Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-01-30

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT OF MONTENEGRO RECEIVED AMERICAN CHARGE D'AFFAIRES

[02] CROATS EXPELLED 70,000 SERBS FROM REGIONS NOT RAVAGED BY WAR

[03] TENANCY RIGHTS QUALIFY REFUGEES TO VOTE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

[04] SFOR HAS SAME MANDATE AS IFOR

[05] CLINTON OPPOSES EXPANSION OF BOSNIA PEACE FORCE MANDATE

[06] BOSNIAN SERB DELEGATION ATTENDS COUNCIL OF EUROPE ASSEMBLY

[07] PLAVSIC AND BILDT DISCUSS INCIDENTS IN SEPARATION ZONE

[08] MEMBERS OF AN ILLEGAL TERRORIST ORGANIZATION ARRESTED

[09] RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER CONCLUDES HIS VISIT TO BELGRADE

[01] PRESIDENT OF MONTENEGRO RECEIVED AMERICAN CHARGE D'AFFAIRES

The subject of the talks was the current political situation in Yugoslavia and wider region, the statement from Mr. Bulatovic's cabinet said.

Bulatovic stressed that the strategic interest of Montenegro was the realization of dynamic and comprehensive development within the FRY as a democratic State community, based on full equality of its citizens and the constituent republics. Montenegro sees its future in an intense democratic development, market*oriented economy and consistent implementation of the policy of peace, stability and cooperation in the region of the Balkans.

In that context, Bulatovic stressed that the FRY would continue to unreservedly support and contribute in practice to the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement which is a key precondition for the country's reintegration in the international community.

The head of the US Mission in the FRY was also received by Prime Minister of the Republic of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic.

Mr. Djukanovic informed R.Miles of the legislation and the achieved results in connection with the transition of the economy, emphasizing that further democratization and development are inseparably linked to the country's inclusion in the international community, i.e. its financial institutions and that it represented a vital economic interest.

Mr. Miles assessed as positive the achieved level of privatization in Montenegro, and according to the Republic Secretariat for Information suggested that assistance was forthcoming in the further realization of the process.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

[02] CROATS EXPELLED 70,000 SERBS FROM REGIONS NOT RAVAGED BY WAR

'Politika' said that the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from this area surrounding Mounts Papuk and Psunj, east of Zagreb, was carried out at the time when there was no war there, thus making this crime even more horrible.

The report by the 'Return Home' organization said that 'ethnic cleansing in Central Slavonija was followed by violence and the mass violation of human rights.' The report said that in the area of the town of Slavonska Pozega alone, this action killed 70 Serb civilians.

Quoting eye-witnesses, the organization said that the authorities of Slavonska Pozega on October 30, 1991 ordered the eviction of all villages beneath Mts. Papuk and Psunj and their predominantly Serb populations. The order was broadcast several times by the local radio stations. With the aim of speeding up the action, the Croatian Army suddenly entered the villages and forced the people into flight.

In the region of Slavonska Pozega 30 serb villages were torched, and in nationally mixed villages only Serb houses were burned. In the town itself, 20 Serb-owned houses were mined and destroyed, and the Croatian authorities illegally seized houses and apartments from 11 Serbs, the report said.

The Croatian media, however, represent the exodus of Serbs from Central Slavonija to Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem as voluntary, the report said and added that these people continue living there mainly in homes abandoned by Croats.

The return of these Serbs to their homes within the process of the peaceful reintegration of Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem is prevented by the fact that their villages and property have mainly been destroyed, while the partially or totally preserved villages have been populated by Croat refugees from Serbia's Southern Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet) Province, the report said.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-29

[03] TENANCY RIGHTS QUALIFY REFUGEES TO VOTE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Under the rules adopted by the Provisional Electoral Commission, proof of possession must be in conformity with the position of the High International Representative's Office and the Commission for real estate claims, who recognize only pre-war owners and holders of tenancy rights.

