YDS 10/16

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

From: ddc@nyquist.bellcore.com (D.D. Chukurov)

16. OCTOBER 1995. YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY

C O N T E N T S:

FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA - PRESIDENT LILIC: YUGOSLAVIA'S ROLE IN SETTLEMENT OF CRISIS UNAVOIDABLE - YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA IN URGENT NEED OF HEATING GAS - YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR - HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR, YUGOSLAV MINISTER FOR EQUAL TREATMENT OF WARRING PARTIES - BULATOVIC: WE WITNESS THE END OF A TRAGIC SEQUENCE OF EVENTS - INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION RECOGNIZES YUGOSLAVIA CONTINUITY

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - U.N. OBSERVERS ARRIVE IN BANJALUKA

ON CROATIAN CRIMES IN KRAJINA - GENERAL FORAND CONFIRMS CROATIAN CRIMES IN KRAJINA

FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

PRESIDENT LILIC: YUGOSLAVIA'S ROLE IN SETTLEMENT OF CRISIS UNAVOID ABLE

V a l l e t t a, Oct. 13 (Tanjug) - Zoran Lilic, the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, said Thursday that he expected the Mediterranean Conference of the Crans-Montana Forum to extend strong support to the peace process in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Lilic emphasized that Yugoslavia urges a just and lasting settlement and an equal treatment of all parties in the crisis in the territory of the former federation and that its role in the resolution of the crisis was unavoidable. He said that the Malta meeting was an occasion to point to the senselessnes of the sanctions that Yugoslavia has been exposed to in the past three and a half years. 'I expect that subjects pertaining to peace, reconstruction and economic cooperation will dominate at the Malta gathering and that in the future the Balkans will be a part of Europe and all its integration processes,' Lilic said. Lilic said on Saturday it was in Yugoslavia's vital interest and a prirority goal of its foreign policy that the Balkans should become a zone of peace, stability, cooperation and economic prosperity. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has confirmed in practice its orientation to developing good-neighbourly relations and all-round cooperation with all states in the Balkans and beyond, Lilic said, speaking in Plenum of the Crans Montana. Lilic said that Balkan stability and balance could be achieved only by respecting the interests of all nations of former Yugoslavia equally, giving an equal treatment to all parties to the conflict and by European and world factors taking a principled approach to them. He said that Yugoslavia had since the outbreak of the crisis worked for peace, equality and a negotiated settlement of disputes. Lilic said that Yugoslavia had accepted all international peace plans - from the Cutilheiro plan drawn up on behalf of the European Union in March 1992 to the present U.S. plan. He said that the Geneva and New York accords were a turning point on the way to a peaceful settlement. Lilic invited the signatories to the Bosnia ceasefire accord (representatives of the Muslim-Croat federation and the Republika Srpska) to honour strictly and responsibly the obligations they had undertaken. He appealed to the International Community to obligate Croatia to pull its troops out of Bosnia-Herzegovina without delay and deal with the question of the Baranja and west Srem region only in consultations with the local Serbs, peacefully and through talks. Lilic said that Croatia's policy of national and religious discrimination against the Serb population was at present the biggest obstacle to peace in former Yugoslavia, peace for which a foundation had already been laid. A climate of fear and mass murders have driven about 500,000 Serbs from Croatia, he said and added that the few Serbs remaining there after the massive 'ethnic cleansing' operation were being terrorised and eliminated with impunity. Lilic stressed that all trace of the centuries of Serb presence in Croatia was being systematically obliterated. Immediately after the most recent and unparallelled exodus of more than 250,000 Serbs from the Republic of Serb Krajina in August, the Zagreb regime confiscated their property, violating the universal principle of inviolability of private property, he added. Lilic said that the Serb community had accounted for 15% of the population of Croatia, but their number had now dwindled to barely 2.5%. The Serbs now have only 4.5% of the land, as against the original 32%, he added. At a news Conference held on Saturday, he said that his country's consistent peace policy had greatly contributed to the latest diplomatic breakthrough towards a solution to the crisis in the region. Peace in Bosnia can be achieved only if the international community pursues an impartial policy towards all parties to the conflict, Lilic said. Lilic told journalists that the sanctions against Yugoslavia should be lifted now and pointed out that the embargo had greatly damaged not only Yugoslavia but the entire Balkans and Europe as well. Since the introduction of the comprehensive sanctions, Yugoslavia has suffered direct and indirect loss of about 100 billion dollars, Lilic said. A journalist of the Italian paper "La Stampa", who said that Lilic's speech at the plenary session had been dignified contrary to a speech delivered by Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic, asked Lilic about his reaction to the Izetbegovic's tactless statements. It is really hard to sit and listen to things that you know are partly untrue, Lilic said and added that the Yugoslav delegation had not come to argue with anyone but to contribute to the establishment of lasting peace as soon as possible. It would have been very distateful if we had started denying each other's statements and giving comments on our speeches. Anyway, every one takes responsibility before his conscience and the world for the statements made here, Lilic said and added that Izetbegovic's speech was the concern of the Bosnia Muslim leader.

YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE

B e l g r a d e, Oct. 15 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic said on Sunday that the session of the Crans Montana Forum in La Valletta showed the majority of Balkan nations to be in favour of a peaceful settlement of disputes and promotion of mutual ties. Speaking to journalists in Belgrade after his return from Malta, Lilic said that there were still people in the Balkans whose priorities were not peace, cooperation, goodneighbourly relations and democracy. They chose instead to undermine the peace process and disregard universal calls for a peaceful settlement of problems, he added. Yugoslavia's position in this regard is clear: a final settlement of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia can be found only through dialogue and by peaceful, political means, said Lilic. The international community must respect the decisions reached in the Geneva and New York and equally punish those who does not honour the agreements they have previously accepted, as well as those who want the war to continue, he said. Lilic said that the international community had to stop those who thought that they could use force to resolve the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. Commenting on violations of the Bosnia ceasefire by the Muslims and the Croats, Lilic said that the international community, as guarantor of the agreement, should honour its obligations and create conditions for the agreement's implementation. He said that the restoration of peace in Bosnia should also bring about the lifting of sanctions against Yugoslavia. 'This moment is very close,' said Lilic and added that he had received assurances to this effect in all contacts that he had in Malta. Possibilities for investment in the Yugoslav economy were extensively discussed during these meetings, said Lilic and explained that the Conference in La Valletta primarily dealt with economic cooperation issues. 'Economic issues are naturally of particular importance for resolving political problems. The former Yugoslav republics may fail to understand each other politically, but they will certainly have to start cooperating in the economic sphere,' he said.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA IN URGENT NEED OF HEATING GAS

B e l g r a d e, Oct 13 (Tanjug) - Federal Prime Minister Radoje Kontic warned on Friday that with the onset of the winter the country was dangerously close to a 'huge humanitarian catastrophe' if the UN do not allow the importing of Russian naural gas for heating. In a letter sent to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Victor Chernomyrdin, Kontic called on Russia to take the necessray steps to secure the approval of the U.N. Sanctions Committee for exporting to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1,3 million cubic meters of natural gas. Out country under sanctions cannot resolve the huge humanitarian tragedy. Difficulties are especially marked in the field of energy supplies, especially gas, the letter of the Federal Prime Minister said. The letter said that the monthy needs of Yugoslavia are 132.4 million cubic meters of gas for the 1995/96 heating season. Another 54.1 million cubic meteres of gas are needed for the production of food, medicine and for other humanitarian needs, then 201,374 tonnes of masout, 237,167 tonnes of fuel oil and 3,527 tonnes of liquid gas for the heating of hospitals, kindergardens, schools and refugee centers. Kontic said that the disastrous effects of comprehensive and mandatory U.N. sanctions on the population and economy of Yugoslavia had been further aggravated, and that the country's humanitarian needs had further increased with the arrival of about 200,000 Serb refugees who fled the Croatian aggression on the Republic of Serb Krajina this summer. Kontic said that international humanitarian organizations, including the UNHCR, the WHO and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had been fully acquainted with the dramatic humanitarian situation in Yugoslavia and the country's emergency needs for fuels. I draw your attention to the need for an urgent granting of Yugoslavia's demand in order to avoid the situation that had happened in the past when we received the necessary clearances too late, when the winter was over, said Kontic.

YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR

B e l g r a d e, Oct. 13 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic on Friday stressed in talks with Elisabeth Rehn, the U.N. Human Rights Rapporteur for the former Yugoslavia, that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia attached great importance to the objectivity of the International Community with regards to human rights in the territory of the former federation. He emphasized the importance of the role of U.N. Special Human Rights Rapporteur. Both sides underscored the importance of the promotion of cooperation on the basis of objectivity, opennenss and protection of human rights and freedoms in the spirit of honouring principles and objectives of the United Nations.

HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR, YUGOSLAV MINISTER FOR EQUAL TREATMENT OF WARRING PARTIES

B e l g r a d e, Oct. 13 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia expects the mission by the U.N. human rights commission's special rapporteur on former Yugoslavia, Elisabeth Rehn, to be objective and unbiased, Yugoslav minister without portfolio Margit Savovic said on Friday. In a talk with Rehn, Savovic said Yugoslavia expected that '...all sides be equally treated anad that human rights violations in all territories be adequatly responded to.' Expressing Yugoslavia's readiness to cooperate, Savovic said reports by former U.N. human rights rapporteur Tadeusz Mazowiecki invariably condemned one side, mentioning only in passing others. Savovic said it was well-known that U.N. resolutions 'are always largely influenced by the facts presented in the special rapporteur's reports.' Rehn said she neither favoured nor disliked anyone and that she was ready to listen to all sides. Stressing that first of all she wanted to turn a new leaf, Rehn said it was important that she should get the list of horrid events that had occurred after Mazowiecki had left the mission. Rehn said she expected serious proposals and suggestions on how to coninue the activity in a positive manner. She said it was vital to create conditions for the respect of human dignity, and not only to turn to one's past, but said one should never forget what had happened. Urging a safe repatriation of Serbs to the Republic of Serb Krajina, Rehn said it was vital that Serbs who had remained there and who were not safe be guaranteed security. Referring to the future position of a multinational peace force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rehn expressed hope that her country, Finland, would in some way help police peace.

