YDS 12/13

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

From: ddc@nyquist.bellcore.com (D.D. Chukurov)

13 DECEMBER 1995 YDS-1037

C O N T E N T S :

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA - CLINTON INDICATES WISH TO MEET WITH MILOSEVIC - U.N. ENVOY STOLTENBERG PRAISES MILOSEVIC'S ROLE IN BOSNIA PEACE

YUGOSLAVIA - UN - U.N. OFFICIAL: RIGHT MOMENT FOR YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION IN U.N.

YUGOSLAVIA - BULGARIA - KONTIC: YUGOSLAV-BULGARIAN COOPERATION ENTERS NEW STAGE

YUGOSLAVIA - CZECH REPUBLIC - YUGOSLAVIA, CZECH REPUBLIC REVIVE TIES

FRENCH PILOTS RELEASED - FRENCH PILOTS RELEASED AS CONTRIBUTION TO BOSNIA PEACE - FRENCH PILOT SAID TREATED WELL - JUPPE EXPRESSES GRATITUDE TO MILOSEVIC - CLINTON PLEASED THAT FRENCH AIRMEN HAVE BEEN FREED - INTERNATIONAL FACTORS WELCOME RELEASE OF TWO FRENCH PILOTS

BOSNIA - DAYTON PEACE AGREEMENT - SARAJEVO SERBS VOTE AGAINST JOINING MUSLIM-CROAT FEDERATION - CROATIAN PARLIAMENT VERIFIES BOSNIA PEACE AGREEMENT - BOSNIAN MUSLIMS, CROATS ENDORSE DAYTON PEACE AGREEMENT

CROATIA - SREM-BARANJA REGION - CHRISTOPHER NOTIFIES TUDJMAN OF U.S. CONCERN OVER DESTRUCTION OF SERB PROPERTY - COUNCIL OF EUROPE CALLS ON CROATIA TO ENABLE RETURN OF SERBS TO KRAJINA - STOLTENBERG WARNS AGAINST DELAY IN IMPLEMENTING CROAT-SERB ACCORD

CLINTON INDICATES WISH TO MEET WITH MILOSEVIC Paris, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - U.S. President Bill Clinton has shown a desire to meet in Paris with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic, Tanjug learned from Paris diplomatic sources on Tuesday. The meeting with Milosevic is expected to take place on Thursday, Dec. 14, according to the sources. Slobodan Milosevic is due to arrive in Paris at about noon on Wednesday, to sign the peace accord for Bosnia that was initialled in Dayton, Ohio, on Nov. 21. During the formal signing ceremony, Milosevic will address the statesmen assembled in Paris' Elysee Palace.

U.N. ENVOY STOLTENBERG PRAISES MILOSEVIC'S ROLE IN BOSNIA PEACE Oslo, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - U.N. Envoy to former Yugoslavia Thorvald Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic had played a crucial part in the peace process in the region. Stoltenberg, whose tour of office formally ends on Jan. 31, was speaking in a telephone interview with the Norwegian NTB news agency. He said that, in his view, the Serb-Croatian agreement about the Srem-Barania region (formerly U.N. Sector East) was of special importance to peace. Without it, he said, peace in Bosnia would be undermined and there would be a conflict between Serbs and Croats.

YUGOSLAVIA - UN

U.N. OFFICIAL: RIGHT MOMENT FOR YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION IN U.N. Geneva, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - Director-General of the U.N. Geneva Office Vladimir Petrovski has said that the moment is right for Yugoslavia's reintegration into the U.N. and its regional organs and institutions. During talks with a visiting Yugoslav delegation in Geneva on Tuesday, Petrovski said that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had in the past period suffered a lot as a result of the sanctions imposed on it and that time was coming for this to be corrected and for Yugoslavia to resume its due place in the international community. The U.N. Security Council will soon discuss this problem and a favorable outcome could be expected, Petrovski said. Petrovski said that the Yugoslav delegation had come to Geneva at the right moment, after the initialing of the Bosnia peace agreement in Dayton and the London Conference. He stressed the importance of continued cooperation with the U.N. and its chief bodies. The delegation, led by Yugoslav Minister Tomica Raicevic, on Tuesday heard almost the same views in talks with officials of the UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration and with Deputy Director of the World Food Program Boris Zinalsky. UNICEF will in the first three-month period next year send 2.3-million-dollars' worth of humanitarian supplies for about 215,000 children refugees in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

