Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-12-10

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] SESSION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

[02] SDS HAS LODGED A COMPLAINT TO THE APPEALS COMMISSION

[03] REPUBLICAN ELECTIONS COMMISSION: RESULTS FROM 78% POLLING STATIONS

[04] BOSNIAN SERBS WILL URGE CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DAYTON ACCORDS

[05] BELGRADE TO HOST 1998 BALKAN MEETING OF TELECOMMUNICATION MINISTERS

[06] STANIMIROVIC: USEFUL MEETING WITH TUDJMAN

[07] RS DELEGATION FOR BONN CONFERENCE

[08] FINAL RESULTS OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

[09] KRAJISNIK RECEIVED U.S. AND RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS

[10] YUGOSLAV-ARAB SOCIETY APPEALS FOR LIFTING OF SANCTIONS

[11] POLLING STATIONS IN SERBIA CLOSE

[12] OSCE DELEGATION VISITED THE REPUBLICAN ELECTION COMMITTEE

[13] INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS HAIL ELECTIONS AS REGULAR

[14] DJUMIC: OSCE OBSERVERS HAVE NO OBJECTIONS

[15] RODIC: FIRST PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON MONDAY

[01] SESSION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Tanjug, 1997-12-08

The Federal Government, at a session chaired by Prime Minister Radoj e Kontic, on Monday adopted a draft Law on the confirmation of an Agreement with Bulgaria on customs cooperation and mutual aid, a Federal Government statement said. The agreement is aimed at preventing violations of customs and foreign currency regulations, it facilitates and speeds up go ods and passenger traffic and enables a high degree of cooperation between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria on t he coordination of regulations, exchange of knowledge, and training of customs officials. The Government established a Platform for the participation of a Yugoslav delegation to the Ministerial meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Peace Implementation Council which will be held in Bonn on December 9 and 10. T he meeting will provide an analysis of the implementation of the Dayton-Paris accords and the implem entation of the conclusions from the previous meeting of the Committee held in Portugal in late May this y ear. It was assessed that the FR of Yugoslavia, as a signatory of the peace accords, has made a signifi cant contribution so far to the stabilization of the situation in Bosnia- Herzegovina and the process of b uilding confidence and cooperation in the region, and that it will continue doing so in future as well. The Government is urging the due implementation of the Dayton Accords, and it is necessary to point out at the Ministerial meeting the risks inherent in the issue of refugees, the equal treatment of entities, the a rming of the Muslim-Croat Federation, and other matters. The Government also adopted a Platform for the partici pation of a Yugoslav delegation to the plenary meeting of the Working Group for succession of the Peace I mplementation Council in Brussels on December 9-11. The delegation will be headed by Kosta Mihailo vic. A decision was adopted about the opening of a Yugoslav Consulate, with Honourary Consul Edison S ikeira at its head, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

[02] SDS HAS LODGED A COMPLAINT TO THE APPEALS COMMISSION

Tanjug, 1997-12-08

Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) Presidency Chairman Aleksa Buha said on Monday that SDS has lodged a complaint to the Appeals Commission of the Interim Election Comm ission in connection with the partial results of the elections for the National Assembly of Republika S rpska (RS), announced on Sunday by OSCE. Buha specified that the complaint concerned ballots which arriv ed from Vienna, without the proper documentation, and the voting process in the Federation of Bos nia and Herzegovina at 160 polling stations, and where representatives of the RS Government did not have access to one half of the polling stations, making possible the tampering of votes for 18 Federatio n deputies. The Appeals Commission of the Interim Election Commission will examine and resolve th e complaint on Wednesday, and will afterwards announce final results, Buha said. He assessed that t he role of OSCE at these elections was inglorious.

[03] REPUBLICAN ELECTIONS COMMISSION: RESULTS FROM 78% POLLING STATIONS

Tanjug, 1997-12-08

Sunday's elections for Serbian President were successful as over 50% of the electorate cast their votes, said the Republican Elections Commission, adding that results from 7,674 or 78% polling stations showed that leftist candidate Milan Milutinovic was in the lead with 1,35 4,118 votes.

