Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-12

Tanjug Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Jun 12, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW

CONTENTS

[01] IFOR: THERE ARE MORE MUJAHEDDIN IN BOSNIA THAT WASHINGTON SAYS

[02] HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF U.S. ADVENTIST CHURCH VISITS BELGRADE

[03] SLOVENIA - EVEN ECONOMY TRICKED BY POLITICS

[04] KLEIN: EVERYTHING DONE TO GUARANTEE SECURITY AND SAFETY TO SERBS IN

[05] PRIVATIZATION - A PRECONDITION FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN YUGOSLAVIA

[06] YUGOSLAVIA WILL BE REPRESENTED AT ECONOMIC FORUM OF EUROPEAN REGIONS

[07] U.S. BUSINESSMEN INFORMED ABOUT ECONOMIC SITUATION IN YUGOSLAVIA

[08] SERBIA TO BUILD NEW PIPELINE FOR RUSSIAN GAS

[09] YUGOSLAV-IMF TALKS IN GENEVA ON THURSDAY

[10] WEU MONITORS END MISSION ON DANUBE RIVER

[11] SLOVENIAN PRESS: MORE EVIDENCE OF ARMS SMUGGLING FOR CROATIA, BOSNIA

[12] WAR CRIMES COURT HOLDS CLOSED-DOOR HEARING IN TADIC TRIAL

[13] RUSSIA CALLS FOR EARLY LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

[14] BOSNIAN SERB DELEGATION TO LEAVE FOR FLORENCE

[15] NO DEAL AT OSLO YET ON DISARMAMENT IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

[16] ZIMBABWE HAS ALWAYS STOOD BY YUGOSLAVIA, SAYS MUGABE

[17] PENTAGON SPOKESMAN DENIES TROOPS STRAYED INTO GEN. MLADIC'S DOMAIN

[18] OVER 3,000 WW II MONUMENTS TO VICTIMS OF FASCISM DESTROYED IN CROATIA

[19] TALKS ABOUT FATE OF REJECTED ASYLUM-SEEKERS CONTINUE IN BONN

[20] BOSNIAN PEACE PUT TO TEST IN FLORENCE

[21] SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO SIGN ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENT

[22] TELEPHONE LINKS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN EASTERN SLAVONIA, CROATIA

[23] CHIRAC DOES NOT THINK BOSNIA ELECTIONS SHOULD BE LINKED TO KARADZIC

[24] DECISION ON BOSNIAN ELECTIONS TO BE MADE AT CONFERENCE IN FLORENCE

[25] CONTROL OF ARMS IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA UNITS GOING WELL

[26] KINKEL CALLS ON MOSLEMS TO SIGN BOSNIA ARMS CONTROL DEAL

[27] E.U. AND DAYTON PROCESS

[01] IFOR: THERE ARE MORE MUJAHEDDIN IN BOSNIA THAT WASHINGTON SAYS

the british general told reporters in the sarajevo suburb of ilidza that, according to evidence available to ifor, there were still between 100 and 200 pro-iranian islamic fighters in bosnia.

walker voiced a surprise at the u.s. state department's information that there are only four fighters of iranian nationality still in bosnia.

bosnian serbs had repeatedly claimed that mujaheddin from iran and other islamic countries were fighting on the bosnian muslim side.

the warning, however, was ignored until the united states made the arrival of its troops in bosnia and military assistance to the muslim-croat federation conditional on the expulsion of mujaheddin and other foreign mercenaries from bosnia-herzegovina.

[02] HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF U.S. ADVENTIST CHURCH VISITS BELGRADE

minister without portfolio and chairman of the yugoslav government commission for relations with religious communities bingulac informed the president of the general conference of the supreme council of the adventist church from washington with the religious rights and freedoms in yugoslavia.

the yugoslav constitution is one of the world's most democratic constitutions in this respect, the yugoslav information secretariat quoted bingulac as saying at the meeting.

the minister thanked the adventist organization adra on its humanitarian deliveries to refugees and other suffering people in yugoslavia.

fokenberg expressed satisfaction over the religious rights and freedoms in yugoslavia and said that adra would continue to help those in need, primarily people in the republika srpska, the serb entity in bosnia, the statement said.

minister dragojlovic said in a separate talk with fokenberg that all people in serbia and yugoslavia were equal, regardless of their nationality or religious affiliation, the republican information ministry said in a statement.

fokenberg stressed the importance of religious tolerance and cooperation in religiously and ethnically mixed communities, and said that the adventists were prepared to help all those in need, regardless of their religion, the statement said.

fokenberg asked dragojlovic to convey gratitude to the serbian leadership and president slobodan milosevic for their efforts toward peace and a consistent policy of peace.

bertyl wielander, the president of the trans-european department of the christian adventist church in london, and radisa antic, the president of the main committee of the adventist church in yugoslavia, also attended the talks.

