Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-11-25

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS END

[02] OSCE OBSERVERS IN BELGRADE

[03] YUGOSLAVIA, RUSSIA SIGN PROGRAM OF CULTURAL, EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC COOP ERATION

[04] YUGOSLAVIA, HUNGARY, ROMANIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON REGIONAL COOPERATION

[05] YUGOSLAVIA'S DJUNIC: PRIVATISATION TO UNBLOCK HARD-CURRENCY SAVINGS

[06] YUGOSLAVIA SATISFIED WITH AGREEMENT ON SUBREGIONAL WEAPONS CONTROL

[07] YUGOSLAV COMMISSION FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS PROTESTS WITH ICRC, CROATIA

[08] SERBIA HAS SEVEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

[09] KRAJISNIK AGAINST BROADENING OF POWERS OF THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA 9-10.

[10] YUGOSLAVIA'S PEACE POLICY AFFIRMED THROUGH DAYTON DEAL IMPLEMENTATION

[11] COUNCIL SESSION FOR MARKING 800 YEARS OF HILANDAR 1998.

[12] EVERY REFUGEE VOTE VALUABLE FOR PEACE IN RS

[13] BOSNIAN SERB PARTIES FALL SILENT ON EVE OF ELECTIONS

[14] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES HEAD OF OSCE BOSNIA MISSION FROWICK

[15] AGREEMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES IN THE OFFING

[01] EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS END

Tanjug, 1997-11-23

Two-day early parliamentary elections in the Republika Srpska ended on Sunday as polling stations closed at 4 p.m. local time. Taking part in the elections for 83 Republi ka Srpska parliament seats were 28 political parties, three coalitions and 18 independent candidates. Offic ials of both the OSCE and the R.S. electoral commission said no incidents had been registered in the electio ns.

[02] OSCE OBSERVERS IN BELGRADE

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

The OSCE will send at the repeated presidential elections in Serbia, on December 7, only 60 observers, as no serious problems had been detected at the September pres idential and legislative elections, Tanjug has learnt from OSCE Belgrade sources. OSCE has decid ed it was not necessary that observers control once again the voting process at polling stations and t he entire election procedure, but only some parts of it. At the repeated presidential elections OSCE will n ot send a classical observer mission, but only a team of experts for overseeing the election administr ation.

OSCE experts will, among other things, oversee whether some suggesti ons and recommendations had been adopted for improving the election procedure from the observer m ission's report following the September elections. The report had pointed to certain deficiencies at th e parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia, which were detected only in the pre- election process 2E The observer mission will be headed by an OSCE representative from Great Britain, Anthony Welch, who p erformed the same duty and the past presidential and legislative elections in Serbia.

It has been learnt from OSCE sources that the first group of observe rs headed by Welch has already arrived in Belgrade, while others are expected to arrive in the n ext few days.

[03] YUGOSLAVIA, RUSSIA SIGN PROGRAM OF CULTURAL, EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC COOP ERATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

An inter-governmental program of Yugoslav-Russian cooperation in cul ture, education and science was signed on Friday. The document is the first concrete program of direc t cooperation between Yugoslavia and Russia in the three domains since the international sanctions against Yugoslavia were suspended. The program will enable the implementatio n of the signed inter- state agreement on cultural-educational cooperation. The program envisages exchanges of sch olarships, students, professors, exhibitions, and guest tours, among other forms of cooperation.

The Yugoslav delegation met on Friday with director of the Russian G overnmental Centre for international scientific and cultural cooperation Valentin Teryeshkov. Th e two sides pointed up the existence of wide possibilities for the diversification of cooperation between the two friendly countries in culture, education and science.

