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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 31, Part II, 13 February 1996
From: OMRI-L <omri-l@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu>
CONTENTS
[1] "THE HAGUE'S SEAL OF APPROVAL AS A COMPROMISE."
[2] U.S. REBUKES IFOR OVER KARADZIC.
[3] NATO TO PROTECT EU ADMINISTRATION IN MOSTAR.
[4] SLOVAK PRIME MINISTER IN CROATIA.
[5] BULGARIAN PREMIER IN BELGRADE.
[6] REFUGEE CAMPS IN KOSOVO ATTACKED WITH EXPLOSIVES.
[7] HOLBROOKE IN BUCHAREST.
[8] ZHIRINOVSKY PROPOSES ROMANIA AS BATTLEFIELD FOR CHECHENS, FRENCH BLACKS.
[9] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT'S PARTY REACTS TO PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION.
[10] BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UPDATE.
[11] VICE PRESIDENT OF BULGARIA'S MULTIGROUP SACKED.
[12] TURKEY'S LATEST MOVE ON KARDAK-IMIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 31, Part II, 13 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] "THE HAGUE'S SEAL OF APPROVAL AS A COMPROMISE."
This is how Nasa Borbaon 13 February summed up the result of Richard Holbrooke's diplomacy.
Bosnian government envoy Muhamed Sacirbey said he is convinced that the
questioning of the two officers "will show that the source of the war is
in Belgrade," the BBC reported. Onasa quoted him as saying that the
government is preparing new rules for arresting war criminals in keeping
with the compromise. U.S. human rights envoy Richard Shattuck said he is
sure that most Bosnian Serbs will be pleased with the result since they
are anxious to separate themselves from war criminals and get on with
their lives. AFP on 12 February reported that the Bosnian Serb interior
minister charged arrested Bosnian photo journalist Hidajet Delic with
war crimes. -- Patrick Moore
[2] U.S. REBUKES IFOR OVER KARADZIC.
U.S. State Department spokesman
Nicholas Burns said reports that indicted war criminal and Bosnian Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic passed unhindered through IFOR checkpoints are
"disturbing," international media reported on 13 February. Burns
stressed that if IFOR troops "come across suspected indicted war
criminals in the conduct of their normal operations, then they are bound
. . . to detain them" and turn them over to the International War Crimes
Tribunal in the Hague, even though this is not their principal mission.
IFOR said it had limited information on the 52 indicted war criminals
and photographs of only 15, many of which are of poor quality or
outdated. It added that there are no checkpoints--only patrols to ensure
freedom of movement--along the route Karadzic was likely to have taken
from Pale to Banja Luka over the weekend. -- Michael Mihalka
[3] NATO TO PROTECT EU ADMINISTRATION IN MOSTAR.
NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana and Gen. George Joulwan, allied supreme commander in
Europe, visited Mostar on 12 February to meet with Mostar's EU
administrator Hans Koschnick, international and local media reported.
Solana also met with the president and vice president of the Bosnian
Federation, Kresimir Zubak and Ejup Ganic, as well as the mayors of the
eastern and western halves of Mostar. He said NATO will not tolerate
Koschnick being threatened, underscoring the need for cooperation
between IFOR and police forces in Mostar, Hina reported. He also called
for reconciliation between Muslims and Croats in Mostar. According to
Ganic, Koschnik's decision on the administrative reorganization of
Mostar was not discussed at all. Zubak told Slobodna Dalmacija on 13
February that Western Mostar Mayor Mijo Brajkovic has agreed to
reestablish contacts with Koschnick. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[4] SLOVAK PRIME MINISTER IN CROATIA.
Vladimir Meciar on 12 February
concluded a two-day visit to Croatia aimed at broadening bilateral trade
contacts, Slovak media reported. Meciar and his Croatian counterpart,
Zlatko Matesa, signed agreements on boosting and protecting investments,
preventing double taxation, and cooperating in tourism and air traffic.
"There have never been any problems between Slovakia and Croatia,"
Meciar stressed. He also discussed the several thousand Slovaks living
in Croatia and the Slovak army unit that forms part of the UN forces in
eastern Slavonia. "Slovaks in Croatia are first of all loyal to their
state--Croatia. Their rights are understood only as individual rights,"
Meciar said. -- Sharon Fisher
[5] BULGARIAN PREMIER IN BELGRADE.
Zhan Videnov arrived in the rump Yugoslav
capital on 12 February for a two-day official visit, BETA reported. He
met with high-ranking officials, including federal rump Yugoslav Premier
Radoje Kontic, who agreed that bilateral economic relations need to be
"intensified." Videnov also met with Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic to discuss the status of rump Yugoslavia's Bulgarian minority
community. According to the Bulgarian daily Duma, "both parties agreed
that the problems of the Bulgarian minority in Serbia are mainly of an
economic nature and can be solved . . . through existing legislation."
