Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-01-27

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER RECEIVES FRENCH AMBASSADOR

[02] UNHCR APPEALS TO BOSNIAN AND CROATIAN GOVERNMENTS TO ENABLE REFUGEES TO RETURN YUGOSLAV RED CROSS FACES GREAT DIFFICULTIES IN 1997

[03] YUGOSLAVIA FOR SPEEDY RETURN OF REFUGEES TO BOSNIA AND CROATIA UNHCR OFFICIAL VISITS MONTENEGRO

[04] FRY PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL SUPPORTS OSCE POSITIONS ON LOCAL ELECTIONS IN SERBIA FRANCE PLEDGES TO HONOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CONVENTION

[05] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT UPPER HOUSE PRESIDENT ON ELECTIONS IN SERBIA

[06] YUGOSLAVIA'S RELATIONS WITH EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS MUST BE FULLY NORMALIZED MONTENEGRO GOVERNMENT SAYS URGENT INTERNATIONAL REINTEGRATION NEEDED

[07] YUGOSLAV JUSTICE MINISTER MEETS WITH PROSECUTOR OF HAGUE TRIBUNAL

[01] YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER RECEIVES FRENCH AMBASSADOR

The cordial and candid talk was devoted to activities aimed at strengthening peace and security in the Balkans, a defense Ministry statement said.

Minister Bulatovic and Ambassador Filliol agreed that conditions and the mutual interest existed for the intensification of cooperation between Yugoslavia and France in the domain of defense.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-27 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-24

[02] UNHCR APPEALS TO BOSNIAN AND CROATIAN GOVERNMENTS TO ENABLE REFUGEES TO RETURN YUGOSLAV RED CROSS FACES GREAT DIFFICULTIES IN 1997

UNHCR underlined that many refugees wish to return, but noted that amnesty laws in Bosnia and Croatia should include the so-called deserters and that their authorities should accelerate the procedure of issuing return permits.

The statement notes that since the Dayton Agreement was signed over one year ago, only 1,213 refugees of the 600,000 who had found shelter in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have returned to Bosnia and Croatia. A census has shown that many refugees have opted for remaining in Yugoslavia, where their integration will present many difficulties.

UNHCR consequently believes that aid must be provided to Yugoslavia, which has suffered several years of war in its neighbourhood and UN sanctions, and has an economically exhausted population and high unemployment rate.

In order to find lasting solutions for refugees in Yugoslavia, UNHCR also proposed relocation - allowing refugees to select a place of residence in Bosnia where they will feel the safest, if they cannot return to their own homes. This idea was approved by the international community, provided the relocation be voluntary.

Another possibility is settling in third countries, but only for a small number of people, UNHCR said, assessing that about 3,000 refugees would emigrate from Yugoslavia this year, in addition to a few thousand more who might be accepted on the basis of national immigration programs.

UNHCR has identified in Bosnia 22 priority areas safe for returnees, where 65,000 homes will be reconstructed, in addition to the aid provided by the European Union and other countries which had provided asylum to refugees.

In 1996 UNHCR also initiated a program of reconstruction of 1.156 homes in Sarajevo for the return of their owners regardless of nationality.

UNHCR described as positive the project of repatriation of 100 Serb families to the Muslim part of Mostar. 86 Serb families have accepted this project so far. About 40,000 Serbs were expelled from the Mostar area during the civil war in Bosnia.

However, the pilot project of the return of Serbs to Western Slavonia and of Croats to Eastern Slavonia has registered little progress, UNHCR noted. (Tanjug, January 26, 1997)

International humanitarian aid to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has drastically been reduced in 1997 and the Yugoslav Red Cross (YRC) will be forced to direct it to the most threatened categories.

YCR General Secretary Dr. Rade Dubajic told a joint press conference of the YCR and the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent (IFRC), that the basic problem is that YCR provides for 530,000 users, while international humanitarian organizations will in 1997 secure aid for 400,000 persons.

'This is why we have been forced to reduce our programs to the most threatened categories of refugees such as old people over 60 years, mothers with small children and the ill who depend solely on the care and help of others,' Dubajic said.

IGRC Director of program operations for the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Mark Wilson, said that IFRC had appealed to donors to provide 14 million Swiss Francs for its programs for Yugoslavia for 1997. He said that this is less compared to last year, not because the needs are fewer, but because donors are not ready to give more.

