Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-01-31

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT DECLARES WAR ON CRIME

[02] BILDT CONFERRED WITH BOSNIAN MINISTERIAL COUNCIL MEMBERS

[03] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT CALLS FOR NATIONAL UNITY

[04] THREE YUGOSLAV BANKS TO SELL SHARES SOON

[05] SERBIAN TOURIST INDUSTRY EXPECTS TO EARN 100 MILLION DOLLARS

[06] YUGOSLAVIA HONOURS ARMS CONTROL OBLIGATIONS

[07] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MEETS WITH NAVY COMMANDERS

[08] RETURN TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY YUGOSLAVIA'S STRATEGIC GOAL

[01] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT DECLARES WAR ON CRIME

'We must take firm action to prevent individuals from getting rich unlawfully and further impoverishing the state, which all makes for popular dissatisfaction,' President Zoran Lilic told reporters during a visit to the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro.

Lilic said that 'we must go from words to deeds and fight a determined battle against this evil which is oppressing the state and causing instability and internal tension.'

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[02] BILDT CONFERRED WITH BOSNIAN MINISTERIAL COUNCIL MEMBERS

High Representative Carl Bildt said that the meeting had been devoted mostly to work on coordinating positions on the bills on the Central Bank, the foreign debt and customs.

Bildt said that, if the bills were passed, a fund-raising conference of donor states for Bosnia-Herzegovina would be held in Brussels in early March.

Co-chairman of the Ministerial Council Boro Bosic (Serb) said that they had discussed also telephone links between the Bosnian entities - the Muslim- Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska.

The other co-chairman, Haris Silajdzic (Muslim), said that progress had been made towards surmounting differences about a law on Bosnia's economic reintegration.

Silajdzic said they had touched also on cooperation along the inter-entity boundary line, especially in Sarajevo, i.e., on combatting crime in areas without any effective control.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[03] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT CALLS FOR NATIONAL UNITY

'These goals precisely necessitate that we rise above narrow party and all other partial interests,' Lilic said.

'This is why it is necessary that the most influential political parties in Serbia, either governing or opposition, immediately offer a political solution for surmounting and removing differences,' he said in a meeting with ranking officers of the Yugoslav Armed Forces.

'Otherwise, I believe that they will be primarily responsible for the possible consequences that might descend on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,' Lilic warned. He added he believed that 'the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia can be the stronger for a compromise as the result of respecting and recognising the truth,' as this would be in the interest of its two constituent republics - Serbia and Montenegro.

Lilic said that 'without dealing with the present problems burdening the country, primarily those created through open questions of Serbia's municipal elections, we can hardly make stable conditions for a speedy settlement of the complex economic situation.'

He said that, before the November elections, the world community had opened its doors to the FRY, which had intensive talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisations (WTO). Obviously, this was no longer the case, he added.

'The second round of the municipal elections and all that has gone since has obviously failed to complete in the right way the picture created by democratic federal elections,' he said.

Lilic said he believed that the election laws were less than good, but that the dishonourable behaviour of individuals in a number of constituencies had heightened political tensions in Serbia to the present level. 'Serbia will undoubtedly find the strength to establish the responsibility of these individuals and take the necessary measures,' he added.

He said that the election results were disputed in the case of only 3% of mandates in local governments. However, he added, their significance had far surpassed their nominal value and they had become an obstacle to the attainment of the vital goals of stability, even the very survival of the FRY, especially its economic survival.

'If anybody wants Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, to be economically weak and so expose them to domination, that must be only somebody outside our country, and it certainly must not be our goal and we must do everything for it not to be reached,' Lilic said.

He said that the only true course of action was to strengthen Yugoslavia's institutions, international affirmation and fastest possible development and democratisation.

Also, he added, in the political and economic field, intensive legislative work must be directed at creating conditions for structural and ownership changes in the economy, and for investment security guaranteed to those who had capital to invest in Yugoslavia.

'I think that destabilisation of the state for the sake of party interests is impermissible and that this must stop at once,' Lilic stressed. He added that 'the report by (former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe) Gonzalez really contains enough elements on the basis of which to resolve this complex dispute.'

Lilic stressed that 'the opposition in Serbia must be given the victories it has scored by the will of the people and must be allowed to form its bodies of local government.' However, he added, 'the opposition must be aware of its responsibility when it insists on demands that are not the result of the will of the people and that have nothing to do with the local elections and thereby directly undermine Yugoslavia's position.'

Insistence on these demands 'at this time directly undermines the position of the FRY and sets in motion processes which will probably satisfy some international factors,' Lilic said. These factors 'have before this time made clear their opposition to a stable FRY, being aware of its geostrategic and political significance and position,' he added.

'Therefore both the Government and the opposition must be aware of the fact that differences must be cleared up, while making sure not to provoke any extraordinary measures,' Lilic said.

'All patriotic and responsible political forces and institutions,' among which he listed the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Academy of Sciences and the University, 'must join in this effort,' he added.

'Otherwise, there is a fair chance that further irrational destabilisation might produce, first, an economic collapse, and also whet the appetites of the enemies of the FRY, who certainly exist,' Lilic said.

'Their appetites are for a Kosovo-Metohija as the separatists want it to be, and a Vojvodina as the autonomy-seekers want it to be,' he explained.

