Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-03

Tanjug Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Jun 3, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW

CONTENTS

[01] WASHINGTON STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

[02] HANDKE READS EXCERPTS FROM JUSTICE FOR SERBIA TO AUSTRIAN M.P.S

[03] GERMANY READY TO BACK YUGOSLAV ADMITTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL BODIES

[04] RADOSLAV KREMENOVIC RELEASED FROM DETENTION

[05] YUGOSLAV-MACEDONIAN ECONOMIC PROSPECTS

[06] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ADOPTS PLATFORM FOR TALKS WITH PARIS CLUB

[07] COTTI SAYS KARADZIC, MLADIC DANGEROUS TO BOSNIA ELECTIONS

[08] RUSSIAN OFFICIAL STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF BOSNIA ELECTIONS

[09] MILOSEVIC: GENEVA MEETING IS STIMULUS TO IMPLEMENTING DAYTON

[10] CHRISTOPHER SAYS BOSNIA ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD IN SEPTEMBER

[11] CROATIAN PRESIDENT SATISFIED WITH GENEVA MEETING

[12] PREPARATIONS FOR BOSNIA ELECTIONS AND THEIR HOLDING PRIMARY TASK

[13] WAR AND PEACE IN SARAJEVO

[14] GENEVA SUMMIT AGREES ON ENHANCING DAYTON ACCORDS IMPLEMENTATION

[15] MAIN RESULT OF GENEVA SUMMIT IS AGREEMENT ON BOSNIA ELECTIONS

[16] CROATIA SATISFIED WITH GENEVA TALKS

[17] ANOTHER CONFIRMATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

[18] MEETING OF SIGNATORIES OF BOSNIA PEACE ACCORDS-AGREED STATEMENT

[19] 525,000 REFUGEES REGISTERED IN SERBIA BY MAY 31

[20] SANTERRE AND DINI IN YUGOSLAVIA LATER THIS WEEK

[21] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL: CROATIA MUST GUARANTEE SAFETY TO SERBS

[22] SILAJDZIC ACCUSES CROATS OF UNDERMINING BOSNIAN FEDERATION

[23] TALKS ON ARMS CONTROL IN BALKANS ENTER FINAL PHASE

[24] NATO MINISTERS URGE RESPECT FOR IFOR MANDATE IN BOSNIA

[25] ADMIRAL SMITH: ALL SIDES IN BOSNIA VIOLATE RIGHT TO FREE MOVEMENT

[26] SERB OFFICIAL: ALL THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR BOSNIAN WAR SHOULD STEP DOWN

[27] SARAJEVO MEDIA: WASHINGTON WILL NOT RELINQUISH DAYTON ACCORD

[01] WASHINGTON STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

the elections, planned for next september, are expected to stabilize the political situation in bosnia in the civilian sector, which is lagging behind the military component of the dayton agreement.

the clinton administration has categorically rejected pressures by some political circles in washington, as well as the bosnian muslim leadership, that the elections be organized at a later date.

u.s. secretary of state warren christopher is expected to convey that stand in geneva to serbian president slobodan milosevic, croatian president franjo tudjman and muslim leader alija izetbegovic.

sources in the u.s. administration said that perfect conditions for holding elections in bosnia were impossible to have and that the dayton agreement had not posed any such demands because it would be irrational to expect them.

for the federal republic of yugoslavia, elections in bosnia will mean a definitive lifting of economic sanctions.

the united nations security council resolution adopted on november 22 to suspend the sanctions against yugoslavia said that the embargo would be formally abolished after elections in bosnia.

[02] HANDKE READS EXCERPTS FROM JUSTICE FOR SERBIA TO AUSTRIAN M.P.S

in the essay, published late last year, handke strongly criticised western media's one-sided and biased reporting on the conflict in the former yugoslavia as well as the international community's double-standard policy towards the warring parties.

the parliament's invitation to handke to read exercepts from his essay for the third time is interpreted in vienna not only as an honour to the author but also as a signal to the yugoslav republic of serbia.

austria decided to normalise relations with yugoslavia on april 14, upgrading relations with it to the ambassadorial level.

[03] GERMANY READY TO BACK YUGOSLAV ADMITTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL BODIES

speaking in an interview with the deutsche welle radio from belgrade, schroembgens stressed the importance of developing economic ties between the two countries, and expressed hope that conditions will be created for reactivating old and closing new contracts on joint investments and cooperation.

the german ambassador said that bonn, like its european union partners, expected the relations between the two countries to be determined by yugoslavia's readiness to implement all provisions of the peace process, as agreed in dayton, london and paris.