Milutinovic, the candidate of the Socialist Party of Serbia-Yugoslav Left- New Democracy, is convincingly ahead of the other six candidates. He won 41.5% of the votes counted so far.

The second most successful candidate is Serbian Radical Party Presid ent Vojislav Seselj, with 1,076,438 votes, or 33%. The candidate of the Serbian Renewal Movement, V uk Draskovic, won 536,669 votes or 16.44%.

Social Democrat candidate Vuk Obradovic won 106,623 votes, Democrati c Centre candidate Dragoljub Micunovic 90,597, independent candidate Miodrag Vidojkovic 24,8 89, and Liberal Democratic Party candidate Predrag Vuletic won 18,811 votes. Figures obtained after the processing of the remaining field reports will not essentially alter the present picture, which means that Milutinovic and Seselj will compete in the run*off on Dec 21, a Commission Spokesman said. The fina l results of the first round will be announced on Tuesday afternoon, two days ahead of the legal deadl ine. The Commission agreed that Sunday's elections had passed in a democratic atmosphere. No objecti ons were received as to their regularity or the course of voting. This is an indication of increasingly democratic relations both in the procedure of nominations and in the procedure of voting at polling statio ns. The Spokesman for the Commission also said the elections had been monitored by representatives of international organizations, primarily the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who also said the voting had been in order. The 48 foreign observers were headed by the Director of th e OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Gerard Studmann.

[04] BOSNIAN SERBS WILL URGE CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DAYTON ACCORDS

Tanjug, 1997-12-08

Bosnian Serb member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Momcilo Kra jisnik said on Monday before leaving for Bonn to attend an international conference on Bosnia t hat he would urge a consistent implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and oppose its revision. Kraj isnik said he expected the Bonn Conference to review and set a deadline for obligations stemming from the Dayton Accords. He said that the Republika Srpska would urge a consistent implementation of the Dayton Accords not "because we are enthusiastic about it, but because we signed it and undertook the obligat ion to implement it." "We oppose and fear all revisions of Dayton because they represent attempts at trans ferring some entity powers to Bosnia- Herzegovina, with which we disagree," Krajisnik said and added tha t this referred to the Dayton agreement's provisions which are in the sole jurisdiction of entities, su ch as information, sports and education. Krajisnik said that it was indicative that some circles in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, where many issues remain unsettled, had said they were not satisfied with the Bonn documents. "These are deliberate provocations of a policy that wishes to strengthen the positions of Bonn and tries to transfer entities' powers to Bosnia-Herzegovina," Krajisnik said Serb representatives will say that imposed solutions do not function in Bosnia-Herzegovina, he said "The Bonn Conference is crucial for Bosnia- Herzegovina. If force is applied to adopt solutions, B osnia-Herzegovina does not have prospects. The imposition of solutions and outvoting have led to war and one cannot accept that one man (international community's High Representative) is granted more authority in reaching solutions. This is not good," Krajisnik said. According to him, Bosnia-Herzegovina has a future if the equality of the two entities and three peoples is observed. Krajisnik said he regretted the fact that Republika Srpska representatives in Bonn would not have a single platform. He said that Republika Srpska P resident Biljana Plavsic was acting independently and that "we are going to Bonn with uncertainty and hope for success."

Krajisnik said he was dissatisfied with OSCE's preliminary results o n the Republika Srpska parliamentary elections, under which the Serbian Democratic Party had won just 24 seats.

[05] BELGRADE TO HOST 1998 BALKAN MEETING OF TELECOMMUNICATION MINISTERS

Tanjug, 1997-12-05

Belgrade will host the third meeting of Balkan ministers of posts an d telecommunications in 1998, under an unanimous decision by the second Ministerial meeting recently he ld in Istanbul.

Yugoslav Minister of Telecommunications Dojcilo Radojevic, who heade d a Yugoslav delegation at the meeting, told Tanjug that the decision was very important because it represented further recognition of Yugoslavia's policy and efforts it invested in the development of regi onal cooperation. Radojevic described the unanimous decision to hold the third meeting in Belgrade as a confirmation and recognition also of the policy pursued by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who is constantly stressing the importance of good-neighbourly cooperation and regional linking.

