Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-07-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] HUNGARIAN MEDIA ON MILOSEVIC

[02] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION VISITS POLAND

[03] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION HAS TALKS IN WARSAW

[04] RUSSIA SPECIFIES POSITION ON SFOR OPERATION IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[05] BULATOVIC FELICITATES MILOSEVIC

[06] KRAJISNIK WELCOMES ELECTION OF MILOSEVIC

[07] RUSSIAN MEDIA ON ELECTION OF MILOSEVIC FOR YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT

[08] AUSTRIA: MILOSEVIC PROVES TO BE BALKANS' MOST INFLUENTIAL POLITICIAN

[09] FRENCH MEDIA FOCUS ON ELECTION OF MILOSEVIC AS YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT

[10] INTERNATIONAL SPOKESMEN HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE IN PALE

[11] SERB PARTY OFFICIAL SAYS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION SATISFACTORY

[12] SERBS IN SREM-BARANYA REGION SET UP JOINT COUNCIL OF MUNICIPALITIES

[13] SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC ELECTED PRESIDENT OF YUGOSLAVIA

[14] FOREIGN MINISTER MILUTINOVIC RECEIVES RUDDOCK

[15] BOZOVIC: MILOSEVIC AS PRESIDENT TO STABILIZE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE FEDERAL STATE MINIC: MILOSEVIC AS PRESIDENT OF THE FRY FOR A STABLE AND DEMOCRATIC, ECONOMICALLY AND CULTURALLY DEVELOPED COUNTRY

[16] SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC BIOGRAPHY

[17] RUSSIA STRONGLY CRITICIZES OVERSTEPPING OF SFOR MANDATE

[18] YUGOSLAVIA'S EXPORTS RISE BY 28.5 PERCENT IN JANUARY-JUNE PERIOD

[19] BOSNIAN SERB OFFICIAL: VENICE COMMISSION'S VIEWS ARE NOT BINDING

[20] SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION OF DR. KOVACEVIC

[21] YUGOSLAV CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT MEETS WITH BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

[22] SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC ONLY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF YUGOSLAVIA

[23] INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL SAYS ARRESTS OF WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS CONTINUE

[24] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PRESIDENT: TADIC'S SENTENCE IS HORRIBLE

[25] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL RECEIVES SWISS RED CROSS PRESIDENT

[26] YUGOSLAV CONSTITUTIONAL COURT PRESIDENT RECEIVES GUINEA'S AMBASSADOR

[27] SRPSKA ARMY GENERAL MEETS SFOR DEPUTY COMMANDER

[28] RUSSIA OPPOSES UNILATERAL ACTIONS IN BOSNIA

[29] KRAJISNIK SAYS TADIC SENTENCED WITHOUT COMPLETE EVIDENCE

[30] RUSSIAN MEDIA ON SFOR OPERATION IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[01] HUNGARIAN MEDIA ON MILOSEVIC

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

Hungarian media highlighted on Wednesday the election of outgoing Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic for the President of Yugoslavia. The Magyar Hirlap gave front-page coverage to the topic, laying stress to the fact that both houses of the Federal Parliament supported the left-bloc candidate. Slobodan Milosevic is a politician who has preserved the unity of Serbia, avoided war and laid the foundations to a multi-party democracy and market economy, the daily said.

[02] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION VISITS POLAND

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

A Yugoslav parliamentary delegation, headed by Chamber of Republics Speaker Srdja Bozovic, arrived on Wednesday on a return visit to Poland, during which it will discuss with Senate and Sejm representatives the promotion of inter-parliamentary cooperation and in general of relations between the two countries. In the first meeting the Yugoslav parliamentarians had with members of the Polish Senate Commission for Internatonal Affairs, the hosts set out that their country was not ready only to promote the bilateral cooperation but also hoped to strengthen cooperation with Yugoslavia in international forums. Commission Chairman Henrik Makarwicz said the talks with the Yugoslav parliamentarians would be a good incentive to cooperation between the two countries. The Yugoslav delegation acquainted the hosts with the parliamentary and political life in Yugoslavia and the transformation of the Yugoslav economy. They underscored that Yugoslavia's return to the international community was the central political issue and that Yugoslavia expected Poland to adopt a more realistic and flexible approach when the issue came up in international forums.