YUGOSLAVIA - BULGARIA

KONTIC: YUGOSLAV-BULGARIAN COOPERATION ENTERS NEW STAGE Belgrade, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic said here Tuesday he believed that Bulgaria and the F.R. of Yugoslavia have entered a new stage. This is what Kontic said at the talks with members of the Bulgarian state-economic delegation, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Cyril Tsochev. Opinions were exchanged about the promotion of Yugoslav-Bulgarian relations, first of all in the field of economic cooperation, as well as about basic issues of strengthening the peace process in the former Yugoslavia. Prime Minister Kontic thanked the Bulgarian Government for its principled position regarding the resolutiuon of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia and especially initiatives that sanctions on the F.R. of Yugoslavia (FRY) be lifted without delay. Mutual readiness was expressed at the talks that the remaining inter-state accords be signed as soon as possible. The accords are intended to strengthen and develop trade, economic, scientific-technical and other cooperation of interest for the promotion of good-neighbourliness and economic cooperation between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. The Vice-President of the Bulgarian Government expressed his readiness for intensifying political and economic cooperation between the two countries and satisfaction at the lifting of sanctions toyugoslavia, from which Bulgaria had 8.3 billion dollars of damage.

YUGOSLAVIA - CZECH REPUBLIC

YUGOSLAVIA, CZECH REPUBLIC REVIVE TIES Prague, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia's Deputy Foreign Minister Radoslav Bulajic said in Prague on Tuesday that there were no more obstacles to the revival of Yugoslav-Czech relations, especially in the economic sphere. Speaking at the close of a three-day visit to the Czech Republic, Bulajic said that Yugoslav and Czech businessmen had established in their contacts that bilateral trade could reach almost one billion dollars already next year. The volume of trade between the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia stood at 1.5 billion dollars. Bulajic met on Tuesday with Czech Foreign Minister Jozef Zieleniec, who accepted an invitation to visit Yugoslavia in January or February next year. The two sides also agreed to exchange visits of ministers of trade, transport and finance in order to reactivate or conclude new inter-state agreements in these areas. The revival of bilateral relations will culminate in a visit of Czech Prime Minsiter Vaclav Klaus to Yugoslavia in the first half of 1996.

FRENCH PILOTS RELEASED

FRENCH PILOTS RELEASED AS CONTRIBUTION TO BOSNIA PEACE Zvornik, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serb Army Commander Gen. Ratko Mladic paid tribute on Tuesday to politicians in the (Bosnian Serb State) Republika Srpska and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as having helped most with the release of the captured French airmen. Mladic said that many politicians and soldiers, too, had helped effect the release of the two French pilots, who were shot out of the Bosnian sky in late August while taking part in NATO air strikes against Bosnian Serb civilian and military targets. Speaking at a reception in the Vidikovac Hotel, Gen. Mladic wished the pilots a safe journey with the hope that they would never find themselves in a similar position. Mladic said he hoped that all those in a position to do so, should take the example of the release of the French pilots and help free all prisoners held by any side. Yugoslav Chief of Staff Gen. Momcilo Perisic said that the Serbian people and officers had again acted with dignity and honour when they released, safe and sound, the prisoners of war who had bombed their people. Nobody values peace more than the people who have fought for survival in these lands, Gen. Perisic told reporters before he left Zvornik. French Chief of Staff Gen. Jean-Philippe Douin informed President Jacques Chirac about the pilots' release by phone from the hotel. Gen. Douin quoted President Chirac as thanking those who had helped effect the release and saying he would receive the pilots personally. The time of peace has come and future actions will be those of peace, not violence as has been the case so far, Gen. Douin told the press. He said that this important development on the eve of the signing of the peace accord for Bosnia had been made possible by the joint and determined efforts of the Presidents of France, Russia and Yugoslavia. The Republika Srpska Army Command stressed that, in agreeing about the release of the pilots, the officials had taken into consideration the traditional friendship existing between the French and Serbian peoples.

