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Serbia Today 96-08-22
Serbia Today
22 August 1996
CONTENTS
[01] BILATERAL AGREEMENTS READY FOR SIGNING
[02] RELATIONS BETWEEN FRY AND THE IMF TO BE NORMALIZED SOON
[03] LOCAL ELECTIONS IN SERBIA ON NOVEMBER 3RD
[04] GERMAN BUSINESS DELEGATION VISITING SERBIA
[05] MAJOR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOR "ZMAJ" IN CHINA
[06] UKRAINIANS ENJOY ALL THE RIGHTS
[07] MISSING PERSONS TALKS COMPLETED IN ZAGREB
[08] BANAC: THE RETURN OF SERBS IS IN THE INTEREST OF CROATIA
[09] HATRED FROM THE SCREEN
[10] PROTEST AGAINST THE EUROPEAN POLICY REGARDING THE SERBS
[01] BILATERAL AGREEMENTS READY FOR SIGNING
At its session held yesterday, the Federal Government
discussed and approved the draft proposals for a number of
bilateral agreements between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
and the Republic of Macedonia, which will lay the foundations for
the development and the enhancement of the economic cooperation
between the two neighboring countries. The package includes eight
Yugoslav - Macedonian agreements concerning trade, customs,
mutual incitement and protection of investments, international
road transport of persons and goods, air traffic, railway
transports and regulations concerning veterinary and plant
quarantines and plant protection. The Federal Government endorsed
the course of the negotiations regarding the agreements, and
stressed the economic and political importance for the
development of relations and cooperation between FRY and
Macedonia. It is also expected that a number of agreements will
be ready for signing by September, when Federal Premier Radoje
Kontic is due to visit Macedonia.
(Borba, August 22, 1996)
[02] RELATIONS BETWEEN FRY AND THE IMF TO BE NORMALIZED SOON
Yesterday, the Federal Government submitted for approval to
the Yugoslav Parliament the Report on the normalization of
relations with the International Monetary Fund and other
international financial institutions as well as the decree on
Yugoslav membership in those organizations. In its report, the
Government offered a positive evaluation of the past activities
aimed at normalizing the relations with the international
financial organizations and a more complete inclusion of FRY in
the international financial community. In formulating the Decree
on Yugoslav membership in the IMF and other financial
organizations, the Government kept in mind the Decision of the
IMF Board of Executive Directors dated December 14, 1992, and the
fact that with the normalization of relations will membership
rights since 1945 will be recognized for our country. The Federal
Government also submitted to the Parliament the Draft Law on
International Agreements, regulating the different phases
involved in the stipulation of such agreements.
(Borba, August 22, 1996)
[03] LOCAL ELECTIONS IN SERBIA ON NOVEMBER 3RD
Mr. Dragan Tomic - Speaker of the Serbian National
Parliament, acting in accordance with his authority sanctioned
by the Law on Territorial Organization and Local Self-Government,
signed the Decree on the elections for members of the Municipal
Assemblies, for the Belgrade City Assembly and for the Town
Assemblies in Kragujevac, Nis, Novi Sad and Pristina. The
elections will be held on Sunday, November 3.
(Politika, August 22, 1996)
[04] GERMAN BUSINESS DELEGATION VISITING SERBIA
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister - Svetozar Krstic received
yesterday the German business delegation headed by Mr. Reimund
Bach - Chairman of OMS Co. from Wiesbaden. Mr. Krstic stressed
that the Serbian economy is closely linked to the world markets
and that this requires full openness in cooperating with German
partners, the abolition of the sanctions being the perfect moment
to mutually define the economic relations. He also added that the
Serbian Government and other state bodies are creating the
necessary environment and are promoting specific measures to
incite the cooperation with foreign partners. Mr. Bach displayed
particular interest for the possibility of improving municipal
infrastructure and indicated readiness of his company to become
involved in the financing of various ecological programs.
(Politika, August 22, 1996)
[05] MAJOR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOR "ZMAJ" IN CHINA
The Belgrade based "Zmaj" Company signed a sales contract
with the Haifa Co. from the Chinese autonomous region of Inner
Mongolia. The contract regards the sale of agricultural machinery
worth about 9,2 million dollars. The Contract signed in Beijing
by Zmaj General Manager - Mr. Vidoje Djukanovic, specifies that
the Belgrade company will produce and deliver 200 combines and
corn harvesters. The Chinese partner anticipated the possibility
of additional purchases of agricultural machinery. The
transaction has been agreed as part of the major barter
arrangement as part of the payment for Chinese crude oil imported
by the Serbian oil company NIS-Jugopetrol for the Yugoslav
refineries.
(Politika, August 22, 1996)
[06] UKRAINIANS ENJOY ALL THE RIGHTS
Mr. Markian Lubwisky - Press Secretary of the Ukrainian
Embassy in Belgrade - expressed particular gratitude of the
Government of the Republic of Ukraine for the attention the
Yugoslav Government dedicates to the status of the Ukrainian
minority living in the Serbian Province of Vojvodina. In an
interview for Radio Yugoslavia, Lubwisky said that the ethnic
Ukrainians living in Yugoslavia enjoy all the rights in
education, information and culture. Speaking about the relations
between the two countries, he particularly stressed the long
tradition of successful cooperation in culture. He also reminded
that next year Days of Ukrainian Culture will be held in
Belgrade, and that Belgrade's cultural achievements will be
presented in Kiev.
