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Serbia Today, 97-02-20Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Serbia TodayCONTENTS
[01] ENHANCING MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF TWO NEIGHBORING COUNTRIESSerbian President Slobodan Milosevic received the Chairman of the Hungarian Workers Party - Mr. Dzula Tirmer, who is currently visiting our country. The importance of improving the bilateral relations between FR Yugoslavia and Hungary has been stressed, characterized by neighborliness and mutual interest to promote intense and equitable cooperation. The strengthening of mutual understanding between the two neighboring countries contributes to the affirmation of peace in the region, and opens the prospective for better economic relations based on mutual interests - agreed Mr. Tirmer and President Milosevic during their talks.Serbia Today, 1997-02-20 ; Politika, 1997-02-20[02] BULLETIN SUPPLEMENT: WILL THERE BE SERBIAN EXODUS FROM THE UNTAES ZONE BEFORE THE ELECTIONS IN CROATIA?The situation in Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem is deteriorating as the county elections in Croatia and in the UNTAES zone are drawing near. The Croatian letter of intentions, advocating that Serbs be located in two counties within the UNTAES zone openly promoting majority domination and segregation - greatly influenced the response of the Serbian government of the Srem-Baranja Region. The UN Security Council accepted the Croatian elections project and the reintegration of the territory within the Croatian state and constitutional framework, rejecting all suggestions made by the local Serb government.General Jacques Klein, who kept a balanced stand for quite a long time, inciting the local Serbs to make compromises with the Croatian administration in the region, has been increasingly endorsing the Tudjman state policy. General Klein recently commented the exodus of the Serbs from the region remarking that "this number has grown in the past several weeks but to talk of thousands is sheer exaggeration. I believe that the regional leaders are guilty since they misinform the people, not telling them about the true conditions that are being offered". Only a few days later, Jacques Klein told the Reuters reporter that out of the 120.000 Serbs living in the Region, 15-20 thousand will flee once the territory passes under Croatian control. General Klein even offered and explanation: "These people are Serbian nationalists that simply can not bear to live in a Catholic Croatian state and among them there are war criminals and individuals with an unclear conscience". Is it really possible that an experienced official like general Klein believes that - nationalists and war criminals will move out and not the refugees from Western Slavonija, part of Bosnia and Knin Krayina? The stand that only nationalists and war criminals will leave the Region, and that the local leaders are deceiving the Serbs endorsing their personal interests and not the global interests of the Serbs in the territory - greatly favors the Tudjman regime in Zagreb. Ever since it accepted the controversial "hot potato", the leadership of the Serm-Baranja Region - headed by Dr. Vojislav Stanimirovic, has been doing everything possible to negotiate with general Klein a painless model for the reintegration of UNTAES zone within Croatia, seeking rights that would prevent the total segregation of the Serbs reducing them to a mere ethnic community without the right to constitute a local self-government or minimally express the characteristics their ethnic community. More than six months ago, general Klein said that elections will not be held in the UNTAES zone until Serbs are given guarantees that they can continue to live in this territory. Now, Mr. Klein is talking about 15.000- 20.000 Serbs that will leave the zone because they are nationalists and war- criminals, but he perfectly knows that by this summer, more than 50.000 Serbs will leave. Will those Serbs constitute a disrupting element for Croatia and the region as well? It seems that the Serbian leadership in the UNTAES zone has no alternative but to struggle and navigate between the Tudjman regime, the Klein administration and the fears of 120.000 people. One can hardly expect that the elections due in mid-April will bring about a positive result for the Serbs especially if they are integrated into the constituencies of Osijek and Vinkovci. The inevitable tragedy hanging over both the region and the UN is the exodus of the Serbs without any Croatian military action. Actually, the Serbs will be exiled by general Klein's Administration. Should it really come to that, - and the exodus psychosis is already visible - the Serbs will be escorted out of Croatia by the Blue Helmets and NATO troops. To avoid all that, the coming weeks should be used to find a compromising solution that will allow the Serbs (at least 50.000-70.000) to