[04] YUGOSLAVIA, HUNGARY, ROMANIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON REGIONAL COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Top officials in Serbia's northern Province of Vojvodina and four Hu ngarian and four Romanian counties signed here on Friday an Agreement on lasting cooperation in the Danube-Mures-Tisza region. The Agreement was signed by Vojvodina's Premier Bosko Perosevic, Parliame nt Speakers in Hungary's counties of Csongrad, Bekes, Bacs-Kiskun and Szolnok, and heads of the Ti misoara, Arad, Craso and Hunedoara counties. Also present was Vojvodina's Vice-Premier Damnjan Ra denkovic, Yugoslav Ambassador in Budapest Balsa Spadijer and Yugoslav Embassy Economic Advis er Dusan Dimitrijevic. The Agreement provides for closer ties among local authorities and instit utions in the sphere of economy, culture, sport and other spheres. Commenting on the Agreement, Perosevic told the Hungarian Nepszabadsag daily that the Agreement would enable speedier economic deve lopment, promotion of goodneighbourly relations and even more consistent exercising of minority rights. Perosevic said Vojvodina would in this way gain the right to qualify for the Phare-progr amme and would more efficiently take part in the international division of labour. He said Yugoslavia wa s an indispensable factor in building peace and security in the Balkans and that the country was becoming incre asingly attractive for foreign partners.

[05] YUGOSLAVIA'S DJUNIC: PRIVATISATION TO UNBLOCK HARD-CURRENCY SAVINGS

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Yugoslavia's Vice Premier said on Friday that a sale of social and s tate property would lay the groundwork for repaying the people's blocked hard- currency savings which, with interest, were estimated at 7.5 billion Deutschmarks. Vice Premier Danko Djunic was speaking at a news conference, presenting a Bill on the repayment of the blocked hard-currency deposits, drafted on Thursday.

"The repayment of the savings will be the duty of the Government, as guarantor of the deposits, as well as of the state, the Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro, the National Bank of Yugoslavia (Central Bank) and the commercial banks," Djunic said. He said that the necessary funds would be raised by selling state and socially-owned property, as well as from t he fiscal incomes of the federal state and the republics, and the incomes of the commercial banks and the Central Bank.

The bill regulates the repayment of hard-currency deposits made with the Central Bank by Oct. 14, 1988. Also, it refers to deposits made with the authorised banks which i n turn deposited the savings with the Central Bank by March 18, 1995, but have since started bankruptcy pro ceedings and cannot service their obligations. Hard-currency deposits made after March 18, 1995 are not guaranteed by the state, but by the competent banks. "However much we might wish to the contrary, we d o not believe that the hard-currency savings can be repaid in less than 12 years, because of our economic situation," Djunic said. The commercial banks would remain in debt to their clients, and the savin gs would be turned into time deposits tied for a period of 12 years, at an annual interest rate of 2 p ercent. All hard currencies would be converted into D-marks, he explained. Under the bill, the repayment sho uld begin on July 1, 1998.

[06] YUGOSLAVIA SATISFIED WITH AGREEMENT ON SUBREGIONAL WEAPONS CONTROL

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Head of Yugoslav delegation to talks on an Agreement on subregional weapons control Ambassador Dragomir Djokic said here on Friday that he was satisfied with the way armament levels were reduced in the signatory countries. Personal envoy of the Chairman of th e OSCE Ambassador Vigleik Eide of Norway previously said that the stage of armament reduction had been s uccessfully completed in line with the Agreement on subregional weapons control in the Balkans.

The Agreement was the result of talks held in Vienna in the January- late May 1996 period. It was signed in Florence, Italy, on June 14, 1996, by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.

Djokic said that the expiry of the reduction period on Oct. 31, 1997 , ended a significant stage of the Agreement, as all sides had abided by the set limits in five armament categories (combat tanks, armoured personnel carriers, fighter planes, helicopters and artillery).

Despite certain difficulties in the reduction process, the expected target has been reached, Djokic told Yugo slav reporters in Vienna.

A consistent compliance with the Agreement can contribute to more st able relations in the Balkan region, development of trust and establishment of new relations between t he countries-signatories, he said. Djokic said the Dayton Peace Accords had proved once again to have been o f major importance to this territory, as it had laid the foundations for new relations. "There is no alternative to the Dayton Peace Accords," he underscored. Under the open-ended accord, the signatories' a rsenals will be inspected over the next four months. "We are joining the same system that has been in u se in most of Europe," Djokic said, referring to an agreement on reduction of conventional weapons, sig ned between NATO and the Warsaw Treaty member-countries in 1990.

