Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-05-23

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From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>

May 23, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW

CONTENTS

[01] CROATIA'S AMNESTY FOR SERBS BADLY FLAWED

[02] IZETBEGOVIC AGAINST ELECTIONS IN MOSTAR

[03] BRITAIN'S JOHN MAJOR DUE IN BOSNIA ON FRIDAY

[04] CROATIAN WRITER GOTOVAC: TUDJMAN HAS INTRODUCED AUTHORITARIAN REGIME

[05] MOSTAR ELECTIONS POSTPONED

[06] BEOGRADSKA BANKA RATED 13TH AMONG 100 TOP EAST EUROPEAN BANKS

[07] YUGOSLAVIA, MACEDONIA SIGN PROTOCOLS ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT

[08] FEDERATION PRESIDENT ZUBAK OPPOSES POSTPONEMENT OF MOSTAR ELECTIONS

[09] JACQUES KLEIN: DEMILITARIZATION BEGINS WELL

[10] BULAJIC: JASENOVAC SHOULD BE PLACED UNDER INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

[11] FROWICK, SOLANA ON ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

[12] KORNBLUM, MILOSEVIC DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

[13] MONTGOMERY SAYS U.S. WILL AID RECONSTRUCTION OF ALL PARTS OF BOSNIA

[14] HEARING OF EVIDENCE IN KARADZIC, MLADIC CASE STARTS ON JUNE 27

[15] ICRC OFFICIAL: MORE THAN 10,000 MISSING PERSONS IN BOSNIA

[16] U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL ASKS CROATIA TO AMNESTY ALL SERBS

[17] KORNBLUM: ALL PARTIES SHOULD LIVE UP TO DAYTON ACCORDS COMMITMENTS

[18] BURNS: NO PLANS TO REIMPOSE SANCTIONS AGAINST SERBIA

[19] COMMEMORATION CEREMONIES ON CORFU

[20] DEMILITARIZATION OF SREM-BARANJA REGION IN THREE STAGES

[21] SERBIA: 397,000 REFUGEES POLLED SO FAR

[22] FRANCE CONCERNED ABOUT SITUATION IN BOSNIA

[23] MEETING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON ACCORDS TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY

[24] TALKS ON FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OF CIVILIANS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

[25] SERB REGION SEEKS SPECIAL STATUS IN CROATIA

[01] CROATIA'S AMNESTY FOR SERBS BADLY FLAWED

'it's not really an amnesty, it's a hunting license that can spell disaster later,' a u.n. official said.

'untaes from top to bottom is dissatisfied and disappointed with this law,' the official said, adding that 'the law leaves ambiguous the fate of all the serbs who fled other parts of croatia'.

about 300,000 serbs were expelled in croatia's aggressions on the republic of serb krajina last summer.

the serb region of eastern slavonia, baranja and western srem is the only part of rsk on which croatia did not carry out an aggression. representatives of croatia and the region reached agreement last november on one-year internationsal administration for the region.

'croats who would like to reduce ethnic minorities to a bare minimum are not unhappy with this amnesty law,' another u.n. official said, adding that the law 'fails to address fundamental, legitimate concerns of serbs who are not guilty of anything'.

the law 'may encourage anxious serbs in eastern slavonia to flee when our mandate is over. this would defeat our purpose - to restore a multi-ethnic society here', he said.

'we hope for some diplomatic pressure on croatia to improve the law,' he added.

the croatian parliament friday enacted an amnesty law for serbs, but only those from the serb region.

the amnesty, reuters observes, however excludes thousands of serbs who were not resident in eastern slavonia in 1991, as well as refugees from other parts of croatia.

thousands of those serb refugees found sanctuary in eastern slavonia, untaes officials said quoted by reuters.

politically influenced croatian police and courts do not define war crimes as strictly as in the west, a u.n. official said.

'they would probably arrest more people than we'd like them to,' he said.

[02] IZETBEGOVIC AGAINST ELECTIONS IN MOSTAR

the agence france presse news agency quoted izetbegovic as telling the bosnian bh press agency that the muslim position was the elections cannot be held until people who inhabited mostar before 1991 and are now refugees abroad, are allowed to vote.

before the outbreak of the war in bosnia in 1991, mostar had 40,000 serbs who were expelled by the muslim-croat forces. noone had even mentioned the voting rights of these serbs and their possibile participation at the elections.