At the two-day meeting held in Istanbul in late November, Balkan min isters of posts and telecommunications passed a Resolution on promoting regional cooperation in that domain. Radojevic said that the Resolution was an important step into the future because it defi ned specific activities to upgrade mutually beneficial regional cooperation in the area of posts and telecom munications. He said that the FR of Yugoslavia attributed great importance to the promotion of economic an d other cooperation among Balkan countries and added that telecommunications were an indispensable part of that cooperation. In this context, Radojevic also stressed the importance of the Yugoslav ministry in charge of that sector, which has been set up at President Milosevic's initiative and proposal.

The Istanbul meeting was held immediately after a Summit of Balkan h eads of state or government on the Greek island of Crete, Radojevic said. He added that the Crete Sum mit Declaration clearly specified a wish to promote cooperation among Balkan countries in the area of telec ommunications. The Yugoslav delegation at the meeting was actively involved and made a substantial co ntribution to its successful conclusion. Radojevic met with most heads of delegations at the meeting a nd agreed with them that expert groups should meet to solve issues of mutual interest relating to posts, telecommunications and radio communications. The Yugoslav delegation supported initiatives to strengt hen cooperation among Balkan countries in this area. These initiatives were included in the Resolution passed at the meeting. The delegation supported a move to set up an institutionalized form of cooper ation among Balkan countries. It also upheld another proposal that Balkan countries coordinate their ap pearance in international organizations during discussions of relevant issues of interest to all co untries of southeastern Europe. The Resolution also calls for studying possibilities of building a Balkan sat ellite system and other regional research projects that could attract financial support of international i nstitutions and private capital. The Istanbul meeting confirmed a joi nt commitment of participating countries to promoting telecommunication and postal traffic with a view to building confidence a nd stability of Balkan countries. It also represents an important step in further cooperation among these c ountries, Radojevic said.

[06] STANIMIROVIC: USEFUL MEETING WITH TUDJMAN

Tanjug, 1997-12-06

Independent Democratic Serb Party President and Croatian Parliament MP Vojislav Stanimirovic described the meeting between representatives of the Joint Council of Mun icipalities (ZVO) and the Serb National Council (SNV) with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in Zagreb a s very useful, successful and encouraging for Serbs in the Srem-Baranja region. In a telephone stateme nt to Tanjug after the meeting, Stanimirovic said that an official statement was expected already on Mond ay, and also a public address by the Croatian President, to confirm everything that had been agreed at this meeting. "Early next week, we expect the arrival of Justice Minister Miroslav Separovic in this regi on for a session of the National Council for Establishing Confidence, where we shall discuss problems rega rding documents and legislature," Stanimirovic said. He said he expected Minister Separovic w ould make a public statement at this time so that the people could "hear from a Croatian official what is being planned and what they can expect." According to Stanimirovic, this would help remove doubtful point s and ease the anxiety of the people in the region. Speaking about the contents of the talks, Stanimir ovic said it had been heard the UNTAES mandate ended on January 15, 1998, but "both sides pointed out tha t the international community will continue monitoring the processes and that nothing drastic will happ en after the UNTAES leave, which President Tudjman confirmed." Stanimirovic said they had received assura nces from the President that there were no more reasons for any fears or a continuation of the "quiet exodus so far," which Serb representatives pointed out at this meeting.

"We said that the reason for this was that the local border agreemen t had not been good or comprehensive, especially for our refugees from other parts of Croatia," Stanimirovic said, adding that this mistake had now been corrected and that all refugees had the right to bor der passes at discount rates. Serb representatives especially spoke about the problems in connection wi th the inconsistent implementation of the Amnesty Law and the Validation Law. "President Tud jman said there were no longer any lists and, in our presence, ordered the justice minister that an end must be put to the practice of certain irresponsible regional officials, court presidents or judges, deliberatel y or by chance, aimed at getting us to leave these lands, to activate some lists which Tudjman said had been suspended," Stanimirovic said. He said there could be talk only of persecutions of those persons who hav e been proven perpetrators of war crimes. "We were promised that people who are now in the region will have the same rights regardless of nationality and that all refugees will have equal rights to return and renewal," he said. Regarding lost tenancy rights, Tudjman promised these problems would be r esolved in the best possible way, either in the respective refugee's original place of residence or he re in the region, said Stanimirovic.

