Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-05-12

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] SERBIAN MINISTER RECEIVES CHINESE DELEGATIONS

[02] NEW YORK TIMES: KOSOVO ALBANIAN GROUPS PREPARE ARMED SECESSION

[03] NEW YORK TIMES: US ARMS FOR BOSNIAN MUSLIMS AND CROATS

[04] U.S. CONGRESS: MULTINATIONAL FORCES IN BOSNIA

[05] CROATS EXPEL LAST THREE SERBS FROM LJUBUSKO

[06] BOSNIAN SERB DEPUTIES PROTEST TO WORLD ENVOY STEINER

[07] YUGOSLAV AMBASSADOR ON NEW AUTHORITIES IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

[08] UN SECURITY COUNCIL ISSUES STATEMENT ABOUT EASTERN SLAVONIA

[09] SERBIAN EDUCATION MINISTER RECEIVES PARIS UNIVERSITY CHANCELLOR

[01] SERBIAN MINISTER RECEIVES CHINESE DELEGATIONS

Tanjug, 1997-05-09

Serbian Minister Coordinator Dragan Tomic received on Friday two Chinese delegations to discuss the development of economic cooperation between China and Yugoslavia, Serbian Information Ministry said in a statement.

Meeting the delegation headed by Chinese Deputy Minister of Chemical Industry Li Yong Wu, Tomic said that the stable conditions for economic activity in the year of reform and the economic recovery under way in Yugoslavia would accelerate the development of all forms of bilateral economic cooperation, especially as regards chemical industry.

The five-year oil arrangement concluded between Sinochem and Nis Jugopetrol will facilitate such cooperation, the statement says.

Li pointed to the great prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation thanks to the complementarity of the two countries' economies.

Discussing the progress of projects under way and future chemical industry projects, Tomic and Li noted that an agreement would shortly be signed on a Chinese credit to the HIP Azotara Company from Pancevo (near Belgrade) for completing its Karbamid II plant.

Tomic also received a delegation of the Chinese Province Hunan headed by the Chairman of its Working Group for Agriculture Hu Biao. The meeting was attended also by the Chinese Ambassador to Yugoslavia Zhu Ankang, the statement says.

Tomic pointed to the great prospects for developing bilateral cooperation in many fields, including agricultural production and the manufacture of agricultural machinery and equipment and of food processing industry equipment. Contracts signed by Chinese and Yugoslav companies in this field and the oil arrangement under way have paved the way for expanding bilateral cooperation, he said.

After visiting ten Yugoslav food processing and agricultural production companies and witnessing the high level of their technological and organizational capabilities, the Chinese delegation expressed a special interest in cooperation in the fields of technology, training, and equipping plants for the processing of meat, fruit, vegetables and wood.

The Hunan Ministry of Agriculture and the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources have defined joint activities for developing future cooperation, the statement says.

[02] NEW YORK TIMES: KOSOVO ALBANIAN GROUPS PREPARE ARMED SECESSION

Tanjug, 1997-05-11

The New York Times on Sunday published an interview with a leader of the terrorist organisation dubbed the 'Kosovo Liberation Army,' confirming that the organisation planned to trigger an armed conflict with Serbia.

The text by New York Times journalist Chris Hedges brutally distorted history, saying, among other things, that Kosovo had once been part of Albania and that it had been given to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I.

Hedges said that the interview had been made in Geneva and that the organisation leader wished to be referred to as 'Alban.' Describing his interviewee, Hedges said that Serbian police regarded 'Alban' as one of the most dangerous terrorists in Yugoslavia, while Kosovo Albanians saw him as their 'biggest hero.'

Describing the 'Kosovo Liberation Army,' the journalist openly said that this was a shadow group which had started campaigning for armed conflict aimed at gaining independence and 'liberating' Kosovo from 'Serbian control.'

He quoted the terrorist as saying that the group was different from the Irish Republican Army and Basque separatists, who account for only a small part of the population.

The terrorist said that they enjoyed the support of almost all ethnic Albanians and that they carried out attacks against representatives of the Serbian regime. He said that their target was the Secret Police and Albanians who collaborate with the Serbian regime.

Hedges said that the 'Kosovo Liberation Army' was financially assisted by 700,000 Albanians who live abroad and that the group invested great efforts aimed at becoming the main player in the bloody Balkan arena in the next few months.

