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Serbia Today, 97-02-24
Serbia Today
CONTENTS
[01] NEW MEDIA LAW
[02] ORUCEVIC: STATE OF EMERGENCY IN MOSTAR
[03] NEVER-ENDING PRESSURES
[04] REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA DELEGATION VISIT TO GREAT BRITAIN
[05] "SERBS LIKE JEWS"
[06] SERBS STILL AREN'T SAFE
[07] MISERABLE STATUS OF THE REMAINING SERBS IN KNIN
[08] HIGHLY POTENTIAL COOPERATION BETWEEN FRY AND ISRAEL
[09] YUGOSLAVIA SUFFERED ENORMOUS DAMAGES DUE TO THE ILLEGAL SECESSION
[10] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAV AND FINNISH PARLIAMENTARIANS
[11] COMPLETE RENEWAL OF RELATIONS BETWEEN FRY AND ARAB COUNTRIES
[12] OSCE AFTER UNTAES
[13] ENCOURAGING RESULTS IN THE STABILIZATION OF PRICES AND THE DINAR
EXCHANGE RATE
[01] NEW MEDIA LAW
Serbian Minister of Information Radmila Milentijevic stated in an interview
for CNN that within 6 weeks at the most she will prepare a draft media law
which will be formulated through dialogue with all political parties,
registered radio-television stations and newspapers. The new law should
remove certain flaws and unclear points in the existing law. "The new
regulations will be based on the most liberal law in Western Europe, and
adapted to the local conditions" - Ms. Milentijevic stressed. She also
announced that state control for the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation will
be moderated, to allow SBC to reflect the "rather complex political life in
Serbia" The Minister of Information also stated that broad freedom f the
press exists in Serbia, and that the opposition newspapers are more
numerous than the pro-government publications.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Politika, 1997-02-24
[02] ORUCEVIC: STATE OF EMERGENCY IN MOSTAR
Deputy Mayor of Mostar - Safet Orucevic asked the international community
to introduce extraordinary police and military measures in the zone of
Mostar, to prevent the complete failure of the peace process in the Moslem-
Croatian federation - Moslem media report. Orucevic reproached SFOR and
international police forces for not responding adequately with military
means to the attacks on their vehicles - thus encouraging Croatian
terrorists and madmen to continue the climate of terror". In a letter
addressed to the Deputy High Representative of the international community
for Bosnia and Herzegovina - Mr. Michael Steiner, Orucevic warned that the
statements and actions by Croatian representatives are breaches of the
February 12th agreement on Mostar, aimed at obstructing the implementation
of the document. Meanwhile, Croatian Police in western Mostar filed a
report against Mr. Orucevic, due to founded suspicion that on February 10th
he headed the Moslem Police SWAT team that planned to storm the carnival
procession organized by Croats in the western part of the town. Orucevic
responded that this is just another of the well known expedients used by
Croatian extremists, and that this is an attack on unitary and integrated
Mostar.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Ekspres, 1997-02-24
[03] NEVER-ENDING PRESSURES
The Dayton Agreement defines the status of the town of Brcko in a highly
equivocal way, allowing - not by chance - greatly differing interpretations.
Even the town itself can be interpreted as a controversial and not only the
inter-ethnic said major general Pero Colic - Chief-of-Staff of the Republic
of Srpska Army. He added that a number of such unclear points have been
deliberately included in the Document, allowing subsequent pressure on the
Republic of Srpska and extortion of unfavorable concessions by the Serbian,
to the point that even military conflicts possible. "The Geo-strategic
position of Brcko undoubtedly has vital importance for the Republic of
Srpska, whilst for the Moslem-Croatian Federation the town is only a means
of pressure on RS, i.e. an excuse to constantly question its state and
political identity", general Colic said. He also affirmed that the
arbitrated settlement for Brcko practically represents an American
occupation of the town, and raised the question: "Isn't this a direct
alteration of the border and of the territorial status of the Republic of
Srpska?"
