Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-03-06

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

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

6 March 1996

CONTENTS

[A] THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

[01] CZECH PRIME MINISTER SAYS YUGOSLAVIA'S ROLE IN PEACE PROCESS VITAL

[02] ILIESCU: ROMANIAN PEOPLE SYMPATHIZED WITH YUGOSLAVS UNDER SANCTIONS

[03] BELARUS PRESIDENT WANTS COOPERATION WITH YUGOSLAVIA

[04] BULGARIA WANTS YUGOSLAVIA'S RETURN TO WORLD FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

[05] AMBASSADOR KOTOV: RUSSIA FOR SOONEST REINTEGRATION OF F.R.Y. INTO WORLD

[06] JOKANOVIC: NO NEGOTIATIONS WITH ETHNIC ALBANIANS, ONLY TALKS

[B] BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA

[07] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA VICE-PRESIDENT HOLDS TALKS IN PARIS

[08] RS VICE-PRESIDENT KOLJEVIC ON HOLBROOKE'S NIGHTMARE

[09] U.N. CIVILIAN SECTOR DENIES MUSLIMS BEING DRIVEN OUT OF BANJA LUKA

[10] BOSNIA FEDERATION PRESIDENT FEARS REKINDLING OF MUSLIM-CROAT WAR

[C] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[11] MOSCOW DAILY: WORLD QUIET ABOUT CROAT, MOSLEM WAR CRIMES IN BOSNIA

[12] MUSLIMS WANT SARAJEVO TO BE MUSLIM CANTON, CROATS UNEASY

[13] CONCERN OVER TRAINING OF BOSNIAN MUSLIM ARMY IN IRAN

[14] BOSNIAN MUSLIMS TRAINED IN IRAN IN SPIRIT OF ISLAMIC FANATICISM

[A] THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

[01] CZECH PRIME MINISTER SAYS YUGOSLAVIA'S ROLE IN PEACE PROCESS VITAL

Klaus, who arrives on an official visit to Yugoslavia Monday, told Tanjug Friday that Belgrade's positions had made it possible to find a compromise and reach peace settlements, and said Yugoslavia would play a crucial role in the peace process also in the future.

Klaus said only the initial step had been taken in an overall resolution of the crisis. He said he believed it would be much harder to erase hatred from the minds of the people who had been affected and divided by civil war in such a tragic way than to end the war.

The Czech Republic is willing to contribute as much as it can to a successful conclusion of the peace process, he said.

Klaus expressed understanding for the plight of the former Yugoslavia's peoples during big political and economic changes triggered by the collapse of communism in the 1980s. He said he had always underlined that it was wrong to blame one party only in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, because he had been aware of the complexity of that period. He said his country had undergone a similar experience.

Commenting on common as well as other causes that had led to the disintegrations of Czechoslovakia and the former Yugoslavia, Klaus said that, unfortunately, it was a fact that neither of the federations had survived the collapse of communism. He said there were many reasons whay the disintegration of Czechoslovakia, unlike that of the former Yugoslavia, had been peaceful, giving two of them. The disintegration of the former Yugoslavia was primarily triggered by unlitateral steps by some parties and spontaneous developments that had opened room for foreign involvement that only compounded the situation, he said.

Referring to a resumption of economic cooperation with Yugoslavia, Klaus said Czech companies were ready to help recover the Yugoslav economy affected by the U.N. Security Council sancitons. He said they wanted to resume cooperation with Yugoslav partners in all spheres.

Klaus said he hoped his visit to Belgrade, the first following the disintegrations of Czechoslovakia and the former Yugoslavia, would help intensify contacts between the two countries.

[02] ILIESCU: ROMANIAN PEOPLE SYMPATHIZED WITH YUGOSLAVS UNDER SANCTIONS

'Ethnic and relgious conflicts are not in the nature of people and nations in the Balkans,' said the Romanian President.

The Yugoslav parliamentary delegation, on an official visit to Romania, held a talk also with Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu. Once again, Melescanu reiterated Romania's readiness to uphold the efforts of the F.R.Y. towards reintegration into international structures.

In commenting on the question of cooperation in the Balkans, Melescanu said that the nations of this region had to establish such a cooperation as would be in harmony with their interests and possibilities.

[03] BELARUS PRESIDENT WANTS COOPERATION WITH YUGOSLAVIA

He said he was sure that President Lilic's visit to Minsk, which begins on Wednesday, would help strengthen cooperation between the two countries, and stressed that Belarus was proud that it had not supported the U.N.'s sanctions against Yugoslavia. Belarus cooperated with Yugoslavia then, and will continue to do so now, Lukashenko said and added that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia could fully rely on Belarus and its support.

