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Serbia Today 96-08-21
Serbia Today
21 August 1996
CONTENTS
[01] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON SUCCESSION
[02] BOGDANOVIC: I AM EXPECTING TO SEE ALBANIANS ALSO AT THE ELECTIONS
[03] OVER 220,000 VOTERS REGISTERED
[04] FULL COOPERATION OF YUGOSLAVIA WITH THE OSCE MISSION MEMBERS
[05] FROWICK: ELECTIONS MUST BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 14, 1996
[06] TRIPLE CONTROL OF ELECTIONS
[07] CROAT ASSESSMENTS OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FR OF YUGOSLAVIA
[08] CONCERN ABOUT SUCCESSION
[01] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON SUCCESSION
Commission of the Federal Government for the relations
between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Council for
Implementation of Peace and the international financial and
trading organizations, discussed at its yesterday's session the
development of the talks conducted so far with the international
mediator for the matters of succession Arthur Watts. The
Commission examined in detail all the relevant documents and
determined proposals for the stands to be taken by the Yugoslav
side in the further course of negotiations within the Group for
Succession of the Council for the Implementation of Peace. It was
especially emphasized that this complex and extremely important
task is being realized with full respect for equity, for purpose
of faster normalization of economic relations between the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav republics and the
international financial and trading organizations. It was
underlined that it is in the interest of reaching the agreement
on the division balance to have de-freezing of the Yugoslav
assets abroad.
(Borba, August 21, 1996)
[02] BOGDANOVIC: I AM EXPECTING TO SEE ALBANIANS ALSO AT THE ELECTIONS
Vice President of the Chamber of Republic, Chairman of the
Committee for Defense and Security of the Federal Assembly
(Parliament) and Chairman of the Committee for Serbs Outside of
Serbia Radmilo Bogdanovic, in his interview for the "Borba" daily
newspaper while speaking of the latest cases of terrorism in
Kosmet said the following: "The attacks on the stations of the
authorities for peace and order are serious acts of terrorism,
but about them no voice is to be heard of those who are always
finding it fit to comment that someone is making pressure on
Albanians. No voice was either heard from those countries in the
world who are condemning every form of terrorism, and this what
has been happening in Kosmet they are not even mentioning as
terrorism. It is one thing to lead a political struggle, but it
is quite another to resort to terrorism and to attack the
authorities in charge of public peace and order. I am bothered
with this silence of the international community, which is very
selective in the condemnation of terrorism". While commenting on
the possibility of Kosovo Albanians taking part at the federal
elections, Bogdanovic said: "I think that they are now regretting
that they did not take part at the past elections because they
would have won some ten deputies in the Assembly of Serbia and
could have acted within the Assembly. In my view they are now
intensively considering this idea and I am inclined to believe
that they will rather take part at the elections than that they
will not. I am also expecting to see at the elections Muslims
taking part in Novi Pazar, Tutin, Sandzak. In Novi Pazar Muslims
are the majoritarian population and it is normal for some of them
to enter Parliament. Why would they abstain from the elections?",
said Bogdanovic.
(Borba, August 21, 1996)
[03] OVER 220,000 VOTERS REGISTERED
Commission of the Federal Government for assistance to
refugees in the exercise of their electoral rights at the
elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, at its yesterday's session,
discussed the results of registration of voters-refugees from
Bosnia-Herzegovina residing in the territory of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia and preparations for the voting procedure.
It was stated that over 220,000 voters have been registered, and
from this number, according to the rules of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (O.S.C.E.) some 98,000 will
vote in absentia, and the others will vote personally in some of
the polling stations in the Republic of Srpska and in the
Muslim-Croat Federation. Commission has once again appealed on the
authorized representatives of the international community to
grant the right to those persons who because of old age and poor
health can not travel to the polling stations in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
to vote in absentia. Although at the moment there
is no response to this appeal, there are still chances for this
to be made possible because this is the problem that all the
three sides are facing.
(Borba, August 21, 1996)
[04] FULL COOPERATION OF YUGOSLAVIA WITH THE OSCE MISSION MEMBERS
President of the Commission of the Federal Government for
the assistance to refugees in the exercise of their electoral
rights at the elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bratislava Morina,
received the group of international observers of the O.S.C.E.
consisting of 30 representatives from Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria,
France and Poland. They will be the only official international
observers who will competently supervise regularity of the
elections. While promising them full cooperation of the
corresponding bodies of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the
execution of their mission, Morina informed them that in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia there are some 700,000 refugees.
