Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-03-19

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV-HUNGARIAN COMMISSION MEETS IN BELGRADE

[02] FORGOTTEN REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA

[03] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION ARRIVES IN GENEVA TO ATTEND REFUGEE MEETING

[04] KLEIN SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT SERBS TAKE PART IN ELECTIONS

[05] PATRIARCH PAVLE RECEIVES JACQUES KLEIN

[06] YUGOSLAV CHIEF OF STAFF GEN. PERISIC ARRIVES IN BUDAPEST

[07] SERBIAN MINISTER SAYS ETHNIC MINORITIES GIVE SERBIA AN EDGE

[08] MONTENEGRIN VESSELS TO BE UNBLOCKED IN EARLY MAY

[09] NEW FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THURSDAY

[01] YUGOSLAV-HUNGARIAN COMMISSION MEETS IN BELGRADE

The Yugoslav delegation to the session will be headed by Assistant Minister of trade Filip Turcinovic, and the Hungarian, by Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of industry, trade and tourism Lajos Berenyi, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said.

The Joint Commission will discuss the current situation in and possibilities for further developing bilateral cooperation, especially in the trade, tourist, power, agriculture, food processing, banking and transport industries, the statement added.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[02] FORGOTTEN REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA

The Round Table was attended by reporters from 19 countries covering the fifth Conference of European Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.

Following opening addresses by Red Cross experts, the reporters discussed the fundamental problems in Europe today - poverty, armed conflicts, national minorities, ethnic tensions, violence in cities and health problems.

A report on the current humanitarian situation in Yugoslavia presented by Tanjug's journalist Vera Raskov Djurovic caused a stir among her colleagues, as it turned out that the majority of western reporters present had never even heard that about 600,000 refugees had come to Yugoslavia from Croatia and Bosnia and that most of them are still being accommodated in private homes.

The statement of Tanjug's reporter that world media had since the outbreak of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia been carrying only black-and-white reports on the situation there, the majority of foreign reporters justified this by the extreme taciturnity of the Serbs in Bosnia on one hand and Croatia's openness to foreign media on the other.

However, the reporters who had been in Croatia during the war and following the exodus of Serbs from Krajina underlined that Croatian media were totally under state control and that the International Committee of the Red Cross was constantly being criticized there for its impartial attitude.

Reporters from Western Europe requested more information on refugees in Yugoslavia, recognizing that they had been forgotten. Their request will be included in the document of the Round Table to be presented on Wednesday for adoption to the Red Cross and Red Crescent conference.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[03] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION ARRIVES IN GENEVA TO ATTEND REFUGEE MEETING

The meeting was organized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which has drafted plans for a permanent solution to the problem of refugees in Bosnia, Yugoslavia and Croatia.

Soon after arriving in Geneva, Serbian Refugee Commissary Bratislava Morina, who heads the Yugoslav delegation, said the stands contained in the draft plans differed in many respects from Yugoslavia's stands.

Our priority is the return of refugees and the same quantity of humanitarian aid until the realization of the permanent solution, said Morina and added that Yugoslavia had every reason to ask for more aid.

The difficult economic situation in Yugoslavia and the large number of refugees demand adequate treatment by the international community, she said.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[04] KLEIN SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT SERBS TAKE PART IN ELECTIONS

Expressing satisfaction with the results of the two-hour talks with Serbian Patriarch and bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, Klein said that the future of the Serbian people was in their own hands and that by accepting Croatian papers and going to the polls, they will secure their future.

Klein said that the Serbian Patriarch mentioned a list of people charged by the Croatian authorities. He said that he showed the list on Monday morning to the regional Secretary for justice, Vojin Susa, asking him to inform all 150 listed persons not only that they are on the list but also about their rights.

Klein explained that some of the persons on the list were only charged, that proceedings had been initiated against some of them and that some of them had been tried.

He pointed out that he demanded from the Croatian Government to confirm that the list is final and that there will be no additions which is of exceptional importance for the region.

Klein said he hoped this will satisfy the demands of the Serb Regional Executive Council which should support the holding of elections, and stressed the importance of the move for the people in the region.

Klein said it was unnecessary to publish the names on the list of persons charged in view of their right to defense, and the process of collecting of evidence.

The Administrator of Eastern Slavonia said that the possibility of a meeting between Serbian Patriarch Pavle and Cardinal Kuharic was not brought up at the Tuesday meeting with Serbian Orthodox Church bishops.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[05] PATRIARCH PAVLE RECEIVES JACQUES KLEIN

Talks touched on all aspects and problems of the life and future of the Serbian Orthodox Church and of Serbs in Eastern Slavonia, and especially conditions and guarantees for taking part at the upcoming elections in the region, the statement said.

The statement said that talks focuses on indispensable conditions and international guarantees in the region for 'the survival of Serbs in their ancestral homes and for life in peace and full civil rights and freedoms.'

The need for the full demilitarization of the region was stressed, for granting dual citizenship to its inhabitants and for open borders and free movement between the region and Serbia, or Yugoslavia, the statement said.

Attending the talks were all members of the Serbian Orthodox Church Synod.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[06] YUGOSLAV CHIEF OF STAFF GEN. PERISIC ARRIVES IN BUDAPEST

The talks between the two delegations are held behind closed doors, and, as Tanjug has learned, will primarily cover reforms within the Army of Yugoslavia and the Hungarian Army, their mutual cooperation, and the military and security situation in the region and beyond.