He described the international situation as totally chaotic, with the leading powers trying to bind to their will weakened states, primarily in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Lukashenko said he had told an international conference of Orthodox Christian nations that they would find it hard unless they united, and that Yugoslavia was proof of this.

[04] BULGARIA WANTS YUGOSLAVIA'S RETURN TO WORLD FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Paparizov said that the regulation of the status of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in international organisations would help strengthen the two countries'economic relations.

Paparizov said that the two countries aimed to raise the value of bilateral trade to a targetted half a billion dollars a year.

[05] AMBASSADOR KOTOV: RUSSIA FOR SOONEST REINTEGRATION OF F.R.Y. INTO WORLD

The Defence Ministry said that Bulatovic pointed out that a fresh stage was emerging in Russia - F.R.Y. relations during which cooperation should be intensified in the field of economy, sciences and technology, culture, and defence.

Kotov stressed he regarded a durable peace in the Balkans as one of the most significant tasks in his mission.

The Dayton/Paris accords accounted for a solid political foundation for the triumph of peace, but they still left behind a large number of what he called 'delayed-action mines' which 'must not be allowed to blow up.'

[06] JOKANOVIC: NO NEGOTIATIONS WITH ETHNIC ALBANIANS, ONLY TALKS

Jokanovic said talks should take place with those ethnic Albanian representatives who were ready to abandon the nationalistic euphoria and the target of a so-called republic of Kosovo, and who wished to live in peace and equality.

Jokanovic said the current leaders were prisoners of the unrealistic promises they had given to their fellow ethnic Albanians. There is a 'large number of people (in Kosmet) who are now politically passive, aware of the reality and the mistakes of their current leaders.' these people will be an important factor in Kosmet in the times to come, Jokanovic told Intervju.

Speaking about the constitutional changes of 1989, Jokanovic, Kosmet Assembly Speaker at the time, said they had been made legally, in agreement with constitutional procedures and the will of the vast majority of delegates. He pointed out that there had been an entire scenario at the time for clashes and bloodshed to begin in Kosmet, 'supported in an organized manner by the leaderships of Slovenia and Croatia, so that they could more easily realize their secessions.'

Under the 1974 Constitution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia's both provinces - Kosmet and Vojvodina, had had state authorities, breaking down Serbia's sovereignty over its integral territory.

Jokanovic said the stand of all key international factors that the problem of Kosmet can be resolved only within Serbia and Yugoslavia has made the seccesionists nervous and caused some of them now to 'advocate radical methods and change the type of struggle.'

'Now is the time for reasonable people who will know how and will be able to organize joint political life to overcome and enter the stage,' Jokanovic said.

Commenting on opinions which are occasionally heard that Yugoslavia will yield under pressure of the big powers, Jokanovic said Yugoslavia could not give in when its territorial integrity was concerned, because it was a 'question of survival of both the people and the state.'

[B] BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA

[07] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA VICE-PRESIDENT HOLDS TALKS IN PARIS

An incident, later dubbed 'the airport incident,' had marked Koljevic's arrival in Paris. He was detained for several hours at the airport on Saturday by border police who had a Sarajevo Muslim Government warrant for his arrest. The warrant was not valid, however, as it had no international recognition. The French Foreign Ministry intervened, and Koljevic was allowed to proceed.

The 'airport incident' was therefore described here as a sordid affair for France, a country which urges proper behaviour.

[08] RS VICE-PRESIDENT KOLJEVIC ON HOLBROOKE'S NIGHTMARE

In an interview with the Podgorica paper Istok, Koljevic was asked to comment on a statement by former U.S. State Department official Richard Holbrooke who has said that he was haunted by nightmarish thoughts that the Serbs in Bosnia would act properly for some time but that they would later secede and merge with Serbia which was not allowed by the Dayton accords.

Koljevic said that, in the R.S. hierarchy, he preferred not to take the place of President Radovan Karadzic and that the issue whether he would replace Karadzic was manipulated for various reasons. One of the possible reasons may be the international community's wish to bet on or count on someone who would be more 'flexible', Koljevic said. They have probably gained such an impression on me on the basis of talks on humanitarian issues. I do not believe that they could have gained such an impression in negotiations on political issues, Koljevic said.

Koljevic maintains that the people should be left to decide on the issue and that candidates should be promoted from the inside and not from the outside.

Koljevic believes that an impersonalization of authorities will occur in new circumstances and after democratic elections. He said that during war the existance of only one command was normal and that the presidential system had been suitable.

Koljevic said that it was now legitimate to raise the issue whether now in peace, when there was no more need for one command and strict pyramid of rule, the parliamentary system and impersonalization of authorities were more suitable.

Koljevic said that ahead of the upcoming elections it was of crucial importance that political parties and other factors reach consensus on two issues: to prevent an annulment of the results of the 3 1/2-year war, that is the R.S. and its degree of statehood obtained in Dayton and to reach consensus on national policy in which the Serbs would never be manipulated again.