"Those people who wish to remain in the region, also according to th e Croatian President, have the right to do so under the Erdut Agreement and their tenancy rights in the region will be settled," said Stanimirovic. The talks also briefly covered matters of education and it was agreed that further progress was necessary in this area. "We spoke about the status of the ZVO and th e issue of the so-called Klein's municipalities. President Tudjman absolutely supported our stand that the se municipalities, which held elections, and also the status of the ZVO, must be regulated by a special law," Stanimirovic pointed out. These municipalities will be covered by the Law on Territorial Organizati on, and the ZVO will have its own Status in order adequately to protect the rights and interests of the Ser b people, he said.

[07] RS DELEGATION FOR BONN CONFERENCE

Tanjug, 1997-12-07

The delegation of Republika Srpska (RS) for the International Confer ence on Bosnia-Herzegovina, to be held on December 9-10 in Bonn, will consist of the RS representativ e in the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, RS President Biljana Plavsic and the Co-Ch airman of the Council of Ministers from RS, Boro Bosic. The delegation will also include the Minis ter for civilian questions and communications in the Bosnia- Herzegovina Council of Ministers, Spasoje Al bijanovic, Deputy Foreign Minister in the Council of Ministers Dragan Bozanic, and several advisors from Plavsic's and Krajisnik's cabinets.

[08] FINAL RESULTS OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Tanjug, 1997-12-07

The Serb Democratic Party (SDS) won 24 seats in the 83-seat Republik a Srpska National Assembly according to preliminary results, OSCE Banja Luka Regional Centr e Director Roger Bryant said on Sunday. The pro-Muslim Coalition for an Integral and Democratic Bosnia -Herzegovina won 16 seats, the Serb National Alliance - Biljana Plavsic and the Serbian Radical Part y 15 seats each, the Socialist Party of Republika Srpska 9 seats, and the Party of Independent Social De mocrats of Republika Srpska and the Social Democrat Party of Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 seats each. Bry ant said a total of 712,448 citizens had gone to the polls.

[09] KRAJISNIK RECEIVED U.S. AND RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS

Tanjug, 1997-12-06

Republika Srpska President in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovi na Momcilo Krajisnik called, on Friday evening, for an equitable access of the two entities and the th ree peoples at the upcoming Ministerial Conference on Bosnia in Bonn. Krajisnik discussed the Bonn Co nference with U.S. Ambassador in Sarajevo Richard Kauzlaric and Russian Charge d'Affaires in Sarajevo J akov Gerasimov. After receiving the two diplomats in separate visits, Krajisnik said that Muslims were pl acing pressure for a revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement in Bonn in order to diminish the competencies of t he entities. We cannot accept a revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the expansion of the mandate of the international community's High Representative, SFOR, and the International Police Force s, Krajisnik said. According to him, Republika Srpska will urge the honouring of all agreements and commi tments, ensuing from the Dayton Peace Agreement. He stressed that what does not proceed from the D ayton Peace Agreement, and was being imposed currently, was dangerous for the stability of peace 2E

[10] YUGOSLAV-ARAB SOCIETY APPEALS FOR LIFTING OF SANCTIONS

Tanjug, 1997-12-05

The Yugoslav-Arab Society on Friday appealed to all those who care f or human rights, freedoms and dignity to demand the complete lifting of the sanctions against Iraq and all other countries. The Society condemned sanctions in any form and against any country, maintaining that they present genocide and violations of international laws and the United Nations Charter because t hey deny peoples and individuals the elementary human rights. The Yugoslav-Arab Society believes that an appeal for respect of human rights, freedoms and democracy is hypocritical if it comes from any side which does not oppose sanctions, which does not work on their termination and elimination from internation al relations, said the statement.