[03] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION HAS TALKS IN WARSAW

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

Poland pledged on Wednesday to uphold Yugoslavia's efforts for full reintegration in the international community, according to the Polish Senate Speaker. Speaker Adam Strurzyk was meeting with a delegation of the Yugoslav Federal Parliament, which arrived on a three-day visit to Poland earlier in the day. Strurzyk, member of the Polish National Party, which is a coalition partner of the ruling Democratic Left Alliance, said that relations between the two countries were now developing well after a period of standstill. Poland hoped for greater economic, cultural, scientific and other forms of bilateral cooperation, he added. The Yugoslav delegation is headed by Chamber of Republics (upper house) Speaker Srdja Bozovic, and comprises parliament deputies Zoran Zizic, Ivica Dacic and Dusan Mihajlovic. Strurzyk inquired about internal political and economic trends in Yugoslavia and about the main problems in returning Yugoslavia to the international community. The delegation explained that Yugoslavia was open to cooperation with the world and that its return to international political and other institutions should help stabilise the overall situation in the Balkans. Yugoslavia consistently works for the implementation of the Dayton Accord, and it is unfair, now that peace has been achieved, to be setting new conditions for its reintegration in the international community, Strurzyk was told. Hope was expressed that Poland, when it takes over the Presidency of the OSCE in 1998, will keep constantly on the table the question of Yugoslavia's return to that organisation and to other world bodies. Yugoslavia's return to the world community of nations dominated also the delegation's talks with Sejm Deputy Speaker Alexander Malachowsky, members of the Senate Commission for International Affairs and the Yugoslav-Polish parliamentary group. Malachowsky, member of the opposition Labour Union, said that there was every indication that Yugoslavia could and should be part of the international community. He added that the two countries' Parliaments should both urge their respective Governments and other bodies of power to promote bilateral economic cooperation.

[04] RUSSIA SPECIFIES POSITION ON SFOR OPERATION IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

The Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated on Wednesday its position that the recent operation of the SFOR in the Republika Srpska had not been consistent with SFOR's mandate. In a statement for TASS, Ministry spokesman Gennady Tarasov specifically listed the international norms violated in the operation, which was carried out by the SFOR British Battalion in the Prijedor area last week.

Tarasov explained that it was not the duty of the multinational force to carry out special operations, planned in advance, to seek and arrest war crime suspects, especially not on the basis of "closed" lists, as had been the case here. He said that "while working out our position we acted on the assumption that the principle of fairness during the dispensation of justice can and should be observed in strict compliance with all related rules which have been approved by the international community and become operative norms of international law." In this particular instance, he added, this had not been the case. "The documents of international conferences and the Charter of the International War Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia make concerned parties or foreign countries implement its requests, including those for the arrest, detention and extradition of indictees or their transfer to the Tribunal," he said. "In other words, such actions should be carried out only by the Government of the country or Bosnia-Herzegovina's constituent entities where the indictees are staying," he explained. Under a February 1996 Agreement on the arrest and transfer of suspects, the multinational force can detain a person only when they find and identify them as an indictee, for instance at a checkpoint or in the course of a routine patrol, according to Tarasov. On the strength of this, he stressed, Russia's position on the recent detention by SFOR in Bosnia of people suspected of war crimes had not changed. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement in connection with the SFOR operation in the Republika Srpska on July 11 to say that "the detention of the suspects is not consistent with the mandate of the multinational force."