[04] RADOSLAV KREMENOVIC RELEASED FROM DETENTION

kremenovic was born in bosnia and is not a yugoslav citizen.

he was arrested on march 3 in the yugoslav province of vojvodina on suspicion of concealing drazen erdemovic, 25, who was under investigation for suspected war crimes against civilian population.

erdemovic has been extradited to the hague tribunal at the tribunal's request.

he has confessed to having participated in the killing of muslims from the eastern bosnian town of srebrenica.

[05] YUGOSLAV-MACEDONIAN ECONOMIC PROSPECTS

skopje, june 3 (tanjug) - following the signing of the basic agreement on the normalization of yugoslav-macedonian relations in belgrade on april 8, businessmen from the two countries are impatiently waiting for the administrative regulations which would finally stimulate full economic exchange.

the mutually expressed hopes and optimism are multiply justified both due to the fact that cooperation existed even during the sanctions, but also due to their comparative dependence and joint development business cooperation which began over 50 years ago in the former yugoslavia.

yugoslav and macedonian economists agreed that liberal exchange is a condition for the more efficient opening and develpment of both economies.

before the imposition of the sanctions, macedonia realized over two thirds of its total exchange in deals with firms from serbia and montenegro, and 80 percent of its transport was carried out via its northern neighbor.

during the sanctions, yugoslavia realized a significant part of its exports either with or via macedonia, and at present much of its export activities also include this country.

early last week, a delegation of t e car manufacturer zastava of the city of kragujevac, serbia, visited skopje at the invitation of the republican chamber of commerce.

zastava has five mixed firms in macedonia, and more than 30 macedonian companies want to renew the old and initiate new cooperation in the manufacture of passanger cars, cargo vehicles and special programs.

last year zastava sold in macedonia 1,500 vehicles and plans exports to third countries via macedonia.

however, the problems of yugoslav-macedonian exchange are not confined only to customs duties, because it is necessary to first set up a money transfer system between the two countries, to avoid dual taxation, protect investments, coordinate standards and find joint interests for appearence on third markets.

initial yugoslav-macedonian talks for establishing free trade, which opened in mid-may in skopje, provide a number of resons for optimism. the heads of the negotiating teams then said it was realistic to expect a speedy signing of an agreement which would determine the rules for the intensification of comprehensive exchange aimed towards estabishing a united market which sould start functining in january 1999.

the just concluded belgrade talks between transport and commanications experts also herald better economic prospects in the south of the balkans.

[06] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ADOPTS PLATFORM FOR TALKS WITH PARIS CLUB

the meeting will be the first between the federal republic of yugoslavia and the paris club and the beginning of preparations for a normalization of financial relations between yugoslavia and creditor countries.

a process of normalization of relations between yugoslavia and the international monetary fund and other international financial organizations is also in progress.

the yugoslav government delegation will inform the paris club and the french government of a yugoslav government initiative for a resumption of negotiations with the imf.

the government also adopted a platform for a meeting between yugoslav minister of transportation and communication zoran vujovic and french minister of transportation and tourism bernard pons.

the two ministers are expected to meet in paris on june 6 to discuss a promotion of cooperation in the field of transportation.

[07] COTTI SAYS KARADZIC, MLADIC DANGEROUS TO BOSNIA ELECTIONS

cotti, who is also swiss foreign minister, said that under the dayton peace agreement, bosnian serb leader karadzic and republika srpska army commander mladic could not run for any office at these elections because they had been charged with war crimes.

asked what would happen if they did, cotti said that he could not say whether it would prevent the holding of elections.

while speaking about karadzic and mladic, cotti made no mention of their extradition to the hague-based international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia.

[08] RUSSIAN OFFICIAL STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF BOSNIA ELECTIONS

the russian delegation to the meeting insisted that problems regarding war criminals, freedom of movement and vote of refugees 'should not be used for exacerbating the situation, much less for provocational lashes against each other,' afanasyevsky told itar-tass news agency.

quoting republika srpska officials, afanasyevsky said that all electoral commissions had been set up in the republika srpska and added that the process was near completion in the bosnian muslim-croat federation.

afanasyevsky said that the geneva meeting had been a prelude to the coming meeting of the 'contact group' foreign mininsters in berlin, where all key issues of the bosnia peace processs would be raised.