1,3 5#43-53,3d 59 ?96:955 5#3 .-6 31 elections in mostar unless the muslim refugees are allowed to vote.

the bosnian croats support the mostar elections and agree to the electoral conditions set by the international committee.

peres casado on thursday meets in zagreb with croatian president franjo tudjman to discuss problems regarding the elections in mostar.

mostar was one of the sites of fierce muslim-croat conflicts in 1993. the city remained divided after the bosnian muslims and croats, under pressure from the united states, set up their own federation in march 1994.

[03] BRITAIN'S JOHN MAJOR DUE IN BOSNIA ON FRIDAY

the agence france presse said that major would visit the british banjaluka headquarters and meet with gen. michael jackson, the ifor ground troops commander.

afp said that major might have some meetings of a political nature, without stating with whom he might meet.

currently britain has about 8,700 troops engaged in the peace implementation mission in nortwestern bosnia, the news agency said.

[04] CROATIAN WRITER GOTOVAC: TUDJMAN HAS INTRODUCED AUTHORITARIAN REGIME

after a meeting with czech president vaclav havel on wednesday, gotovac sharply criticized tudjman's croatian democratic union (hdz) for its effort to remain in power at all costs, the paper said on thursday.

they have demonstrated such intention even in the case of zagreb where tudjman has rejected mayor candidates proposed by the opposition which won local elections.

gotovac accused the ruling hdz of suppressing the freedom of press, encroaching on the independence of the judicial system and imposing political control on the army and police.

[05] MOSTAR ELECTIONS POSTPONED

'you are aware that the situation in mostar is very serious,' said steiner who is deputy to the international community's high representative for civilian questions, carl bildt.

foreign agencies quoted steiner as saying that following intensive consultations between the representatives of the two sides and the e.u. administration, it was decided that all who were forced to leave mostar during the war, should be allowed to vote at the elections.

steiner said he would guarrantee the return of muslim representatives to the electoral committee and that the e.u. administration would announce the exact date of the elections.

the ruling muslim party of democratic action (sda) and several opposition parties said they would boycott the elections following the e.u. administration's decision not to allow those who left the city during the war to vote at the elections first set for may 31.

bosnian muslim president alija izetbegovic said that about 30,000 people, mainly serbs and muslims, had left the city during the war and that now they live abroad as refugees. izetbegovic demanded that they be allowed to vote either by post or in muslim embassies.

last week muslim representatives pulled out of the electoral committee and the e.u. representatives announced this would technically postpone the elections.

muslim-croat federation president kresimir zubak has said that the bosnian croats are willing to accept a 'reasonable' postponment of the elections.

a member of the sarajevo muslim government who asked not to be named, said that the elections would most probably be held in late june.

[06] BEOGRADSKA BANKA RATED 13TH AMONG 100 TOP EAST EUROPEAN BANKS

the rating list appeared in the april issue of the renowned london magazine the banker and included three more yugoslav banks -- vojvodjanska banka of novi sad (rated 30th), jugobanka dd of belgrade (32nd) and privredna banka of novi sad (100th).

the biggest bank in east europe is the czech komercni banka of prague, with the active capital of 855 million dollars and 11.078 billion dollars in assets.

[07] YUGOSLAVIA, MACEDONIA SIGN PROTOCOLS ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT

the draft texts of the relevant inter-state agreements were nearly adjusted during a two-day visit to yugoslavia of macedonian deputy minister of transportation and communications branko petkovski, a government statement said.

yugoslav minister of transportation and communications zoran vujovic discussed with petkovski thursday cooperation between the two countries in the respective domains.

the two sides agreed that quite a bit had been accomplished in the implementation of a protocol on inter-state cooperation in transportation and communications, signed less than a month ago during a meeting between vujovic and his macedonian counterpart.

regular air links have been restored between belgrade and skopje and work on the adjustment of the draft texts of the relevant inter-state agreements has nearly been completed.

vujovic said cooperation between yugoslavia and macedonia in transportation and communications would help promote the overall economic relations between the two countries, the statement said.

yugoslavia and the republic of macedonia normalized relations in early april.

macedonia seceded from the former yugoslav federation peacefully after a referendum in september 1991.

