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Serbia Today 96-05-21Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Serbia Today21 May 1996CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES BILDTPresident of the Republic of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic received high representative of the international community for Bosnia Carl Bildt. The greatest attention during the talks was devoted to the past implementation of the peace agreement and the steps undertaken for purpose of successful realization of the civilian and political aspects of this agreement. (Politika, May 21, 1996)[02] GOODS EXCHANGE REACHES 1.4 BILLION US DOLLARSResults of four months of foreign trade are indicating that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is mostly trading with European countries, where it has practically retained its former most important business partners, stated Mirjana Rankovic, deputy director of the Federal Statistical Institute. After the suspension of the UN sanctions Yugoslavia during the first four months of this year has exchanged goods with abroad in the total amount of one billion 397 million US dollars and in this exchange our firms have delivered goods to foreign buyers in the amount of 460 million dollars, and have purchased from them products in the value of 937 million dollars. Yugoslavia today is trading with over one hundred countries. Although in a smaller volume, over the four months period most of the trading was done with Italy, Germany, Macedonia and the Russian Federation. Most goods were imported from Italy, and the most exported to Macedonia. (Politika, May 21, 1996)[03] YUGOSLAVIA'S PLACE IS IN THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENTPresident of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe stated in his interview for "Vecernje novosti" that "there are no obstacles at all for the return of Yugoslavia to the Non-Aligned Movement, as a country which was one of the founders of this movement. The main argument of those who were at the last Non-Aligned Summit Conference against an active integration of Yugoslavia in the movement was that it was under the UN sanctions. "At that time we have stated that the UN have nothing to do with the Movement and that we should make our decisions ourselves", said Mugabe. Zimbabwe has condemned the very introduction of sanctions against Yugoslavia and had voted against such a decision in the Security Council. "Traditional friendship, cooperation and most of all the support which Yugoslavia has given us in our struggle for freedom and independence was the reason why in one of the most difficult moments for Yugoslavia we have voted against the sanctions", said President Mugabe. "When we had the hardest time, Yugoslavia was among the few countries which have come to our help and therefore we can freely say to the rest of the world that we shall always be with Yugoslavia", underlined Mugabe in his interview. (Vecernje novosti, May 21, 1996)[04] "SPIRITUAL GENOCIDE 1991-1995'His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle will open today the exhibition about destruction of the Serbian churches and holy shrines in the Yugoslav war conflict from 1991 to 1995. This exhibition, according to the director of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church Slobodan Mileusnic, bears witness that the destruction of the Serbian spiritual and historical treasure in this war was more severe and more brutal than ever before. It is appalling to see the fact that some 70 percent of the holy objects was destroyed and damaged outside of the war action areas, which means that the destruction was planned and premeditated, even the treasure which was classified as the world cultural heritage among only a few monuments of the highest category. This testimony, made by the Serbian Orthodox Church is more than objective, best testified by the fact that the publication "Spiritual Genocide 1991-1995" was included in the documentation of The Hague Tribunal as an official document. (Politika ekspres, May 21, 1996)[05] IN SERBIA 430 THOUSAND REFUGEESAccording to the official records of the Commissariat for Refugees in Serbia there is a total of 430,000 refugees with a regulated status, from this number 75.4 percent Serbs, reported the Government of the Republic of Serbia in response to the deputy question raised in the republican parliament. The largest number of refugees, some 315,000 are accommodated with families, 92,500 of them are renting flats, and 22,500 are living in buildings for collective accommodation. This year the Commissariat for Refugees has the amount of 9 million 185 thousand for construction of buildings for the shelter and 8 million 400 thousand for the costs of accommodation. In the budget, however, there are no finances for welfare allowances and the Commissariat is not able to offer refugees money for support. (Borba, May 21, 1996)[06] ISLAMIC TERRORISTS THREATEN IFOR, NATO AND CROATIAEditorial board of the Zagreb daily "Vjesnik" was given the interview with certain Salim al Korshany, conducted these days "somewhere in Bosnia", in which is revealed the existence of the Bosnian Islamic Jihad, under the leadership of the already known "Gamaa Islamia". It is a question of an Islamic terrorist organization which has executed last year the attack with explosives placed in a car in front of the police station in Rijeka. Al Korshany introduced four masked Bosniacs with the words: "They are trained for kidnapping, killing and suicidal missions without any hesitation. In this they will follow the example of their brothers - Hesballah in Lebanon and in the Israeli occupied territories. Soon the world will hear their message". In this, he had clearly announced that they will attack the occupiers (IFOR) and their allies (NATO), for as long as "we do not liberate our country Bosnia". Similar message was sent to Croatia with the demand for Abu Talal to be released, one of the leaders of the Islamic organization "Gamaa Islamia", who as a political fugitive lived in Denmark and who was arrested by the Croat police when he was on his way to Bosnia. New threats of the Islamic secret organization have received a significant place in the Croat media, certainly in connection with the actual growing tensions in the Croat-Muslim relations in Bosnia. "Because of the fact that a citizen of a foreign state in the midst of Bosnia is