[05] BULATOVIC FELICITATES MILOSEVIC

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic sent on Wednesday a message of felicitations to Slobodan Milosevic on becoming the president-elect of Yugoslavia. "On behalf of the people of Montenegro and myself, I wish you all the best on your becoming president-elect of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," Bulatovic said. "As the President of the Democratic Party of Socialists, I convey to you the best wishes of our members and supporters," he said. "Your convincing victory in both houses of the Yugoslav Parliament reflects the prevailing political will of most people in Yugoslavia and their determination for the policy of peace, democratic and economic reforms and for stability that guarantees overall prosperity for Yugoslavia, as a state of equal citizens and republics", said the message. "Once again, to the aim of our commitment for the development of Yugoslavia as a democratic, economic, socially just, legally safe country, I congratulate you heartily and wish you every success in your work", the message said.

[06] KRAJISNIK WELCOMES ELECTION OF MILOSEVIC

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Republika Srpska member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik welcomed on Tuesday the election of Slobodan Milosevic to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as an act that would lead to a stabilization of the political situation in Serbia and Montenegro. Any improvement of the situation in the mother country brings joy to the Serb people west of the Drina river, Krajisnik said and expressed his conviction that the future would bring concord, patriotism, wisdom and reason to the Serb people and that the present problems and the attempts of the enemies to destroy Serb faith and hope will become a thing of the past, Krajisnik said.

[07] RUSSIAN MEDIA ON ELECTION OF MILOSEVIC FOR YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Many Russian TV stations gave a biography of President-Elect Milosevic, singling out the role he had played in sparing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of the war in the Balkans and in the quest for political solutions to inter-ethnic conflicts. Russian media reported in detail the votes in the two Chambers of the Yugoslav Parliament, and set out that Deputies of the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro had obviously unanimously voted for Milosevic, as well as some Serbian Radical Party Deputies.

[08] AUSTRIA: MILOSEVIC PROVES TO BE BALKANS' MOST INFLUENTIAL POLITICIAN

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

The election of Slobodan Milosevic as President of Yugoslavia ranks him in among the most influential politicians in the Balkans, Austrian commentators say on Wednesday. The commentators underline that the outgoing Serbian president was elected with a majority of votes in both houses of the Yugoslav Parliament. The election of Milosevic, who has been Serbia's President for the past two mandates, was expected and shows the "triumph of the 56-year-old politician," the commentators say. Austrian analysts expect the functions of the Federation of Serbia and Montenegro to strengthen in the near future.

[09] FRENCH MEDIA FOCUS ON ELECTION OF MILOSEVIC AS YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

The election of Slobodan Milosevic as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is highlighted in French media on Wednesday. French radio and television reported on Tuesday that both houses of the Yugoslav Parliament voted in overwhelming majority for Milosevic as President of Yugoslavia for the next four years. The dailies Le Figaro and Liberation stress the importance of the vote in the strengthening of the Yugoslav Federation, for stability and peace in the Balkans. The dailies revert to the political situation in Serbia, as Milosevic will soon have completed his term of office as the president of Serbia.

[10] INTERNATIONAL SPOKESMEN HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE IN PALE

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

Spokesman for the High Representative for Bosnia's office Duncan Bollivan said on Wednesday that the office backed the Republika Srpska as an internationally recognised entity and all its legally elected institutions. Commenting on the crisis in the Republika Srpska in a joint news conference in Pale, Bollivan said the R.S. constitutional court was entitled to take decisions, saying the international community would respect those decisions. He said the international community wanted to help implement the Dayton Peace Accords rather than to tell parties what they should do. He said the office was monitoring the security situation in the Republika Srpska, continuing to perform its regular activities. Spokesman for the SFOR John Blakely denied that secret lists with the names of war crimes suspects existed. Responding to reporters' remark that prosecutor of the Hague-based International War Crimes Tribunal Louise Arbour had confirmed that such lists existed, Bollivan said that sealed indictments existed. Spokesman for the IPTF Liam MacDowell said a bomb had gone off near the IPTF station in Prijedor late on Tuesday. He said no one had been hurt in the explosion that had left windows on nearby buildings and houses broken. Spokesman for the OSCE David Foley said the OSCE backed all institutions in the Republika Srpska elected in September's elections. He regretted having offended R.S. authorities in the last week's news conference when he called a part of R.S. insitutions in Pale the Pale gang.

