Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-01-18

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

From: ddc@nyquist.bellcore.com (D.D. Chukurov)

Yugoslav Daily Survey

18 January 1996

CONTENTS

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - REFUGEES

[01] RED CROSS, YUGOSLAV OFFICIALS DISCUSS REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA

[02] NORWAY WARNS ABOUT CRITICAL SITUATION OF REFUGEES IN SERBIA

[B] YUGOSLAVIA - MINORITIES

[03] YUGOSLAVIA'S NATIONAL MINORITIES HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS

[C] MONTENEGRO - HERZEGOVINA

[04] MONTENEGRO SENDS AID FOR EIGHT MUNICIPALITIES IN HERZEGOVINA

[D] SARAJEVO SERBS

[05] ADMIRAL SMITH APPEALS TO SARAJEVO SERBS TO STAY

[E] SREM - BARANJA REGION

[06] MILITARY ASPECT OF UNTAES OPERATION TO BE HEADED BY BELGIAN GENERAL

[F] THEFT OF DATA FROM U.N. ZAGREB CENTER

[07] YUGOSLAV EXPERT: THEFT IS SCANDALOUS

[08] UN: MOST OF DATA PRESERVED

[G] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[09] BRITISH COMMENTATORS ON MANIPULATIONS WITH WAR PRISONERS IN BOSNIA

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - REFUGEES

[01] RED CROSS, YUGOSLAV OFFICIALS DISCUSS REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA

The majority of the 700,000 refugees and displaced persons are expected to remain in Yugoslavia this year, and the number of welfare cases is expected to grow due to long-term effects of three and half years of sanctions, it was noted during the meeting. Greatest problems are expected regarding accommodation, social integration, health care and education of refugees and displaced persons, Yugoslav Information Secretariat said.

Persson told Todorovic that he and his delegation would also tour both entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina in order to prepare reports and proposals for their headquarters in Geneva. The International Federation will shortly launch a second appeal for humanitarian aid to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the war-torn areas of the former Yugoslavia, Persson said.

[02] NORWAY WARNS ABOUT CRITICAL SITUATION OF REFUGEES IN SERBIA

In that respect, the Norwegian Council has called on international organizations and governments to take seriously the problems Serbia is facing with around 700,000 refugees, following three and half years of severe sanctions against Yugoslavia.

At the same time it was announced that Norway had undertaken an initiative at the U.N. in Geneva for organizing an international conference on the return of refugees. According to the initiative, the conference would be held in the second half of February in the Norwegian capital.

[B] YUGOSLAVIA - MINORITIES

[03] YUGOSLAVIA'S NATIONAL MINORITIES HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS

In a talk with Geerd Ahrens, Co-Chairman of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, Savovic said the minority rights were based on the Yugoslav constitution and relevant laws that were in line with all international conventions and resolutions to this end.

A Government statement issued after the talk quoted Savovic as saying ethnic groups in Yugoslavia exercised their rights in the spheres of education, culture and information which she said were financed by the state.

Ahrens and Savovic agreed that each country's sovereign right was to decide on the national minorities' status, Yugoslavia included, the statement said.

Savovic reiterated that all relevant Yugoslav bodies were willing to resolve outstaning issues directly, through a dialogue with representatives of ethnic groups, the statement said.

[C] MONTENEGRO - HERZEGOVINA

[04] MONTENEGRO SENDS AID FOR EIGHT MUNICIPALITIES IN HERZEGOVINA

Marovic, accompanied by the Montenegrin Trade Minister, pledged to assist the economy of Serb Herzegovina, ravaged in the three and a half years of civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Similar talks were held in neighbouring town of Bileca, where businessmen and officials of the Bileca municipality met with Montenegrin Deputy Speaker Srdja Bozovic and Minister of Industry, Energy Production and Mining Miodrag Gomilanovic.

The Montenegrin officials presented food and sanitary supplies to the people of Trebinje and Bileca, collected in a Government-sponsored campaign dubbed the people and the Government of Montenegro for Serb Herzegovina.

Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic visited the town of Nevesinje, East Herzegovina, over the weekend and presented 150 tons of food and other relief aid.