Stan Markotich
[6] REFUGEE CAMPS IN KOSOVO ATTACKED WITH EXPLOSIVES.
Explosions were
reported at refugee camps in Vucitrn, Kosovska Mitrovica, Pec, Pristina,
and Suva Reka on 11 February, AFP and Reuters quoted Tanjug as saying
the next day. Reports speak about the use of "homemade explosives,"
while the police say the blasts were caused by hand grenades thrown
within one hour at the different locations. The explosions caused
serious damage but no casualties or injuries. Between 10,000 and 12,000
Serbian refugees from Croatia are currently living in the camps. Tanjug
reported that the refugees were "seriously upset" by the explosions. --
Fabian Schmidt
[7] HOLBROOKE IN BUCHAREST.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard
Holbrooke on 12-13 February paid a visit to Romania, local and
international media reported. Radio Bucharest said Holbrooke thanked
President Ion Iliescu for Romania's contribution to the peacekeeping
process in Bosnia. The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Teodor
Melescanu, Defense Minister Gheorghe Tinca, Chamber of Deputies chairman
Adrian Nastase, and other officials. The Euro-Atlantic Center in
Bucharest awarded the U.S. diplomat a diploma as "a sign of gratitude
and appreciation for his special contribution to restoring peace in
former Yugoslavia" and his "personal role in the development of
Romanian-U.S. relations." RFE/RL's correspondent in Washington quoted
U.S. State department spokesman Aric Schwann as saying Holbrooke was to
discuss with his hosts democratic reforms in Romania and the situation
of the Hungarian ethnic minority. -- Michael Shafir
[8] ZHIRINOVSKY PROPOSES ROMANIA AS BATTLEFIELD FOR CHECHENS, FRENCH BLACKS.
Speaking to journalists after marrying his lawful wife in a religious
ceremony in Moscow, the ultranationalist Russian politician Vladimir
Zhirinovsky said that if the countries of Eastern Europe join NATO and
thus "provoke a third world war," he will not "cross swords" with Jean
Marie Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front, who attended the
wedding. Rather, Zhirinovsky said, he and Le Pen will send the Chechens
and France's black population to "confront each other on Romania's
territory," Radio Bucharest and international agencies reported on 10
February. -- Michael Shafir
[9] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT'S PARTY REACTS TO PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION.
Responding
to the Moldovan parliament's decision to reject President Mircea
Snegur's initiative to change the official name of the country's
language (see OMRI Daily Digest, 12 February 1995), the Party of Revival
and Conciliation of Moldova (PRCM) said increased tension may split the
population over the issue. BASA-press on 12 February reported the PRCM
statement as saying the "parliamentary majority has proven once more"
that it is ignoring "scientific truth" and is guided only by "political
reasons." The statement also denounced "trends endangering the
democratization of society and economic reforms." -- Michael Shafir
[10] BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UPDATE.
The ruling Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP) will try to unite the pro-republican forces if former Tsar
Simeon runs for president, Trud reported on 13 February. BSP Deputy
Chairman Georgi Parvanov said his party is counting on talks with the
Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union, which is anti-communist but also
anti-monarchist. Standart cited top judges as saying Simeon cannot run
in the next elections because he does not meet the constitutional
provision that the president must have lived in Bulgaria for the past
five years. Simeon says it does not apply in his case because he was
forced to live in exile. However, he has so far failed to prove that he
tried to return but was not allowed to. Standart also reported that
Union of Democratic Forces Chairman Ivan Kostov will brief other
opposition leaders on his recent talks with Simeon. -- Stefan Krause
[11] VICE PRESIDENT OF BULGARIA'S MULTIGROUP SACKED.
Dimitar Ivanov, vice
president of Multigroup, the controversial Bulgarian cartel, was fired
by its board of directors on 12 February, Standart reported the next
day. Ivanov made headlines in November 1995 following unsubstantiated
allegations of his involvement in the October assassination attempt
against Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov. Ivanov is a former section
head at the infamous Sixth Administration of the State Security (DS)
agency, which was charged with investigating political offenses. He may
have been sacked for alleging that group president Iliya Pavlov was
investigated by DS from 1983-1989 for corruption. Another possibility is
that Multigroup is making room for technocrats in its management. --
Michael Wyzan
[12] TURKEY'S LATEST MOVE ON KARDAK-IMIA.
Following the European Commission's
declaration of "full solidarity" with Greece in its dispute with Ankara
over the Kardak-Imia islet, Turkey has announced it is sending Foreign
Minister Deniz Baykal to various European capitals, Turkish media
reported on 13 February. Baykal will attempt to persuade Turkey's
European allies to support the Turkish call for diplomatic negotiations
on the status of various islets in the Aegean. Greece has already
rejected this call, saying it is impossible to negotiate its sovereign
rights. -- 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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