[08] FEDERATION PRESIDENT ZUBAK OPPOSES POSTPONEMENT OF MOSTAR ELECTIONS

zubak said the croat side would agree that the local elections in mostar be put off 'for a reasonable date' so that all sides would participate in them, croatian radio reported.

zubak said the elections could be moved for three weeks at the most and 'have to be held before the european union's current mandate expires' on july 23 this year.

'we absolutely cannot accept the variant that the elections in mostar be held in september, at the time of the general elections in bosnia-herzegovina,' the federation president said.

mostar has remained divided into the muslim eastern section and the croat western despite the formal creation of the muslim-croat federation under a march 1994 agreement.

the agreement was signed after a year of fierce mutual fighting between muslims and croats in central and southern bosnia.

zubak said the published electoral rules for mostar's city council and six municipal councils must be respected, meaning that only those who happen to be in the area on the date of the elections will be able to cast ballots.

mayor of the city's muslim section safet orucevic has repeated on muslim radio that there will be no elections unless mostar muslims living abroad as refugees or displaced persons are enabled to vote in diplomatic-consular missions.

the crisis concerning the elections has prompted the european union's administrator of mostar, ricardo perez casado of spain, to hold talks with muslim leader alija izetbegovic in sarajevo wednesday.

perez casado is due to travel to zagreb thursday for talks with croatian president franjo tudjman, as announced.

[09] JACQUES KLEIN: DEMILITARIZATION BEGINS WELL

the serb region of eastern slavonia, baranja and western srem is the only part of the former republic of serb krajina that croatia did not occupy. in line with the erdut agreement signed at the end of last year, the region was placed under one-year u.n. administration, with a possible extension by another year.

demilitarization will make the military period a thing of the past, so that all efforts can focus on economic recovery and projects which will benefit all inhabitants of the region, klein said at a press conference in osijek, croatia.

all heavy weapons must be removed from the serb region within one month, he said, adding that any remaining heavy weapons will be destroyed after that deadline.

[10] BULAJIC: JASENOVAC SHOULD BE PLACED UNDER INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

speaking at a press conference in belgrade, bulajic backed the museum's initiative for placing jasenovac under international protection, and proposed that the existing memorial be reconstructed.

he again described as morbid the idea of croatian president franjo tudjman to turn jasenovac into a memorial to the victims and their ustasha executioners alike.

'the camp is the essence of our tragedy,' he said, adding that 'one cannot understand the yugoslav tragedy and the plight of serbs unless he grasps the roots of jasenovac.'

he said tudjman resorted to fake information, and reminded of his persistant reviewing of the number of jasenovac victims, cutting down the real number of killed serbs, jews and romanies to about 20,000.

according to the museum's documentation, that figure covers only the age group of up to 14 (19,554), bujalic said.

the total number of victims is closer to 700,000, he said, adding that germany as well as a croatian state commission possessed documents corroborating the figure.

bulajic rejected as untrue tudjman's argument that croatian domobran and ustasha members had been killed in jasenovac between 1945 and 1948.

he urged that april 22 -- the day of the victims of genocide, which marks the day when jasenovac inmates had broken free from the camp -- be included in the calendar as one of the most important dates marked nationally and internationally.

tudjman's idea of burying together the remains of the victims and their killers is not new, it was proposed about 20 years back in tudjman's book 'the wasteland of historical reality,' bulajic said, describing the book as 'the croatian version of hitler's 'mein kampf.''

president of the association of jewish communes in yugoslavia aca singer said that 'jasenovac is particularly important for the history of holocaust' as it was the place where 90 percent of croatia's jews had been killed (20,000).

unlike german world war two death camps, where jews were killed in an 'industrial' fashion, jasenovac was a place where the executioners were croatian ustasha members alone and where the killings were committed individually and in the most brutal manner, singer said.

he said it was unconceivable that the victims and their killers should be buried in the same grave, and he backed the proposal that jasenovac be placed under u.n. protection.

in his opinion, it would be a guarantee that 'the memory of the victims will be preserved for next generations.'

president of the commission for war reparation of the world romany organization dragoljub ackovic described tudjman's plan as a trick and said that a special resolution on jasenovac would be adopted at the fifth world romany congress in salonica in july.