BULATOVIC: WE WITNESS THE END OF A TRAGIC SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

K o t o r, Oct. 14 (Tanjug) - These weeks we are witnessing the end of a tragic sequence of events that have ensued from the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and generated a terrible civil war, President of the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro Momir Bulatovic said on Saturday. 'The efforts of all peace-loving forces in the world is likely to eventually yield the desired results,' said Bulatovic in opening the second conference of the Centre for Mediterranean Studies which rallies experts from Yugoslavia and 13 European countries. Bulatovic underscored the symbolical significance of this year's Conference dedicated to 'the Mediterranean at the threshold of the 21st century.' Bulatovic said that the Conference, on one hand, witnessed the rising prestige of Yugoslavia and its policy while, on the other, it accounted for the particular contribution extended by Montenegro and Yugoslavia to the promotion of cooperation in the Mediterranean and the world as a whole. He pointed out that the natural and civilization resources in the Mediterranean go far beyond its territory politically as well as economically, its nations and states depending upon one another and bound to cooperate in the times of peace as well as in the years of challenge and conflicts.

INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION RECOGNIZES YUGOSLAVIA CONTINUITY

B u c h a r e s t, Oct. 14 (Tanjug) - Parliamentarians from across the world at the Interparliamentary Union Session which ended here Friday for a third time turned down proposals to exclude representatives of the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from the union's membership, thus virtually recognizing the continuity of Yugoslavia. Milos Radulovic, head of the Yugoslav delegation and President of the Yugoslav Assembly's Chamber of the Republics, in his talk with journalists pointed to the fact that this debate, unlike those at earlier sessions, had hardly at all mentioned Yugoslavia as a problem.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

U.N. OBSERVERS ARRIVE IN BANJALUKA

K r a g u j e v a c, Oct. 15 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serb Vice President Nikola Koljevic said on Sunday that six U.N. observers had arrived in Banjaluka to monitor the ceasefire in the region. In an interview to the local radio in Kragujevac in central Serbia, Koljevic said the observers had arrived at the demand of the Serb side submitted in writing to the U.N. commander in Bosnia, Gen. Rupert Smith. 'The observers will monitor the situation on the ground, but we will monitor their actions to prevent any impartial report from being released, because we have reason to believe that this too is possible,' said Koljevic. He said the Bosnian Serbs would lodge a written demand with Gen. Smith on Sunday asking him to prevent ceasefire violations, and that a similar demand would be addressed to the U.N. Secretary-General. 'After this, we will decide whether to continue observing the ceasefire or take action which, as i explained to Gen. Smith, we would simply be forced to resort to, given the situation in which we would be left with no other choice,' said Koljevic.

ON CROATIAN CRIMES IN KRAJINA

GENERAL FORAND CONFIRMS CROATIAN CRIMES IN KRAJINA

B e l g r a d e, Oct, 13 (Tanjug) - Outgoing U.N. Commander of the former Sector South Gen. Alain Forand stated that from August 5, when the Croatian authorities took control of Krajina, until Oct. 6, the U.N. civilian police found 128 bodies of murdered Serb civilians. Forand said this at his last press briefing held at the U.N. headquarters in Knin. Forand spoke in Knin about the consequences of the Croatian aggression on the Republic of Serb Krajina. Indicating that the U.N. have not yet received the required data about investigations of these crimes, Gen. Forand stressed that 'the most disturbing trend of all is the on-going killing of Serb civilians who have remained, the majority of them elderly'. Forand recalled that the Croatian army started by the bombardment of all main Serb communities in the former sector South with heavy artillery, and added that during the August offensive on that sector and the former Sector North, a total of 185,000 people were forced to leave their homes. Estimates by U.N. agencies, place the Serb population remaining in the Krajina at around 1,500 in the former sector South and about 2,200 in the former sector North, Forand said. The U.N. official said that 'under its monitoring of the humanitarian situation in former Sector South, patrols by U.N. human rights teams, military observers and civilian police have regrettably reported a disturbing trend of activity, which began immediately after the 4-5 August offensive and has continued since'. He specified that there had been widespread killing of civilians, arson of Serb houses, looting of their property and the neglect of the mainly elderly Serb community living in isolated villages. 'A recent survey report by U.N. military observers based on visits to 389 hamlets and villages showed that of 21,744 houses observed, over 16,578 were destroyed by fire or severly damaged, Forand said. He specified that most of these villages were formerly majority Serb communities and that from this report it is estimated that 73% of all property is presently un-inhabitable in the former sector South area. Forand pointed out that 'there have been no observed attempts to stop the destruction and killing, and indications point to a scorched earth campaign'.