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Serbia Today, 97-04-15
Serbia Today
CONTENTS
[01] THE BROADEST POSSIBLE DIALOGUE ABOUT A LEGAL PROJECT
[02] BULLETIN SUPPLEMENT: INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS TO ELECTORAL
MANIPULATIONS IN SBR
[03] NINTH LETTER OF PROTEST FOR KLEIN
[04] UNTAES DISSATISFIED WITH THE CROATIAN GOVERNMENT COOPERATION
[05] ELECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN ALL MUNICIPALITIES
[06] SOLIDARITY EXHIBITION GRAND PRIX FOR VLAHOVIC
[07] MEASURES TO BOOST PRODUCTION IN METAL PROCESSING INDUSTRY
[01] THE BROADEST POSSIBLE DIALOGUE ABOUT A LEGAL PROJECT
At the public debate concerning the second draft version of the Law on
Information - held in Kraljevo for the Raska County, Minister of
Information - Prof. Dr. Radmila Milentijevic stressed that the purpose of
this project is to harmonize the regulations in the sphere of information
with the constitutional aspects of freedom of speech and press, the
existing level of democratization in Serbia, and the integration in
European juridical trends as well as to promote deregulation in media in
accordance with the guidelines set by the European Conference at the Prague
meeting. "In the second draft version we have included a number of stands
that have surfaced during the public debates throughout Serbia. This is the
broadest possible dialogue regarding a legal project and it is extremely
important for each and every citizen", said Minister Milentijevic. Those
that took part in the Kraljevo meeting, addressed a number of questions and
proposals. For example, asked about the link between journalists and their
sources of information and the corresponding responsibility, Ms.
Milentijevic underscored that "such responsibility is equal in order to
protect citizens and institutions from slander and destructive information
broadly used by opposition press - since this not only destroys the
individual but also the educational role of the media."
Serbia Today, 1997-04-15 ; Politika Ekspres, 1997-04-15
[02] BULLETIN SUPPLEMENT: INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS TO ELECTORAL
MANIPULATIONS IN SBR
The elections in the Srem Baranja Region are proceeding in a sorry way,
remarks the reputable Paris daily "Liberation", quoting as example the lack
of ballots, committees coming late and incomplete or modified lists of
voters. The same newspaper also quotes the statements made by various
international observers and experts who are unanimous in saying that the
Croats tried to manipulate the elections in the Srem-Baranja Region. "The
Croats have inflated their lists to the maximum, and deflated the Serbian
ones to the minimum", said one of the observers adding that the lists of
voters had "at least 7000 superfluous Croats", counting "doubled names,
dead people, and emigrants living in Australia". Another expert quoted by
"Liberation" remarked that the elections were nothing but a "masquerade",
due to faulty organization which UNTAES can be partially blamed for.
The elections in the Srem-Baranja Region are deeply marked by manipulations,
irregularities, and real chaos - say British commentators reminding that
this has been acknowledged by international community representatives as
well. The London Financial Times points out that diplomatic circles
directly blame the Croatian Government for the chaos, because - the article
specifies - it "deliberately sabotaged the elections". However, the
international community, will not desist from the agreed peaceful solution
for SBR, although the attitude it displayed in the elections indicates that
the Croatian Government is turning away from the peace plan - London
newspapers observe. The elections are to be a test for the integration of
Croatia into Europe - says The Times - underlining that Zagreb's behavior
shows that Croatia is far closer to its Balkan past then to the "old
continent" it so much aspires to become part of. British media remark that
doubts have been raised that Croatia actually does not want Serbs to stay
on in the Srem-Baranja Region.
Listing numerous oversights and total organizational chaos in the elections,
Austrian media remark that Jacque Klein's decision to give one more day for
voting might not "save" this extremely important event. Before the
elections, Austrian newspapers indicated that numerous Serbs were not given
Croatian documents that are required for voting, and the Austrian Press
Agency reported that even Dr. Vojislav Stanimirovic - Chairman of the
Regional Government, and Mr. Miroslav Kerovica - Mayor of Vukovar could not
find their name on the list of voters.
