OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 173, 6 September 1995

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [01] NATO CONTINUES ATTACKS AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBS . . .

  • [02] . . . WHILE MLADIC REMAINS DEFIANT.

  • [03] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL LAUNCHES INVESTIGATIONS OF CROATS.

  • [04] SERBS EXPEL MORE REFUGEES FROM BANJA LUKA.

  • [05] HOLBROOKE MEETS WITH MILOSEVIC.

  • [06] GONZALEZ SAYS SPAIN WILL HELP BULGARIA TO JOIN NATO, EU.

  • [07] VANCE SAYS GREECE TO LIFT MACEDONIAN EMBARGO.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 173, Part II, 6 September 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] NATO CONTINUES ATTACKS AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBS . . .

    War planes of the Atlantic alliance suspended their assaults late on 5 September owing to bad weather but resumed them again the next morning. The BBC said they were "revisiting" the targets they had hit the previous week. The Lukavica barracks near Sarajevo appear to have been destroyed. Nasa Borba on 6 September reported that the Majevica communications tower, linking Pale with other Serbian conquests in Bosnia, has also become history. The Rapid Reaction Force near Sarajevo again shelled Bosnian Serb positions. A UN press release quoted Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali as saying the Serbs must choose between continued air strikes and meeting the Security Council's demands. A U.S. spokesman told the VOA that the air attacks may continue even after peace talks begin on 8 September. In anticipation of those discussions, the Bosnian and Croatian presidents met in Split on 5 September to harmonize their positions. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] . . . WHILE MLADIC REMAINS DEFIANT.

    "If you bomb us, we will defend ourselves. The more they bombard us, the stronger we are." This was the reaction of Bosnian Serb commander General Ratko Mladic to the air strikes resumed around 1:00 p.m. on 5 September after a break of more than three days, the International Herald Tribune reported the next day. The VOA said Mladic was "true to form," and also threatened to wage a Vietnam-style protracted war against his attackers. His men fired on Sarajevo, wounding some civilians and sending UN forces to their shelters. The BBC quoted Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic as saying the air strikes will accelerate the peace process. The Rijeka daily Novi list argued that the coming seven days will be "decisive" in the conflict. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL LAUNCHES INVESTIGATIONS OF CROATS.

    The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has formally begun looking into charges against the Croats stemming from their retaking of Krajina in early August. The Hague-based body had previously taken such measures only against the Serbs, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted on 6 September. UN spokesman Chris Gunness told news agencies the previous day that 50 bodies have been found in the area and that the first reports have emerged of the destruction or desecration of Serbian Orthodox churches. Slobodna Dalmacija on 6 September discussed a report by the International Helsinki Federation on the alleged systematic torching of Serbian homes and property. Politika wrote that Serbian lawyers intend to challenge a threat by the speaker of the Croatian lower house of parliament to confiscate property left behind by fleeing Krajina Serbs. Novi list quoted liberal legislator Vlado Gotovac as warning that the ruling party's political behavior over the re-conquest foreshadowed "the Croatian way to totalitarianism." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] SERBS EXPEL MORE REFUGEES FROM BANJA LUKA.

    AFP reported on 5 September that Bosnian Serbs have rounded up some 2,000 Croats and Muslims in a football field prior to deportation. Since 15 August, the Serbs have driven out some 17,582 people and another 11,000 are expected to follow. The Serbs began the systematic "ethnic cleansing" of the region's once large Croatian and Muslim populations in 1992. They have also tried to eliminate all physical traces of those communities and have destroyed all of Banja Luka's mosques, including two that were UNESCO-registered international cultural properties. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] HOLBROOKE MEETS WITH MILOSEVIC. U.S.

    envoy Richard Holbrooke continued peace talks with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade on 5 September, Reuters reported the same day. Milosevic strongly protested the resumption of air strikes. But Holbrooke said "the meeting in other ways was productive," adding that he did not believe the NATO attacks would jeopardize the planned meeting of foreign ministers from Croatia, Bosnia, and rump Yugoslavia in Geneva on 8 September. Milosevic, who has formed an alliance with Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic against Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, promised the withdrawal of Bosnian Serb weapons from the exclusion zone around Sarajevo. Mladic, however, has challenged Milosevic by resuming the shelling of the Bosnian capital. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] GONZALEZ SAYS SPAIN WILL HELP BULGARIA TO JOIN NATO, EU.

    Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, during his two-day visit to Sofia, said on 5 September that his country will support Bulgaria's efforts to join NATO and the European Union, Reuters and Demokratsiya reported. According to Gonzalez, the EU "has an obligation to expand eastwards . . . [and] Bulgaria has the right to belong to the EU." But he noted that meeting EU requirements will be "difficult and complicated" for Bulgaria. Gonzalez said Spain will also support Bulgaria's bid to join NATO, saying "no other country has the right to veto such a decision." Bulgarian Prime Minister Zhan Videnov said his country has a long way to go to comply with EU standards. Experts estimate that the country has to adopt about 2,000 new laws to meet EU legislative standards, Videnov said. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] VANCE SAYS GREECE TO LIFT MACEDONIAN EMBARGO.

    UN mediator in the Greek- Macedonian conflict Cyrus Vance on 5 September said Greece will lift the trade blockade on Macedonia as soon as an agreement between the two countries is signed, Western agencies reported the same day. In return, Macedonia will change its flag and amend certain articles of its constitution. The agreement is expected to be signed by Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and his Macedonian counterpart, Stevo Crvenkovski, in New York early next week. Vance called the meeting "the culmination of a long mediation effort" and added that the agreement will cover all outstanding issues, except for the name of the former Yugoslav republic, which will be discussed separately. Vance said that he does not expect the name issue to be resolved before the opening of the next UN General Assembly on 19 September. Both the Greek government and Skopje hailed the announcement, with the former denying it had bowed to U.S. pressure. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz

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