[09] MILOSEVIC: GENEVA MEETING IS STIMULUS TO IMPLEMENTING DAYTON

after the conference, which tackled practically all crucal issues for further implementation of the agreement, milosevic said that the most important issue at present was the holding of free and democratic elections in the republika srpska and the muslim-croat federation, and elections for bosnia-herzegovina bodies.

'we had very intensive talks with the entire u.s. team, led by secretary of state (warren) christopher, representatives of the contact group member-states, high representative for bosnia carl bildt, president (alija) izetbegovic and president (of croatia franjo tudjman),' milosevic said.

the talks stressed the need for all sides to secure the freedom of movement and equality of political forces participating in the elections, in keeping with democratic rules, said milosevic.

he said he believed the elections would be held by mid-september, as planned.

asked by tanjug's reporter about the stands of the other delegations at the meeting, milosevic said:

'the meeting clearly showed that the united states, as the country which has played a crucial role in the peace agreement, as well as all the member-states of the contact group and the sides in bosnia-herzegovina wish the dayton agreement to work.'

most of the attention and time were therefore devoted to the question of preparations for free and democratic elections, milosevic said.

[10] CHRISTOPHER SAYS BOSNIA ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD IN SEPTEMBER

after meeting with the key figures on the implementation of the dayton agreement, christopher told cbs television that preparations for bosnia elections were making progress and that elections would be held according to schedule.

a high ranking u.s. official said in washington on sunday that there were big chances that the organization for security and cooperation in europe, which was entrusted with the preparations for bosnia elections, would state the date of elections soon.

[11] CROATIAN PRESIDENT SATISFIED WITH GENEVA MEETING

in talks with christopher and the u.s. delegation, we have agreed on upgrading the croatian-u.s. relations and solving all problems and issues related with the dayton agreement, tudjman told croatian radio after the meeting.

the croatian president stressed the fact that 'important agreements' had been reached on the promotion of the bosnian muslim-croat federation in the field of defence.

he said it had been agreed on dividing the federation's army into a muslim part, commanded by bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic, and a croat part, commanded by federation president kresimir zubak, a croat.

[12] PREPARATIONS FOR BOSNIA ELECTIONS AND THEIR HOLDING PRIMARY TASK

all participants in the meeting fully supported efforts to hold the elections and create conditions for them to be fair and free, said a statement released from the meeting and presented to a press conference after the talks by u.s. secretary of state warren christopher.

the statement said the participants of the geneva meeting consider elections would enable the creation of democratic institutions both in the entities and at the level of the whole of bosnia-herzegovina.

it stressed the establishment of the institutions was verz important for building a democratic society which will be supported by the entire population of bosnia-herzegovina.

the statement said that serbian and croatian presidents slobodan milosevic and franjo tudjman, bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic and reprsentatives of the entities - the muslim-croat federatioan kresimir zubak and of republika srpska aleksa buha - agreed that it was necessary to take a series of steps for the acceptance of standards and regulations established by the organisation for security and cooperation in europe (osce).

this is related to forming a transitional electoral commission and creating conditions for the elections.

the rules and standards comprise the engagement to cooperate with the hague tribunal, enable the freedom of movement, create conditions for the return of refugees, enable free and safe movement through bosnia-herzegovina for everyone. these are the foundations for elections and for lasting peace in bosnia.

arbitrage for the brcko region (the corridor which links eastern and western parts of reublika srpska) is listed among the rules and standards.

the importance of concluding talks on arms control and realisation of the post-war bosnia reconstruction is also emphasised.

christopher described the geneva meeting as very useful and added there was a series of important meetings to be held in the course of this month which would also deal with the realisation of the dayton peace agreement.

the white house considered that the success of the military aspects of the dayton accords was better than expected, christopher said.

the civilian aspects of the agreement are also registering increasing success, christopher said. he added the freedom of movement in bosnia was increasing because between 10,000 and 15,000 people cross the entity boundaries daily.

he informed reporters of the white house decision to open an office of the u.s. agency for international development in banja luka shortly.

most questions posed by reporters related to radovan karadzic and republika srpska army commander ratko mladic whose names are not mentioned at all in the joint statement.

christopher said it was very important for karadzic and mladic, as well as all indicted war criminals, not to be in power and tnot to run in the elections. he added that those accused of war crimes cannot escape justice.

