Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-09-20

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ENDORSES AGREEMENT WITH UNHCR

[02] YUGOSLAV GROUP FOR SUCCESSION REPORT ACCEPTED BY FEDERAL COMMISSION

[03] TALKS BETWEEN GERMAN AND YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATIONS

[04] GERMANY COULD HELP THE FRY WITH THE LIFTING OF TRADE BARRIERS

[05] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL SEES THREE FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES

[06] YUGOSLAV AIRLINES JAT DISCUSSES REOPENING OF FLIGHTS TO UNITED STATES

[07] YUGOSLAV PRIME MINISTER LEAVES FOR ROMANIA

[08] ROMANIAN PREMIER SEES YUGOSLAV COLLEAGUE'S VISIT AS BOOST TO TIES

[09] RUSSIA: LIFTING OF ANTI - YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS

[10] U.N. TO REVIEW LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

[11] KRAJISNIK SAYS SERBS WANT PEACE

[12] KORNBLUM SAYS BOSNIA ELECTIONS WERE REGULAR

[13] BILDT SAYS BOSNIA PRESIDENCY MEMBERS ARE WILLING TO WORK TOGETHER

[14] SOLANA SAYS INTERNATIONAL FORCES MUST REMAIN IN BOSNIA

[15] OSCE SAYS BOSNIAN ELECTIONS WERE TECHNICALLY CORRECT

[16] OSCE TO REMAIN IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

[17] WORLD BANK TO STEP UP RECONSTRUCTION OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[18] CROATIA DEMANDS ELECTIONS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

[01] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ENDORSES AGREEMENT WITH UNHCR

The announcement said that the Agreement stipulates the status of UNHCR representations and provides legal ground for signing future agreements or contracts between Yugoslavia and the UNHCR for a more efficient settlement of the refugee questions.

The Government Session, Presided by Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, also set the Platform for a Yugoslav Delegation's participation in the U.N. General Assembly Session from September 21 to October 5. The Delegation would be headed by Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic.

The Government decided that Yugoslavia's contribution for 1996 would be paid to the U.N. budget.

The Government adopted another Platform, for Federal Labour and Health Minister Miroslav Ivanisevic's meeting with his Israeli counterpart. Also adopted was the text of an Agreement on Yugoslav-Israeli cooperation in the field of health and medical care.

The Government specified the Platform for a Delegation's participation in the 41st Meeting of the Council of the International Inter-electro Organization in Italy. This Delegation would be headed by Federal Economy Minister Rade Filipovic.

Also adopted were the stands for a Yugoslav Delegation, headed by Federal Development and Sciences Minister Janko Radulovic, to the 45th Session of the UNESCO-sponsored International Conference on Education in Geneva between September 30 and October 5.

[02] YUGOSLAV GROUP FOR SUCCESSION REPORT ACCEPTED BY FEDERAL COMMISSION

It was agreed at the Session of the Commission for Relations with the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) and International Financial and Trade Organizations, which was chaired by Federal Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, that the set options of the Yugoslav Government Platform for talks on succession were justified.

A Yugoslav Government statement said the Commission decided agreement could be reached on the issue of succession only on a legal basis. This means, as it is also stated in the Yugoslav Government Platform, that matters concerning the just distribution of property and economic consequences of secession are resolved in the area of economics, they are not linked with issues of the political and legal continuity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Government statement said.

[03] TALKS BETWEEN GERMAN AND YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATIONS

The objective of the Bundestag Delegation visit is to review concrete possibilities for enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries and improving total bilateral trade, said a Yugoslav Assembly statement.

Babic, the President of the Foreign Policy and Foreign Trade Relations Committee of the Yugoslav Parliament's Upper House, said after the talks that both sides agreed it was important for future cooperation that the Dayton Peace Agreement was being implemented and that the anti-Yugoslav sanctions should be fully lifted soon.

It was also agreed that economic stability and economic trends, which are now taking place in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, are a good basis for promoting economic cooperation between the two countries, Babic said.

Ernst Schwanhold, who heads the Delegation of Bundestag MPS, described the talks with the Yugoslav Parliamentary Delegation as constructive and open. He said possibilities for shaping Yugoslavia's cooperation with European countries had been discussed. Schwanhold said Germany would take advantage of the opportunity to help Yugoslavia join European markets. He said Germany wanted Yugoslavia to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as soon as possible, and the Paris and London Clubs as well. This would be followed by forms of bilateral cooperation, in which Germany sees no problems, Schwanhold concluded.

