OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 190, 29 September 1995

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [1] CROATIAN OPPOSITION MAKES ELECTION PACT.

  • [2] BLEAK PICTURE FOR CROATIAN SERBS.

  • [3] BOSNIAN WRAPUP.

  • [4] WHITE HOUSE SUPPORTS SUIT AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB LEADER.

  • [5] SERBIAN OPPOSITION CRITICIZES BOSNIAN PEACE PLAN.

  • [6] ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN NEW YORK.

  • [7] ROMANIA REACHES AGREEMENT WITH EXIMBANK.

  • [8] NATO AIR AGREEMENT SIGNED IN ROMANIA.

  • [9] CHISINAU, TIRASPOL DEADLOCKED ON "MOLDOVAN-LANGUAGE" SCHOOLS.

  • [10] BULGARIA EXPRESSES INCREASED DEFIANCE OVER NUCLEAR ISSUE.

  • [11] ALBANIAN UPDATE.

  • [12] DEMIREL RECEIVES TABUNSHCHIK.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 190, Part II, 29 September 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [1] CROATIAN OPPOSITION MAKES ELECTION PACT.

    Seven ideologically diverse parties ranging from the far right to the moderate left reached an agreement on 28 September to field joint candidates in the 29 October parliamentary elections. The VOA reported that they want the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) to face only one challenger in each district so as not to divide the opposition vote. The HDZ controls most of the media and an extensive patronage network and is expected to profit from popular support for the Croatian military's lightening victories against the Serbs this year. A new electoral law for the 127- seat Sabor also favors the HDZ by allowing for only 28 deputies to be elected on a district basis, as opposed to at-large candidacies on party lists. The number of seats reserved for the Serbian minority has been reduced, and 12 deputies will be elected at large by Croats abroad in what is seen as an attempt by the HDZ to obtain at least a two-thirds majority in the Sabor. The opposition has been weak thanks to a combination of its own ineptitude and the HDZ's skillful use of power. -- Patrick Moore

    [2] BLEAK PICTURE FOR CROATIAN SERBS.

    Nasa Borba on 29 September quoted a UN spokesperson as saying that only about 1,000 Serbs are left in the Knin region, and that virtually all of them are elderly. She added that 73% of Serbian houses in the area have been burned or otherwise rendered uninhabitable and that torchings and looting continue. One of the main Serbian political leaders in Zagreb, Milorad Pupovac, told Reuters that "the basic problem for those [Serbs] left is they are not integrated into Croatian society. From the psycho-political point of view, Serbs are just not welcome." Tanjug on 28 September reported that UN mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg arrived in eastern Slavonia for talks with Serb rebels, saying "this is a last chance for a settlement of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia." -- Patrick Moore

    [3] BOSNIAN WRAPUP.

    Fighting continued around Kljuc and Mt. Ozren, Nasa Borba reported on 29 September. Western news agencies noted that the Serbs are consolidating their position around Banja Luka and Bosanski Novi, while Serbian gunners have shelled Konjic and Zenica. UN and European observers said that some brief fighting has taken place between Croats and Muslims over newly captured territory but that the alliance between them is more or less holding. One diplomat told AFP that "at the end of the day, Croatia has two objectives: to protect its borders and to gain entrance to the European Union." For these reasons, good relations with the Muslims are in the Croats' long-term interest, as Zagreb's friends in Washington and Bonn tirelessly point out. -- Patrick Moore

    [4] WHITE HOUSE SUPPORTS SUIT AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB LEADER.

    The Clinton administration has endorsed a lawsuit against Radovan Karadzic filed by two Bosnian women who have charged him with war crimes, the International Herald Tribune reported on 28 September. After a lower court ruled that the civil lawsuit could not be brought against the Bosnian Serb leader, the women turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Another indicted war criminal, Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, has arrested the military officers considered responsible for the defeat that Bosnian Serbs suffered during the Croatian-Bosnian offensive, Nasa Borba reported on 29 September. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [5] SERBIAN OPPOSITION CRITICIZES BOSNIAN PEACE PLAN.

    Reuters on 29 September quoted Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Kostunica as saying the latest Bosnian peace initiative plan "will not survive." He added that long-term prospects for the survival of Bosnia- Herzegovina were bleak and suggested that there will be a rapprochement between Belgrade and the Bosnian Serbs. Meanwhile, Nasa Borba on 29 September quotes Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party and accused war criminal, as calling the Bosnian peace plan "a capitulation and a defeat for Serbian national policy." -- Stan Markotich

    [6] ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN NEW YORK.