[13] WAR AND PEACE IN SARAJEVO

sarajevo, june 3 (tanjug) - 'automobile for sale, damaged by shells,' there are many such ads in sarajevo dailies in the postwar period -- they tell the shortest and most interesting war stories from this city.

i read such an ad to friends, sitting in a sarajevo cafe, and i see their ironic smiles at the naivete of a correspondent in his first contacts with sarajevo's reality.

'hey, journalist. come with us to ilidza soon to see a great sale of convertible houses,' some boys from the table next to mine say, referring to houses damaged by the war.

the cruel postwar reality in sarajevo is characterized by even more cruel black humor, which resulted from the tragic course of the four-year civil war in bosnia-herzegovina and all its consequences which are evident everywhere.

the drinks we had give us courage to take a tour of sarajevo by automobile -- all the way to the suburb of ilidza.

the first impressions confirm that sarajevo is slowly waking from the nightmare of war.

hundreds of cafes and restaurants in downtown sarajevo, to the surprise of newcomers, are open and full.

prices are quite high and all in deutsche mark. a cup of coffee costs from 1-2, alcoholic drinks from 2-4, a glass of fruit juice from 2-3 marks.

the bosnian dinar is also in circulation (one mark = 100 bosnian dinars), but its black market rate is higher by 5-10 percent.

obituaries in sarajevo papers record the first traffic accidents, showing that automobiles are returning to the city's streets.

business with apartments is also starting to flourish. the first such ads show the easiest possible way for sarajevans to earn money.

apartments are rented 'to foreigners only'. a studio apartment costs 400 marks monthly. the presence of the multi-national implementation force (ifor) and representatives of numerous international orranizations have sent these prices sky-rocketing, sarajevans explain,

meanwhile, refugees are daily returning to sarajevo from cities all over the world.

they have been given a deadline, june 30, to report to the city authorities and ask to return to their homes which have meanwhile been occupied by others. these refugees are well aware already at this time that they will be able to return to their apartments and houses only at some distant and better times.

curfew is still in effect in sarajevo from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. and all citizens and cafes respect it. young and old, who are there all day for lack of anything better to do, start leaving cafes and restaurants already half an hour before curfew.

[14] GENEVA SUMMIT AGREES ON ENHANCING DAYTON ACCORDS IMPLEMENTATION

geneva, june 3 (tanjug) - the bosnia peace accords signatories ended a summit in geneva late on sunday by signing a joint statement calling for the enhancement of the implementation of the accords they struck in dayton, ohio, on nov. 21, 1995.

the summit dedicated to the implementation of the dayton peace accords and was attended also by u.s. secretary of state warren christopher, the representatives of the contact group for bosnia (u.s.a., great britain, russia, france, germany), the head of the organization for security and cooperation in europe (osce), swiss foreign minister flavio cotti, and commander of the nato-led multinational peace implementation force (ifor) in bosnia general george joulwan.

the summit agreed that the geneva bilateral and multilateral contacts had been only the first in a series of meetings in june, aimed at fully assessing the results achieved in the first six months of the dayton peace accords implementation.

the statement included the determination of the representatives of the two entities in bosnia-herzegovina -- the muslim-croat federation and the (bosnian serb state) republika srpska -- serbian president slobodan milosevic, croatian president franjo tudjman and bosnian muslim leader alijuzetbegovic to support the international community's efforts to organize and hold fair and democratic elections in bosnia-herzegovina.

the statement said that it was necessary to join efforts to hold the first free and democratic post-war election in bosnia as the only way of establishing a legal and legitimate government that would express the interests of both entities in the union.

the date of the elections and the conditions that all the participants will have to fulfil shall be announced as soon as possible, the statement said.

under the dayton peace accords, the osce should organize the bosnia election by mid-september and monitor the vote.

the statement said that the implementation of the military aspects of the dayton peace accords had been very successful so far, adding that there was cause for optimism regarding the civilian aspects also.

the geneva summit adopted an annex to the joint statement calling, among other things, for the freedom of movement to be ensured to all three sides in bosnia, enabling an equal access to the media to all parties interested in participating in the election and setting up institutions to enable further democratic development of bosnia.

all three sides in bosnia expressed their satisfaction with the summit. the yugoslav officials said they had been especially happy to have agreed with u.s. officials about all key issues related to the implementation of the dayton peace accords.