[11] SERB PARTY OFFICIAL SAYS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION SATISFACTORY

Tanjug, 1997-07-16

Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader Vojislav Stanimirovic said on Wednesday that the latest U.N. Security Council resolution on the extension of the mandate of the UNTAES until Jan. 15 next year was satisfactory. Stanimirovic said that the Security Council had established that the situation in Croatia posed a threat to international peace and stability. He said the Security Council position indicated that the situation in Croatia could trigger a deep crisis. Stanimirovic stressed that the Council had established that Croatia did not adequately cooperate with the Hague war-crimes tribunal, and that it reiterated that the Croatian Amnesty Law had to be implemented in full.

He singled out as positive the fact that the resolution fully reaffirmed the Erdut Agreement between the Serb population and Zagreb, and singled out the importance of the provision relating to a two-way return of refugees.

[12] SERBS IN SREM-BARANYA REGION SET UP JOINT COUNCIL OF MUNICIPALITIES

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Serbs in the Region of East Slavonia, Baranya and West Srem and the Croatian Government signed a Charter on Tuesday setting up a Joint Council of Municipalities in the Region. The Council should unite and protect the interests of the Serb people in the Srem-Baranya Region.

For the Serb side, the Charter was signed by Council Chairman Milos Vojnovic, and for the Croatian, by Jure Radic, who chairs the Croatian state commission for the Region. On behalf of the international community, the signatures were witnessed by the Region's U.N. Transitional Administrator Jacques Klein.

The Council has been set up under the Serb-Croatian Basic Agreement of late 1995, the relevant U.N. resolutions and the Croatian Government's Letter of Intent.

Speaking after the ceremony, Vojnovic said that the Charter finalised months of efforts by the U.N. peace mission, the Croatian Government and Serb representatives in the Region under UNTAES to give purpose to the Council. He said he hoped that the coming period would see the results of the peace process implemented in the best way, adding that the Joint Council of Municipalities was a unique institution of its kind and as such would find its true place and purpose only in practice.

"We shall surely continue fully to cooperate with UNTAES, and to promote relations with the Croatian Government while seeking news forms of cooperation", he said, adding that the Council would exercise all legal rights available to the Serbs in the Region.

Radic, who is also Croatia's Minister of Reconstruction and Development, for his part thanked all UNTAES segments for their help in achieving progress in the process of the Region's peaceful reintegration in Croatia. He said that the Council would give the Serb ethnic community in the Region under UNTAES control access to state bodies of power. He further said that the next job was to make it possible for refugees to return to the Region and for displaced persons from other parts of Croatia at present living in the Region to return to their homes.

[13] SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC ELECTED PRESIDENT OF YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Slobodan Milosevic was elected President of Yugoslavia by the two chambers of the Yugoslav parliament on Tuesday.

The Chamber of Republics elected Milosevic in a secret ballot by 29-2 votes.

The Chamber of Citizens did the same by a 88-10 vote.

The outcome of both ballots were greeted with tumultous applause.

Slobodan Milosevic will be sworn in as new Yugoslav President at a special joint session of the two parliamentary Chambers, scheduled for July 23 at the request of a third a deputies, as Chamber of Citizens Speaker Milomir Minic announced.

[14] FOREIGN MINISTER MILUTINOVIC RECEIVES RUDDOCK

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic received on Tuesday Austrian Minister of Immigration and Multi-Ethnic Affairs Phillipe Ruddock. Ministers Milutinovic and Ruddock, who is on a working visit to Yugoslavia, exchanged views on relations between the two countries and measures which need to be taken further to promote them, especially at the economic level.

Special attention was devoted to the issue of displaced persons and refugees from the territory of the former Yugoslavia and efforts invested by the two countries to help resolve their problems.