stay enjoying warranted rights for national minorities that are an ethnic majority or enjoy demographic balance in confront with the Croats in a particular territory. The exodus of the Serbs from the UNTAES zone represents - above all - a defeat for the United Nations but also for the US Administration, that has chosen not to endorse minority rights but rather the interests of the Croatian Government to silently get rid of 3-5% of the Serbs, not only from the UNTAES zone but from the rest of Croatia as well. It is amazing that Mr. Jacques Klein - an experienced general and diplomat - ignores the last report prepared by former UN Secretary General - Mr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, who said: "The objective of the Croatian Government is to prevent the return of the exiled Serbs and to pressure those that stayed into leaving the country." If UN Reporter - Ms. Elisabeth Renn warned that only 500 Serbs returned to Croatia after the notorious "Operation Storm" that chased 200.000 people out of the country, and that even they were harassed, no further comments are needed. General Klein's goals is to complete his mission, namely that the UNTAES zone be reintegrated into Croatia without a military operation by the Tudjman regime. The question of how many Serbs will stay in the region is raised no more. However, when the mass-exodus starts, someone will have to raise the question what did the Klein administration do in two years and what did the UN achieve in this highly sensitive part of the Danube basin. Serbia Today, 1997-02-20 ; Ekspres, 1997-02-20[03] SUSAK INDITED AS WELL?Until recently, official Croatian propaganda insisted that no Croatian committed war crimes, since the country fought a defense war. However, this assertion has been undermined by the International Criminal Court for War Crimes at the Hague, by insisting that Croatian authorities submit (the deadline was yesterday at 2 p.m.) all documents on general Tihomir Blaskic, who appeared voluntarily before the Court. The Court insisted that Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak appear before the judges within that same deadline, to give his deposition. The Croatian Government rejected this request as an "impudent" one. Actually the Hague tribunal asked Susak to submit his correspondence with general Blaskic dating back to the period when the later was still the commander of the Bosnian Croat Army. However, Croatia did not supply the documents nor did the current Defense Minister appear before the Court. Informed sources remark that the ample documentation indicates one thing only - that all the instructions for the war in Bosnia were given from Zagreb. It seems that Blaskic himself admitted this before the Court, and that he now realizes that he made a mistake in going to the Hague as official Zagreb had instructed him. In fact, it seems that he is the only culprit in the Moslem-Croatian war, while those that are truly responsible are freely strolling around Zagreb. Diplomatic circles in the Croatian capital affirm that had Susak would have been detained at the Hague had he gone there yesterday, and that this is the real reason why Zagreb rejected the request advanced by the Hague tribunal.Serbia Today, 1997-02-20 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-02-20[04] BELGRADE ON INTERNET"EPI-Enginering" and "Interaktiv" - a marketing and design agency, jointly prepared the "Belgrade on line" project intended to promote Belgrade on the Web. This multimedia presentation offers a multi-dimensional review of our capital to the global users of the planetary computer network. The project encompasses ten principal themes, and each of them contains various sub- topics. For example, the "culture-guide" displays all cultural institutions, as well as current cultural events: concerts, theater shows, festivals, fairs. The entertainment segment lists the programs of clubs, discotheques, cinemas, theaters. A special "Interactive Gallery" contains a presentation of the most attractive artists and their chosen works. Obviously, tourism has not been left out, and abundant information on hotels, restaurants and travel arrangements are provided. "Media" gives a review of local and foreign news agencies and media in Belgrade, but also includes valuable information on business foreign investment opportunities, and "dossiers" on major Yugoslav companies and their activities on foreign markets. Even Yugoslav fashion has been included in this comprehensive presentation.Serbia Today, 1997-02-20 ; Ekspres, 1997-02-20[05] PROMOTING THE IDEA OF FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE, CIVIL AND NATIONAL DIGNITY MUTUAL AND BROAD STRATEGIC INTEREST FOR YUGOSLAVIA AND MACEDONIAOn the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the "Borba" daily, President Milosevic received a delegation of this reputable newspaper headed by the Editor-in-Chief Dr. Zivorad