[11] FROWICK, SOLANA ON ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

frowick, who conferred wednesday with nato secretary-general javier solana and attended a session of the north atlantic council, said that whether peace would return to bosnia-herzegovina and the balkans directly depended on the success of the elections in bosnia.

nato is in charge of the implementation of the military aspects of the dayton peace agreement for bosnia-herzegovina.

its council lent full support to frowick's hitherto work and promised to assist him in his further efforts.

frowick said the elections in mostar, a city divided between muslims and croats, could be organized within the general elections in bosnia-herzegovina scheduled for september or october this year.

he said most of the conditions for normal balloting, above all the return of refugees, could be secured by then.

solana said a stepped up return of refugees was one of the chief conditions for calming the situation in bosnia-herzegovina.

he said implementation force members had successfully carried out the military tasks and would now devoted more time to providing assistance in civilian affairs, including in election preparations.

solana said the primary task of ifor members would be to secure the freedom of movement on all of bosnia-herzegovina territory, which he said was particularly important for the return of refugees.

the nato secretary-general said it would continue to be the duty of ifor to cooperate with the hague-based international war-crimes tribunal, meaning to capture and arrest suspects when possible.

[12] KORNBLUM, MILOSEVIC DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

addressing a brief press conference after the meeting with milosevic, kornblum said that he supported the recent changes in the (bosnian serb) republika srpska leadership and that consistent implementation of the dayton agreement should continue.

the republika srpska may expect benefits like the others if it continues to consistently implement the peace plan, kornblum said.

he said he expected the republika srpska to make some concrete steps to confirm its commitment to the implementation of the agreement.

[13] MONTGOMERY SAYS U.S. WILL AID RECONSTRUCTION OF ALL PARTS OF BOSNIA

montgomery told reporters after meeting with banjaluka mayor predrag radic that the u.s. administration was ready to back the approval of reconstruction loans.

he said the loans would be provided by the world bank but the funds must not go to war-crime suspects, since they were intended solely for those who fully abide by the dayton accords.

montgomery told the press he hoped it would transmit the message to the people of the bosnian serb republika srpska.

he said the u.s. administration was disappointed that a republika srpska delegation had not participated in the conference of donors held in brussels in april.

he said he was strongly convinced the ordinary people in republika srpska were the chief loosers as a result of such a decision.

montgomery and u.s. ambassador in sarajevo john menzies, who also attended the talks, inquired about preparations for the upcoming general elections in bosnia-herzegovina and the political climate in republika srpska.

mayor radic said he had informed montgomery that conditions had been created in banjaluka for the upcoming elections and that more than 30 parties were based in the city.

radic said he had also informed montgomery and menzies about the situation in banjaluka, from which 35,000 residents had moved out during the four-year civil war but another 85,000 had moved in.

he said the issue of repatriation was therefore 'an issue of the return home of all who were forced to leave.'

radic said aid was needed for the reconstrutcion of the infrastructure, above all the electricity system, schools, hospitals and social welfare institutions.

[14] HEARING OF EVIDENCE IN KARADZIC, MLADIC CASE STARTS ON JUNE 27

the hearing will proceed under the rule of procedure covering cases where a warrant of arrest has not been issued.

a number of witnesses and forensic experts will appear at the hearing before a panel of judges presided by french judge claude jorda.

the panel may decide on the basis of evidence to stop the proceedings or to issue an international warrant of arrest, which would be obligatory not only for the signatories of the dayton agreement but for all members of the united nations.

tribunal sources confirmed on wednesday that the court president, italian judge antonio cassese, is preparing a new intervention in the united nations security council to remind the signatories of the dayton agreement once again of their obligation to cooperate with the court.

[15] ICRC OFFICIAL: MORE THAN 10,000 MISSING PERSONS IN BOSNIA

kraehenbiell told a press conference that the icrc mission in bosnia had so far processed and forwarded to the inter-ethnic working group for missing persons about 4,000 requests for search, while the others were being worked on.

in order to speed up the search, the icrc will this week start showing on television lists with the names of the registered missing persons, and will start distributing leaflets of the same content in two weeks.

kraehenbiell informed the press that the working group -- which includes three representatives of the confronted sides each and international observers -- would meet in sarajevo on june 4.

he said officials of associations in charge of missing fighters and civilians from both bosnian entities would also be allowed to attend the session.