[15] MAIN RESULT OF GENEVA SUMMIT IS AGREEMENT ON BOSNIA ELECTIONS

the main conclusion of the summit is to hold elections in bosnia as scheduled in order to make the principal step towards the establishment of relations in the future state made up of two entities - the muslim-croat federation and republika srpska, an official source of the european union stated.

the same source emphasised the importance of the other aspects of the paece process, first of all the removal of all obstacles to free movement of the population which should clear the way for the return of refugees and their participation in the election process.

elections in mostar (southern bosnian town divided between muslims and croats), scheduled for the end of this month, could be the first important test in this respect, it was concluded in brussels.

brussels media paid special attention to the talks held between milosevic and u.s. secretary of state warren christopher. in the talks milosevic showed that the yugoslav side fulfilled completely all commitments under dayton, the media reported.

[16] CROATIA SATISFIED WITH GENEVA TALKS

the press said that the presidents of serbia and croatia, slobodan milosevic and franjo tudjman respectively, and bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic, agreed in geneva that elections in bosnia should be held as planned.

under the dayton agreement, the first free and democratic elections in bosnia should be held in mid-september.

the croatian press quoted tudjman as saying that the geneva talks had been 'very successful' and had 'exceeded expectations.'

tudjman said that during his talks with milosevic it had been agreed 'to speed up the normalization of relations' between belgrade and zagreb.

croatian foreign minister mate granic told croatian television that he might visit belgrade once again within the process of normalization of croat-yugoslav relations.

croatia is also satisfied that agreement had been reached with the bosnian muslims on adopting a defense law for the croat-muslim federation, that the bosnian-muslim army be under the command of alija izetbegovic and the bosnian croat army under the command of the current president of the muslim-croat president, kresimir zubak.

zagreb daily vjesnik, however, warns that izetbegovic had agreed with milosevic and tudjman that it is necessary to adhere to the election calendar, but said that the elections would be a turning point in the implementation of the peace agreement.

a joint statement issued after the talks is mainly positively-oriented, vjesnik said and added that it represents support to the internatinal community and a call to set the date of the bosnia elections as soon as possible.

the zagreb press underscored that the representatives of the muslim-croat federation could soon visit belgrade and discuss possibilities for the normalization of rail, air, post and telephone traffic, as well as economic cooperation. end zn/jpe/mb

[17] ANOTHER CONFIRMATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

at the same time, the talks signify another determined step of the international community that the dayton agreement, reached in late 1995, is fully realized according to plan.

british commentators said that at present of major importance is to hold the elections in the entire territory of bosnia-herzegovina, as confirmed in geneva, in order to set up the first legitimate post-war organs of power which will take over the bulk of the burden of building peace.

th elections will be held as planned, in mid-september, although the conditions are not ideal, it is said.

a british commentator said on monday that there will be no 'ideal conditions' in bosnia for several years, and that any form of postponing the elections could only create bigger problems.

although it is noticable that the muslim-croat federation has not met most of the obligations stemming from the dayton agreement, a part of the influential british press is trying to revive the anti-serb campaign in order to conceal genuine problems by applying already-used accusations against the serbs.

the accusations no longer focus only on the bosnian serbs and their leaders, but are also aimed against the federal republic of yugoslavia and serbia although britain's official position is that there can be no peace in bosnia without belgrade's peace policy. end zn/jpe/mb

[18] MEETING OF SIGNATORIES OF BOSNIA PEACE ACCORDS-AGREED STATEMENT

the three presidents and signatories of the general framework agreement for peace in bosnia and herzegovina, bosnian president izetbegovic, croatian president tudjman and serbian president milosevic, met in geneva on june 2 at the invitation of secretary of state christopher with the support of the contact group governments for a continuation of their discussions on steps needed to move forward with the peace process.

also attending the gathering were high representative carl bildt, osce chairman-in-office, swiss foreign minister flavio cotti and osce mission head robert frowick, supreme allied commander general george joulwan and ifor commander admiral leighton smith, and representatives of contact group countries and international organizations participating in implementation of the agreement.

noting that this was one of a series of meetings that will take place during june, including the berlin contact group ministerial, the florence mid-term review conference and the lyon summit, which will provide added impetus to the peace process, the presidents and the represnetatives of the entities welcomes the continued, active engagement of the contact group and the international community. they also expressed full support for the work of the high representative and the implementation force.