FRENCH PILOT SAID TREATED WELL Zvornik, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - The released French pilot Jose Souvignet said Tueseday he was treated well during his 100-day detantion in Republika Srpska (RS). 'I was treated quite well as you can see,' Souvignet told reporters in Zvornik after Republika Srpska released him and his co-pilot Frederic Chiffot.

JUPPE EXPRESSES GRATITUDE TO MILOSEVIC Paris, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - French Prime Minister Alain Juppee on Tuesday evening expressed gratitude to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and France's partners in NATO - U.S., Great Britain and Germany, for their help in the liberation of the two French pilots captured in late August in the Bosnian Serb State Republika Srpska. Juppe informed the parliament that the pilots, Captain Frederic Chiffot and Lieutenant Jose Souvignet 'have been handed over to French Army Chief of General Staff, General Jean Philppe Douin.' Gen. Douin was in the town of Zvornik on Tuesday and was present when the two pilots crossed from the Republika Srpska into the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

CLINTON PLEASED THAT FRENCH AIRMEN HAVE BEEN FREED New York, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - The White House is happy that the two French Pilots captured in Bosnia have been released, and sees it as a sign of settling of the situation and relaxation of tensions in former Yugoslavia, Spokesman Mike Mccurry said on Tuesday. U.S. President Bill Clinton regards the release of the French airmen by the Bosnian Serbs as a good sign and evidence that the Bosnian warring parties are beginning to deal with problems in a peaceful and responsible way.

INTERNATIONAL FACTORS WELCOME RELEASE OF TWO FRENCH PILOTS London, New York, Belgrade, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind welcomed Tuesday's release of two French pilots, whose plane had been downed during NATO's bombing of Bosnian Serbs late in August. A Foreign Office Spokesman quoted Rifkind as saying that the settlement of the problem marked one step forward in the peace process. The report of the release of the airmen has brought relief also to the members of the Security Council, according to first unofficial reports. Cuncil President Sergei Lavrov of Russia described it as good news, speaking after the Council's session in New York on Tuesday. U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali issued a statementat U.N. Headquarters immediately after the release of the pilots. Boutros-Ghali thanked all those who had directly or indirectly helped solve the problem in a calm and responsible manner and in the spirit of the efforts that have produced the peace accord that is to be signed in Paris on Thursday. The Spanish Foreign Ministry has expressed great pleasure at the airmen's release, describing it as boding well for the implementation of the peace accord that should formally be signed in Paris on Dec.14. The Bonn Government sees the release of the airmen as a positive sign for the future implementation of the peace accord. Government Spokesman Peter Hausmann said on Tuesday that this crowned months of the international community's efforts, only two days before the formal signing in Paris of the peace accord that was initialled in Dayton, Ohio, on Nov. 21. German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel expressed his pleasure at the pilots' release in a telegram sent to his French opposite number Herve De Charette.

BOSNIA - DAYTON PEACE AGREEMENT

SARAJEVO SERBS VOTE AGAINST JOINING MUSLIM-CROAT FEDERATION Belgrade, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - Serbs living in Sarajevo voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to reject the provision in the Bosnia peaceaccord that gives the entire city of Sarajevo to the Muslim-Croat Federation. The Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA said that according to initial returns of the referendum, more than 90 percent of the Serbs had voted against joining the Federation. The official results will be released on Wednesday.

CROATIAN PARLIAMENT VERIFIES BOSNIA PEACE AGREEMENT Zagreb, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - The Croatian Parliament on Tuesday verified the Bosnia peace accord reached in Dayton, Ohio, late last month and the Serb-Croat agreement on eastern Slavonia (Srem-Baranja region). The documents were endorsed after a stormy debate that lasted for two days. The opposition parties, which had organised protest rallies throughout Croatia before the debate, tabled four declarations against the Dayton accord, none of which were passed because the opposition parties had not reached sufficient level of agreement. Their main argument was that the accord should not be signed in Paris on December 14 unless the Posavina region was given to the Bosnian Croats. The opposition also insisted on rejecting the eastern Slavonia (formerly U.N. Sector East) agreement that envisages international rule for the Serb-populated region for a period of one year and its demilitarisation.