Djordjevic. Congratulating the "Borba" representatives on this significant jubilee, Mr. Milosevic underscored the contribution "Borba" has given to the promotion of the ideas of freedom, independence, national and civil dignity and the to the struggle for peace in the Balkans. "Borba" has always firmly advocated the highest humane values, equality and independence of its country and promoted progressive and objective reporting, having great importance in a time of overwhelming biased stands and media fabrications about the events in former Yugoslavia and their causes. (Borba, February 20, 1997)The Co-Chairmen of the Joint Inter-Government Committee for bilateral cooperation - Yugoslav Deputy Premier Nikola Sainovic and Macedonian Deputy Premier Becir Zuta, agreed during their talks yesterday in Belgrade that most of the issues influencing further improvement of economic cooperation have been settled and that a major increase of trade is to be expected. Mr. Sainovic and Mr. Zuta remarked that the economic relations between the two states based on the principle of free trade should be taken as an example of cooperation by other countries created in the former Yugoslav area, and even in the Balkans. Macedonia and FR Yugoslavia have common and broad strategic interests - for regional, Balkan cooperation and a quicker involvement in European integration as well as in integration based on their geographic position and potentials. Serbia Today, 1997-02-20 ; Borba, 1997-02-20[06] MILUTINOVIC-GRANIC TALKSYugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic talked yesterday in Belgrade with the Croatian Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister - Dr. Mate Granic. The talks dealt with the future improvement of bilateral relations, and about the contents of numerous agreements on cooperation, as well as about the current issues regarding personal and ownership status of the Serbs and Yugoslav citizens in Croatia. The two ministers last met in August last year, when they signed the Yugoslav-Croatian Agreement on normalization of relations, and when Mr. Milutinovic invited his colleague to visit Belgrade, which he did yesterday after numerous delays. "Today, we had extremely ample talks which actually mark a significant acceleration of the Yugoslav- Croatian relations, representing the backbone of the relations in the Balkans and in our region in general. Practically we discussed 18 agreements and treaties and I believe that we've reached political consensus on all of them. In the next few weeks we will try to finalize everything", Mr. Milutinovic told the reporters. "Obviously, we gave particular attention to the coherent implementation of the Erdut Agreement, to the creation of safety and full equality conditions for all people living in the Srem-Baranja Region, to the trust-building measures and the preconditions for a safe and lasting existence of the Serbs in this area", stressed the Yugoslav Foreign Minister. Confirming that agreement has been reached on numerous issues, Minister Granic added: "In the coming few weeks, numerous ministerial and expert meetings will take place to discuss various agreements and documents to be signed by two sovereign countries. All this respects the spirit and the need to improve the bilateral relations and promote the interests of both our countries."Serbia Today, 1997-02-20 ; Politika, 1997-02-20[07] COMMON INTEREST IN IMPROVING YUGOSLAV-CROATIAN RELATIONSSerbian President Slobodan Milosevic received yesterday the Croatian Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister - Dr. Mate Granic, that arrived in Belgrade yesterday. During the talks, both sides stressed the common interest in improving the relations between Yugoslavia and Croatia and the bilateral cooperation. It has been observed that in spite of the difficulties and limiting factors, progress has been achieved in the relations, especially in promoting dialogue creating the conditions for growing understanding and quicker realization of ties in spheres of common interest. The importance of coherent implementation of the Erdut Agreement has been particularly stressed, since it should provide a lasting normalization of the situation in the Srem-Baranja Region, and especially the conditions for free and equal life of all citizens in the area and the renewal of mutual trust. The successful development of Yugoslav-Croatian relations and the settlement of open issues in the spirit of neighborly relations expressed by both sides, with mutual equitable treatment and acknowledgment - is in the best interest of not only FR Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia and the people of both countries, but also in the interest of peace and stabilization of the political situation in the region.Serbia Today, 1997-02-20 ; Politika, 1997-02-20Serbia Today Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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