[03] SLOVENIA - EVEN ECONOMY TRICKED BY POLITICS

ljubljana, june 11 (tanjug) - the slovenian economy, fraught with a wave of strikes and sharp criticism from the opposition has stopped in the past months hiding its many defeats.

admitting officially that it had slipped on the 'political banana' of its own leadership, the once most successful economy of the former yugoslvia is becoming more and more local while many of its branches, which were until recently present on international markets are faced with the insurmountable barrier of western competitors.

analysts hold the government mainly responsible for the lost national economic pride - accusing it of conducting a totally wrong economic policy.

even the deputies of the lower house of parliament, until recently tolerant supporters of the government of prime minsiter janez drnovsek, asked last week for the cabinet to adopt urgent measures to stop the downfall of the national economy.

there are also the first indicators that germany, slovenia's biggest ally, is turning its back to slovenian economy.

according to official statistical data industrial output has been dropping by five percent a month since the beginning of the year and slovenia is heading towards its biggest recession in five decades.

almost every other firm has difficulties with solvency and almost every fourth borrows funds for wages, or is deeply indebted.

last year slovenia registered its largest trade deficit of 1.17 billion dollars, which is twice the one in 1994.

economists said that slovenian exports outside the countries on the territory of the former yugoslavia had dropped by half in the past three years.

it is not surprising therefore that there is a growing number of those, especially from economic circles, who consider that one of the main reasons for the self-induced downfall of the so-called slovenian miracle is its blind subordination to the country's politics in its euphoric secession.

almost ninenty percent of slovenia's directors from different branches of the economy recently said they wanted to renew cooperation with the federal republic of yugoslavia.

[04] KLEIN: EVERYTHING DONE TO GUARANTEE SECURITY AND SAFETY TO SERBS IN

i understand the problem of serbs in eastern slavonia, because people have run out of patience after five years of war, but as long as my 5,000 highly-trained men are there no one will be expelled from the area, u.s. diplomat klein said at the belgrade institute for international politics and economics.

he pointed to the need of cooperation between all sides involved in the stabilization process in the area. he voiced hope that in the future the area would be a bridge between the federal republic of yugoslavia and croatia.

he recalled that the situation had significantly improved since the arrival of untaes troops and that he was backed by yugoslav and croatian authorities. he said he hoped that the mission, agreed by croatian and local serb authorities in november 1996, would be successful.

under the agreement, the area was put under u.n. transitional administration (untaes) in january 1996 for one year, with the possibility of extending the mandate for another 12 months.

klein described cooperation with local serb authorities as very good and said that the normalization process mainly depended on the opening of borders and the establishment of economic and trade communications between serbia, croatia and hungary.

asked whether he expected a deterioration of the situation after the expiration of the untaes mission and whether croatian authorities would use force if serbs asked for a higher level of autornomy, klein categorically said no.

speaking about croatia's recently adopted law on amnesty for serbs in the area, klein said he was not satisfied with the law and that the international community would call for an amnesty law which would cover 99 percent of serbs.

klein told reuter on tuesday that the untaes was almost certain to have its mandate extended and that he expected to leave the area by july 1997.

[05] PRIVATIZATION - A PRECONDITION FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN YUGOSLAVIA

speaking about the results of the just ended yugoslav-u.s. business council meeting, scanllon said u.s. businessmen were interested in cooperation now that sanctions had been suspended, but that much depended on yugoslavia.

scanllon, who was the u.s. ambassador to yugoslavia in the mid-1980s, said foreign inestments largely depended on the current economic policy of the country and said a possible new inflation might discourage foreign financiers from investing in yugoslavia.

scanllon said international investors might also be discouraged by any disruptions in the economic stability of the country, a possible situation where they would not be able to take the profit out of the country, a lack of banking guarantees, and the political climate.