This makes a major step towards our territory's integration into the systems of safety and weapons control applied in all of Europe, he said.

[07] YUGOSLAV COMMISSION FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS PROTESTS WITH ICRC, CROATIA

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

Head of the Yugoslav Government Commission for humanitarian affairs and missing persons Maksim Korac protested on Friday with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the relevant Croatian Commission about the treatment of Serbs in Croatian pri sons, calling it impermissible.

In letters to head of the ICRC Mission Thomas Merkelbach and head of the Croatian Commission Ivan Grujic, Korac said seven Serbs that had been arrested in Croatia's O peration Lightning and Operation Storm in 1995 had gone on hunger strike three days ago dissatisfied with the way their case was being handled by Croatia's Supreme Court as well as prison conditions and treat ment. A first-instance court sentenced in the first half of 1996 Milenko Janjetovic, Jovan Jerinic, Pe ro Miljevic, Milan Mrzic, Ferhad Muhamedovic, Goran Pasic and Nikola Pavlovic, who are in Sisak prison, to between three and 14 years of imprisonment on the charge of having committed war crimes.

Korac said although 18 months had passed since the prouncing of sent ences, Croatia's Supreme Court had not yet dealt with the appeals of the seven prisoners who had t herefore decided to cut short by taking their lives Croatian courts' legal manipulations and uncertainty t hey were faced with in prison. The Yugoslav Commission urged ICRC offici als to visit the prisoners as soon as possible and the ICRC to influence relevant Croatian officials to start meeting the obliga tions as regards the humane treatment of prisoners.

[08] SERBIA HAS SEVEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Tanjug, 1997-11-21

The Serbian Election Commission announced on Friday that seven candi dates would run in the Dec. 7 presidential election in the republic. The seven presidential can didates are: Miodrag Vidojkovic - candidate of a civil group, Predrag M. Vuletic - Liberal-Democratic Party , Vuk Draskovic - Serbian Renewal Movement, Milan Milutinovic - joint candidate of the Socialist Party of S erbia, the Yugoslav Left and the New Democracy, Dragoljub Micunovic - Democratic Centre, Vuk Obradovic - S ocial Democracy, and Vojislav Seselj - Serbian Radical Party.

[09] KRAJISNIK AGAINST BROADENING OF POWERS OF THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA 9-10.

Tanjug, 1997-11-20

Republika Srpska member in Bosnia's three-man Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik said Thursday he opposed the broadening of powers of the High Representative for Bosnia, saying this was contrary to the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Krajisnik told reporters after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana, NATO Commander for Europe Wesley Clark, Commander of the NATO-led Stabilisation Force for Bosnia General Eric Shinseki and High Representative Carlos Westendorp at Bosnia's Presidency that he had informed them about his stand on the matter.

He said it would be wrong not to do all to reach agreement on all outstanding issues before a conference in Bonn on December

He said there was a large number of minor issues for whose resolution all that was needed was to make a small effort and to show little cooperativeness.

Krajisnik said the Serb side especially wanted the issues of passports, citizenship and the law on the Council of Ministers to be resolved, because he said they were a stumbling block to securing the exercising of some of the Serb people's rights.

He said he had informed the officials that the Serb side opposed the revision of the Dayton Agreement.

He also said that the Bonn conference should not resemble a conference in Sintra, Portugal, at which it was not possible to make objections, saying the solutions imposed at the conference were not good.

[10] YUGOSLAVIA'S PEACE POLICY AFFIRMED THROUGH DAYTON DEAL IMPLEMENTATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-20

The full and consistent implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which put an end to civil war in Bosnia and determined ways of resolving the crisis triggered by the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, is in Yugoslavia's vital interest.

Commenting on the implementation to date of the agreement in a an interview carried recently by China's leading newspapers, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said all conditions existed for the agreement to be successfully implemented because it had been drafted and reached by taking equally into account interests of all three peoples in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The agreement, initialled in Dayton, Ohio, on November 21, 1995, constitutes a firm basis for the affirmation of equality and for the prosperity of Bosnia's Serbs, Moslems and Croats.