[16] U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL ASKS CROATIA TO AMNESTY ALL SERBS

the request was made in a presidential statement issued in connection with the latest report by secretary general boutros boutros-ghali about the situation in the eastern slavonia, barania and west srem region.

the region is currently administered by the united nations' transitional authority (untaes).

the security council asked zagreb to make this amnesty comprehensive and implement it in full as soon as possible.

last friday, croatia enacted an amnesty law pardoning only serbs in the region of eastern slavonia, barania and west srem, and leaving out those from areas that the croatian army overran last summer, displacing their majority serb populations.

the united nations views the partial legislation as flawed. an unnamed u.n. official has told reuters that this is not an amnesty, but a hunting licence that might prove disastrous in the end.

the official said that untaes was deeply disappointed and dissatisfied with the amnesty legislation, which he said did not consider the serbs who fled from the others parts of croatia.

croatia's aggression on the republic of serb krajina in the summer of 1995 displaced about 300,000 serbs. the only part of serb krajina spared a croatian invasion is the region of eastern slavonia, barania and west srem.

boutros-ghali's report, debated by the security council on wednesday, said that the new 5,000-strong u.n. force in the region was ready to implement and supervise the demilitarisation process that began on tuesday.

the council invited the signatories to the november 1995 serb-croatian accord on a peaceful settlement of the region's problems to cooperate with untaes.

it urged them also to refrain from all actions that might jeopardise peace, the demilitarisation process and the implementation of the accord.

the council enjoined the zagreb regime and the region's serbs to cooperate between themselves, create a climate of mutual trust and show maximum respect for the human rights of the local population.

[17] KORNBLUM: ALL PARTIES SHOULD LIVE UP TO DAYTON ACCORDS COMMITMENTS

kornblum was speaking in a news conference after talks with croatian president franjo tudjman in zagreb on the implementation of the dayton peace accords reached last november and the peace process in the region of eastern slavonia, barania and western srem.

the predominantly serb-populated region that borders on croatia and yugoslavia was placed under a one-year u.n. transitional administration under an agreement signed between croatian officials and representatives of serbs in the region last november.

he said a very active period of preparations for elections in bosnia-herzegovina was to follow soon, describing it as a major step in the implementation of the dayton accords.

kornblum, who will leave zagreb for sarajevo on thursday, said talks on arms control in bosnia-herzegovina would soon resume.

kornblum met with serbian president slobodan milosevic in belgrade earlier in the day.

[18] BURNS: NO PLANS TO REIMPOSE SANCTIONS AGAINST SERBIA

burns made the statement on wednesday at a regular press conference at the height of the local media campaign which was launched with the objective of removing from their positions (bosnian serb) republika srpska leader radovan karadzic and r.s. army commander gen. ratko mladic and delivering them to the hague tribunal for war crimes committed in the territory of former yugoslavia.

the question about the reimposing of sanctions against yugoslavia was triggered by reports that mladic was in belgrade on tuesday at the funeral of r.s. army gen. djordje djukic, who died soon after he was released from a hague prison.

gen. djukic had been on trial for war crimes in the hague even though he was a logistics officer. the court did not drop charges against him, however, even though no evidence had been introduced to substantiate the charges.

'i don't think it would be wise for us to react emotionally just because we've seen...the video of mladic in belgrade yesterday,' burns said.

burns reiterated washington's stand that the clinton administration would not allow anyone to jeopardize the implementation of the dayton peace accords.

burns said washington insisted that those indicted by the hague tribunal must be excluded from political life in republika srpska. he pointed out that the administration would not accept to communicate or cooperate with karadzic in any way.

he said karadzic would have to go because that was an integral part of the dayton accords. the administration will cooperate with those serbs in bosnia who will work on the full implementation of the accords, he said.

burns said the u.s. would have to insist that all sides fully comply with what had been agreed in dayton.

burns confirmed that hague tribunal chief prosecutor richard goldstone had been in washington these days and that he had asked that the nato peace force in bosnia persecute persons indicted by the court.

it has been learned here that goldstone's mission had not been successful. u.s. military and political leaders still insist that the peace force mission in bosnia is to preserve peace and not catch suspected war crimibnals.