[06] YUGOSLAVIA WILL BE REPRESENTED AT ECONOMIC FORUM OF EUROPEAN REGIONS

deputy mayor zoran stankovic told the press that the capital of serbia's northern province of vojvodina would present in dortmund its economic, cultural and tourism potentials and scientific and technological achievements.

the novi sad representatives will also try to renew friendly cooperation with the twinned city of dortmund, especially at the economic level.

[07] U.S. BUSINESSMEN INFORMED ABOUT ECONOMIC SITUATION IN YUGOSLAVIA

the u.s. businessmen also learned more about yugoslav activities aimed to bring the country back to international financial and trade organizations.

president of the yugoslav chamber of commerce mihailo milojevic said after the talks that the u.s. side had been particulalry interested in legal provisions for foreign investment.

the meeting was aimed to restore contacts between businessmen and bankers from the two countries, milojevic said, adding that both sides had found the talks very useful.

milojevic said that the yugoslav side had raised the question of unfreezing the yugoslav assets in u.s. banks and restoring payment transactions with that country.

other issues disussed at the meeting referred to the u.s. plan of preferentials and the return of the status of the most favoured nation in trade with the u.s., which would make yugoslav products competitive on the u.s. market.

the yugoslav economists expressed interest in long-term cooperation in joint ventures, transfer of technology and cooperation in production, as well as in u.s. participation in realizing infrastructural projects in yugoslavia.

the participants stressed the need for the u.s. banks to start opening branches in yugoslavia, which would improve cooperation not only in the financial area but in all others as well.

director of the cyprus branch of the yugoslav beogradska banka bank borka vucic urged that a study on the economic situation in yugoslavia be worked out to present the yugoslav economy on the u.s. and other markets.

former u.s. ambassador to yugoslavia and president of the u.s. business council for yugoslavia john scanllon described the talks as fruitful and good, adding that yugoslavia should work to create a favourable climate for foreign investments. he also said that the a return of u.s. firms to the council would gain support.

[08] SERBIA TO BUILD NEW PIPELINE FOR RUSSIAN GAS

the company plans to deliver 2.5 times more russian gas to serbia than is being delivered at present.

gasprom, the world's biggest company for gas exploitation and sale, will annually be delivering to serbia between seven and eight billion cubic metres of gas after the completion of the pipeline.

one prong of the two-prong pipeline will be built from the dimitrovgrad area on the yugoslav-bulgarian border, via nis, to pojate in central serbia.

the other will run to leskovac and vranje in southern serbia and on to pristina in serbia's southern province of kosovo-metohija.

the building of the pipeline and the sending, receiving and selling of gas will be in the hands of the joint-stock company, in which each side holds 50 percent of the stock.

the stock-holders are gasprom on the russian side, and progres, progresgas-trading, nis, beobanka and sartid, on the serbian side.

the pipeline will join the one that enters the federal republic of yugoslavia (serbia and montenegro) from hungary.

there are plans also for it to be joined by some other countries in future.

[09] YUGOSLAV-IMF TALKS IN GENEVA ON THURSDAY

geneva, june 12 (tanjug) - two-day expert talks between delegations of yugoslavia and the international monetary fund (imf) on legal and economic aspects of regulating yugoslavia's status in that world financial institution begin in geneva on thursday.

former preliminarty talks between yugoslavia and the imf were held from march 27 until april 3 this year in paris. those talks were mostly devoted to matters pertaining to continued imf membership.

yugoslavia does not reject any of the economic aspects of its proposed membership -- the imf board of executive directors decision of dec. 14, 1992. these are conditions which the imf set and which all former yugoslav republics should meet in order to resume being a member of the fund.

four basic conditions have been set and the essence is in accepting the named assets and liabilities of the former six-member yugoslav federation in the imf.

according to the fund decision, yugoslavia's share in these assets and liablilities is 36.52 percent and the federal government already in early january 1993 informed the imf it was in agreement with the determined percentage. the federal republic of yugoslavia thus met the most important condition set by the fund.

things, however, got complicated when the imf raised the question of inheritance of imf membership, which was formulated in a way which denied the political contuity of the federal republic of yugoslavia. if yugoslavia had acepted this, it would have meant it was agreeing that there was no continuity between the former federation and yugoslavia. that would have been a dangerous precedent which could definitely have been used against yugoslavia's interests in certain other areas as well.

the geneva talks on thursday should be another step forward in the process where it is expected that legal and economic issues will be separated from the political ones.

it is extremely important that yugoslavia has already entered into the process of talks and contacts with the most important international financial institutions, and that process will continue with the upcoming two-day talks.