The Sarajevo media reported on Wednesday that the Provisional Electoral Commission assessed that stricter rules will prevent numerous abuses, which lead to the postponing of municipal elections last year. The Commission has provided for the formation of a special sub-commission made up of one international member and one member from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the two Entities, which will decide about registration and prevent attempts of false registration by political parties or individuals.

The Head of the Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina Robert Frowick said that the rules and regulations for municipal elections had been adopted by consensus.

Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be monitored by international observers with the help of International Forces for Stabilization (SFOR), the International Police and the UNHCR.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-29

[04] SFOR HAS SAME MANDATE AS IFOR

SFOR spokesman major Tony Wight said that SFOR was conducting inspections of arms depots, to ensure respect of all military aspects of the Peace Agreement. He said that in the last 24 hours they conducted 26 inspections, of which 10 on the Muslim side, 9 of the Croatian Defense Council and seven of Republika Srpska Army.

ICRC representative presented at the same conference the fact that 18,172 individuals are unaccounted for in the war in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-29

[05] CLINTON OPPOSES EXPANSION OF BOSNIA PEACE FORCE MANDATE

President Bill Clinton said it was not to be expected that a force, sent to a volatile region to stabilise the borders, should do other duties.

President Clinton was speaking during a visit to the Pentagon, where the commanders of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed around the globe are in session.

He said that the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina should not do police work. SFOR had the duty to arrest indicted war criminals if they should come across them in the course of their regular duties, Clinton said, adding that this, however, was not their primary duty.

Speaking about an idea that the United States and NATO form a special International Police Force to track down and capture indicted war criminals, Clinton said that such a police force would have to be directly linked to the Hague War Crimes Court for former Yugoslavia.

U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen said that U.S. troops would be withdrawing from SFOR in mid-1997, after 18 months in Bosnia, adding that European states could then continue the military mission to Bosnia without the Americans, if they wished.

Cohen said that the European Union's first duty in the future should be to create conditions for the swiftest possible reconstruction of Bosnia- Herzegovina, which he said was primarily Europe's concern.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-29

[06] BOSNIAN SERB DELEGATION ATTENDS COUNCIL OF EUROPE ASSEMBLY

According to the statement, issued from the Cabinet of Parliament Speaker Dragan Kalinic on Wednesday, the delegation comprises also Chairman of the Parliament Foreign Policy Committee Aleksa Buha and Speaker of Bosnia- Herzegovina's House of the People Momir Tosic.

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly will discuss the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accord, especially as regards the development of democratic institutions and the prospects for parliamentary life in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-29

[07] PLAVSIC AND BILDT DISCUSS INCIDENTS IN SEPARATION ZONE

Bildt said the constructive and important meeting, held behind closed doors, had primarily been devoted to ending violence in the separation zone (village Gajevi, near Lopare, on Sunday), where Muslims who had wanted to return to their homes were attacked.

Republika Srpska and the International Police Task Force (IPTF) will set up a Commission to investigate the incident so that the perpetrators could be punished, according to Bildt.

The High Representative noted that mixed RS and IPTF patrols would be in charge of the area, and the Serb side would be held responsible in case of repeated incidents.

Bildt insisted that all refugees and displaced persons must be enabled to return to their homes, and noted the same would be made possible for all interested Serbs from Drvar and Glamoc, towns in the Muslim-Croat Federation.

Plavsic said 'all complications are due to the fact that there are no reciprocal situations...since Serbs do not dare go back to the Muslim side, while Muslims keep on returning steadily.'

The Republika Srpska President drew attention to a fundamental difference between the return to the separation zone and, for instance, the return to Drvar and Glamoc, and called for the introduction of 'special rules.'

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-29

[08] MEMBERS OF AN ILLEGAL TERRORIST ORGANIZATION ARRESTED

Since 1991, A. Klinaku was in charge of the highest body of this terrorist organization and since 1993 was on the run from the police.

There is a well*founded suspicion that Klinaku and his followers organized terrorist groups so as to attack individuals and vital facilities in Kosovo and Metohija and were preparing an armed rebellion. Arms, different calibre ammunition, blue prints and plans for the attack on facilities and other equipment for the performance of terrorist actions were found in the police search.