It is expected that Gen. Vegh will acquaint his guest with plans linked to Hungary's possible entry into NATO.

An official statement on the talks will be issued on Wednesday, after Gen. Perisic meets with ranking Hungarian Defense Ministry officials, as officially announced.

The visit of the Army of Yugoslavia Chief of General Staff to Budapest marks the resumption of productive cooperation between the armed forces of the two neighbouring and friendly countries.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[07] SERBIAN MINISTER SAYS ETHNIC MINORITIES GIVE SERBIA AN EDGE

Minister Ivan Sedlak, on a visit to the Serbian Textbook Publishing Institute, said that the Institute was contributing to this end with its highly professional work and numerous publications in the languages of the minorities.

Sedlak said this was in line with the Government's position that the minorities gave the Yugoslav Republic of Serbia an edge over ethnically pure states where different cultures and customs could not intermingle to give better quality of life to all.

He said that minority rights were of special social and political concern in every democratic society, especially in Serbia where there are 25 minorities, apart from the majority Serbs.

All Serbian citizens must have equal rights and equal obligations to the state, Sedlak said and added that Serbia, which was committed to national equality, must speak freely of its outstanding results in human and minority rights practices.

'There is no reason to be defensive about unjustified criticism by some ethnic party leaders calling for an independent state, for autonomy within an autonomous federal unit or for internationalization of their position,' Sedlak said.

He said this did not mean that the position of the minorities should not be further enhanced, adding that the Institute was making efforts in this direction, publishing textbooks in the languages of the minorities for both primary and secondary schools.

Institute director Dobrosav Bjeletic said that the Institute had in the past four years published 1,300 books in the languages of the minorities (Hungarian, Romanian, Slovakian, Ruthenian, Turkish, Albanian, Bulgarian...). Of this number, 200 were textbooks for primary and secondary schools, and another 140 secondary school books were yet to be published, Bjeletic said.

The Institute cooperates with educational and cultural institutions in neighbouring countries and former Yugoslav republics, he said.

He added that, despite difficulties caused by the United Nations 'anti- Yugoslav sanctions, the Institute had been donating aid to Serbs in former Yugoslavia and refugees in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which amounted to 10 million German Marks in 1995 alone.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[08] MONTENEGRIN VESSELS TO BE UNBLOCKED IN EARLY MAY

Under the U.S. Administration's decision on unblocking the five ocean-going vessels, which was announced on Tuesday and conveyed to the Montenegrin Premier's Office through the Yugoslav Embassy in Washington, the necessary administrative procedure will be inaugurated on March 31.

The decision will be published in relevant U.S. publications so that commercial creditors might timely collect possible debts.

The decision said the procedure was provided for by the U.S. legislation and was not open for the resolution of any issues relating to the division of assets among the successor states of the former Yugoslavia.

The five vessels - Zeta, Moslavina, Durmitor, Lovcen and Bar - are anchored at the New York, Baltimore and New Orleans ports.

The United States is to issue a decree on the vessels' unblocking in the first week of April and to unblock the vessels within 30 days of the issuing of the decree, the decision said.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

[09] NEW FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THURSDAY

The speakers of the two Chambers have scheduled for March 20 the first sitting of the Spring Session at which the MP's should take a stand on the FRY-RS agreement.

The agreement was signed in Belgrade on February 28 by Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic and Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency member from RS, Momcilo Krajisnik. The agreement created more favourable conditions for the further development of comprehensive relations.

The agreement is based on the lasting interests and long term aims of FRY and RS in the development of comprehensive close ties and relations in all spheres. It is founded on the principles of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the U.N. and Paris Charters.

In this document FRY and RS confirm their determination to promote relations on the basis of friendship, trust, cooperation and the respect of mutual interests in keeping with the principles of independence, non- interference in internal affairs, equality and the respect of human rights and freedoms.

The RS National Assembly confirmed the agreement on February 15 and the deputies of the Serbian Parliament on Monday adopted a Declaration on this document.

After the first sitting of the Federal Parliament, the deputies of both Chambers will attend a joint session at which Federal Prime Minister designate Radoje Kontic will reveal his program for and composition of the Federal Government.

According to the operation regulations of the Chamber of Citizens, following the debate on a candidate for President at the joint session, the deputies will take part in a secret ballot at separate sessions on the candidate for Federal Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will be elected if the candidate receives the majority of votes in both Chambers, otherwise the procedure is repeated.

Kontic was nominated by President Lilic following consultations with Federal Parliament party WHIP's.

Following consultations with Federal Parliament party WHIP's, Kontic said that the new Government would be a coalition one, made up of experts who will, as he said, try to successfully resolve the existing political, economic and social problems and come up with a program acceptable to the opposition MP's.

According to Kontic, priority in the internal sphere will be given to the economy, the building of a legal state, democratization of relations in the political and economic spheres and the strengthening of the Federal State composed of equal republics and citizens.

He said that the foreign policy would focus on the reintegration of Yugoslavia into the international community and its return to international political, financial, trade and other organizations, as well as the Peace Process realized through the implementation of the Dayton Agreement.

Yugoslav Daily Survey, 1997-03-19 ; Tanjug, 1997-03-18

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