[10] WEU MONITORS END MISSION ON DANUBE RIVER

during their mission, weu monitors checked the cargoes of over 2,000 ships on the danube river in three ports -- bulgaria's ruse, romania's calafat and hungaria's mohacs -- in line with u.n. security council resolutions.

the mission ends following the suspension of the sanctions as a result of the signing of the dayton peace accords in late 1995.

a senior official of the bulgarian customs, based in vidin, said that as of wednesday, ships would navigate on the danube river without any previous control.

in past years, navigation in the area had been brought almost to a standstill which greatly damaged the economies of yugoslavia and other states in the area.

[11] SLOVENIAN PRESS: MORE EVIDENCE OF ARMS SMUGGLING FOR CROATIA, BOSNIA

the italian police has arrested oman on charges of smuggling arms, gold and radioactive substances and of money laundering.

according to the arrest warrant, oman was a key figure in an operation, which went on for years, of smuggling arms out of slovenia and into neighbouring croatia and on to the muslim army in bosnia-herzegovina.

slovenia, croatia and bosnia-herzegovina launched wars of secession from former yugoslavia in 1991 and 1992.

the discovery recently of 30 grams of a radioactive substance in a safety deposit box in oman's name in a bank near venice, italy, more than 30 million german marks in his several bank accounts and confidential documents link oman to the arms smuggling scandal.

the slovenian press said that oman had close ties with top-ranking officials in ljubljana.

arms were smuggled out of slovenia since 1991, in an operation which numerous testimonies said was backed by the defence ministry and with the knowledge of president milan kucan and prime minister janez drnovsek.

[12] WAR CRIMES COURT HOLDS CLOSED-DOOR HEARING IN TADIC TRIAL

the public was allowed into the hague-based court for barely twenty minutes before the hearing continued in camera, after prosecutor grant niemen demanded that the witness's identity be protected.

the witness, who appeared in court today, but whose identity is so closely guarded that it is not known if it is a man or a woman, will henceforth be code-named 'q' and all details will be a closely guarded secret.

tadic is charged with crimes of genocide and violation of law of war, committed, according to the indictment, against muslims in prison camps in bosnia in the course of 1992.

the trial began more than a month ago, and 16 experts have testified before the court so far.

observers say that the brunt of the testimonies has dealt with the background of the bosnian war and the disintegration of former yugoslavia, rather than evidence against the man in the dock.

the prosecutor told the court on tuesday that he would whittle down the list of witnesses, which at present includes more than 60 names, because some had meanwhile refused to appear in court and others had become unavailable.

panel of judges president gabriela kirk mcdonald of the united states warned that the court would in the future tighten the witness security measures and punish any attempt to bring pressure to bear on them.

she told prosecutor niemen and defence counsel mihail wladimirof of the netherlands that, under article 77 of the court rules of procedure, any person bringing pressure to bear on a witness or trying to do so faced six months in jail or a 10,000-dollar fine.

[13] RUSSIA CALLS FOR EARLY LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

foreign minister yevgeny primakov first made the proposal at the berlin meeting of the 'contact group' earlier in june, saying that such a move in yugoslavia's favor on the part of the international community would be fully justified.

speaking at a regular press briefing in moscow, karasin said that russia was deeply convinced that such a measure would be a timely one as it would consolidate the position of serbian president slobodan milosevic at just the right time.

he said that milosevic's constructive efforts had become one of the major factors of positive developments in the dayton peace process.

karasin said that russia was happy that its contact group partners -- the united states, great britain, france and germany -- seemed to be gradually abandoning the groundless, counterproductive idea of re-imposing the sanctions for this or that reason.

no reason, not even the question of delivering the (bosnian serb) republika srpska's radovan karadzic to the hague-based war crimes tribunal, can compete for importance with the implementation of the dayton accords, and especially with bosnian elections, he said.

the u.n. security council imposed sanctions on yugoslavia in late may 1992, alleging its involvement in the bosnian civil war, and suspended them in november 1995, providing that they be lifted after the holding of bosnian elections, slated for mid-september 1996.