[19] COMMEMORATION CEREMONIES ON CORFU

the serbian delegation is headed by serbian premier mirko marjanovic.

in the morning commemorations will be held on the nearby island of vidho. the yugoslav delegations will lay wreaths at the mausoleum where the remains of more than 5,000 serb soldiers are buried. afterwards a mass will be held.

wreaths and flowers will also be thrown in the ionian sea, the grave of 10,000 serb soldiers.

marjanovic will this evening adress a special academy marking the anniversary. end jpe/mb

[20] DEMILITARIZATION OF SREM-BARANJA REGION IN THREE STAGES

the process is planned to take part in three stages, vecernje novosti said and added that the first stage had already been completed. it involved contacts between the local commands and untaes, their precise agreement about the implementation of the demilitarization and the handing over of maps showing mine field locations.

the second stage will last one month and will involve disarmament by june 21, after which no-one will be allowed to carry arms except for untaes and the police.

the third stage calls for the destruction of the gathered weapons. the demobbed troops will be allowed to wear their uniforms but without rank insignia.

untaes commander general jozef schoups of belgium will be in charge of the demilitarization, but responsibility for the entire process lies with the slavonija-baranja corps command, headed by major general dusan loncar. untaes will oversee all activities and provide the necessary support and aid, gen. schoups said.

vecernje novosti said that gen. loncar faces the biggest challenge of his carreer as he will personally have to disband the slavonija-baranja corps to help maintain peace.

the demilitarization plan allows the serb general the possibility of removing the arms from the region or gathering and handing it over to untaes to be destroyed later.

asked who will protect the local popuation after the demilitarization is completed, and in which way, untaes spokesman phil arnold said:

'i believe that 5,000 well-armed and specially trained untaes troops, correctly spread throught the region and aided by the local police, will be sufficient guarrantee for the safety of all people.'

'we are capable of preventing all attempts to infiltrate armed groups and arms smugglers. this is why demilitarization is a major step in untaes' two-year mission whose ultimate aim is the peaceful reintegration of the region within the internationally recognized borders of the republic of croatia,' arnold said. end md/jpe/mb

[21] SERBIA: 397,000 REFUGEES POLLED SO FAR

morina said more and more refugees wanted to be polled as the final day of the poll, june 1, was approaching.

according to figures obtained so far, there are between 600,000 and 700,000 refugees and expelled persons from the territory of former yugoslavia in the yugoslav federation of serbia and montenegro.

morina expressed satisfaction that all participants at the meeting of the working group for humanitarian affairs in geneva last week had once again given their firm support to the principles for the return of refugees.

she also said she was happy that agreement had been reached on visits by refugeespnjpfb34'9,' 59 5#384 !94.34 #9.3'.

'it has been agreed that group visits by refugees in both entities in bosnia-herzegovina must be organized in full coordination with the local authorities and realized in the presence of representatives of the u.n. high commissioner for refugees and international military forces,' morina said.

she announced visits would be organized also for refugees who are in yugoslavia and wish to visit their former homes in the area of bosnia-herzegovina so as to assess conditions for their return.

[22] FRANCE CONCERNED ABOUT SITUATION IN BOSNIA

paris, may 23 (tanjug) - france is concerned about the deterioration of the situation in bosnia and in the entire balkan region.

paris continues to view bosnia as the source of crisis and dangers, although the war has stopped. the only source of satisfaction is the realization of the military part of the dayton agreement, but this is insufficient to guarrantee a stable peace.

france's current disappointment stems from the failure of the civilian part of the peace agreement and some believe that this could undermine the success in the military sphere.

president jacques chirac has indicated that now the march towards peace has practically been blocked. mentioned is the importance of the ancient formula that if there is a lack of progress, then there will be a decline. thus, france believes that in bosnia now 'one step forward is followed by two steps backward.' strategists do not exclude the possibility of renewed fighting.