    Teodor Melescanu and Laszlo Kovacs, in New York to take part in the UN General Assembly session, met to discuss Budapest's reaction to President Ion Iliescu's proposal for a historic reconciliation between the two countries, Radio Bucharest reported on 28 September. Kovacs said the Hungarian government is already studying the submitted documents. He stressed that solving outstanding problems in bilateral relations should precede the proposed reconciliation, adding that the issue of minority rights requires a legal framework to include specific commitments. Melescanu told Radio Bucharest that the first meeting to discuss concrete diplomatic steps will be held soon. -- Matyas Szabo

    [7] ROMANIA REACHES AGREEMENT WITH EXIMBANK.

    According to RFE/RL on 29 September, Romania has become the fourth Central European country to conclude a cooperative financing agreement with the U.S. Export Import Bank (Eximbank). President Ion Iliescu was present for the signing of the agreement, which greatly increases financing available for projects within Romania and possibilities for including Romanian products in joint U.S.-Romanian projects in third countries. Iliescu on 29 September met with IMF and World Bank officials. According to RFE/RL, the talks were successful and Bucharest has a good chance of receiving the second half of the IMF stand-by agreement, which is due to expire in December. Romania received the first half of a transformation loan in May 1994 but has been unable to meet the fund's performance criteria to receive the second half. -- Michael Shafir

    [8] NATO AIR AGREEMENT SIGNED IN ROMANIA.

    Radio Bucharest and Reuters on 29 September reported that an agreement on harmonizing civilian and military airspace standards was signed in the Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia between NATO, on the one hand, and Romania, Slovenia, and Albania, on the other. The agreements requires the signatories to upgrade their air traffic control and air space surveillance to NATO standards. -- Michael Shafir

    [9] CHISINAU, TIRASPOL DEADLOCKED ON "MOLDOVAN-LANGUAGE" SCHOOLS.

    Officials from Chisinau and Tiraspol on 28 September failed again to reach agreement on resolving the issue of schools in the Dniester region that offer instruction in the "Moldovan" language using the Latin script, Infotag reported. The representatives of the breakaway republic say the Latin script may be used only in schools "financed by anybody but not by the Dniester budget." BASA-press quoted Aleksandr Karaman, vice president of the Dniestrian region, as saying that if "Moldovan-language schools do not acquire a legal status by 10 October, they will be closed." These schools have to be registered with local authorities and must accept the Tiraspol Education Ministry curriculum. -- Matyas Szabo and Michael Shafir

    [10] BULGARIA EXPRESSES INCREASED DEFIANCE OVER NUCLEAR ISSUE.

    Deputy Premier Kiril Tsochev, speaking on Bulgarian Radio on 28 September, said Bulgaria will reopen a reactor at the controversial Kozloduy nuclear plant if the facility meets technical inspection standards. The results of a national Atomic Energy Commission review, currently under way and slated for completion on 1 October, will determine whether the reactor will be restarted, Tsochev said. He added that Bulgaria "is not waiting for [foreign] permission to restart the reactor." There has been widespread international concern about safety standards at Kozloduy, most recently voiced by Germany (see OMRI Daily Digest, 27 September 1995). -- Stan Markotich

    [11] ALBANIAN UPDATE.

    Montena-fax on 28 September reported that the foreign ministers of Greece and Albania, Karolos Papoulias and Alfred Serreqi, met the previous day in New York. The Greek side was reported as saying that talks were "beneficial to both sides," despite the fact that little progress was made on outstanding issues such as the status of the Greek minority in Albania. In another development, MIC on 28 September reported that the Tirana daily Koha Jone has taken the government to task for its foreign policy toward neighboring Macedonia. According to the report, Tirana's "softer" attitude toward Macedonia compares unfavorably with Greece's hardline approach. Koha Jone alleged that Tirana's failure to lobby for ethnic Albanian interests in Macedonia has made it "clear to Albanians [in Macedonia] that the borders between the two countries are definite, telling them exactly where their place is." -- Stan Markotich

    [12] DEMIREL RECEIVES TABUNSHCHIK.

    Turkish President Suleyman Demirel on 27 September met with Georgi Tabunshchik, leader of Moldova's Gagauz autonomous region, TRT TV reported the same day. Demirel again pledged "every kind of support" for the Gagauz people but noted that the consolidation of Gagauz autonomy must be accomplished peacefully. A major goal of Turkish foreign policy since 1991 has been promoting the interests of Turkic speakers throughout the region. -- Lowell Bezanis

    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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