[14] BOSNIAN SERB DELEGATION TO LEAVE FOR FLORENCE

this was announced at tuesday's regular session of the republika srpska government in pale, the administrative seat of the serb entity in bosnia-herzegovina.

the delegation will also include foreign minister aleksa buha, minister for refugees and displaced persons ljubisa vladusic, justice minister marko arsovic, advisers jovan zametica and slavisa rakovic and assistant to the foreign minister radomir lukic.

[15] NO DEAL AT OSLO YET ON DISARMAMENT IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

norwegian general viglejk eide, who mediates in the talks, has said that, failing agreement at oslo, the federal republic of yugoslavia, bosnia-herzegovina and croatia will get another chance in florence, italy, on thursday and friday.

representatives from forty countries included in the peace process will gather at florence later this week to review progress in the implementation of the dayton peace accord to date.

as of tuesday night, the oslo talks have been unproductive, because the bosnian muslim delegation is awaiting instructions from sarajevo.

the problem has arisen about naming the partners in the agreement, with the status for the (bosnian serb state) republika srpska proving to be the strumbling block.

it is not clear if the republika srpska will be treated as a fully-fledged signatory partner or as part of bosnia-herzegovina, which is what the muslim delegation is asking.

the delegation of the federal republic of yugoslavia, headed by foreign minister milan milutinovic, is trying to remove the obstacle, because yugoslavia has a reputation among the delegations at oslo for consistently implementing the dayton accord.

[16] ZIMBABWE HAS ALWAYS STOOD BY YUGOSLAVIA, SAYS MUGABE

president robert gabriel mugabe, who is due in yugoslavia on wednesday on a several-day official visit, said that zimbabwe had always stood by yugoslavia and was the only country to vote against the anti-yugoslav sanctions in the u.n. security council in may 1992.

the zimbabwean people still remember the tremendous support recieved from yugoslavia during their guerrilla liberation war, said mugabe and added that this support had been the chief source of their courage and the reason for their support for yugoslavia.

he said that yugoslavia had stood by his movement to the end and had always been there to give help for his guerrilla struggle whenever he had asked for it.

this is why zimbabwe told the whole world that it would stand by yugoslavia and would not permit that a country that assisted zimbabwe and all other liberation movements in southern africa should be exposed to sanctions which zimbabwe saw as unjust, mugabe said.

he stressed that zimbabwe had been defending this position, too, when it opposed the accession of bosnia-herzegovina to the non-aligned movement at the recent summit in columbia.

zimbabwe said that if bosnia became a member, then yugoslavia, too, had to be returned to the movement, and opposed the position of certain pro-muslim countries that were insisting on punishing yugoslavia, mugabe explained.

he said that the next non-aligned meeting, albeit at the ministerial level, should consider returning the federal republic of yugoslavia to the movement, and added that he believed there would be no more opposition to this idea.

speaking about the spreading of islamic fundamentalism in the world, mugabe said that he was not against islam, but that religious freedom should not mean a chance to create a programme that should repress other individual freedoms.

commenting on the united states' role as world leader, mugabe said that there was only one super-power in the world today which could easily start pushing the world its own way, be it right or wrong, and expect the rest to go its way meekly.

it is to be hoped that the disappearance of the soviet union will give china the chance to develop to a level where it will become the counter-weight to the single-handed rule of the united states, he said.

[17] PENTAGON SPOKESMAN DENIES TROOPS STRAYED INTO GEN. MLADIC'S DOMAIN

a pentagon spokesman said that there had been no encounter with gen. mladic on the ground, stressing that the news reports were quite false.

spokesman for the state department nicholas burns also denied the report tuesday, describing it as fictional, and stressing that the nato-led peace implementation force (ifor) in bosnia had had no such encounter with mladic.

ap said tuesday that a u.s. platoon had strayed into territory controlled by bosnian serb gen. ratko mladic and was confronted by his troops before he ordered them to leave, which they did.