The Yugoslav President said Yugoslavia had urged this policy from the very start, saying the policy did not mean that peace should be reached at all costs but that in reaching peace, interests of all three peoples should be taken into account. He said this had been secured through the Dayton Agreement.

Yugoslavia's stand on the issue is that all formerly warring parties should start cooperating on the footing of equality, which should secure the lasting affirmation of their interests.

Yugoslavia takes the view that the international community should not take decisions instead of Bosnia's legal institutions and its peoples but should encourage and help the legally elected institutions to take decisions without exerting pressure on them and without forcing solutions reached through arbitration upon them.

Yugoslavia's basic principle, adopted at the very outbreak of hostilities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia, is that the conflict must be settled peacefully and through negotiations and that its settlement must not be to the detriment of any of Bosnia's peoples.

Only this principle proved to be correct at the point when the Dayton Agreement was reached, affirming Yugoslavia's principled peace policy.

Following the November 22 suspension of the U.N. Security Council sanctions against Yugoslavia, imposed on the country for its alleged involvement in civil war in Bosnia, Yugoslavia started speedily renewing economic and political ties with the world. The country has made considerable progress over the past few years despite unprincipled obstacles and attempts by powerful factors in the world to continue exerting pressure on the country.

Yugoslavia has upgraded diplomatic relations to the ambassadorial level with nearly all the countries and has started normalising economic ties with them. This has considerably contributed to the recovery of the Yugoslav economy whose growth rate is among the highest registered in transition countries.

The outer wall of sanctions, which was not removed following the reaching of the Dayton Agreement although its existence cannot be justified, poses an obstacle to Yugoslavia's economic development and the country's full reintegration into major international institutions.

It should be stressed that no reference was made to the outer wall of sanctions during the Dayton talks that dealt with restoring peace to Bosnia- Herzegovina and lifting the U.N. sanctions against Yugoslavia. It is therefore logical that Yugoslavia should consider the failure to remove the outer wall of sanctions as a demonstration of power and legalisation of the right of the stronger in international relations.

The fact that the outer wall of sanctions is not provided for by any U.N. document or principle upon which relations among nations in the world are based clearly indicates that this is an instrument for exerting pressure on Yugoslavia despite the country's numerous proofs that it is ready to cooperate with all countries on the footing of equality and in keeping with the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

Honouring the principles to which it is firmly committed, Yugoslavia proposed before as well as after the reaching of the Dayton Agreement full normalisation of relations with all states emerging from the former Yugoslavia that are internationally recognised. Moreover, it reached an agreement with the Republika Srpska on special parallel relations in the spring of 1997, which is fully in keeping with the Dayton Agreement.

Yugoslavia wants to speedily normalise relations with the rest of Bosnia- Herzegovina because in this way conditions will be created for a speedier return of hundreds of thousands of Serb refugees sheltering in Yugoslavia.

The two years of implementing the Dayton Agreement have shown that Yugoslavia and its political leaders have made a maximum effort to affirm peace and all-round cooperation in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere in the region, and that they will continue doing so.

Yugoslav officials, led by President Milosevic, have over the past few years affirmed this principle in numerous international meetings, bilateral meetings and contacts with the world's leading statesmen.

[11] COUNCIL SESSION FOR MARKING 800 YEARS OF HILANDAR 1998.

Tanjug, 1997-11-20

The Council for marking 800 years of the monastery Hilandar held a session today chaired by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said.

The council is made up of representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the monastery Hilandar, Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, Serbian Literary and Publishing Society, Yugoslav Universities, representatives of the economy and of financial institutions, scientists, public and art life figures.

The council session held discussed the work of commissions, and noted that preparations for marking the jubilee were satisfactory. A final program for marking the important jubilee was also adopted at the session. The program will be realized during

The most important parts of the program are restoration works on the monastery, which are underway, vast publishing activities devoted to the monastery, organization of cultural events and scientific meetings devoted to Hilandar.