The competent authorities are still investigating activities that incriminate them, the statement said.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-29

[09] RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER CONCLUDES HIS VISIT TO BELGRADE

Emphasizing that he did not come to Belgrade on a mediating mission but to convey to his Yugoslav collocutors Moscow's concern over the situation and learn more about the Yugoslav plans to overcome the crisis, Ivanov said that Russia was still ready "for active contribution to the consolidation of stability and democratic development in friendly Yugoslavia and its neighbourhood".

"The international community should and can, in our view, help Yugoslavia to overcome the present difficulties. More precisely, it is necessary to immediately eliminate the so called outer wall of sanctions, to extend financial aid to the country as well as to allow Yugoslavia to take its place in the OSCE and other international organizations and Russia will continue to render its assistance towards that goal."

He said that the highest*ranking officials of Yugoslavia and Serbia informed him of the situation in the country, emphasizing that the war in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and the sanctions seriously affected the country's economy bringing about the fall of the living standards in their wake, which heightened social and political tensions.

The leaders of Serbia and Yugoslavia expressed their resolve to seek the solution out of the crisis through further democratization and extensive dialogue with the representatives of the political forces in the country. Russia considers that such a solution is in line with the interests of Yugoslavia and the stability in the Balkans as a whole, Ivanov said and added, that Moscow considered that any interference into internal affairs of the Serbian people and artificial heightening of the tensions, was unacceptable .

He also emphasized that the contribution of the international community to the resolution of this problem should be constructive and without any interference into internal affairs of Yugoslavia.

The implementation of the OSCE recommendations could open up the prospects for overcoming the conflicts in the country and initiate a broad dialogue among the major political forces in the country, Ivanov said.

Ivanov, who concluded his visit to Belgrade, said that he spoke to the representatives of almost all political forces in the country in order to get a full picture of the situation in the country.

He said that the opposition leaders called for further comprehensive cooperation between Russia and Yugoslavia and expressed gratitude to the Russian leadership for help and support extended to Yugoslavia in the spirit of traditional friendship between our peoples.

Asked whether President of the Republic of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, spoke of the plans for the resolution of the situation in Serbia, Ivanov said that in his talks with the President of Serbia they did not broach the subject but that he concluded that "in the near future proposals will be formulated aimed at overcoming the crisis".

The OSCE report should not be viewed only as a recommendation to recognize the results of the second round of local elections but as a position that the elections expressed the will of the majority of the citizens of the FR of Yugoslavia as well as that the way out of the crisis is possible through an open and sincere dialogue between the political forces and that it is only the Serbs themselves that san find a solution to the problem, Ivanov said.

President Milosevic "also considers that the OSCE report is a constructive document whose aim is to resolve the problem and that is exactly the way he approaches the recommendations contained in the document. That is why we say that the resolution of the crisis is an internal affair of Yugoslavia," Ivanov emphasized.

Replying to the question if he felt that his mission was successful, Ivanov said that he was leaving with a feeling of optimism of a kind. The talks with practically all political forces in the country indicate that both the country's leaders and the leaders of the opposition have the political will to find a way out of the crisis through dialogue, said Ivanov and added that both the authorities and the opposition knew that no solution could be found through force and therefore exercise great restraint and do not succumb to provocations.

He emphasized that Russia categorically opposed all concepts which favour the isolation of Yugoslavia to help overcome the crisis but on the contrary felt that it was counter*productive. "If other countries had listened to Russia and restored Yugoslavia's place in the OSCE, we could have avoided these problems".

He warned that some countries immediately invoked Kosovo whenever there was a problem in Yugoslavia and said that it was inadmissible because the problem of local elections is one issue and the position of national minorities is another, which should be separately addressed. Kosovo is an internal question of Yugoslavia, he emphasized and added that the problem of minorities existed throughout Europe.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-01-30 ; Tanjug, 1997-01-30

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