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-02-24
[04] REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA DELEGATION VISIT TO GREAT BRITAIN
A multi-party delegation of the Republic of Srpska Parliament returned from
a five day visit to Great Britain, where it was hosted by the British
Government and Foreign Office. Parliament Spokesman - Mr. Dragan Kalinic,
that headed the delegation, remarked that the visit was a highly successful
one and that it represents the first step in establishing parliamentary
cooperation between the Republic of Srpska and Great Britain This was the
first independent and official RS delegation, to visit London after the
signing of the Dayton Agreement and the return of peace in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Ekspres, 1997-02-22
[05] "SERBS LIKE JEWS"
Asked to comment the status of the Serbs in Croatia, in an interview for
the Belgrade weekly NIN, Dr. Stipe Suvar - Chairman of the "Returning Home"
Civil Committee, stated: "The current Croatian regime is highly restrictive
regarding any form of return of Serbs. Croatian President Tudjman publicly
called them "optants" i.e. people that have deliberately chosen to live in
another country. - leading to the conclusion that they will not be allowed
to return." Regarding the situation in Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and
Western Srem, Dr. Suvar expressed fears that the events will follow such a
path that a large percentage of Serbs living there will give in to fear -
which is quite understandable - and leave the region. As a university
professor, Dr. Suvar observed that numerous students whose both parents are
Serbs now declare themselves Croats. "They are renouncing to their identity
to avoid problems in the environment they live in, to avoid being pointed
at and called names. Something like the yellow star pinned on Jews." -
remarked Dr. Suvar.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-02-22
[06] SERBS STILL AREN'T SAFE
Mr. Peter Galbraith - US Ambassador to Croatia, stated that the
reintegration of Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem will not
succeed if full safety of the Serbs is not ensured throughout Croatia.
Speaking about the status of citizens of former SFRY at an international
meeting in Zagreb, Mr. Galbraith remarked that Croatian authorities are
making a serious mistake in not allowing the return of the Serbs that lived
in Croatia. "From the American point of view, this represents a major
breach of human rights recognized internationally." - Ambassador Galbraith
said. He warned Croatia that elections might be postponed if Croatian
citizenship documents are not issued to all Serbs entitled to have them.
The same American diplomat further remarked that Croatia still did not
create favorable security conditions in Krayina even though a year and a
half has passed since the military operation in the province. Robberies and
murders continue, the remaining population are being harassed and
threatened, and the small number of Serbs that manage to return, can't get
their homes back. Mr. Galbraith indicated that in Croatia there is a
growing evidence stands that Serbs should never return to Croatia since
they left of their free will." "It is an unacceptable position. They did
not leave Croatia voluntarily - they left after a military operation" -
warned the US Ambassador.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Borba, 1997-02-24
[07] MISERABLE STATUS OF THE REMAINING SERBS IN KNIN
In her still unofficial report - Special UN Reporter for Human Rights in
former Yugoslavia - Elisabeth Renn - indicates that the number of Serbs
that have returned to Croatia is unsatisfactory, and that their
repatriation is being obstructed, especially due to unsettled property
issues. Although she believes that the Letter of Intentions of the Croatian
Government is an important step towards a peaceful reintegration, Ms. Renn
stressed her grave concern for the possibility of mass exodus of Serbs from
Eastern Slavonija. In the light of some recent arrests in Croatia, Ms. Renn
expressed a highly critical position concerning the effectiveness of the
Croatian Amnesty Law. Ms. Elisabeth Renn also remarked that she has been
stricken by the situation of the Serbs that stayed in Knin and added that
no true effort have been made by Croatian state authorities to stop the
violence occurring constantly.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Politika, 1997-02-23
[08] HIGHLY POTENTIAL COOPERATION BETWEEN FRY AND ISRAEL
During the talks between Yugoslav Chamber of Economy Chairman - Mr. Vlajko
Stojiljkovic and the Israeli Ambassador to Yugoslavia - Mr. David Sasson,
held at the Serbian Chamber of Economy, both sides agreed that agriculture,
medicine, tourism and construction are areas that future cooperation
between FR Yugoslavia and Israel can be promoted in. According to Mr.
Stojiljkovic, business people from both countries should identify fields of
cooperation in third markets as well and therefore bilateral agreements
should be signed as soon as possible, covering investment protection, tax
alleviation and other areas. Stressing similarities between the Israeli and
Serbian people, H.E. Sasson remarked that both have small countries located
in geographically important positions, and are striving to preserve their
economic independence. "I assure you that major interest exists in our
country to promote cooperation with your companies", - Mr. Sasson said
adding that numerous concrete business deals will be possible as soon as
the privatization in our country is given a legal support.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Politika, 1997-02-24
[09] YUGOSLAVIA SUFFERED ENORMOUS DAMAGES DUE TO THE ILLEGAL SECESSION
The republics that seceded from the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia are trying to use the negotiations on succession to - putting it
simply - forge the way they achieved their independence, says Prof. Dr.