Russian media report that the elections in the Srem-Baranja Region are
proceeding without incidents and peacefully, but also list a series of
irregularities and shortcomings in the organization of the elections. ITAR-
TASS news agency reported that more than 400 international observers sent
by UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, Yugoslavia and other countries, registered
a myriad of breaches of elections regulations. The Russian news agency also
indicates that in a number of polling stations, Croatian representatives
simply denied the Serbs the right to vote, regardless of the UN
Administration decision.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-15 ; Tanjug, 1997-04-15
[03] NINTH LETTER OF PROTEST FOR KLEIN
Late last night in Vukovar, officials of the Independent Democratic Serbian
Party (SDSS) submitted their 9th letter of protest addressed to the UN
Transition Administrator Jacques Klein. The document indicates that due to
flaws in the organization of the elections, a large number of citizens has
been denied the right to vote. The letter also stresses that lamentably
none of the previous eight protests yielded results even though they were
based on strong arguments. "This raises the question whether the extension
of the elections had any sense at all", reads the statement and specifies
that poling stations also opened late once more, that ballots were not
distributed in time, that ID documents offices were not opened as scheduled
and that they did not operate in accordance with the rules prescribed by
the UN Transition Administrator. The letter of protest also lists numerous
other irregularities observed during the elections yesterday and concludes
that SDSS will be forced to ask that the electoral procedure and the voting
right be protected.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-15 ; Borba, 1997-04-15
[04] UNTAES DISSATISFIED WITH THE CROATIAN GOVERNMENT COOPERATION
Dr. Vojislav Stanimirovic - Chairman of the Regional Executive Council and
President of the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS), told the
reporters yesterday in Vukovar that "all necessary conditions exist for
completing regularly the elections in the UNTAES controlled region". He
agreed with the statement made by Mr. Philip Arnold - the UNTAES chief
spokesman - that Croatia is guilty and bears the responsibility for all
irregularities observed in the elections yesterday. Dr. Stanimirovic added
that one can understand mistakes in the registration and inclusion of
Serbian refugees in the lists of voters, but that there can be no excuse
for the fact that people that lived there before the war were also missing
from the lists. The agreement Gen. Jacques Klein made yesterday with the
Croatian Government - that the elections be continued yesterday from 10
a.m. to 7 p.m. and that voting material be supplied in time, and that ID
documents offices be opened for another day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. was not
fulfilled. "UNTAES is deeply deluded by the inadequate and incomplete
support provided by the Croatian Government for the elections. UNTAES is
here to monitor elections that were actually carried out by the Croatian
Government. UNTAES has no intention of verifying any elections that fail to
meet the necessary international standards" said Philip Arnold at the press
conference. In spite of major problems, he hailed the response of the
voters yesterday. Gen. Jacques Klein - the UN Administrator for Eastern
Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem stated yesterday in Vukovar that he
simply can not find the words to express how proud he is for the way the
people of the Region reacted at the poling stations yesterday. The calm
displayed by the Serbs even though they faced innumerable irregularities
and chaos in the polling stations, has been called "a unique voice of
decency, civic maturity and democratic spirit" by Jacques Klein.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-15 ; Politika, 1997-04-15
[05] ELECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN ALL MUNICIPALITIES
Mr. Dragan Kalinic - Speaker of the Republic of Srpska National Parliament
met yesterday in Pale with the OSCE Political Director in Sarajevo - Mr.
Vladimir Kusnetzov. In the talks, the general political situation a in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the results achieved in implementing the Dayton
Agreement have been discussed. Particular attention has been dedicated to
the current problems regarding the preparations for the forthcoming local
elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Kusnetzov has been informed about
the positions of the Serbian side, namely that the elections in all
municipalities - including Brcko - are to be held simultaneously and under
identical conditions and that the exoneration of Brcko would aggravate
political and other circumstances thus obstructing the implementation of
the Dayton Agreement. The representatives of the Republic of Srpska also
indicated the need for the active participation of Serbs living abroad in
the local elections and insisted that OSCE should fully cooperate with the
Serbian side.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-15 ; Politika Ekspres, 1997-04-15
[06] SOLIDARITY EXHIBITION GRAND PRIX FOR VLAHOVIC
Jugoslav Vlahovic - the well known Yugoslav caricaturists and graphic
artist won the Solidarity Exhibition Grand Prix at the 10th Biennial of
Humor held in Cuba. The main theme of the biennial was "Against Sanctions".
Mr. Vlahovic's caricature represents a bird flying in a blue sky in one
quadrant, surrounded by barbed wire in the remaining black quadrants. His
work was inspired by the sanctions against FR Yugoslavia that lasted
several years.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-15 ; Nasa Borba, 1997-04-15
[07] MEASURES TO BOOST PRODUCTION IN METAL PROCESSING INDUSTRY
Yesterday, the Government of the Republic of Serbia convened to discuss and
adopt the report on the enactment of the measures for the revitalization of
production in the metal processing complex. An adequate environment for the
enhancement of production in this industrial has been created by the
adoption of a number of documents concerning the suppression of "gray"
economy, the initiative for the exports incentive fund, and the initiative
for the loans to export oriented production. The Government clearly
endorsed the programs that will increase the usage rate of the production
capacities in this industrial sector. This also includes the program for
the renewal of agricultural machinery, the program for the realization of
the Chinese oil arrangement which will be mostly covered by exports of the
metal processing industry, the program for the use of funds from the
Chinese oil arrangement to finance production for other markets, and the
program for the realization of the natural gas arrangement which will also
involve the participation of metal processing companies as the Serbian
Government particularly insisted. As part of the measures for the
revitalization of the metal processing sector, the Government has also
analyzed and approved the automobiles production program of the Kragujevac
Zastava Group. The Serbian Government attributes great importance to the
realization of all these measures and has given instructions that companies
operating in this sector should submit monthly reports to the Ministry of
Industry indicating the usage rate of production potentials in accordance
with the existing programs, as well as the results achieved with these
programs.
Serbia Today, 1997-04-15 ; Politika, 1997-04-15
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