[11] POLLING STATIONS IN SERBIA CLOSE

Tanjug, 1997-12-07

Polling stations in Serbia closed at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, af ter citizens cast their votes for republican President. A total of 7,234,769 registered voters were able t o vote at 9,827 polling stations which opened at 7 a.m. local time, circling one of the seven candidates f or Serbian President. The candidates were Milan Milutinovic, candidate of the Socialist Party o f Serbia, Yugoslav Left and New Democracy, Vojislav Seselj of the Serbian Radical Party, Vuk Draskovic of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Dragoljub Micunovic of the Democratic Centre, Vuk Obradovic of the Social Democrats, Predrag Vuletic of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Miodrag Vidojkovic, an independent c andidate.

[12] OSCE DELEGATION VISITED THE REPUBLICAN ELECTION COMMITTEE

Tanjug, 1997-12-07

The delegation of the mission of the Organization for Security and C ooperation in Europe (OSCE) which was monitoring the presidential elections in Serbia, headed by the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Gerard Schutdmann, and the OSCE mission coordinator for the presidential elections in Serbia Anthony Welch, met on Sunday with member s of the Republican Election Committee to discuss the conducting of the presidential elections, the Re publican Election Committee has said. The Committee's Chairman, Balsa Govedarica, informed the OSCE dele gation that, according to the arriving reports, that the elections were conducted in a democratic and f air atmosphere. It was said that these elections are of big importance for Serbia and the stability of the entire country. Ambassador Schutdmann expressed gratitude on behalf of the OSCE mission for the open ness of all authorized bodies in the Republic which have enabled the mission to carry out its tasks suc cessfully. The OSCE delegation expressed interest in the development and promotion of procedures and leg al regulations of the election system, and the character and provisions of the Election Law and underli ned the progress in the election conditions and the process of democratization. It was said that the coop eration so far with the OSCE representatives had been good and that their presence at the previous and the current elections was of importance and mutual interest. It was emphasised that the suggestions of the OSCE supervisors would be important for all future changes and development of the election syste m, the statement said.

[13] INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS HAIL ELECTIONS AS REGULAR

Tanjug, 1997-12-08

Member of the international monitoring mission from Britain Christop her Wyner said late on Sunday he had no objections as to the regularity of the presidential elections i n Serbia. The elections are proceeding very well, said Wyner, a member of the British Helsinki Group, who visited several polling stations in and around Pristina, the capital of Serbia's Province of Koso vo and Metohija. The observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the election s had been fair. OSCE representatives from Germany and Norway monitored the vote in the city of Novi Sad, and toured several polling stations in the town of Apatin, Serbia's northern Vojvodina. Mon itors from France and the United States visited several polling stations in the towns of Cicevac and Kruse vac, central Serbia. Other OSCE monitors visited the election precinct in Zajecar, eastern Serbia. Both s aid the elections had been fair.

[14] DJUMIC: OSCE OBSERVERS HAVE NO OBJECTIONS

Tanjug, 1997-12-07

Republican Elections Commission Spokesman Zoran Djumic said in Belgr ade on Sunday, after polling stations closed, that the Serbian presidential elections had proc eeded in a democratic and fair atmosphere, without any incidents and in keeping with the law. "The pres idential elections in Serbia were monitored by 249 home and 233 foreign accredited journalists, which is 15 more than at the October 5 elections," Djumic said. Djumic said elections had been followed by 41 o bservers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and that they had not had any objections about the course of the elections.

[15] RODIC: FIRST PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON MONDAY

Tanjug, 1997-12-07

Republican Elections Commission Secretary Nebojsa Rodic told Tanjug late on Sunday that the first preliminary results of yesterday's presidential elections would be announced on Monday between 2 and 3 p.m. local time at a press conference of the Commission. The Repub lican Elections Commission did not receive any complaints during the day about the regularity of the elections for Serbian President, he said. The elections proceeded in a fair and democratic atmosphere and in keeping with the election laws, said Rodic.

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