will have to account for such a dismissal given that kasagic had been appointed by the parliament whereas now only one man's decision was sufficient.

judging by the reactions in political circles in the rs, the decision by rs president radovan karadzic did not come as a surprise. speculations on the matter had circulated in the past, particularly following kasagic's statement on the need for a radical reshuffle in his cabinet.

kasagic has expressed willingness to implement the dayton principles, bearing in mind that it is in the interest of the republika srpska to honour the rules which put an end to the war, the paper said.

the premier immediately opted for building confidence with the muslim-croat federation believing that the republika srpska should have its own representatives in the ruling bodies of the bosnian union, the paper added.

kasagic knows that the republika srpska and its one-million population cannot confront the entire world but that it should cooperate and pull itself out of deep isolation instead, politika said.

politika said that kasagic had particularly been sharply criticized by the 'hawks' in the ruling serb democratic party (sds) in the rs. they criticized him for ordering the minister of police not to tolerate harrassment of the opposition and election rallies.

the paper said that kasagic wanted to coordinate all his moves with the necessary reconstruction of the rs economy which is in a very difficult position, given that the war damages are put at nearly 10 billion dollars. kasagic was even as bold as to say that 'personal and political changes in the rs' were necessary to obtain urgently needed foreign credits.

[14] MILOSEVIC STARTS TALKS WITH ROMANIAN PRESIDENT

the romanian president will hold with the serbian president comprehensive talks about all topical international issues of interest for the two countries, and special attention will be devoted to promoting traditionally good romanian-yugoslav relations.

present at the talks were yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic and romanian foreign minister teodor malescanu.

[15] GERMAN MEDIA: KINKEL'S VISIT TO BELGRADE WAS SUCCESSFUL

die welt quotes the german side as saying in belgrade that milosevic plays a key role in the peace process in the balkans, and berliner zeitung reports in the same manner.

frankfurter allgemeine zeitung says in a front-page story that kinkel had promised bonn's support to yugoslavia and its efforts to join the 'political and economic organizations in the west.'

die welt also quoted yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic as saying that the visit had 'opened a new era' in the two countries' relations.

the paper also underscored kinkel's optimistic views about the prospects for further cooperation, saying that everything should be 'done slowely, step by step and without euphoria.'

german news agency dpa, which on thursday evening carried kinkel's statement that the visit was 'very successful,' quoted him as saying that the range of economic cooperation should be returned to the levels from before the start of the balkan crisis.

dpa said that the minsterial talks in belgrade discussed possibilities for germany's participation in the modernization of railways and telecommunications in serbia and completing the construction of the highways. end ju/mb/mb

[16] OSCE CONDEMNS RELIEVING OF DUTY OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PRIME MINISTER KASAGIC

kasagic did everyting in his power to secure the application of the dayton peace agreement in bosnia and the international community should support him and his efforts for the implementation of that document, the osce mission for bosnia-herzegovina said in a statement sent to tanjug's vienna correspondent.

osce also said that it supports the peace process, especially the preparation and holding of the forthcoming elections in bosnia.

kasagic was ousted by republika srpska president radovan karadzic on wednesday.

Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996

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