BOSNIAN MUSLIMS, CROATS ENDORSE DAYTON PEACE AGREEMENT Belgrade, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - The Constituent Assembly of the Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation on Tuesday endorsed the Bosnia peace agreement reached in Dayton, Ohio late last month. Muslim Radio Sarajevo said that the Assembly had empowered outgoing Federation President Kresimir Zubak to sign the agreement in Paris on December 14. The Assembly also insisted that the northern Posavina region and the town of Brcko be given to the Muslim-Croat Federation following an international arbitration.

CROATIA - SREM-BARANJA REGION

CHRISTOPHER NOTIFIES TUDJMAN OF U.S. CONCERN OVER DESTRUCTION OF SERB PROPERTY Washington, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher has notified Croatian President Franjo Tudjman of the U.S. concern over the torching of Serb property by Croats in Bosnian areas which will go back to the Serbs under the Dayton agreement, the State Department said Monday evening. The U.S. is concerned at the torching of villages and houses by Bosnian Croats and some Croatian Army troops, Spokesman Nicholas Burns said. This is why Christopher had a long telephone conversation with Tudjman on Sunday, he added. Christopher asked Croatian President to exercise his influence with Bosnian Croats to make them stop the looting and torching of the towns which will be handed over to the Serbs in line with the peaceagreement reached in Dayton.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE CALLS ON CROATIA TO ENABLE RETURN OF SERBS TO KRAJINA Belgrade, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - Reporters of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly called on the Croatian Government to enable the return of Serbs to Krajina, the Council of Europe said in a statement to Tanjug Tuesday. The group of reporters, led by reporter of the Political Committee for examining Croatia's demand to join the Council of Europe, Rene Van Der Linden, returned Tuesday from a four-day visit to Croatia and the former U.N.- protected Sectors North and South. In talks with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Foreign Minister Mate Granic, reporters of the Council of Europe pointed out that Croatian authorities should bring to justice those responsible for crimes committed after the capturing of Krajina, the statement said. Reporters have received assurances from the Croatian Government that they will cooperate fully with the International Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in the Hague, the statement said. The Council of Europe also asked the Croatian authorities to take urgent measures to protect 19,000 Muslim refugees from the Cazin Krajina, west Bosnia, currently in the refugee camp of Kupljensko, some 60 Kilometers south of Zagreb. The refugees, supporters of Muslim politician Fikret Abdic, fled the offensive launched this fall by the Fifth Corps loyal to the central Muslim authorities in Sarajevo. After visiting the camp, Van Der Linden said that the reporters were shocked by the inhuman conditions in which these people, including many children, are forced to live - a longside a road and without proper shleter in below zero temperatures.

STOLTENBERG WARNS AGAINST DELAY IN IMPLEMENTING CROAT-SERB ACCORD Erdut, Dec. 12 (Tanjug) - U.N. Mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that any delay in implementing the Serb-Croatian agreement on the Srem-Baranja region could seriously threaten peace in the former Yugoslavia. During his farewell visit to the former U.N.-protected Sector East and talks with the Serb negotiating team headed by Milan Milanovic, Stoltenberg said that he had brought this danger recently to the attention of the U.N. Secretary-General. Stoltenberg said that U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali would submit a report to the Security Council on December 14 on the implementation of the Erdut agreement. He said his fears had been somewhat allayed after the Bosnia peace conference in London, which advocated a strict implementation of the agreement and set up a special fund for the purpose. Paying special tribute to the head of the Serb negotiating team, Stoltenberg said that the constructive and realistic approach of M.Milanovic had been invaluable not only in reaching the agreement, but for its implementation as well. Thanking Stoltenberg for his impartiality in negotiations with Croatia, Milanovic said that the next step - the implementation of the agreement - would depend primarily on the U.N. and the Indian diplomat who would act as the Civilian Affairs Coordinator. The Serb side estimates that the international force to be deployed in the region should have about 4,000 troops, said Milanovic.