Wilson underscored that IFRC at its international meetings warned that Bosnia - Herzegovina should not be the absolute priority and that humanitarian problems in Yugoslavia are huge.

IFRC delegation head in Yugoslavia Hannes Nauksson said that the biggest uncertainty is the maintaining of the program of soup kitchens which supply 30,000 warm meals a day and for which IFRC has funding only until the end of March.

According to the just published annual appeal for 1997, IFRC has asked for the territory of the former Yugoslavia a total of 51.1 million Swiss Francs for 808,000 users.

Of this sum, 14 million Swiss Francs have been earmarked for Yugoslavia, 15 million for Croatia and 21 million for Bosnia - Herzegovina.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-27 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-24

[03] YUGOSLAVIA FOR SPEEDY RETURN OF REFUGEES TO BOSNIA AND CROATIA UNHCR OFFICIAL VISITS MONTENEGRO

Following the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in late 1995 and the establishing of a peace, the speedy return of refugees was objectively expected. However, this failed to happen because Bosnia - Herzegovina Government institutions have been slow in constituting themselves, and Croatia is doing everything to postpone as much as possible the return of these persons, Morina said in talks with the Head of the Pomoravlje District, Vladimir Jovanovic, and a delegation of women from Salonika, Greece, who are also members of the Peace League.

The Greek delegation, headed by Anya Panayotis, presented on Friday the refugees who found refuge in the town of Jagodina, central Serbia, with aid in food, clothing and medications worth 10,000 German marks.

Morina said that 1997 would be very difficult for refugees in Yugoslavia, since international aid has been reduced considerably and the domestic population, which has provided shelter in their homes to the majority of the refugees, has been economically exhausted, which also applies to donors. Also, the budgets of the Yugoslav Republics Serbia and Montenegro have been limited.

'We will insist on the speedier resolution of social and pension rights of the refugees, compensation of property and aid by the international community and the World Bank in securing funds for their permanent accommodation and employment,' Morina said.

She thanked the delegation of Greek women for the aid their country sent to the refugees in Yugoslavia during the past five years. Morina said that the Greek people were the first to start sending aid to Yugoslavia and the first to open the doors of their homes to children from the war-ravaged regions of the former Yugoslavia. (Tanjug, January 24, 1997)

Montenegrin Vice-Premier Miodrag Vukovic met with the special envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Carol Fober, to discuss permanent solutions for displaced persons in Montenegro.

Vukovic expressed satisfaction with the aid this relief organization has offered to refugees in Montenegro so far. He said that the Montenegrin Government would make further efforts to support the return of displaced persons to their homes since that is the most just and the most humane solution.

Vukovic informed Fober about the view of the Montenegrin Government to assist the integration of those refugees who wanted to remain in Montenegro in line with the means available.

Fober told Vukovic that the financial support to Yugoslavia for providing for the refugees would remain at last year's levels although aid from donors had been significantly reduced.

Fober met with Montenegrin Commissioner for displaced persons Djordje Scepanovic who informed him about the difficult humanitarian situation in Montenegro, resulting from of the cutting down of the international food aid for refugees.

Fober met with Red Cross officials of Montenegro and visited refugee settlements in Podgorica and Niksic.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-27 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-24

[04] FRY PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL SUPPORTS OSCE POSITIONS ON LOCAL ELECTIONS IN SERBIA FRANCE PLEDGES TO HONOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CONVENTION

Ristic, President of the Yugoslav Left (JUL), said in talks with the delegation of the Green Party in the German Bundestag, headed by Helmut Lippelt that it was not good to solve the problem in the streets and recalled that the Coalition of left forces had won in about 150, and the opposition in less than 30 municipalities in Serbia.

According to Ristic, developments on the internal level are going into two directions - towards the establishment and reinforcement of the democratic process and towards economic development and transformation of the economy.

The key task of the FRY is to 'remain sovereign, independent and pursue its own internal and foreign policy,' said Ristic, a well-known Yugoslav theatre director.

Ristic said the priority of the Federal Parliament and the FRY was reintegration into international organizations and establishment of economic, political and cultural cooperation with neighbours in the countries of the European Union (EU).

