Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-02-26

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

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

26 February 1996

CONTENTS

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - FRANCE

[01] FRANCE TO LEAD ACTION FOR YUGOSLAV RETURN TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

[02] RESTORATION OF FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

[B] SARAJEVO SERBS

[03] MUSLIM-CROAT POLICE EXCEED AUTHORITY, U.N. OFFICIAL SAYS

[04] SERB OFFICIAL, IFOR COMMANDER VISIT VOGOSCA

[05] 2,500 SERBS FROM HADZICI ARRIVE IN BRATUNAC

[06] EFFORTS ARE NEEDED TO CALM DOWN SITUATION IN SARAJEVO

[C] SANCTIONS AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBS

[07] KOLJEVIC VOICES CONFIDENCE THAT SANCTIONS WILL BE SUSPENDED

[08] RUSSIA'S U.N. ENVOY ON SUSPENSION OF SANCTIONS

[D] SREM-BARANJA REGION

[09] DEMILITARIZATION OF REGION BY MID-MAY

[10] OSCE OPENS OFFICE IN SREM-BARANJA REGION

[E] CROATIA - SERBS

[11] SECURITY COUNCIL AGAIN REPRIMANDS CROATIA

[12] SERBS DEPRIVED OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

[13] KRAJINA SERBS STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - FRANCE

[01] FRANCE TO LEAD ACTION FOR YUGOSLAV RETURN TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

The two governments now face serious tasks, the most important of which is to create conditions for Yugoslavia's return to the international community, the French Ambassador said in an interview with Kragujevac Radio in central Serbia.

France is determined to stand at the helm of such political action in Europe and worldwide, Keller said.

'We think that your country must urgently return to the United Nations and that it must be allowed to join all international financial institutions, which is very important in view of the period after the sanctions and the economic difficulties burdening Yugoslavia as a result,' the French diplomat said.

Belgrade's return to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe is inevitable, said Keller, adding that France maintained that Yugoslavia must be re-integrated into the international community because it had a role there.

[02] RESTORATION OF FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

Le Monde daily writes Saturday that Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is playing an important role in all peace endeavours aimed at finding a definite solution to all crises and conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

The peace plan is being implemented effectively in Bosnia, largely thanks to Belgrade, the daily writes.

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia can count on France's support to being recognized as successor of the former Yugoslav federation, which means that the new Yugoslavia would be reintegrated in various international community bodies and organizations, the paper writes.

France has encountered some resistance and suspicions from foreign diplomatic sources which have hinted at France's own specific reasons for an early establishment of diplomatic relations with Belgrade at the highest level. Germany especially sees the normalization of relations with Belgrade as premature, Le Monde writes, adding that France's example would shortly be followed by Spain and Britain.

[B] SARAJEVO SERBS

[03] MUSLIM-CROAT POLICE EXCEED AUTHORITY, U.N. OFFICIAL SAYS

News agencies quote Kris Janowski, spokesman for the UNHCR, as saying that federation police are conducting patrols unsupervised by international police, which is a direct violation of agreed rules of conduct.

Federation police have set up a checkpoint on the road between the suburbs of Vogosca and Ilijas, and are sping cars and checking identification papers and baggage, Janowski said and added that Serbs were complaining of being frightened.

He said he feared that this kind of behaviour on the part of the federation police could make those Serbs who might have been prepared to stay in their homes in Vogosca decide to go instead.

The flag of the Muslim Sarajevo government was raised on the Vogosca city hall building on Friday, Associated Press said and added that this was not the federation's flag and therefore flying it was not in keeping with agreements.

AP further said that pictures of Serb world war I heroes had been thrown out of the city hall, that many doors had been broken off their hinges and drawers in the office of former Serb Mayor Rajko Koprivica ransacked.

Reuters said that, as of Friday, Vogosca had a new Mayor, 37-year-old Muslim Muhamed Kozadra.

This industrial suburb is the first of five Sarajevo districts that should be handed over to Muslim-Croat federal control by March 20, under the Dayton peace accord for Bosnia.

