OMRI Daily Digest II No. 71,10 April 1995

From: Steve Iatrou <siatrou@hilbert.cdsp.neu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] CONTINUED FIGHTING IN NORTHERN-BOSNIA . . .

  • [02] .. . . AND IN SARAJEVO.

  • [03] SERBS DEMAND CONSTITUENT NATION STATUS IN BOSNIAN FEDERATION.

  • [04] BELGRADE-BEIJING TIES.

  • [05] ZAGREB ON OPPOSITION TO PEACEKEEPING MANDATE.

  • [06] MACEDONIA WILLING TO SIGN BORDER TREATY WITH GREECE.

  • [07] BULGARIA'S RADICAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY SPLITS.

  • [08] CAPE VERDE HOLDS BULGARIAN CARGO PLANE.

  • [09] HOLBROOKE IN GREECE. U.S.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 71, Part II, 10 April 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] CONTINUED FIGHTING IN NORTHERN-BOSNIA . . .

    Bosnian radio reported continued intense fighting between government and Bosnian Serb forces on 9-10 April in northern Bosnia around Tuzla and in Bihac. Bosnian government forces say they captured the strategically important Mount Vlasic, including a TV relay station north of Travnik, from the Bosnian Serbs on 9 April. Bosnian commander Mehmet Alagic is quoted as saying that this is one of the government's biggest victories in the war, international agencies reported on 9 and 10 April. He said government troops could now advance into Serb-held territory from several directions. Elsewhere, Hina reported on 9 April that Bosnian Federation Vice President Ejup Ganic has said the Bosnian government will not invite former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to undertake another mediating mission. Ganic is quoted as saying: "There is no need for Mr. Carter to visit Sarajevo again." -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] .. . . AND IN SARAJEVO.

    Artillery shelling in the Bosnian capital killed at least three people and wounded seven in the night from 9 to 10 April, international agencies reported. Several people had been wounded in mortar attacks on the capital in previous days. The UN blamed Serbian forces for the shelling, which involved large mortars fired from inside a NATO-declared exclusion zone. A UN spokesman said it appears that the Serbs are deliberately targeting civilians. The shelling prompted the UN to ask for a show of force by NATO, which responded by sending planes over Sarajevo. Meanwhile, the city's airport remained closed on 9 April after gunfire from Serb-held territory hit a cargo aircraft as it was landing the previous day. A UN spokesman said the Serbs refused to guarantee the safety of aircraft landing there. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] SERBS DEMAND CONSTITUENT NATION STATUS IN BOSNIAN FEDERATION.

    The Assembly of Serbian Citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a organization loyal to the Bosnian government, gathered in Sarajevo on 9 April, Hina reported the same day. The meeting was reportedly attended by members of opposition parties from Serbia proper and by Milorad Pupovac, leader of the Independent Serbian Party of Croatia. The assembly adopted a declaration calling on the Bosnian federal parliament to guarantee the Serbs constituent nation status in the Croat-Muslim federation. It stressed that the government of the self-declared Republika Srpska has no legitimate right to represent all Bosnian Serbs, since 150,000 Serbs live on the territory controlled by the federation and some 500,000 who opposed Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic have been forced to flee their homeland. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] BELGRADE-BEIJING TIES.

    Tanjug reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen on 9 April began a three-day official visit to the rump Yugoslavia, where he met with his rump Yugoslav counterpart, Vladislav Jovanovic, and used the opportunity to criticize international sanctions against rump Yugoslavia. Reuters quoted Qian as saying that "We consider that sanctions do not solve anything and that they only further complicate the situation in this area. They must be softened and then fully lifted." But he stopped short of saying that China, the only Security Council member not to have supported the imposition of sanctions, would actively campaign to have sanctions removed. Qian is also expected to meet with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] ZAGREB ON OPPOSITION TO PEACEKEEPING MANDATE.

    Vecernji list on 9 April reported that Croatian Foreign Minister Mato Granic has acknowledged that Zagreb may meet with opposition over the implementation of changes in the UN peacekeepers mandate, as delineated in UN Security Council Resolution 981. "We expect that there will be an intense political conflict," Granic said of relations between Zagreb and Croatia's rebel Serb population in the Krajina area. The Krajina Serbs, however, are not alone in registering dissatisfaction. Hina reported on 9 April that Mate Simic, leader of the Croatian Union of Displaced Persons, said his group "could not accept Resolution 981 without exactly defined implementing measures for full control of Croatia's internationally recognized borders." Nasa Borba on 8-9 April reports that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has strongly condemned any plans to station peacekeepers along Croatia's border with Bosnia, noting that such "pressure from the international community" may force the Bosnian and Krajina Serbs to forge a political federation in response. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] MACEDONIA WILLING TO SIGN BORDER TREATY WITH GREECE.

    Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov on 8 April said his country is willing to sign a treaty with Greece on their common border, AFP reported the following day. In a radio address on the occasion of the second anniversary of Macedonia's admission into the UN, Gligorov said his country is willing to solve "irrational conflicts" with Greece and its other neighbors. At the same time, he regretted that the border between Macedonia and rump Yugoslavia is still considered an administrative boundary in UN documents, whereas the borders of the other successor states are internationally recognized. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] BULGARIA'S RADICAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY SPLITS.

    The RDP's 27th congress on 9 April has effectively led to a split within the party, Bulgarian newspapers reported the following day. A proposal that the RDP leave the opposition Union of Democratic Forces was passed by a vote of 131 to 119. But the legality of the vote is doubtful, as the proposal was not supported by an absolute majority of the 294 registered congress delegates. Those who voted against the proposal, including Party Chairman Aleksandar Yordanov, left the congress and asked for a extraordinary congress to be called within a month to discuss the matter again. Kiril Boyadzhiev was elected party chairman by the remaining delegates. In an interview with Trud, Yordanov said he will form a new RDP that will remain in the UDF. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] CAPE VERDE HOLDS BULGARIAN CARGO PLANE.

    A Bulgarian cargo plane carrying 100 tons of weapons was detained in Cape Verde on 9 April, Reuters reported the same day. The arms were discovered when the Air Sofia plane made a stopover. The plane's flight schedule listed Quito in Ecuador as its final destination. In an interview with Trud, Lt.-Gen. Simeon Petkovski, head of the Bulgarian Defense Ministry's economic department, said Bulgaria does not have airplanes that could transport 100 tons of material. He insisted that the Bulgarian army knows nothing about talks or offers to export weapons to South America. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] HOLBROOKE IN GREECE. U.S.

    Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Richard Holbrooke on 9 April ended a two-day visit to Athens, AFP reported the same day. Talks with Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, and Defense Minister Gerasimos Arsenis focused on Greek-Turkish relations. Papoulias said both sides agreed that progress has to be made on Cyprus in order to improve relations between Athens and Ankara. Holbrooke and Papoulias also discussed Greek relations with Albania and Macedonia. Holbrooke also handed over to Papandreou a letter from U.S. President Bill Clinton on problems in Greek-U.S. relations. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a Prague-based nonprofit organization.

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