The world has not devoted much attention to this group of Kosovo Albanians, the journalist said and added that U.S. officials were serious about the organisation, believing that it had potential to seriously undermine the Serbian control over Kosovo.

At one point, the text said that Serbian police had warned about the existence of the group and that the 'Kosovo Liberation Army' had wounded three Serbian policemen in its latest operation in January.

In the next paragraph, 'Alban' was quoted as saying that his group had killed or wounded dozens of Serbs.

The New York Times said that 'Alban' often secretly visited Kosovo. Speaking about the group's strategy in future, 'Alban' drew an empty cube on a piece of paper, saying that it represented Serbian authorities and that they would 'disintegrate' in the next three years.

He said that in the Bosnian war, members of his group and Albanians from Macedonia fought as volunteers against Bosnian Serbs.

Hedges also quoted statements by some other ethnic Albanians who live in Switzerland and support the 'Kosovo Liberation Army.' A Sami Kurtesi, who the paper said was a politicologist, said that the group would soon become the leading force in Kosovo and Metohija. Kurtesi is concerned about the weakness of neighbouring Albania, saying that Albania would be unable to support ethnic Albanians in Kosovo because of its political and economic weakness.

Once it detaches Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia, the 'Kosovo Liberation Army' plans to hold a referendum where ethnic Albanians would decide whether they want to unite with Albania, the New York Times said.

Six years ago, during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, ethnic Albanians hoped they too would get their own state, the daily said. When they realised this had failed, they started to boycott the State institutions, including schools.

Kosovo Albanians abroad, especially the 400,000 Albanians in Germany and Switzerland, set aside about 3% of their income for financing the self- proclaimed government in the provincial centre of Pristina, the New York Times said.

The signing of the Dayton Peace Accords shattered some dreams about independent Kosovo and Albanian emigrants stepped up support for the 'Kosovo Liberation Army,' the daily said.

As for the group's finances, Swiss authorities have 'registered' that Albanian drug lords have also engaged in illicit arms trade.

The interesting thing about this article is that it comes after the statements by some U.S. officials who, in keeping with the Dayton Accords, said that ethnic Albanians could not hold their elections in Kosovo outside Serbian institutions.

Analysts in New York say that the interview fits into continual efforts to destabilise Serbia by some U.S. political circles, who recently organised a round table in New York with the assistance of the allegedly democratic opposition in Serbia.

Owing to the participation of the top Serbian opposition officials, an attempt was made at the round table to legalise the Albanian leaders' separatist plans.

It is also obvious that Kosovo Albanian political leaders are shaken because the Serbian regime has turned out to be much tougher than it appeared to them and their patrons during the demonstrations in Belgrade, when ethnic Albanian separatist leaders warmly welcomed the protests of opposition supporters, seeing them as the crucial chance to realise their own plans in Kosovo and disintegrate Serbia.

[03] NEW YORK TIMES: US ARMS FOR BOSNIAN MUSLIMS AND CROATS

Tanjug, 1997-05-10

The New York Times reports on Saturday that the US provides heavy calibre weapons to the Muslim-Croat Federation in order to strengthen it before the US troops withdraw from Bosnia.

Quoting a statement by the Head of the US train and equip Program for the Federation, the paper writes that about 20 large heavy artillery transporters, 116 howitzers and 51 lighter calibre artillery weapons would be delivered to the Federation within the next few months. The Federation now has only six such 155 mm howitzers with a 15 km range, the paper reports.

The US see arming the Federation as one of the key factors of Washington's strategy involving troop pullout from Bosnia as soon as possible. Washington claims that this would help strengthen the weak Muslim-Croat coalition and enable it to defend itself.

However, the US do not deny that the heavy calibre weapons being sent to the Federation are in fact destined for offensive, not defensive, actions, the daily reports, and notes that Bosnian politicians openly say in their contacts with Western diplomats that they intend to recover the territories they had lost in the war.

Washington wishes to establish a balance of forces as Muslims and Croats were poorly armed during the war, the paper writes. The US are nevertheless still not sure that the fighting power of Bosnian Serbs is not greater than that of the Federation, the paper reports quoting various reports of European and US intelligence services on Serb military potentials in Bosnia.