[18] OVER 3,000 WW II MONUMENTS TO VICTIMS OF FASCISM DESTROYED IN CROATIA

the authorities in zagreb have approved pensions to all those who were in the ranks of ustasha and home-guard forces which sided with hitler during the clerico-fascist independent state of croatia in wwii, and would count double their length of service, said politika ekspres.

the daily said germany had approved pensions to 'authenticated croatians' wht fought on the side of the fascist regime in wwii, when more than 700,000 serbs, jews and gypsies were killed in the jasenovac concentration camp alone.

the authorities in zagreb have requested of the yugoslav institute for medical documentation all information concerning the wounded and treated members of the croatian home-guard army, said the daily.

[19] TALKS ABOUT FATE OF REJECTED ASYLUM-SEEKERS CONTINUE IN BONN

the german side claims there are 135,000 asylum-seekers, for the greatest part ethnic albanians from the serbian province of kosovo and metohija (kosmet). but yugoslavia has indicated that it will demand identity checks on grounds that among them there are many citizens of albania and albanians from macedonia.

the goal of the current, fourth, round of talks between the delegations of the two countries is to reach an agreement on the return of these persons to yugoslavia, for what, according to assessments in yugoslav delegation circles there is a precise and clear political base, created during the recent visit of german foreign minister klaus kinkel to belgrade.

the head of the yugoslav delegation, ambassador in the federal miniytry of foreign affairs rade bogdanovic, told yugoslav journalists in bonn that the issue of the return of these people was important and that it was an internal german problem.

he added that the yugoslav side was ready to oblige german interests, but that germans, too, should do the same with our interests in the solving of the problem.

the head of the german delegation, gerold lenguth, director in the ministry of internal affairs said that he believed that talks would end successfully next month.

in the current phase of the talks, a 'realisitc date' is being fixed for the return of such a big number of people without destination. indispensable conditions will have to be created for the life and work of returnees so that they could stay there, which is also the subject of talks in bonn.

the yugoslav side has indicated that these people had not left the fry for reasons of 'political terror', but for purely economic reasons. this is confirmed by the fact that only 5 percent of asylum demands had been approved by the german authorities.

yugoslav delegation circles stress that the inter-state agreement was the right way for solving the problem. it is already clear, according to the same sources, that the two sides during the course of talks will reach a mutually acceptable solution.

the german side has already shown a readiness to accept yugoslav delegation views and an optimum time frame for the realisation of the expected agreement on repatriation.

it was stressed that a positive outcome to the talks would be a contribution to the promotion of relations and the normalization of the position of the fry in the international community.

circles of both delegations announce a continuation of the talks in belgrade in july, when an appropriate inter-state agreement could be signed.

[20] BOSNIAN PEACE PUT TO TEST IN FLORENCE

florence, june 12 (tanjug) - what are the prospects of the peace process in bosnia, half year after an agreement reached in dayton and its signing in paris on december 14.

a ministerial conference which starts in florence on thursday, with the participation of the signatories of the accord and internatinal mediators, should give an answer to this complex question.

the conference will be attended by the representatives of major international organizations -- the united nations, the organization for security and cooperation in europe (osce), the european union, the international committee of the red cross (icrc), the world bank, multinational force for the supervision of peace in bosnia (ifor) and others.

the belgrade delegation will be headed by yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic. croatia and the sarajevo government will also be represented by their foreign ministers. the two bosnian entities -- the muslim-croat federation and the republika srpska -- will send delegations to the florence meeting as well.

some optimism has been voiced given success achieved in the implementation of the military aspect of the dayton accord and in reconstruction efforts for bosnia.

an agreement on regional arms control has been reached on all elements after five months of negotiations in vienna. the agreement was not signed on wednesday as expected because the muslim delegation brought up the issue of the agreement's signatories as a problem. the problem may be resolved in florence.

senior ifor and nato officials have repeatedly stated that they were pleased with results achieved in the mission of the multinational force in bosnia -- the deployment of the 60,000 troops in late 1995 and early 1996, the delineation of lines of separation between formerly warring sides, identification and removal of heavy weapons and participation in the reconstruction of bosnian infrastructure, especially airport and roads.