[09] U.N. CIVILIAN SECTOR DENIES MUSLIMS BEING DRIVEN OUT OF BANJA LUKA

International Police Force Spokesman in Sarajevo Alexander Ivanko said Monday that 160 Muslims had been evicted from their homes in Banjaluka by Serb refugees from Sarajevo. On Tuesday, Ivanko apologized to the Bosnian Serbs for the false statement.

[10] BOSNIA FEDERATION PRESIDENT FEARS REKINDLING OF MUSLIM-CROAT WAR

Zubak blamed the Muslims as the sole culprits for all the ills of the Federation, accusing them of trying to dominate the political life of the Federation, even in areas with large Croat populations.

[C] FROM FOREIGN PRESS

[11] MOSCOW DAILY: WORLD QUIET ABOUT CROAT, MOSLEM WAR CRIMES IN BOSNIA

The Moscow daily said the Hague-based International Tribunal for War Crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia was already in session, bringing charges mainly against Serbs. He said the notion of Serbs as ruthless aggressors had taken root in the world public. The daily said it was the Tribunal's duty to investigate all cases of human rights violations and crimes against humanity. Such an attitude by western leaders and media has resulted in an absence of reports in relevant international institutions on Croat and Moslem atrocities against Serbs and violations of their rights, the daily said.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta said the campaign against Serbs began gaining momentum last summer after NATO had backed Moslems and Croats in their military offensive against Serbs. Serb troops had to withdraw from a large number of territories whence several hundred thousands of Serb civilians were expelled, the paper said. Croat and Moslem artillery opened fire ceaselessly on lines of refugees, while their houses were completely destroyed and Croat and Moslem army commanders did nothing to prevent it, which is contrary to all rules of warfare, the daily said.

Zagreb and the Sarajevo Moslem Government have not yet submitted to the U.N. documents on nearly 750 recently-dug Serb graves as they have been requested to do, the paper said. On the other hand, the 230 Serb bodies found by U.N. officials speak clearly about the crimes, the paper said.

Croatian authorities have not done anything to arrest and punish those responsible for their deaths, the paper said.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta said Croatian fighter planes had bombed lines of refugees near Petrovac and Kljuc, towns in western Bosnia, last August, while at the same time, the Moslems' Fifth Corps opened gunfire on Serb Krajina refugees, the paper said.

Gazeta said 1,000 people had been killed in these attacks, and said such a high number of casualties in just one day cannot be called other than 'ethnic cleansing.' The paper said all this was just the tip of the iceberg of the Serb people's plight.

[12] MUSLIMS WANT SARAJEVO TO BE MUSLIM CANTON, CROATS UNEASY

Representatives of the City's Croat community have already rejected the idea, warning that the remaining 17,000 Croats will not live under Muslim rule in a Sarajevo canton.

[13] CONCERN OVER TRAINING OF BOSNIAN MUSLIM ARMY IN IRAN

The concern is due less to the military skills they could learnin Tehran but rather to the Islamic indoctrination that forms part of such training, La Libre Belgique writes yesterday quoting an anonymous E.U. diplomat. This is nothing new, the daily's foreign policy commentator and expert for Balkan affairs Michel Rosten writes. Ever since the war broke out in Bosnia, Tehran has been aiding the Muslim Government in Sarajevo by sending its mercenaries to Bosnia, Rosten writes, underlining that Mujahideen represented an elite force of the Muslim Army comprising at least 5,000 well-trained fanatical combattants.

In line with the Dayton accord, all parties to the Bosnian conflict must get rid of all foreign fighters, but the Muslim Government has not complied, Rosten writes, pointing out that IFOR had recently discovered a terrorist center for the training of Mujahideen in Fojnica, 40 km north-west of Sarajevo.

[14] BOSNIAN MUSLIMS TRAINED IN IRAN IN SPIRIT OF ISLAMIC FANATICISM

Bosnian Muslim troops are not only being trained for commandos but are also being taught fanatic Islamic ideology, the Paris daily Le Figaro said. The paper said that their training was a source of concern because it constituted a violation of the Dayton peace accord for Bosnia.

French papers expressed concern about the the ideological indoctrination of the Bosnian Muslim Army and said that Tehran was training commandos who were sowing terror in many countries. The papers said that a question could be justifiably raised on the reasons of the current visit by Bosnian Muslim Premier Hasan Muratovic to Tehran.

The daily Liberation published a photograph of a Muslim Army unit during last week's celebration in Tuzla (northeastern Bosnia) with heavily armed commandos in uniforms of Islamic fanatics and with inscriptions in arabic, in the spirit of fanaticism of 'Allah's fighters'.