Stressing that the FRY had its place in Europe, Lippelt agreed with the assessment that the 'only right way was the recognition of electoral results' and that 'only the right way can resolve the crisis that arose.' (Tanjug, January 24, 1997)

France has undertaken to pay Yugoslavia its debts from 1990 to 1996, under a bilateral Convention on social security, and make an advance payment for 1997. Assistant Yugoslav Minister for labour, health and social policy Maksim Korac said this on Friday, after talks closed between a Government delegation and officials in Paris.

Korac said France would pay Yugoslavia about eight million Francs (1.5 million dollars) for the period between 1990-1997, for social security expenses to Yugoslav workers and pensioners in France, and their families, who underwent medical treatment in Yugoslavia.

France's arrears for the first three years, when payment operations were interrupted because of the international sanctions, amount to about four million francs.

The Yugoslav proposal was accepted for future payments to be made in Yugoslavia for refugees living in Yugoslavia.

The two sides agreed to continue cooperation in social security, and work out a new Convention that would preserve the rights envisaged by the valid Convention, dating from 1950.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-27 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-24

[05] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT UPPER HOUSE PRESIDENT ON ELECTIONS IN SERBIA

Speaking in an interview to Radio Montenegro, Bozovic said he believed it was possible to make the political situation in Serbia more stable through dialogue in its system's institutions, 'which will also stabilize the situation in all of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.'

Bozovic said the Yugoslav Constitution should be given a 'chance' and not be amended until its possible faults were definitely established. It is certain that the 1992 Constitution has not had the opportunity to demonstrate its full practical tenability and meaning, and the possible serious faults, either, Bozovic said.

Bozovic said the Montenegrin leadership had not considered changing the Federal Constitution so far, but that there was a firm option that it should be implemented in practice fully because it is the reflection of the will of the citizens of the Republic and the respective Yugoslav organs.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-27 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-26

[06] YUGOSLAVIA'S RELATIONS WITH EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS MUST BE FULLY NORMALIZED MONTENEGRO GOVERNMENT SAYS URGENT INTERNATIONAL REINTEGRATION NEEDED

Jovanovic reiterated the positive attitude towards Felipe Gonzalez's report on the results of local elections in a small number of municipalities in Serbia and underlined that all issues must be resolved within the institutions of the political system without pressure or interference from without.

Jovanovic informed the delegation of the priorities of Yugoslavia's internal and foreign policies, especially as regards the economy, and of its views on bilateral relations on the basis of equality and mutual interests.(Tanjug, January 24, 1997)

The Montenegro Government maintains that Yugoslavia's stability and its as urgent as possible international reintegration are of great importance for the implementation of the Republic's economic policy for 1997.

The Montenegro Government will take necessary measures to ensure a headway in the normalization of relations with the International Community, primarily financial institutions, with a view to protecting the Republic's economic interests and ensuring the implementation of its economic policy, a Government statement said.

The Montenegro Government's economic policy concept for 1997 presupposes Yugoslavia's more favourable treatment at the international level, and the strengthening of its relations and cooperation with other countries, coupled with new important trade arrangements.

The chief goals of the Montenegro economic policy for 1997 are a higher social product, a more dynamic investment cycle, a stepped-up process of privatization, structural changes, higher foreign trade, and improved standards of living.

Montenegro expects to record a 10% growth of the social product in 1997, which will require a significant reactivation of industrial facilities.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-27 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-24

[07] YUGOSLAV JUSTICE MINISTER MEETS WITH PROSECUTOR OF HAGUE TRIBUNAL

The three officials discussed cooperation between the Tribunal and Yugoslav Judicial authorities, a Yugoslav Government statement issued after the meeting said.

It was stressed that the opening of the Tribunal Prosecutor's Liaison office in Belgrade had largely facilitated Tribunal investigators' activity, the statement said. This primarily refers to the access to victims of war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and to witnesses that are willing to testify in Court.

Krivokapic said he hoped the Tribunal would be objective and maximally just in relation to all parties that have committed war crimes and have violated International Humanitarian Law. This will help strengthen confidence in the Tribunal's unbiased stand which is a condition of establishing stronger ties between Yugoslav judicial authorities and the Tribunal, the statement said.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-27 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-24

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