a campaign launched after a world bank estimate that five billion dollars were needed for the reconstruction of bosnia has yielded results. more than 1.2 bilion dollars have been pledged for 1996 at a donors' conference in brussels in mid-april.

the amount should be enough for the rehabilitation of the almost complete infrastructure in the country in which 80 percent of the energy system has been destroyed and production totals only five percent as compared to pre-war production, and creation of jobs for 250,000 former soldiers on both sides.

the reconstruction of bosnia was until recently the main test for the dayton accord, but now all attention is focused on elections. the bosnian elections are to be held by mid-september at the latest, but the exact date has yet to be determined in florence.

still, the decision has to be confirmed in bosnia where attempts are made to postpone the elections. a postponement would necessitate an extension of the mandate of foreign troops in both entities.

[21] SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO SIGN ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENT

the norwegian general briefed reporters on the outcome of marathon negotiations and said the sarajevo government persistently refused to sign the agreement in which the republika srpska was treated as an equal signatory side.

the sarajevo government maintains that such a status would allegedly mean the beginning of the recognition of the statehood of the serb entity in bosnia-herzegovina.

eide said, however, that the political dispute was a 'political sidetrack' because the disputed part fo the agreement text is the same as that used in the dayton peace accord, which was also signed by the muslim side.

eide called it a success the support offered by the delegations of the federal republic of yugoslavia, croatia, the sarajevo government, the muslim-croat federation and the republika srpska to the document agreed through six-month negotiations in vienna.

the dayton peace agreement stipulates that the arms control agreement should be signed six months after the signing of the peace accords, that is on tuesday, june 11, at 22:00 hours gmt.

the signing ceremony in oslo was planned to take place on tuesday morning in the presence of the member-states of the five-nation contact group (great britain, russia, united states, france and germany).

the latest deadline for the signing of the arms control agreement is june 20, eide said, adding that talks would continue on several levels.

some progress is quite likely to be made in florence on thursday at a ministerial meeting of the signatories of the dayton agreement and international mediators.

the yugoslav delegation at the oslo meeting, which started on tuesday morning, was headed by yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic.

circles close to the yugoslav delegation said that it was highly important not to restart the negotiations from the very beginning given that 99 percent of the agreement had been agreed upon and that that it would be not only detrimental to the arms control issue but the entire peace process as well.

[22] TELEPHONE LINKS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN EASTERN SLAVONIA, CROATIA

klein said this was a yet another step in restoring lasting peace to the predominantly serb-populated region bordering on croatia and the federal republic of yugoslavia.

president of the serb region of eastern slavonia, barania and western srem, goran hadzic, reiterated the serb side's firm commitment to peace.

hadzic said the serb side called on all who wanted to live in the region to come and urged that all who already lived there stay there.

thanking klein for cooperation and the serb side for cooperativeness, croatian official ivica vrkic said talks and communication were crucial for the restoration of peace and the peaceful reintegration of the region into croatia.

[23] CHIRAC DOES NOT THINK BOSNIA ELECTIONS SHOULD BE LINKED TO KARADZIC

he said he did not see any link between general elections and the fate of radovan karadzic and republika srpska army generl ratko mladic on occasion of the bosnia ministerial conference to be held in florence on thursday.

he said he wanted justice to be served but he did not think it had anything to do with the elections.

the french press quoted president chirac as saying that elections had to be held to make the parties in the bosnian drama aware of what is required by democracy in europe.

he said he expected the two-day conference in florence to boost the implementation of all the phases in the dayton agreement.

he specified that nothing must be done to obstruct the organisation of elections for which the three parties in bosnia are still not showing a decisive political will.