in bosnia there is an increasing number of focuses of crises. this primarily refers to the crisis of the muslim-croat federation. paris has fully left to the united states to save this product of its 'strong-arm diplomacy' which has never been popular here. following the recently signed agreement in washington, with which the united states tried to create a 'military backbone' of the federation, here it is concluded that events are measured 'from agreement to agreement, but that the crises always remains.' paris paper le mond said that the bosnian croats persistently prove they do not want 'a brotherly existence' with the muslims.

thus, it is being concluded that in bosnia 'the logic of definitive ethnic separation' is now gathering momentum.

foreign minister herve de charette said that france would be forced to change its policy unless this process, which directly threatens peace, is halted.

however, it is logical to wonder whether france has sufficient strength, together with its european partners, to stop this because europe's efforts have mainly been unsuccessful in the resolution of the 'yugoslav crisis.'

nevertheless, france has not lost all hope of 'saving multi-ethinc bosnia' because this is where the actual realization of the dayton agreement is being resolved.

france also views as unfavourable the current leadership conflict in the bosnian serb state republika srpska primarily because this weakens the position and role of republika srpska within the peace process. paris' position is that the equal participation of republika srpska is needed for the resolution of the post-war problems in bosnia.

the crisis is further complicated by the hague tribunal whose ambitions are to make decisions about the political fate of peace in bosnia, rather than to pass judgement. this is why the tribunal is turning into a political means of certain forces, especailly those who continue fanning the anti-serb sentiment in the west.

therefore, it is not surprising that these forces are strongly condeming e.u. governments, especially france, for normalizing relations with belgrade at top diplomatic level, thus confirming yugoslavia's crucial role in the peace process. president chirac was criticized for a 'revisionist interpretation of history' due to his decisive urging of cooperation with belgrade.

paris analysts view as threatening the u.s. resolve to withdraw its troops form bosnia next january even if a stable peace is not secured. france and its european partners are strongly opposed to this, but there are no signs that the americans are willing to abandon their ultimative conduct. end jpe/mb

[23] MEETING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON ACCORDS TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY

the meeting will gather senior foreign ministry officials from the 'contact group' (france, britain, russia, germany, u.s.) and a number of other countries.

a report on the situation in the bih will be submitted by carl bildt, international community representative for the implementation of the civilian aspect of the dayton accords.

the past few days bildt has held talks in belgrade, sarajevo, pale (administrative centre of the republika srpska, the serb entity in the bih) and banja luka (the biggest city in this entity).

bildt will confer with french foreign minister herve de charette, and might also meet president jacques chirac.

[24] TALKS ON FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OF CIVILIANS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

doboj and teslic are in the republika srpska (r.s., the serb entity in the bih) while tesanj is in the muslim-croat federation in this former yugoslav republic.

the meeting, held at the nordic-polish brigade headquarters in doboj, was attended by representatives of the united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr).

in the past thirty days the muslims have caused several incidents, killing and hurting several people, when they tried to enter doboj and some other towns in the r.s. in an unorganized way and without permissions from the serb authorities and from ifor (international force for the implementation of the peace agreement).

[25] SERB REGION SEEKS SPECIAL STATUS IN CROATIA

the concept of special status, defined at a special meeting of the vukovar assembly, proposes that the region have its own assembly and government, the right to regional citizenship and passports, regional police, its own or some other currency, educational system, courts, the right to use the serbian language, its own anthem, coat-of-arms, flag and economic administration.

the region would be demilitarized for an indefinite period and its population would not be under obligation to serve in the army.

the region is the only part of the former republic of serb krajina that the croatian army has not occupied.

under the erdut agreement reached at the end of 1995, the region was placed under one-year u.n. administration, but the transitional period may be extended for another year.

the vukovar assembly proposed that the right of vote be given to all people living in the region for more than six months and that the same criterion be applied in granting regional citizenship.

under the proposed concept, it would be possible for the regional assembly to adopt some legal provisions but the croatian president would be entitled to veto them if they should overstep the authority.

the region would have a special representative in the croatian parliament and the croatian government in the regional assembly.

a special expert team (regional delegation) would be set up, with half of its members representing the croatian government and the other half the regional government.

the assembly members said that the concept of special status should be based on the principles applied in similar situations by western democracies and that it would preserve the region's multi-ethnic and multi-confessional character.

Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996

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