joined by representatives of the two bosnian entities, the presidents emphasized that the most important next step in the peace process will be to hold free and fair elections within the the time period established by the agreement. they recommitted themselves to the task of establishing the necessary conditions for these elections under the supervision of the osce. delay in the elections risks widening the divisions which continue to exist.

the presidents and entity representatives stressed that free and fair elections will provide a democratic mandate for the governmental institutions to be established within the entities and at the level of bosnia and herzegovina. they stressed their common conviction that rapid establishment of these institutions is essential if the process of building a democratic society which enjoys the support of all the people of bosnia and herzegovina is to succeed.

having consulted with the osce chairman-in-office and osce mission head, the three presidents and the entity delegations endorsed the announcement of a date on which elections will be held on the basis of the conditions specified by the osce and the agreement. in their view, establishment of a specific date will provide a focus for the work remaining to achieve the full standards established by the osce. achievement of these standards is essential for the holding of free and fair elections.

the presidents and entity representatives also agreed to a series of concrete steps to help meet the standards established by the osce. they agreed that full respect for the rules and regulations established by the provisional election commission on the basis of the pleace agreement will be necessary if the elections are to meet these standards and welcomed the assistance of the osce and other international organizations in providing assistance to the parties in creating conditions for elections.

in recognition of their responsibility for creating momentum for peace, the presidents and entiry represnetatives, along with other participants, also agreed that establishment of a lasting peace in bosnia and herzuegovina requires full implementation of all provisions of the agreement, in addition to those concerning elections. they committed themselves to building confidence among the communities and peoples of bosnia and herzegovina in the peace process abnd agreed to refrain from the statement or action which might undermine implementation of the peace agreement. they noted in particular:

the obligations of all parties to fully cooperate in the investigation of war crimes and prosecution of all persons indicted for war crimes and to abide by the prohibition on persons indicted by the criminal tribunal for war crimes seeking and holding an appointive, elective or other public office in bosnia and herzegivina.

the need for more concerted efforts to ensure freedom of movemojnfacilitate the return of refugees, recognizing that the right to move freely and without fear throughout bosnia and herzegovina is a cornerstone of elections and of a lasting peace. toward this end, they agreed to work strictly within the unhcr guidelines to make more substantial progress in this area, cooperating closely with unhcr, ifor and the international police task force. they noted the agreement signed on may 29, 1996 by croatia, slovenia, austria, switzerland, and germany relating to the terms of refugee return.

the obligation to provide free and equal access to the media in compliance with relevant osce regulations, not only for effective conduct of the elections but also for the establishment of a democratic society throughout bosnia and herzegovia and the region as a whole.

the necessity of commencing the brcko area arbitration as stipulated in annex ii, article 5 of the agreement and the value of securing an early solution in the interests of a lasting peace. they welcomed the appointment of the arbitrator from the federation and undertook to encourage agreement on the other two arbitrators quickly.

the importance of concluding arms control talks under article iv of the agreement. the presidents underscored the urgency of achieving an agreement in advance of the june 11 deadline and have directed their negotiators to reach an agreement this week.

the importance of the international community's economic reconstruction program in bosnia and herzegovina. they welcomed the efforts made by the international community thus far, looked forward to full implementation of the reconstruction program and urged an acceleration of the realization of pledges.

annex to agreed statement

in order to fully realize the undertakings contained in the agreed statement, the three presidents and entity representatives, committed to implement the following steps:

freedom of movement

1. the parties recognize that the right and ability to move freely and without fear throughout bosnia and herzegovina is an essential cornerstone of elections and of a lasting peace. they acknowledge that it is the parties themselves, at both the local and entity level, who bear primary responsibility for the security of all individuals in areas under their authority. 2. the parties pledge to provide security for inter-entity bus service and to ensure that such service is not impeded in any way. 3. they also welcome the support of the implementation force and the international police task force in continuing the provision of a secure environment so that freedom of movement can be fully realized by the citizens of bosnia and herzegovina. they pledge to fully cooperate with both of these forces as well as the united nations high commissioner for refugees to ensure full compliance. 4. the parties agreed that a delegation from the bosnian federation would visit belgrade to discuss the normalization of railway and air traffic, cooperation in heavy industry, postal, telegraph and telephone services, and in other fields relevant to the development of economic cooperation.