[24] DECISION ON BOSNIAN ELECTIONS TO BE MADE AT CONFERENCE IN FLORENCE

the organization for security and cooperation in europe (osce) is to set the exact date of the elections.

the five member-states of the international contact group for bosnia agreed at a recent ministerial meeting in berlin that the elections should by all means be organized. similar agreement had been reached previously by the signatories of the dayton accords at a meeting in geneva.

swiss foreign minister flavio cotti, who presides over the osce, has so far shown the biggest reserve for holding elections in bosnia.

the key international factors insist on the elections and offer assistant to the osce in organizing and calling them.

cotti, however, persistently claims that the situation is not ripe for the step. in his opinion, one of the most essential conditions for organizing elections is that the bosnian serb president and army commander radovan karadzic and gen. ratko mladic be extradited to the international war crimes tribunal in the hague.

on the other hand, french president jacques chirac on tuesday told a press conference in geneva that this is not an obstacle to holding the elections.

united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) sadako ogata will inform the meeting in florence about various problems hindering a massive return of refugees and displaced persons to their old homes in bosnia.

according to the unhcr, one of the main problems is that there is no freedom of movement on the entire territory of bosnia-herzegovina or minimum conditions for accomodating a large number of refugees and displaced persons.

as many as 870,000 refugees and displaced persons were planned to be sent back to their earlier places of residence by the end of the year.

according to unhcr reports, however, barely 60,000 have returned home so far.

[25] CONTROL OF ARMS IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA UNITS GOING WELL

akons said the implementation of the dayton peace accords for bosnia-herzegovina had so far been successful, saying this was the initial step towards peace in the future.

romanian lt. col. gabriel siorobea said he shared akons's view. siorobea and akons met with head of the r.s. army team of inspectors, lt. col. mica milicevic, in pale late on tuesday.

siorobea said all three formerly warring parties -- moslems, croats and serbs -- had exchanged information about arms and equipment on time, and said teams of inspectors were much better prepared for their task now.

milicevic said akons's team had had the opportunity to check that reports sent by the r.s. army on the quantity of arms in its units had been correct.

the r.s. army has again shown that it fully meets all conditions it pledges to or signs, milicevic said. he said the r.s. army expected other parties to do so as well.

akons's team includes also bosnian moslem and croat army officers.

[26] KINKEL CALLS ON MOSLEMS TO SIGN BOSNIA ARMS CONTROL DEAL

a delegation of moslem-controlled bosnian authorities refused to sign in oslo on tuesday an agreement reached after five months of negotiations at the vienna headquarters of the organisation for security and cooperation in europe.

kinkel said he regretted that the signing of the agreement had been postponed, and said this impasse represented the first major obstacle to the implementation of the dayton peace accords for bosnia-herzegovina.

kinkel urged that the agreement, which he described as an important step towards a lasting stabilisation of the region, be signed immediately.

in a statement released in bonn on wednesday, the german foreign ministry said the international community should also exert pressure on bosnian moslem leader alija izetbegovic to accept the current version of the agreement.

kinkel sent a message to izetbegovic late tuesday warning him that if the agreement failed, peace in bosnia-herzegovina could be seriously threatened.

[27] E.U. AND DAYTON PROCESS

brussels, june 12 (tanjug)- the florence meeting, which will review the six-month implementation of the dayton peace accords for bosnia, is seen at the e.u. headquarters as a good opportunity for pointing up new paths to lasting peace in the former yugoslavia.

the e.u. foreign ministers agreed in luxembourg monday that the union make the development of its ties with the countries of the former yugoslavia conditional on the latter's mutual cooperation and the development of good-neighbourhood relations among them.

the ministers said cooperation and good-neighbourhood relations among the countries of the former yugoslavia would be the chief incentive to a further consolidation of peace in the balkans as a whole.

e.u. sources say that the union is ready to continue playing a role in the implementation of the dayton accords and the consolidation of peace only provided all countries of the former yugoslavia play a constructive role.

according to the e.u. sources, it is necessary that the countries of the former yugoslavia normalize mutual relations, establish economic cooperation using the inherited infrastructures, fully open their markets and fit into the european democratic processes.

the e.u. has assessed that everything unfolds as planned in the implementation of the dayton military provisions but that things are somewhat slow with the implementation of the civilian accords.

all international factors view the implementation of the reconstruction programme for bosnia-herzegovina as a key element of the peace process in all of the former yugoslavia.

the pace of the reconstruction process is slower than planned. of the 1.8 billion dollars pledged at two international conferences of donors in brussels, confirmations have been received for 1.4 billion, which is considered sufficient.

however, the european commission is the only one which has contributed its installment of 340 million ecus, while the remainder of the money is yet to come.

Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996

Tanjug Directory - Previous Article - Next Article