practically legalizing one Bosnian terrorist organization, it is important to hear the voice of the official Sarajevo", writes "Vjesnik", clearly pointing out that the responsibility for terrorism is placed on the shoulders of the Muslim headquarters in Sarajevo. (Politika, May 21, 1996)[07] ALL OR NONEThe Law on Amnesty adopted in the Croat Parliament caused concern among Serbs in the Serbian Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem, but also among all the other of their compatriots, whether they have stayed in Croatia or gone to the world. Namely the Parliament (Sabor) adopted "amnesty" only for Serbs in the remaining part of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, "except for the war criminals", some fifteen of them now on the Croat list. "The amnesty does not pertain to the Serbs from the other parts of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, and therefore for us it has almost no meaning at all", says Goran Hadzic, president of the Serbian Region. Amnesty must cover all the Serbs, but also the local Croats and Hungarians who have together with us, with a gun in hand, taken part in the events of the year 1991, adds Hadzic.Dr. Vojislav Stanimirovic, president of the Vukovar municipal government, says that there is great concern because Croatia is making a selection among Serbs who used to be its citizens. "Such a law is unrecorded in the world practice and is a particular pressure on Serbs who are still in Croatia, and is not giving any guarantees to Serbs who have because of the war settled in our region or in Serbia", says Stanimirovic and especially underlines the following: "Reintegration of the Region into Croatia is not possible without a complete amnesty". (Vecernje novosti, May 21, 1996) [08] GENOCIDE AS NEED BEThe U.S. Ambassador in Zagreb Peter Galbright, one of the main coordinators of bombing of the Serbian positions in Bosnia by NATO and expulsion of Serbs from Western Slavonia and Krajina, stated for "Slobodna Dalmacija" newspaper that "Jasenovac should be preserved as a memorial to the 'victims of evil'". In this he added that the Americans are brought up with the remembrance of the holocaust and that they can not accept the idea of mixing criminals and their victims in Jasenovac. The observers are qualifying this Galbright's statement as the one in the function of the pre-electoral campaign in the United States and an attempt to gain the U.S. Jewish lobby. While warning Tudjman to be cautious in "mixing the bones", Galbright is at the same time of opinion that supply of Iranian arms to Bosnian Muslims was justified and ethnic cleansing of Serbs. Galbright is seeing the eventual failure of the Dayton Agreement only in the fact that still Karadzic and Mladic are not in The Hague, and he is forgetting that the list in The Hague can include also him and General Smith, Christopher and even Clinton himself. If for no other reason, at least because of the fact that Serbs were expelled from Krajina by the American military and logistic support to Croatia. (Vecernje novosti, May 21, 1996)_Supplement to the News Briefs:_ [09] TALKS ABOUT AUTONOMY OF SERBS IN CROATIA TO RESUMEThe story about the autonomy as a possible political solution for the status of Serbs in Croatia has returned on the table after a rather long period of silence, by the chief of German diplomacy, on the eve of his last-week's visit to Belgrade. Klaus Kinkel reminded the European and the Yugoslav public of the principles and political agreements regarding this issues, rounded up even in the "Carrington Era". Regardless of the fact that it is not a new solution, this time the recall has an outstanding importance.It seems that a different configuration of the mutual relations between Germany and the former Yugoslav republics from the one at the beginning of disintegration, has had an influence, and that now one of the most incorporated persons in all this, raises his voice in for him a completely unusual way. Many are ready to see in this "Kinkel's revenge" on the disobedient Croat leadership which has several months ago ignored warnings of different types coming from Bonn, and in doing that obviously changed "its world boss", judging that turning towards the United States at this moment would be more useful than being faithful to Germany. At the same time, Kinkel's recall of autonomy insists on those principles for which both Germany and the others in Europe were striving even before, of course when Serbs were not in question. Although one should guard against a premature optimism, it is obvious that Kinkel has given a good political cue for what is to happen over the next weeks, most of all in the Srem and Baranja Region, but also in the other parts of Croatia from which Serbs were expelled. There is an impression that in all the significant points of decision-making about the final solution of the Serbo-Croat relations there is insistence on such solutions which are essentially leading towards equality of the Serbian population. This is also witnessed by the stand of high UN administrator Jacques Klein that the remain and number of Serbs in the Srem and Baranja Region is their main strong-point. The recent decision of the EU chiefs of diplomacies to postpone the admission of Croatia into the Council of Europe, mostly because of the disrespect for the rights of minorities, is pointing out that in this area some significant changes are, nevertheless, taking place. In all this, one should be realistic and not have too high expectations, especially not of an autonomy outside of this region, or a mass repatriation without guarantees to the areas which were at the time covered by the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Regarding the Srem and Baranja Region, the number, remain and respect of European standards of minorities are a good starting point for diplomatic fight for autonomy. In an indirect way, as if this was also accepted in the subconsciousness of the official politics of Croatia. The latest decision of the Sabor on selective amnesty only for the Serbian fighters in the Srem and Baranja Region does not show only a reluctance of Croatia to see Serbs return, but also the necessity to manifest subordination regarding European criteria, even in a limited part of the territory. (Politika, May 21, 1996) Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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