media access 1. taking note of the agreement on media access reached at blair house by federation authorities, the parties agreed to extend these measures throughout the country. 2. the parties agreed to support fully the open broadcast network project and other media support projects being coordinated through the office of the high representative and the osce.

administrative and confidence-building measures

1. in order to ensure that election preparations are conducted as smoothly as possible, the parties have committed to take the following specific actions:

constitute remaining local election commissions within the districts determined by the osce and provide them with appropriate office space and administrative staff. the parties would welcome the financial support of the international community in the establishment of these offices.

comply with the recent agreement of relevant ministers under the auspices of the joint civilian commission to recognize the validity of drivers' licenses, license plates, automobile registration, and automobile insurance issued by either entity, subsequantly reach agreement on a uniform license plate withion three months, and ensure that local authorities impelement these agreements fully.

ensure that local authorities cease confiscating identity documents issued by either entity.

recognize without conditions press credentials issued by either entity, ifor or osce.

reestablish telephone connections between the entities making use of all available technical assistance.

allow all candidates and parties to engage in political activity and campaign freely and without obstruction in both entities.

2. the presidents of serbia and croatia agree that refugees who wish to vote in person will be allowed unimpeded transit of the fry and croatia. they also undertake to work closely with the osce and other international organizations to facilitate voting by refugees present in their territory.

3. the parties agree to ensure the passage and implementation of amnesty laws which meet international standards for non war crimes-related offenses.

4. the parties agree to report on implementation of the above measures at the florence mid-term review conference.

mostar

1. the parties also welcome the decision of the european union administrtator for mostar to hold municipal elections in mostar on june 30 and provide for the participation of refugees and displaced persons in those elections.

2. the presidents of croatia, bosnia and herzegovina and the federation agree to take steps to ensure unimpeded and unharrassed crossings between east and west mostar.

[19] 525,000 REFUGEES REGISTERED IN SERBIA BY MAY 31

according to figures available on may 31, 145,000 refugees have been registered in 16 belgrade municipalities, 221,000 in the northern serbian province of vojvodina, 17,000 in kosovo and metohija and 142,000 in other areas of serbia.

morina said that the registration of refugees in serbia had been prolonged for one week, that is until june 9, in agreement with u.n. high commissioner for refugees.

[20] SANTERRE AND DINI IN YUGOSLAVIA LATER THIS WEEK

european commission sources said on monday that santerre and dini would visit belgrade, zagreb, sarajevo and skopje on june 7-8 for talks on the european union's so-called regional approach in cooperation with states in the area.

the approach includes the connecting up of existing infrastructure or the reconstruction of war-ravaged infrastructure in the former yugoslavia, transportation network, transmission lines, energy systems, oil pipelines.

the european union maintains that its approach is not aimed at renewing the former yugoslavia but finding the most efficent way to overcome the sequels of war and to enable the economy for cooperation with europe.

although obstacles have emerged, the european integration will persist in its conception to bring the balkans closer to its own trends by promoting regional cooperation in the area, the european commission said.

[21] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL: CROATIA MUST GUARANTEE SAFETY TO SERBS

a failure of the united nations mission in eastern slavonia, baranja and western srem would be a defeat for europe and the entire international community, morina said in talks with coordinator of the geneva-based special department of the united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) for the former yugoslavia (sofy) rene van rooyen.

croatian troops last year captured all parts of the republic of serb krajina (state proclaimed by serbs in croatia) except its eastern region situated between croatia and the federal republic of yugoslavia.

van rooyen said the question of serbs' return to krajina was highly important at this moment and that international forces in eastern slavonia would do everything to restore trust between the croat and serb populations in the region.

morina and van rooyen agreed that conditions have to be created for the return of refugees from the federal republic of yugoslavia to their earlier places of residence.

van rooyen agreed with morina's proposal to organize a regional meeting of all commissioners for refugees from the former yugoslav republics in the near future, so that the problem of refugees could be tackled in direct contacts.