The German Delegation was received in Belgrade on Thursday also by Serbian Minister for Entrepreneurship Radoje Djukic. A Serbian Government statement quoted the German Delegation members as saying they had seen Serbia's economy in a different light. The MPS said they were ready to contribute to the expansion of cooperation with local small and medium-sized companies on principles of rationality and with the free passage of goods, services and credits, said the Serbian Government statement.

[04] GERMANY COULD HELP THE FRY WITH THE LIFTING OF TRADE BARRIERS

Schwanhold said that the German Embassy had begun preparations for exchanging notes with Yugoslavia on reactivating two Inter-State Treaties of importance to economic cooperation. These are Agreements for protecting investments from non-commercial risks and for avoiding double taxation.

Both sides believe that German guarantees and long-term credits will result in the promotion of economic cooperation, both bilateral and with the European Union, Schwanhold stressed.

He added that Germany wished to find a negotiated solution with Yugoslavia whereby Yugoslav nationals, mostly from Serbia's Southern Kosovo-Metohija Province, who do not have political asylum in Germany, would be repatriated. Schwanhold said he had gained the impression that an acceptable solution was possible in this matter.

[05] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL SEES THREE FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES

'Our country and its leadership have given sufficient proof that peace is our strategic orientation,' Assistant Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said at a Round-table discussion on Foreign Policy organised by the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia in Belgrade.

Jovanovic said that, 'in Bosnia-Herzegovina's successfully organised elections, the people have chosen as the only option - that of peace, development and tolerance, and showed they are turning to the future, normal life and European aspirations and processes.' The elected officials now have the enormous responsibility to make sure they understand and carry out those wishes of the people, Jovanovic said. He added that the priority now is to constitute Legitimate Bodies of Power in Republika Srpska and Moslem-Croat Federation. Those bodies should assume responsibilities for reinforcement of peace, stability and development in the period of the next two years when new elections will be organised.

Jovanovic said that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has honoured all obligations stemming from the Peace Accords and expects now the International Community to fully comply with it's obligations towards Yugoslavia, 'towards our contribution to peace and stability.'

He said that the normalisation of Yugoslavia's status in International Organisations was in common interest. 'Nothing can be solved in this part of Europe without active engagement of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as a full-right member of European and world organizations. This is becoming increasingly clear to the world,' he stressed.

Jovanovic said that last September, there had been sixty foreign Embassies in Belgrade, out of which only 9 on the level of ambassadors. This September there are 65 Embassies, out of which 43 are headed by Ambassadors. The number of Ambassadors is growing on almost weekly basis. Otherwise, FRY maintains continuous diplomatic relations with 163 countries. He added that more than 100 Inter-State Agreements and Treaties had been signed in the past few years, mostly in the last several months.

Yugoslavia was accepted at the recent Ministerial Conference of Southeast European Nations in Sofia as an 'architect of new relations in the Balkans'. Many of its initiatives were incorporated in the Final Document, he said.

Jovanovic stressed that normalisation with the Republics of former Yugoslavia was mutually advantageous and that care would be taken to maintain a balance of interests in this process.

Emphasising the importance of good neighbourly relations in the region and the European orientation of the Yugoslav foreign policy, Jovanovic added that Yugoslavia will continue to develop and improve relations with all other countries in the world on the basis of partnership and mutual respect of interests and that it would certainly exploit all positive experience of the past. He stressed that in the past few months diplomatic relations with all member countries of EU have been upgraded to the level of Ambassadors, political dialogue and mutual understanding has been substantially improved and that the progress in solving a number of bilateral issues in various fields has been remarkable.

However, in contradiction with such positive developments in the bilateral field of relations, on the level of EU as an institution, still persists a kind of a stalemate, accompanied with various restrictions on economic cooperation, trade, monetary flow, finances, etc. Jovanovic considered that those restrictions are contra-productive, harmful and outdated to mutual economic interests. He appealed for a rational and constructive approach and a more receptive attitude of Brussels to the interests of economic agents from both sides. He specifically emphasised the urgent need for restitution of the preferentials for goods imported from Yugoslavia, access to the Phare program and other facilities available to non-member EU states. He implied that all this will serve common interest.

[06] YUGOSLAV AIRLINES JAT DISCUSSES REOPENING OF FLIGHTS TO UNITED STATES

The Federal Information Secretariat said the talks concluded that even during the international sanctions, the security and quality of air traffic in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been of a high quality. The quality of these services would have been even better had it not been for the blockade of funds charged for overflights of Yugoslav Air Space, Vujovic said. He underscored that the new Yugoslav Laws on Air Traffic, just like all other laws in this field, had been coordinated with world standards.