Dragana Gnjatovic, member of the Yugoslav team negotiating succession
affairs. "They insist that the international agreement on succession should
state that SFRY broke up and that five new states appeared - including FR
Yugoslavia. This would deny the facts regarding secession and civil war,
which is unacceptable for Yugoslavia, among other things because of the
damages it suffered because of the illegal actions of the secessionist
republics", says Dr. Gnjatovic. The Yugoslav team can not approve an
agreement that would legitimize an illegal action (secession). This would
not only equal FRY to the other four new states, but would make even more
determined the unfounded demands for war reparations already advanced by
Croatian and Moslem-Croatian Federation officials. Asked whether
compromises regarding secession would possibly settle some other problems,
Dr. Gnjatovic offered the following example: in 1992, the Yugoslav
Government agreed that the SFRY quota at the IMF be divided among "five
interested sides" which was allegedly the condition for the solution of the
status of FR Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav republics. However, all
newly formed states - Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina, subsequently established effective relations with the
International Monetary Fund, and they have received funding but FR
Yugoslavia has not. Now we are expected to make concessions to have the
sanctions outer wall lifted. Even if we were to agree to some compromises,
this would not warrant the lifting of the sanctions outer wall, because new
conditions are constantly brought up, such as Kosovo, the Hague trial and
others still - said Dr. Gnjatovic.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Politika, 1997-02-22
[10] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAV AND FINNISH PARLIAMENTARIANS
Mixed party delegations of the Yugoslav and Finnish parliament foreign
policy committees met at the Federal Parliament and discussed the current
events in FR Yugoslavia, in particular the situation in the province of
Kosovo and Metohija. Mr. Ljubisa Ristic - Chairman of the Federal
Parliament Chamber of Citizens Committee, underscored the traditional
friendship between the two countries and the sincere Yugoslav endorsement
of peace in the region. Commenting the situation in Kos-Met, Mr. Ristic
reiterated the government position that the province is an inalienable part
of Serbia and FR Yugoslavia and that secession of that part of the country
will not be allowed, contrary to the ambitions of given parties, groups and
extremists in Kos-Met. FR Yugoslavia is pursuing a policy of full equality
of all citizens, said Mr. Ristic - adding that Kos-Met can not be an
exception and that neither Albanians nor Serbs living in the province
should enjoy greater privileges that other Yugoslav citizens.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Borba, 1997-02-22
[11] COMPLETE RENEWAL OF RELATIONS BETWEEN FRY AND ARAB COUNTRIES
Deputy Federal Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic indicated in a special
statement for the most highly circulated Jordanian daily "Shihan" that in
the past several years the non-objective presentation of the Yugoslav
stands, of the true reasons for the disintegration of former Yugoslavia and
the responsibility of given factors, jeopardized the traditionally friendly
relations our country had with the Arab world. Underscoring the fact that
all international factors agreed that Federal Republic of Yugoslavia gave
the greatest contribution to the peace process, Mr. Zivadinovic indicated
hope that in the coming period relations and cooperation between Yugoslavia
and the Arab countries will quickly be brought back to the level of the
past decades.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Politika, 1997-02-24
[12] OSCE AFTER UNTAES
After the UNTAES mandate in Croatia expires next January, every Croatian
move regarding the Srem-Baranja Region will be strictly monitored by the
OSCE. This request has been motioned by the UN Transition Administrator
Jacques Klein at an OSCE meeting in Vienna. Member countries of the
European Council, European Union and OSCE are highly interested in general
Klein's proposal as his deputy Derrick Boudby confirmed. "The supervision
will last for some time, maybe even several years, that will be needed for
the people here to start living in peace", said Mr. Boudby. He also
confirmed the decision that the entire region be demilitarized in the next
several years.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Vecernje Novosti, 1997-02-24
[13] ENCOURAGING RESULTS IN THE STABILIZATION OF PRICES AND THE DINAR
EXCHANGE RATE
Having analyzed the results achieved in production, imports, exports and
all other economic parameters last year and at the beginning of this year,
the Serbian Government concluded that the achievements are generally as
expected. Particularly encouraging are the results in the stabilization of
the price stabilization and dinar exchange rate. Along with a steady supply
of the domestic market, exports have been increased 40 per cent. The
somewhat slower production growth - 1,4% is primarily due to seasonal
causes and the persistence of the outer wall of sanctions. The Government
will expand the set of existing measures for the economic policy
implementation adding actions to accelerate industrial production and other
sectors, which will allow the realization of ambitious plans for a 14%
production increase and a 40% exports growth.
Serbia Today, 1997-02-24 ; Politika, 1997-02-22
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