The US fears that Bosnian Serbs have not honoured the commitments on balancing armaments, which envisage the storing of weapons at specific sites and the destruction of any surplus. It has become an established practice to blame only the Serbs for violating the commitments, but the paper notes that military observers supervising the implementation of the program have reported that the Muslim-Croat Federation flagrantly violates the Agreement on the balance of armaments by concealing its stocks.

Unlike the Americans, the European allies increasingly fear that arming the Federation might lead to a resumption of the war, the paper reports.

The Europeans see the growing arms deliveries to a region which is already teeming with weapons as a great danger, the New York Times reports quoting a European official who said that Serbs would feel even more insecure now that the Federation is better armed.

[04] U.S. CONGRESS: MULTINATIONAL FORCES IN BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-05-10

Two U.S. Congressional Committees said in their Friday debates on the future of the U.S. mission in Bosnia that the Multinational Force would most likely have to remain in Bosnia after the expiry of the Stabilisation Force's mandate in June 1998 in order to preserve peace.

Congressmen said that the United States would have to weigh its future moves and think about the consequences of the announced withdrawal of its troops from Bosnia.

At the same time at its debate on the revision of the budget on Friday, the U.S. Senate proposed to stop financing U.S. troops in Bosnia after June 1998. The Senate's recommendation is not binding and the House of Representatives will soon decide on this issue.

Different stands on the fate of U.S. troops in Bosnia indicate that there will be a stormy debate at the Capitol Hill. The two Congressional Committees said in their reports that the SFOR should not withdraw because peace in Bosnia had not been consolidated yet.

According to a group of congressmen who believe that the SFOR should remain in Bosnia, the goals of the Dayton Accords will not be achieved unless the SFOR remains in Bosnia until the consolidation of peace. Unlike this, one could also hear stands that the United States should not get involved deeper in Bosnia because it might find it more difficult to get out of it later.

Huge costs of the troop maintenance is said to be the main reason why U.S. troops should withdraw. Estimates say that these costs might reach as much as 7.7 billion dollars by the end of SFOR's mission, which is over two times more than planned. This would also be half of the overall amount the United States spends on military and other forms of assistance to countries in the world.

U.S. congressmen also proposed that Washington should put pressure on its European allies to set up a new Peace Force for Bosnia to which the United States would give logistic support but no troops.

The Congressional Committees will continue to discuss Bosnia and the administration is also expected to clearly express its plans and stands on the issue.

Observers say that the decision will not be easy, since the Pentagon and the State Department hold completely different views about this issue.

[05] CROATS EXPEL LAST THREE SERBS FROM LJUBUSKO

Tanjug, 1997-05-10

Three Bosnian Serbs, whom Croats had expelled from Ljubusko on Thursday, on Saturday registered to the International Police Force in Trebinje. The expelled Serbs, David Mitrovic, Jovan Rebic and Milovan Knezevic, lived and worked in Ljubusko for years. They said that they had been harassed in different ways during the war.

A year and a half after the signing of the Dayton Accords, Croats forced them into police cars and took them to Dol near Stolac on the boundary between the Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.

The Serbs said they had been expelled without any explanation and that they had destroyed their I.D.'s at the beginning of the war for reasons of safety. They said that not a single Serb had left in Ljubusko.

[06] BOSNIAN SERB DEPUTIES PROTEST TO WORLD ENVOY STEINER

Tanjug, 1997-05-09

Bosnian Serb deputies to the two Houses of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Parliamentary Assembly protested to Deputy International High Representative Michael Steiner because sessions scheduled for Friday had not been held. The deputies said that the sessions, which were to be held in Sarajevo's National Museum building, were not held because of obstruction by deputies from the Muslim-Croat Federation.

The Federation deputies insisted that the agenda, set at April 30 session, be changed and that both the House of Representatives and the House of Nations debate only a draft Immunity Bill and not the planned package of bills for speeding up economic recovery.

The deputies of the Serb Democratic Party and the Alliance for Peace and Progress from the (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska refused to agree to the change.

The Collegium of the Parliamentary Assembly in the National Museum building, in Steiner's presence, failed to coordinate the agenda. However, the Federation's deputies to the House of Representatives went ahead and held a session, which took barely minutes and which was not attended by the Republika Srpska's deputies.

The Party Clubs from the Republika Srpska in the two Houses lodged a protest with Steiner later on Friday, saying they were shocked by the conduct of the Federation's deputies to the House of Representatives.