[22] SILAJDZIC ACCUSES CROATS OF UNDERMINING BOSNIAN FEDERATION

silajdzic, who now leads the party for bosnia-herzegovina, was quoted by the sarajevo paper dan on monday as saying that there existed three parallel governments in the territory of the federation: the governments of the federation, the republic and herceg-bosna (the state of bosnian croats).

silajdzic, who diverged from bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic and his party of democratic action (sda) several months ago, said that the desintegration of the federation was rapidly advancing and that those who had looked forward to that had realized their goal.

silajdzic, whose party is considered to be the most serious challenger to izetbegovic's sda at the upcoming september elections, accused the croat side of working on the partition of bosnia since the very beginning, constantly asking for concessions and pledging in return to abolish herceg-bosna.

after one-year fierce fighting in central and southern bosnia, bosnian croats and muslims signed the agreement on the setting up of a joint federation under strong u.s. pressure in march 1994.

despite the federation agreement with the muslims, the bosnian croats have not abolished their institutions of the republic of herceg-bosnia, which was proclaimed at the outset of the war in bosnia in 1992.

[23] TALKS ON ARMS CONTROL IN BALKANS ENTER FINAL PHASE

in addition to the yugoslav delegation, the talks are attended also by delegations of the (bosnian serb state) republika srpska, croatia, bosnia-herzegovina and the moslem-croat federation.

the talks, held at the vienna headquarters of the organisation for security and cooperation in europe (osce), opened on january 5.

djokic told tanjug that the yugoslav delegation would try to reach agreement on the remaining issues, but did not specify the issues.

djokic said it was yugoslavia's wish that all parties concerned reach agreement on the arms control in the balkans by the set date, which he said was in their interest.

[24] NATO MINISTERS URGE RESPECT FOR IFOR MANDATE IN BOSNIA

there will be no post-ifor after dec. 20, german foreign minister klaus kinkel told reporters during a break in the meeting.

kinkel said ifor troops had arrived in bosnia together and would leave in the same fashion.

according kinkel, it is of the utmost importance at this point that elections in bosnia-herzegovina be held in mid-september, as scheduled under the dayton peace accords.

the verification of the set date for the elections was the most important result of a summit of the dayton agreement's signatories in geneva on sunday.

kinkel urged that the hague war-crimes tribunal indict bosnian serb leaders radovan karadzic and ratko mladic.

the sensitive issue was not mentioned in the statement adopted by the geneva meeting, despite numerous speculations as to otherwise

commenting the strengthening of nato's so-called european dimension, kinkel said europe would have in future alone to extinguish hot spots similar to the one in bosnia-herzegovina.

[25] ADMIRAL SMITH: ALL SIDES IN BOSNIA VIOLATE RIGHT TO FREE MOVEMENT

smith said that the bosnian muslim media as a rule commented only on incidents in which muslims were prevented from entering the serb entity in bosnia, the republika srpska.

admiral smith accused political factors on all three sides for violating the freedom of movement.

he said there would be no freedom of movement in bosnia until politicians showed readiness to reach compromise, to negotiate and to cooperate.

asked whether ifor will apprehend war crime suspects, smith said that if ifor members came into contact with them in the course of their daily duties, they would apprehend them and hand over to the hague tribunal.

[26] SERB OFFICIAL: ALL THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR BOSNIAN WAR SHOULD STEP DOWN

dodik told the yugoslav obrenovac radio that this was the essence of his party's initiative urging that muslim leaders alija izetbegovic and ejup ganic step down under the same principle that has induced the international community to insist on the departure of bosnian serb leaders radovan karadzic and ratko mladic.

'we believe that stable peace and implementation of the dayton agreement are possible only when all those who are responsible for this war leave the political scene, and do it definitively,' dodik said.

he said elections in bosnia, planned for next september, should by no means be postponed because it would lead to new destabilization of the situation.

[27] SARAJEVO MEDIA: WASHINGTON WILL NOT RELINQUISH DAYTON ACCORD

sarajevo's commentators point to an agreement between serbian president slobodan milosevic, croatian president franjo tudjman and bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic to hold bosnian elections in september, as stipulated by the dayton agreement.

sarajevo's independent paper vecernje novine and dnevni avaz, the mouthpiece of the ruling muslim party of democratic action (sda), point out that agreement to hold the elections as planned has been reached despite conditions set by izetbegovic.

before his departure to geneva, izetbegovic posed four conditions for the elections -- the freedom of movement, freedom of political activity in the whole of bosnia-herzegovina, the return of refugees and the removal of serb leaders radovan karadzic and ratko mladic.

in their reports on the geneva meeting, sarajevo media said that the conditions had been partially accepted.

the sarajevo oslobodjenje lent support to izetbegovic but resignedly said that the final document of the geneva agreement did not even mention karadzic.

Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996

Tanjug Directory - Previous Article - Next Article