(Borba, August 22, 1996)
[07] MISSING PERSONS TALKS COMPLETED IN ZAGREB
The working groups of the Yugoslav State Committee for
Humanitarian Issues and Missing Persons and the Croatian
Government Committee for Prisoners and Missing individuals, ended
yesterday in Zagreb their two-day talks. At the end of the
meeting, the two sides agreed that the negotiations are
proceeding in accordance with thepredetermined schedule. Dr.
Pavle Todorovic - Chairman of the Yugoslav Committee stated that
not a single Croat is being detained in Yugoslav prisons and that
the Croatian side has been made aware of this. The Croatian
Committee Chairman - Mr. Ivan Grujic, remarked that the Croatian
side presented data concerning some 600 dead in the operations
"Storm" and "Lighting" carried out by Croatian Army. He also
indicated that information has been given on 149 persons
imprisoned after those operations and currently awaiting trial.
The working groups will convene on September 15, in Belgrade and
continue the exchange of data.
(Politika Ekspres, August 22, 1996)
[08] BANAC: THE RETURN OF SERBS IS IN THE INTEREST OF CROATIA
"I want a Croatia of citizens, and not a Croatia where
privileged and underprivileged nations exist. A Croatia based on
apartheid will inevitably be isolated, it will not be include
into the European integration and will have no future. This is
the essence of the issues concerning the return of the Serbs",
said in an interview for "Globus" weekly Dr. Ivo Banac - a
professor at Yale. Endorsing the free return of Serbian refugees
to Croatia, professor Banac remarked that "the return of the
Serbs is a positive process" and "one in the interest of
Croatia", but warned that a negative social climate has been
created and that even the highest state officials are publicly
saying that such a return is impossible and is against the
Croatian national interest. Asked whether he can offer some
statistics and figures concerning the breach of human rights in
Krajina, Dr. Banac (a prominent member of the Croatian Helsinki
Committee) said: "It is hard to give a precise figure concerning
the number of persons that died, but it is well over a thousand -
people that have been killed after the military operation ended."
(Politika, August 22, 1996)
[09] HATRED FROM THE SCREEN
In view of the normalization of relations between Yugoslavia
and Croatia, Tuesday evening the Croatian national TV network
broadcast a prime time show representing a clear call for another
war between Serbs and Croats. The show entitled "Where Serbian
Hordes have Treaded", was dedicated to the village of Skabrnja
in the vicinity of the town of Zadar. The reporter used sheer
fabrications to corroborate the thesis that everything there was
destroyed by Serbs - even what the Croats destroyed after the
"Operation Storm". The fact that the village was a Croatian
stronghold with bunkers in the middle of the war zone was
omitted. Mr. Jerko Tomic - acting both as reporter and editor of
the show used a specific and extremely profane vocabulary to
describe the Serbs: "... worse than cattle, Satan's drummers,
Chetnik pests, toothless monsters, greasy fur-hats, haggard
beggars, thrash, Serbo-Chetnik vampires, hordes, skunks, the
plague, the pest." According to Mr. Tomic the Serbs were the
carpet for the Nazis and they exterminated the Jews even before
Hitler's troops entered in Belgrade. The essence of his story is
that Serbs are thieves that live in filth and rob others.
Reacting to this instigation to hatred, Mr. Veselin Pejnovic -
Member of the Croatian Parliament - anticipated that he will
appeal to the Hague Tribunal and a number of reputable Serbs said
that they will initiate private law-suits against the Croatian
state.
(Vecernje Novosti, August 22, 1996)
[10] PROTEST AGAINST THE EUROPEAN POLICY REGARDING THE SERBS
The leading Czech political daily "Pravo" - published an
interview with Mr. Frantisek Ceh - member of both European and
Czech Parliament - in which he protests against the policy
pursued by European and local politicians in confront of the
Serbs, their support for the expansion of Islam in the Balkans
and other mistakes that will become visible in the coming years.
"I protest against the way we have abandoned the Serbs. Islamic
centers have already been formed in Bosnia. Europe has suffered
a defeat in the Balkans", says Mr. Ceh. The warning issued by
this prominent member of the influential Czech Social-Democratic
Party, has been published by "Pravo" as part of a series of
interviews with the principal creators of the Czech policy and
public figures. This is the second article published by the
leading Czech newspapers demanding a revision of the public and
political stands concerning the Serbian people. Mr. Jerzy Miller
- a prominent publicist - also warned against the mistake of
ascribing all the responsibility for the Balkan cataclysm to the
Serbs. He stressed the need to publicize historical facts, the
several centuries long islamization of the Balkans, and the
Ustashi genocide against the Serbs.
(Vecernje Novosti, August 22, 1996)
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