A documentary on Hilandar is also planned, as well as the issuing of postal stamps, etc. The final event of the jubilee will be an official academy devoted to Hilandar.

A part of the activities is directed towards the Serbian diaspora, issuing of video cassettes about Hilandar, satellite live broadcasting of the official academy, organizations of exhibitions, sending of publications etc.

[12] EVERY REFUGEE VOTE VALUABLE FOR PEACE IN RS

Tanjug, 1997-11-20

The Chairwoman of the Federal Committee for Aiding Refugees in the Realization of their rights at the parliamentary elections in Republika Srpska, Bratislava Morina, on Thursday called on refugees in Yugoslavia who have, despite the restricting conditions imposed by OSCE, acquired the right to vote at the elections in RS on Nov. 22 and 23.

Morina said that every refugee vote is valuable for peace and for the stabilization of the situation in RS. She underscored that the "destiny of RS" would be decided at the elections next weekend.

Speaking at Belgrade's Hotel Yugoslavia before some 80 international supervisors who will monitor the elections for the RS parliament at 79 polling stations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Morina said that the Federal Committee and the OSCE office in Belgrade had completed all preparations for the success of the parliamentary elections in RS.

The coordinator of the OSCE Belgrade office for the elections in RS, Zivota de Luca, said he was satisfied with the exceptional quality of the cooperation achieved so far with the Federal Committee headed by Morina and with the entire team of the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees. De Luca said he expected this to be the case now.

He also expressed hope that "all praise for FRY will be of importance for Yugoslavia's return to OSCE membership."

[13] BOSNIAN SERB PARTIES FALL SILENT ON EVE OF ELECTIONS

Tanjug, 1997-11-20

The Republika Srpska's parties suspend their election campaigns and fall silent at 7 a.m. on Friday, a day before the polling stations are due to open for early parliamentary elections in the Bosnian Serb state on Saturday. The silence will continue until the polling stations close.

The elections are contested by 49 parties, coalitions and independent candidates, 10 of them from the Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation.

The Republika Srpska's news parliament is to have 83 seats.

[14] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES HEAD OF OSCE BOSNIA MISSION FROWICK

Tanjug, 1997-11-20

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic received on Thursday Head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission to Bosnia, Robert Frowick, and his aides.

The talks dealt with current issues concerning the coming parliamentary elections in the Republika Srpska and efforts to further implement the Dayton peace accords successfully.

The talks focused on election conditions that should ensure free, democratic and fair elections.

Milosevic said he was confident that the turnout in the Republika Srpska would be massive, which he said was crucial to the Republika Srpska's future.

The need was stressed to set up and strengthen bodies of power and that these bodies assume obligations in keeping with the Dayton Agreement, following successful elections.

[15] AGREEMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY PARTIES IN THE OFFING

Tanjug, 1997-11-20

Montenegro's Parliament Speaker said in Cetinje on Thursday that the parliamentary parties were about to reach accord on how to end the political crisis in this Yugoslav republic.

After consultations with leaders of the parties' parliamentary clubs, Speaker Svetozar Marovic said that Parliament would reconvene on Tuesday, November 25.

Speaking at a news conference, Marovic said that the parliamentary Political Committee would first hold session and draft some solutions for adoption. He said it had been agreed that legislation for parliamentary elections be drafted by the end of the year, in cooperation with officials of the OSCE and of other international institutions.

He further said that "there appears to be goodwill to agree to hold early parliamentary elections between mid-April and end-May, 1998. "Final decision on this score will be made by the President of Montenegro, who has the authority to call parliamentary elections under the Montenegrin Constitution and laws."

Marovic said that accord had been reached that the future government, to be formed after Premier Milo Djukanovic had assumed office as President of Montenegro, be a multi-party one. This should be a transitional government that would create the necessary conditions for consistently implementing the election laws that should be passed in the meantime, he added. He specified that a new government could not be formed before January 1998, as otherwise it would be necessary to vote no confidence in the present government or for the premier to resign.

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