Over 220,000 have been recorded and properly registered for the
elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina. International observers were
also informed that these efforts of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia aimed at successful completion of elections in
Bosnia-Herzegovina are also serving the problem of solution of the
refugee question.
(Politika, August 21, 1996)
[05] FROWICK: ELECTIONS MUST BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 14, 1996
Chief of the mission of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (O.S.C.E.) in Bosnia Robert Frowick stated
that the elections must be held on September 14, 1996 and that
the only thing that could prevent them is an eventual eruption
of the new war in Bosnia. In his interview for the Split
"Slobodna Dalmacija" daily, Frowick said that "the pre-electoral
situation in Bosnia is not perfect" and that "the electoral
results will not be fully democratic", but that "it is necessary
to recall the tragic situation during the war which has raged
here for years". We wish to achieve the results which the
international community will deem acceptable, said Frowick and
underlined that in Bosnia "process is strengthening" of the
freedom of expression, movement and association. "We hope that
all the parties in both entities in Bosnia will participate in
the overall electoral process in spite of all the shortcomings
which are present", said Frowick. He also recalled that all the
citizens in Bosnia-Herzegovina are having the right to vote in
the municipality in which they have lived in the year 1991, but
that they also have the right to submit a request to vote in the
municipality in which they intend to live in future.
(Politika, August 21, 1996)
[06] TRIPLE CONTROL OF ELECTIONS
In order to ensure that the elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina
will yield more objective and realistic results, voting procedure
and counting of votes will be supervised by a triple control
team, stated yesterday in Banja Luka at the press conference the
chief of the Department of Elections of the Regional Office of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(O.S.C.E.) Ronald Dreyer. He said that the O.S.C.E. will engage
some 1,200 observers to be stationed at every polling station.
In both entities there will yet another thousand representatives
of various parliaments, governmental and non-governmental
organizations and other international institutions. The third
category of controllers will be the representatives of the
political parties. Dreyer underlined that the O.S.C.E. does not
have a mandate for providing physical security and ensuring
safety of the arrival of voters from one into the other entity,
i.e. of the refugees form abroad, because this is within the
competencies of the local police forces and the local electoral
commissions.
(Politika ekspres, August 21, 1996)
[07] CROAT ASSESSMENTS OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FR OF YUGOSLAVIA
Croat representatives believe that on Friday August 23, 1996
in Belgrade, there could be the signing of the agreement on
normalization of the relations between the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia and Croatia, as was scheduled, although the agreement
has not been reached as yet about all of the foreseen details.
This was stated upon his return from Belgrade by the Deputy Croat
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ivan Simunovic. Croat Foreign
Minister Mate Granic also yesterday expressed his optimism
regarding the holding of the announced meeting in Belgrade and
final signing of the agreement on normalization of the relations.
"The way things are now it is certain that on Friday there will
be mutual recognition and establishment of the diplomatic
relations between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
which will beyond any doubt have far-reaching effects both on the
domestic and on the international political levels", quotes
"Vjesnik" the statement by Minister Granic. "Signing of the
agreement would mean that we are allowing the return of refugees
who have departed to Serbia and we will pass the general decree
on amnesty", added Granic.
(Politika, August 21, 1996)
[08] CONCERN ABOUT SUCCESSION
For a long time now in Slovenia and its media there has not
been such a tension as is present now, on the eve of awaiting for
the contents of the document on normalization of the relations
between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Croatia. The
greatest concern is caused by the information which have leaked
to the Slovenian public that Croatia will recognize to the FR of
Yugoslavia the succession of the former Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, which would, according to the Slovenian
official opinion, significantly reduce the chances of the
Slovenian state to reach up for the part of the 'succession cake'
with which Slovenia is seriously counting. Because of the doubts
into "the far-reaching trade-off at the expense of the other
successors", as it is stated in the Slovenian reactions, "the
agreement between the states of the anti-Serbian coalition or of
the other successors of the former joint state is now in
jeopardy". First of all, there was hardly any acceptance of the
Macedonian interpretation that the recognition to Yugoslavia of
only the political succession does not exclude the division of
material goods among all the other states created in the
territory of the former SFRY. Now the doubts into the contents
of the future Yugoslav-Croat document have activated the old
fears. Some analysts are warning that if Croatia is to accept the
continuity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with the former
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, it will result at the
end that Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have
illegally seceded from the former joint state.
(Politika, August 21, 1996)
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