[04] SERB OFFICIAL, IFOR COMMANDER VISIT VOGOSCA

Smith and Krajisnik promised an unhindered and safe passage out of those parts of Sarajevo to the local Serb population who wish to leave the city.

[05] 2,500 SERBS FROM HADZICI ARRIVE IN BRATUNAC

About 200 families of R.S. Army fighters killed in combat or of wounded war veterans were provided with new homes, while others were received in private homes or are accommodated temporarily in two schools, the Bratunac refugee reception center said Sunday evening.

[06] EFFORTS ARE NEEDED TO CALM DOWN SITUATION IN SARAJEVO

(by Tanjug's diplomatic editor Zoran Jevdjovic)

Belgrade, Feb. 24 (Tanjug) - The situation in the Serb part of Sarajevo, which can hardly leave anyone indifferent, is one of the expected difficulties in the process of restoring peace in Bosnia after three and a half years of war.

Efforts are therefore needed to calm down the situation, and they should be made not only by external factors but primarily by the leadership of the Republika Srpska.

Efforts should be directed toward solid guarantees for the Sarajevo serbs.

Leaving Sarajevo, which is to come under the rule of the Muslim-Croat federation, can hardly bring any good to the local Serbs, who are unfortunately abandoning their homes and moving out in columns through the snow-capped mountains around the city.

On the other hand, there are reasons and arguments showing that this is not their only choice.

Over the past few months, there has been an intensive diplomatic and political activity aimed at finding a compromise solution which will open a path to peace through agreement of all interested sides in Bosnia and abroad. Agreement means compromising, which is unfortunately often very painful. However, bearing in mind the situation in the past, much has been done to ensure solutions that would guarantee an end of war and better and safer future for the people exhausted by years of conflicts.

The problem of Sarajevo Serbs should be viewed in this context. In the interest of the people living in the communes that are coming under the Muslim-Croat rule, a new atmosphere should be created to make it possible for them to decide where they want to live without fear and according to their own private interests. This would help reduce tension and create better conditions for implementing the Dayton agreement. This would also make possible for the people to stay in their homes and secure future presence of Serbs in the region where they had lived for centuries.

A decision to stay, of course, is not an easy one to make. Incidents are possible, and they may be accidental as well as provoked by those who hope for a deterioration of the situation rather than for its stabilization.

It is clear, however, that the major international and domestic factors are interested in settling the problem of Sarajevo in the most satisfactory way possible.

We should therefore trust that the international guarantees given to the Sarajevo Serbs who wish to stay in the city are solid, and that everything will be done to ensure their full respect. Various efforts have been made since Dayton to secure those guarantees, and statements made from the highest levels should by no means be ignored or underestimated. The meeting in Rome brought new assurances about firm plans to secure a life in dignity and justice for the Sarajevo Serbs. After the meeting, the Bosnian Serb Prime Minister said that local Serbs would have the right to participate in local bodies and that, in this respect, the number of Serbs who had lived in the city before the civil war would be relevant.

As many Serbs have already moved out of Sarajevo, this will evidently be an important factor in securing them in the future. The Bosnian Serb leadership should therefore make efforts on its own part to help overcome the atmosphere of uncertainty.

Sarajevo Serbs need help in adjusting to the new situation, instead of packing up their few belongings and chosing an uncertainty that is greater than the uncertainty of staying.

Their position should be considered within the framework of the entirety of the Dayton agreement. The Serbs' safety in Sarajevo will be guaranteed primarily by a speedy normalization of the situation and an overall strengthening of the Bosnian Serbs position, rather than by an exhaustion through an endless chain of conflicts.

People in Sarajevo communes which are coming under the control of international forces and the Muslim-Croat federation on March 19 need help to make a rational decision, fully aware of their own interests and the situation.

Hysteria, fear and panic among the population is in the interest of some political groupings which manipulate the situation. Least of all, such fear should be instigated by moves from Pale.

Sarajevo Serbs may have reasons for caution, but there should be no reason for fear.