U.S. Delegation head Michael Daniel said that in this field Yugoslavia meets the required standards and that this enables the reopening of air traffic with the United States. Daniel proposed that the Yugoslav airlines JAT submits a demand for conducting traffic with the United States. He said he firmly believed that a positive answer would follow.

[07] YUGOSLAV PRIME MINISTER LEAVES FOR ROMANIA

The visit, which is part of top-level regular contacts and political dialogue between the neighbouring and friendly countries, is a boost to the promotion of Yugoslav-Romanian relations and comprehensive cooperation, especially in the field of economy.

Kontic is expected to be received by Romanian President Ion Iliescu.

The Yugoslav Prime Minister will confer with the Speakers of the House of Representatives and Senate, Adrian Nastase and Oliviu German.

Kontic is also due to visit Brasov and Sinaia and meet with Yugoslav and Romanian businessmen and representatives of the Serbian minority in Romania.

[08] ROMANIAN PREMIER SEES YUGOSLAV COLLEAGUE'S VISIT AS BOOST TO TIES

Romania's national Rompress News Agency quoted Vacaroiu as saying that he and Kontic, who is due in Bucharest on Friday, would discuss further strengthening of Romanian-Yugoslav cooperation in all fields. Special attention will be devote to boosting trade and to possibilities of striking agreements on projects of common interest, Vacaroiu said.

'The visit has a particular significance owing to the prospects opened to the ascending trend of the bilateral ties, to actions for instituting peace in a Region tormented by the scourge of war, whose stability is vital for the security of the Continent,' he said.

'The lasting friendship links between Romania and Yugoslavia have all the chances to enter a new path, to further to the advantage of our peoples, especially now, after the signing of the basic Treaty,' Vacaroiu said. He described the Treaty as 'a guarantee and a model of cooperation in concord with the standards defining the international life in the current stage.'

'We hope that during the talks and the exchanges of opinions to take place in Bucharest new ways of approaching and solving the problems facing us will be identified,' Vacaroiu said.

[09] RUSSIA: LIFTING OF ANTI - YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS

It is incorrect to interpret this Resolution in any other way, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Demurin told a regular Press briefing in Moscow. The International Community has given its word and must keep it, the Russian diplomat said.

Pointing out problems, such as succession to the property of the former Yugoslav Federation, which burden Yugoslavia's cooperation with leading International Financial Institutions, Demurin said Russia urged the lifting of all limitations on Yugoslavia.

International Financial Institutions could then start dealing with matters which will help bring life in the territory of former Yugoslavia back to normal, Demurin said.

[10] U.N. TO REVIEW LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

The U.N. Secretary-General's Spokesperson Samantha Foa told reporters on Thursday that the Security Council was waiting for a report by the NATO-led Peace Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia to verify returns of Saturday's elections in Bosnia to start reviewing the issue.

Foa said the Security Council had to adopt a separate Resolution on the lifting of the sanctions as was the case when it had imposed sanctions on Yugoslavia in late May 1992.

Initial moves to lift the sanctions are being made among the five-nation 'Contact Group' comprising Russia, the United States, Britain, France and Germany, because these countries are at the same time Members of the Security Council.

The holding of elections in Bosnia and the lifting of the sanctions against Yugoslavia are called for by Peace Accords struck in Dayton, Ohio, in November 1995 as well as by the November 22 U.N. Security Council Resolution under which the sanctions were suspended.

According to observers in New York, the lifting of the sanctions against Yugoslavia will mark the beginning of the country's reintegration into International Organisations, primarily into the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund.

[11] KRAJISNIK SAYS SERBS WANT PEACE

'This generation has created the Bosnia of Dayton and the Republika Srpska, and worked for the coming generations when it won a peaceful settlement to the tragic conflict in the lands of former Bosnia-Herzegovina,' Krajisnik said.

Speaking about his talk with Zubak, he said that the Serbs would form 'no coalition against a third party.' Krajisnik added that 'somebody is deliberately accusing' the Republika Srpska of being unwilling to cooperate in Bosnia-Herzegovina's Common Bodies of Power, and dismissed the accusations as untrue.

[12] KORNBLUM SAYS BOSNIA ELECTIONS WERE REGULAR

Speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Relations Committee, Kornblum said that the elections might be regarded as a sign that the three ethnic communities were now able to create a common multi-ethnic state and live together.

He refused to speculate about the future of the multi-ethnic Bosnia as defined under the Dayton Accords, which many analysts dismiss as impossible, and said that nobody could predict the future.

[13] BILDT SAYS BOSNIA PRESIDENCY MEMBERS ARE WILLING TO WORK TOGETHER

Bildt told reporters in Sarajevo that he had been informed of this in separate meetings with all three Members-elect of the Bosnian Presidency - Alija Izetbegovic, Momcilo Krajisnik and Kresimir Zubak.