[D] SARAJEVO SERBS

[05] ADMIRAL SMITH APPEALS TO SARAJEVO SERBS TO STAY

Smith's appeal came after talks with Bosnian Serb Parliament Speaker Momcilo Krajisnik in Pale, the Agence France-Presse news agency said in a report. Smith offered assurances that IFOR would be impartial in implementing the part of the peace agreement relating to military activities. Although IFOR is not a police force, it will offer the minimum of security to Sarajevo Serbs, he said.

Krajisnik said that the difficult situation that prevailed in the Serb part of Sarajevo called for IFOR to further clarify the implementation of the peace agreement in the area. 'We stressed we are not trying to avoid the implementation of the agreement or to freeze contacts, but we wish to put uncertainty to an end,' said Krajisnik.

[E] SREM - BARANJA REGION

[06] MILITARY ASPECT OF UNTAES OPERATION TO BE HEADED BY BELGIAN GENERAL

Milanovic said that the composition of the 5,000-strong military aspect of the UNTAES operation is mainly known. Besides 1,700-strong Russian and Belgian battalions deployed in the area, engineering battalions each from Indonesia and Slovakia are expected to arrive.

It is still uncertain which country will contribute another infantry battalion which would bring the number of U.N. troops in the area to 5,000, Milanovic said, adding that for the time being the choice had to be made between Ireland, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Argentina and Ukraine. He said that the Serb side insisted on an infantry battalion from Ireland and that it feared that Argentina would be chosen to dispatch the battalion.

Our fears have nothing to do with Argentina as a country but we fear that the battalion may include descendants of ustashi (the ustashi were Croatian fascists) who emigrated to Argentina after World War Two, which would cause serious problems, Milanovic said.

The Serb side plans to start talks with Temporary Administrator Jacques Kline immediately after his arrival in the area on the model of demilitarization which should, in keeping with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1037, end within 30 days of the deployment of UNTAES forces.

From our point of view, it is extremely important that demilitarization will not start before Kline and Boutros-Ghali inform the U.N. Security Council that UNTAES is ready to assume responsibility for the safety of the local population, Milanovic said.

Milanovic believes that another risky part of the peace operation, besides demilitarization which is expected to start in April, is the repatriation of refugees.

Commenting on the right of the Temporary Administrator to use NATO's close air support, Milanovic said that it was important that air support could be used only to protect UNTAES forces. He said that the Serb side would certainly do nothing to jeopardize U.N. troops and give rise to NATO air actions.

[F] THEFT OF DATA FROM U.N. ZAGREB CENTER

[07] YUGOSLAV EXPERT: THEFT IS SCANDALOUS

What happened in Zagreb cannot be put on the same level as car theft or similar offenses, as officials in the U.N. Center in Zagreb are inclined to picture the incident, said Bulajic, the Director of the Belgrade Museum of Genocide. 'It is beyond doubt that the theft was organized in order to remove evidence,' he said, adding that the United Nations should start an 'urgent investigation to establish who is behind the theft.'

He said the incident should be viewed in the light of a recent statement by chief prosecutor of the International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia Richard Goldstone, who said that nobody could be put on trial without evidence of his implication in a crime committed.

[08] U.N.: MOST OF DATA PRESERVED

About 90 percent, maybe as much as 95 percent of the material stored in the stolen computers, is preserved on paper, Foa said in New York.

Unidentified robbers on Saturday broke into the U.N. Centre in Zagreb and stole computers that contained information about crimes committed by Croatian authorities against Serbs in Krajina and Croatia.

Foa was unable to give details on the burglary or to give assessment on the importance of the material that was lost before being printed. This will be established in an investigation that has been opened, said Foa, adding that it was one of the many thefts that had taken place in various U.N. services in the past several years in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

[G] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[09] BRITISH COMMENTATORS ON MANIPULATIONS WITH WAR PRISONERS IN BOSNIA

The International Red Cross, which is in charge of this part of the agreement, says that the Muslim Sarajevo Government is primarily responsible for the problems, because it refuses to release imprisoned Serbs, London papers said. The formal reason is the fate of a constantly increasing number of Muslims who are said to be missing. The International Red Cross says that under the Dayton agreement, war prisoners and missing persons are completely separate issues.

The London daily the Guardian said that the Muslim Government was violating the agreement. U.S. General Leighton Smith has the right to punish those who violate the agreement. However, the Guardian quoted sources in the NATO Command as saying that it was not very likely that such a step would be made towards the Muslim Government.