OMRI Daily Digest, No. 76, 18 April 1995
From: "Steve Iatrou" <siatrou@hilbert.cdsp.neu.edu>
CONTENTS
[01] KARADZIC THREATENS WAR "UNTIL FINAL VICTORY."
[02] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS.
[03] SERBIAN UPDATE.
[04] MACEDONIAN BORDER PATROL KILLS ALBANIAN.
[05] BULGARIAN BUSINESS BLOC LEADER LOSES PARLIAMENT SEAT.
[06] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT AMENDS LAND RESTITUTION LAW.
[07] BULGARIA, GREECE, RUSSIA AGREE ON OIL PIPELINE PLAN.
[08] GREECE, RUSSIA SIGN ACCORD ON CLOSER RELATIONS.
[09] BLACK SEA CONFERENCE ENDS IN ATHENS.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 76, Part II, 18 April 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] KARADZIC THREATENS WAR "UNTIL FINAL VICTORY." At a two-day session of
the Bosnian Serb parliament in Sanski Most, General Ratko Mladic spoke
for nearly three hours and lambasted the politicians for not doing
enough to win the war against the Bosnian government, Nasa Borba
r
eported on 17 April. The BBC said that the Bosnian Serb army is well
integrated with the armed forces of Serbia-Montenegro and Krajina and
that its only real problem is a shortage of manpower. But Mladic and his
fellow officers feel, the broadcast continued, that Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic and other civilians are interested in prolonging the
conflict so that they can profit from the black market in fuel and other
goods. Karadzic nonetheless told the parliament that he will press for a
military victory if a political solution proves impossible, Vecernji
list reported on 18 April. He also stressed the need to unite the
Bosnian Serb territories with Krajina. Nasa Borba, however, stresses
that Karadzic's aggressive words ring hollow in view of the deep
divisions between the military and civilians. Politika adds that the
parliament was characterized by a militant "Patton syndrome." -- Patrick
Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[02] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS.
Montenegrin President Momir
Bulatovic has said that relations between the Bosnian Serbs and rump
Yugoslavia are getting better, according to Nasa Borba on 14 April.
Meanwhile in Sarajevo, two French peacekeepers were killed in separate
incidents over the Easter weekend. French television showed the second
killing, and Minister of Defense Francois Leotard flew to the Bosnian
capital to investigate the soldier's death at Serbian hands. The
minister threatened to withdraw French peacekeepers unless safety
improves, but Politika senses that Leotard's dramatic words may have
been prompted chiefly by considerations stemming from the upcoming
French presidential election. Vjesnik on 18 April quoted Bosnian Prime
Minister Haris Silajdzic as saying that the solution to the conflict in
his republic lies in the hands of the international community. --
Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[03] SERBIAN UPDATE.
Nasa Borba on 18 April suggested that relations between
Zoran Djindjic, leader of the Democratic Party (DS), and former rump
Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic are improving and may be aimed at a
political alliance. The daily quotes Djindjic as saying that Cosic is
"one of the people that we [the DS] are counting on" to exercise a
decisive influence over Serbian politics. Cosic responded by saying that
"I believe in the DS." Also on 18 April, the independent Belgrade daily
ran an article suggesting that sources in Russia are aiding Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on Serbia's independent media.
It reported that shipments of much-needed production materials are being
prevented from reaching their destinations in Serbia. -- Stan Markotich,
OMRI, Inc.
[04] MACEDONIAN BORDER PATROL KILLS ALBANIAN.
A Macedonian border patrol
killed a 19-year-old Albanian who illegally crossed the border to
Macedonia in the night of 14-15 April, international agencies reported.
The Macedonian Interior Ministry said police were tipped off that a
criminal group would try to sneak across the border near Debar. There
were reports that the man was killed in a shoot-out, but the Albanian
Interior Ministry said he died immediately and made no mention of a
shoot-out. Reuters quoted the ministry as saying that a "commission of
Albanian experts concluded that it was a premeditated killing by
Macedonian authorities." Albania has protested the killing. -- Fabian
Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[05] BULGARIAN BUSINESS BLOC LEADER LOSES PARLIAMENT SEAT.
The Constitutional
Court has ruled that the election of Georges Ganchev to the parliament
was illegal, Bulgarian newspapers reported on 14 April. He was stripped
of his parliament seat because he had dual citizenship at the time of
the December 1994 elections. Under the Bulgarian Constitution, a
Bulgarian citizen who holds another citizenship cannot run for the
parliament. Ganchev claimed that President Zhelyu Zhelev and the
opposition Union of Democratic Forces were responsible for his ousting.
He said he would appeal the ruling to the European Court of Justice.
Constitutional Judge Mladen Danailov said that Ganchev's dual
citizenship was proved in a letter from U.S. Ambassador William
Montgomery, Demokratsiya reported. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[06] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT AMENDS LAND RESTITUTION LAW.
The Socialist
parliament majority has passed a controversial amendment to the land
restitution law, Reuters reported on 14 April. The amendment states that
owners wishing to sell their land have to offer it first to the state,
which has two months to decide whether to buy it. It also restricts the
right to sell small plots that are part of larger land blocks and to
plant crops different from the ones in the rest of the block. The
opposition boycotted the vote on the amendment. Vladislav Kostov of the
Union of Democratic Forces said his party will take the matter to the
Constitutional Court, Demokratsiya reported on 15 April. -- Stefan
Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[07] BULGARIA, GREECE, RUSSIA AGREE ON OIL PIPELINE PLAN.
The Bulgarian,
Greek, and Russian foreign ministers have agreed to speed up the
construction of a pipeline that will bring Russian crude oil from the
Urals via the Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Greek harbor of
Alexandroupolis, Reuters reported on 14 April. The $700 million pipeline
is to be completed in 1997 and will have a daily capacity of 600,000
barrels of oil. Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias was quoted as
saying that experts from the three countries will meet in Moscow soon to
discuss details and sign a protocol agreement. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI,
Inc.
[08] GREECE, RUSSIA SIGN ACCORD ON CLOSER RELATIONS.
Greek Foreign Minister
Karolos Papoulias and his Russian counterpart, Andrei Kozyrev, on 15
April signed an accord on bilateral relations, AFP reported the same
day. Greece will open consulates in Saint Petersburg and Novorossiisk,
while Russia will open a consulate in Thessaloniki. Kozyrev said he and
Papoulias also discussed cooperation in resolving problems in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. -- Stefan Krause,
OMRI, Inc.
[09] BLACK SEA CONFERENCE ENDS IN ATHENS.
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation
organization ended its conference in Athens on 15 April with an
agreement to develop an international center to study the economics,
industry, and technology of the region, Western agencies reported.
Member countries are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece,
Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The group failed
to agree to a Greek proposal to demand that sanctions against rump
Yugoslavia be lifted. But Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine joined
Greece in sending a statement to the UN requesting that the sanctions be
lifted because of the long-term damage to the region's economy. Russian
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said Russia did not add its signature to
the statement because it felt it was too far away geographically to be
hurt by the embargo. -- Michael Mihalka, OMRI, Inc.
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