Bildt said that the Presidency would hold its first Session most likely in Sarajevo, immediately after the publication of final official election results. He added, however, that the Session might be postponed for a short time, because Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic was travelling to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly's Session.

Explaining how the Presidency would operate, Bildt said that it was a collective body which would be making decisions by consensus.

He said that the International Community would fully support the new Bodies of Power in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the next two years. With the world's help, problems will eventually be eliminated and the new institutions will function, but this cannot happen overnight, Bildt said.

Bosnia's First Parliament will convene in late October or early November to appoint a Cabinet, he added.

[14] SOLANA SAYS INTERNATIONAL FORCES MUST REMAIN IN BOSNIA

It is necessary to prolong the international military presence, and thus also that of NATO forces after the expiry of the current one-year Mandate of the Peace Implementation Force (IFOR) in order to secure peace and security in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Solana told reporters. U.S. troops will also be part of the new, but much smaller than IFOR, military force, Solana said.

Solana met in London with British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind and gave a lecture at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

According to excerpts of the lecture which were distributed to the Press, Solana said NATO's office in Bosnia-Herzegovina would be in the interest of the further building of peace and stability and creating conditions for forming organs of authority in which all local sides must assume responsibilities in full. In that sense, Solana said, outer pressure must be maintained on all signatories of the Dayton Accords, because if the International Community is determined to treat Bosnia-Herzegovina as a single State, this will be the best impetus to the Bosnian sides to accept this reality and work toward and not against it.

[15] OSCE SAYS BOSNIAN ELECTIONS WERE TECHNICALLY CORRECT

The 'Troika' comprises the Foreign Ministers of the present, previous and next OSCE Presidents, viz. Flavio Cotti of Switzerland, Niels-Helveg Petersen of Denmark and Laszlo Kovacs of Hungary. The 'Troika' discussed reports on the Bosnian elections in the Southern Swiss town of Bellinzona, from which it issued a statement.

The statement said that even though 'the conditions for 'fair, free and democratic' elections to which the parties to the Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina had committed themselves have not been satisfied,' the elections had been technically correct and went without major incidents. The elections are the first step toward another reconciliation, plurality and democracy, news agencies quoted them as saying.

Reports by OSCE Bosnian Mission Chief Robert Frowick and by Eduard Van Thijn, the Dutch head of the International Observer Team, said that only a small percentage of refugees and displaced persons had crossed the inter-entity boundary line in Bosnia to vote. This shows that the political climate in Bosnia-Herzegovina is still unfavourable, the reports said.

The 'Troika' said that the election campaigns of the political parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina gave reason to doubt their willingness to respect Bosnia-Herzegovina's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The OSCE therefore 'calls upon the parties to the Peace Agreement to implement the results of the elections and ensure that the common institutions can begin to operate efficiently as soon as possible,' the statement said.

[16] OSCE TO REMAIN IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Miglierina further explained his statement at a Press Conference in Banja Luka saying that OSCE had to make preparations for Municipal elections likely to be held in late November.

Miglierina stressed that OSCE would try to stabilize the situation in the Region, paying special attention to human rights and the freedom of movement. Miglierina added that the opposition in Republika Srpska had achieved the greatest success and the Serb Democratic Party could not be expected to have the two-thirds majority in the Parliament.

[17] WORLD BANK TO STEP UP RECONSTRUCTION OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

Having noted that the World Bank already had five projects for the R.S. (education, care for demobilized soldiers, mine clearing), O'Sullivan told a News Conference that the Bank was looking forward towards a progress being made now that the elections in Bosnia were over, News Agencies reported.

The Republika Srpska has so far used practically no assistance for reconstruction, unlike the Muslim-Croat Federation. Of the 5.1 billion dollars intended for the reconstruction of Bosnia by 1998, no more than 1.4 billion is earmarked for the Republika Srpska.

O'Sullivan announced that another Conference of donors, to be held in January 1997, should collect a total of one billion dollars. The two previous Conferences had raised more than 1.8 billion dollars, of which 558 million had been spent on the different World Bank programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the end of August. Of this sum of 558 million dollars, the Republika Srpska received no more than 1.5 per cent, News Agencies said.

[18] CROATIA DEMANDS ELECTIONS IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

The statement said that there would be no obstacles and that conditions would be set on time for holding the elections on December 15, or 30 days before the International U.N. Forces Mandate expired.

It was stressed that the elections had to be held in keeping with Croatia's Electoral Legislation and the 1991 Voters Registers.

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next Article