They pointed out that, at the time of the previous sessions of the Houses, the Collegium had defined the agenda for the Friday sessions by consensus. The Houses were to discuss Bills on foreign trade, foreign debt and tariffs, forwarded by the Council of Ministers, as well as papers on immunity and foreign agreements submitted subsequently.

They said they were worried by the fact that the Bills on economic recovery, approved by the Council of Ministers and signed by Boro Bosic and Neven Tomic, had not yet been signed by co-Chairman from the Federation Haris Silajdzic.

They said that the Federation deputies' latest disregard for what had been agreed and their conduct at the session denoted their intention to furnish a pretext for calling off a donors' conference and then, as usual, putting the blame on the other side.

[07] YUGOSLAV AMBASSADOR ON NEW AUTHORITIES IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

Tanjug, 1997-05-10

The Yugoslav Ambassador to Croatia Veljko Knezevic said on Saturday in Vukovar that the Joint Council of Municipalities would be an important innovation in Croatia's legal system and a truly useful institution for the protection of all Serbs in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and West Srem region.

After meeting the President of the region's Executive Council Vojislav Stanimirovic, Knezevic told the press that he was expressing Yugoslavia's views on the matter and added that the Joint Council and municipal and town councils should be established as soon as possible now that the results of the elections in the region have been internationally verified.

The Independent Democratic Serb Party should be praised for demonstrating political maturity in such a short time between its creation and the elections, Knezevic said and added it was useless to speculate on missed opportunities to achieve more in the elections and that endeavours should focus on the present and the future.

Expressing hope that the UN mission would remain in the region for a while, Knezevic said that elections had not put an end to the implementation of the Erdut Agreement. The agreement is an international document and a lasting UN commitment, and Serbs in the region and Yugoslavia should be satisfied with its interpretation and implementation so far, Knezevic said.

Referring to the promises made to the region's population before elections, Knezevic said that Yugoslavia and Croatia had already concluded an Agreement on property protection, and that an Agreement on demilitarization and border traffic should be concluded shortly as these issues are vital for both countries.

[08] UN SECURITY COUNCIL ISSUES STATEMENT ABOUT EASTERN SLAVONIA

Tanjug, 1997-05-09

The UN Security Council describes the recent elections in Eastern Slavonia as fair and crucial for the peaceful reintegration of the region into Croatia and the inclusion of local Serbs into Croatia's parliamentary institutions.

The Council released a Presidential statement to this effect after a session late on Thursday, based on a letter by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan dated April 23, which contains assessments by UN Transitional Administrator in Eastern Slavonia Jacques Klein.

The Council demands the newly elected bodies to be set up as quickly as possible and the fulfilment of the commitments stemming from a basic Accord on Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and West Srem and a Croatian Government letter of January 13.

The statement calls on the forming of a Joint Council of Municipalities. It requires that the elected Serb representatives take their guaranteed positions in the parliamentary and administrative bodies.

The Council was informed by the Administrator that cases of violence and intimidation had not been registered neither during nor after the elections and in that light welcomes the good will and readiness for cooperation shown by the parties.

The Council thanks the Transition Administration, the monitors of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and others who enabled the holding of the elections, in particular those who solved technical problems in the field, contributing considerably to the success of the elections.

Croatia's chief task now is to secure conditions for the return of refugees and displaced persons, and allow the right of all people to decide freely where they wish to live.

The Council calls on Croatia to strictly implement the Accord on repatriation related to respecting property and ensuring the respect of all human rights.

The statement concludes by saying the Council expects recommendations by Annan on the future engagement of the United Nations in the region to be submitted by July 1 at the latest.

[09] SERBIAN EDUCATION MINISTER RECEIVES PARIS UNIVERSITY CHANCELLOR

Tanjug, 1997-05-09

Serbia's Education Minister Jovo Todorovic received on Friday the Chancellor of the Paris University, Michelle Gendreau Massaioux.

A Ministry statement said that the two sides noted that historically good relations existing between the French and Serbian peoples were a good basis for establishing contacts and cooperation in education.

They exchanged views on questions of organisation, financing and teaching in schools and Universities in the two countries, and agreed to promote cooperation in education, including various forms of researcher and student exchange.

The talk was attended by French Ambassador in Belgrade Stanislas Filiol, Secretary in the Serbian Education Ministry Svetlana Komarcevic and Boris Iljenko, Director of the Serbian Institute for International Educational, Cultural and Scientific Cooperation.

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