[C] SANCTIONS AGAINST BOSNIAN SERBS

[07] KOLJEVIC VOICES CONFIDENCE THAT SANCTIONS WILL BE SUSPENDED

Koljevic told the local Radio in Herceg Novi, town on the Adriatic coast in Montenegro, that the practical range of the suspension of sanctions would be huge because of the currently disastrous humanitarian situation in the R.S.

[08] RUSSIA'S U.N. ENVOY ON SUSPENSION OF SANCTIONS

In explanation, Russia's U.N. Envoy Sergei Lavrov cited two letters to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali from NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana saying that Bosnian Serbs had withdrawn from the zones of separation. The withdrawal, which was the condition for suspending the sanctions against Bosnian Serbs, was confirmed by military commanders of NATO and the IFOR at the Bosnia summit in Rome, said Lavrov.

He told reporters there was absolutely no dilemma that the Bosnian Serbs had met all the requirements posed before them.

[D] SREM-BARANJA REGION

[09] DEMILITARIZATION OF REGION BY MID-MAY

According to Jacques Klein, the U.N. administrator of the Srem-Baranja region inhabited by Serbs and Serb refugees from Krajina and situated between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, around 5,000 UNTAES troops will be deployed by May 15.

Milanovic said the issue of surplus Serb arms had not been solved yet and added that the Serb side still favoured the storing of arms on a 'double key' basis, or that both Serbs and the U.N. have keys to the storehouses.

The return of refugees is the worst problem and will require a lot of time, Milanovic said. The region is open for the return of not only Serbs but also of Croats, Hungarians and other refugees, he said.

Milanovic said after the Sunday talks with Klein that 'activities have so far unfolded in line with the Erdut agreement and the Serb side is satisfied with how things have been going.'

[10] OSCE OPENS OFFICE IN SREM-BARANJA REGION

The goals of the mission will be to ensure the protection of human rights, confidence-building among the population and the respect of individual human rights by the authorities, Sica, Italy's permanent representative in OSCE, said.

[E] CROATIA - SERBS

[11] SECURITY COUNCIL AGAIN REPRIMANDS CROATIA

The statement said that Croatian authorities were not only inefficient in creating conditions for the repatriation of Serb refugees but also that they were systematically preventing it.

The Council also warned Croatia that the rights of Serbs, both those who remained in Krajina and those who wanted to return, could not be made conditional on normalization of relations with Yugoslavia.

A report by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, which was the basis for Council debate, says that only 9,770 Serbs have remained in Krajina and that about 200,000 Serb refugees from Krajina are now in Yugoslavia. About 14,000 refugees say they want to return home, although the Croatian Government claims that it has received only 5,000 such applications, the report said.

Furthermore, Croatian authorities have informed the Security Council that they have approved 1,800 applications, but officials of the office of the UNHCR say that only 200 Serbs have returned to Krajina.

The presidential statement issued after the debate on Friday said that the Council requested from Croatia to annul an earlier decision on suspending provisions of the constitution relating to the rights of minorities. It also requested from Croatia to amnesty the Serbs who are still held in Croatian prisons.

[12] SERBS DEPRIVED OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

[13] KRAJINA SERBS STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE

The Serbs who stayed in Krajina after Croatia's military offensive on the region are exposed to permanent threats of expulsion, intimidation by Croatian authorities and terror by local Croatian police. After the Croatian authorities isolated over 10,000 local Serbs, mostly old and starved people, the entire region was turned into a huge ghetto.

The tragic fate of those who did not withdraw with the rest was revealed in a filmed story made by a Slovenian Red Cross team during a visit to Krajina Serbs. The story was broadcast on Friday in the prime-time programme of the international Pop television from its Ljubljana studio.

The Serbs who remained in Krajina despite terror and devastation have fallen prey to various pressures from Croatian authorities, the authors of the story said.

Living less than 200 kilometres from Zagreb and less than an hour's flight from Europe's main capitals, Krajina Serbs live in the most brutal and shameful misery, without water, food and electricity, and in constant fear of revenge, they said.

The programme warned that now, at the end of the twentieth century, national hatred and intolerant policy have put Serbs in Croatia into a middle age-looking ghetto.