'At that time, the question would probably be raised of the (strategic Southern Adriatic) Peninsula of Prevlaka, and probably also the question of the Raska region (which straddles the border between Serbia and Montenegro), ' he said. And the demands would go on, the Yugoslav President added, 'until ultimately Serbs would fight Serbs, which is probably what somebody wants.'

'We must not permit this, despite the extremely trying situation and circumstances,' Lilic said.

'It is reassuring,' he added, 'that the Yugoslav Army is strong enough even in these difficult times to rise to all demands in the defence of the sovereignty, internal stability and interests of our people.'

Power is won and lost in elections, exercised through the institutions of the system, in the service of the people, and this is how it must be, he said, adding that the will of the people must be respected.

'In this sense all of us, and especially the ruling party in Serbia, have the duty to make a special effort to offer a solution within the Law,' Lilic said. 'It is the duty of the dissatisfied part of the opposition to accept this solution and clear up the remaining differences through dialogue, precisely in the only way acceptable to the democratic world,' he added.

'It is certain that the Yugoslav Army, too, will uphold this institutional approach, because this is our duty, just as it is our right to warn of the seriousness of the present moment,' Lilic said.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[04] THREE YUGOSLAV BANKS TO SELL SHARES SOON

Stock Exchange director Pava Zecevic told the daily that the banks Panonska Banka, Niska Banka, and Kulska Banka had offered shares worth a total of 21 million dinars (about 6.4 million DEM).

The bank Niska Banka offered shares worth 12 million dinars (3.3 dinars equal 1 DEM), Kulska Banka 5 million dinars, and Panonska Banka 4 million dinars' worth of shares.

The agency Trziste Novca (Money Market) and bank brokers Vojvodjanska Banka will represent the banks.

Zecevic said that the Yugoslav National Bank (NBJ) will soon appear on the market with claims from firms which will be converted into stocks and bonds.

The Belgrade Stock Exchange had a turnover of 2.186 billion dinars (about 662 million DEM) in 1996, which is three times more than in 1995.

The best turnover was in May, June and July when it dealt with bonds of the Yugoslav National Bank. The Yugoslav National Bank bonds accounted for 44% of the total value of the stock exchange transactions, and cash vouchers were second with 33%.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[05] SERBIAN TOURIST INDUSTRY EXPECTS TO EARN 100 MILLION DOLLARS

Stankovic said that Serbia would pay special attention to the quality of the tourist offer, step up tourist propaganda and make efforts aimed at including the Serbian tourist industry into all international tourist associations.

Work will also be done on the liberalisation of the visa regime, she said.

The opening has been announced of new Serbian tourist offices, most likely in Athens, Moscow, Frankfurt and Copenhagen.

Serbia will allocate about two million dinars (600,000 DEM) for promotion activities, but if the money collected through visitors' taxes and used for propaganda is taken into account, this amount will be much higher, Stankovic said.

She said that this year, the competent ministry would endeavour to secure tourist passes for individual guests instead of visas.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[06] YUGOSLAVIA HONOURS ARMS CONTROL OBLIGATIONS

At a session chaired by Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, the Government discussed and approved a report by the Commission for supervising the implementation of the agreement.

The agreement, based on the Dayton Peace Accord, was signed in Florence, Italy, in July 1996, by the FRY, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and its two entities - the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[07] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MEETS WITH NAVY COMMANDERS

Yugoslav Navy Commander, Vice-admiral Milan Zec, informed President Lilic about the Navy's combat readiness and tasks on the guarding of the state border.

President Lilic said that his visit to the Yugoslav Navy Command was aimed at getting information about the realisation of tasks regarding the guarding of Yugoslavia's land and maritime borders.

President Lilic said that the preservation of the combat readiness of the Yugoslav Army and the Navy, as its integral part, was crucial for preserving Yugoslavia's sovereignty and integrity.

President Lilic also stressed that a high level of internal stability was necessary for the country's further economic development and its successful reintegration in the international community.

The Yugoslav Army played a very important role in the creation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, remaining firm, united and morally strong, Lilic said.

President Lilic toured the Boka Kotorska Bay all the way to the Mamula Island and the disputed U.N.-controlled Promontory of Prevlaka, which represents the maritime border between Yugoslavia and Croatia.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[08] RETURN TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY YUGOSLAVIA'S STRATEGIC GOAL

In a talk on how to improve the Federation's functioning as envisaged under the Constitution, Lilic and Bulatovic said Yugoslavia had been tried and proven in the most difficult of times as a democratic state whose citizens, peoples and republics were equal, and as a state where it was realistic to expect a democratic, economic and every other form of prosperity, they said.

Most of the Yugoslav citizens have confidence in and back the Federation's existing constitutional concept that represents a political basis for well- considered moves in the coming period on the strength of which federal bodies will exercise their authority efficaciously in a modern, market- oriented and democratic Yugoslavia, it was stated in the talk.

Such a Yugoslavia is also in the interest of the international community, it was stated in the talk.

The need was stressed for defusing speedily the crisis in Serbia triggered by the second round of local polls by firmly respecting the voters' will manifested in the polls and positive regulations and by fully honouring proposals by international institutions, primarily the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The prolonged dispute has badly affected the political and economic life of Yugoslavia and its republics of Serbia and Montenegro, it was stated in the talk.

The resolution of the dispute in a democratic, legal and efficient manner will significantly contribute to Yugoslavia's overall stability and its current and future international status, it was stated in the talk.

Also attending were Montenegrin Parliament Speaker Svetozar Marovic and Premier Milo Djukanovic.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-31 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

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