[15] BOZOVIC: MILOSEVIC AS PRESIDENT TO STABILIZE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE FEDERAL STATE MINIC: MILOSEVIC AS PRESIDENT OF THE FRY FOR A STABLE AND DEMOCRATIC, ECONOMICALLY AND CULTURALLY DEVELOPED COUNTRY

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Acting President of the FRY and the President of the Council of the Republics of the Federal Assembly Srdja Bozovic said that Milosevic's election to the post of the President of the FRY signals the intention to stabilize the functions of the Federal State, affirm political pluralism, accelerate democratic processes in political and social life and promote parliamentarianism both in the Member Republics and the FRY. Srdja Bozovic emphasized that in electing Milosevic, the federal deputies in the Federal Assembly demonstrated responsibility, intention to ensure by this act the conditions for the strengthening and affirmation of the FRY and its Member Republics, Serbia and Montenegro, on the basis of the fundamental principle enshrined in the Federal Constitution which guarantees inviolable equality of the Member Republics and the citizens of the FRY.

He emphasized that the act of electing the President of the FRY represents not only the expression of the will of the ruling political parties in Serbia and Montenegro, but also unambiguously expresses the orientation of a vast majority of FRY citizens which has materialized by this extremely important political, State and legal act in the Federal Assembly.

I expect, Bozovic said, that by electing S. Milosevic as President, the FRY will continue to develop, promote and strengthen the ties between Montenegro and Serbia, in the interest of a faster development of the Member Republics and further prosperity of all FRY citizens.

I sincerely believe that additional conditions will be created for further major steps in already initiated structural and ownership transformation of the economy and the realization of economic reforms which should ensure complementarity of the Yugoslav economy and its inclusion in the international economic integration processes, Bozovic said.

Bozovic stressed that the stabilization of the political situation and affirmation of the constitutional competencies of the Federal State will not only accelerate the process of democratization and economic reforms, but will create additional conditions for a faster integration of the FRY in the international community, that is has undoubtedly been unentitled to, in view of its contribution.

The affirmation of the Federal State will also contribute to the realization of the fundamental human rights and freedoms as well as minority rights established by the constitutional and legal order of the FRY and its Member Republics, Bozovic said. (Tanjug, July 15, 1997

The President of the Council of Citizens Milomir Minic today expressed his conviction that by electing Milosevic as President of the FRY the deputies made it possible for the State to strengthen and develop as a stable and democratic, economically and culturally developed country, prosperous in all aspects.

After announcing the result of the vote for the President of the Federal State, in his short address to the deputies Minic said that Milosevic's election ensured the FRY to affirm itself as a free and independent State.

"Today, we have chosen a capable and courageous politician as President of the FRY, principled and wise statesman, a person of high moral integrity who engaged all his working and intellectual capabilities to serve the interests of the people and State", Minic said.

He expressed the conviction that this decision of the federal deputies and representatives of the people expresses a great political will of the majority of the country's citizens that Milosevic be at the helm of the FRY.

"I think that I share your profound belief that Milosevic will perform this highest State office successfully, in the interest, and to the benefit of Serbia and Montenegro and all citizens of the FRY. With Milosevic at the helm, we shall have Yugoslavia for all and Yugoslavia to all", Minic said and wished President Milosevic a lot of success in the discharge of that State function.

[16] SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC BIOGRAPHY

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslav President-Elect, was born in Pozarevac, Serbia, on August 20, 1941.

He graduated from the University of Belgrade School of Law in 1964. He and wife Dr Mirjana Markovic, a Belgrade University professor, have daughter Marija and son Marko.

He began his successful business career as economic advisor to the mayor of Belgrade. He was mostly engaged in economic and banking activities until taking up politics.

He was director general of Yugoslavia's major Tehnogas company for many years. After that, he became president of Beogradska banka, Serbia's and Yugoslavia's leading bank.

He has held key political posts in Belgrade and Serbia since he became a professional politician in 1983. In 1989, he was elected President of the Serbian Presidency for the first time.

In the first free multiparty elections in Serbia following World War II, held in December 1990, Milosevic was elected President by an overwhelming majority vote.

In Serbia's multiparty presidential elections in December 1992, Milosevic again scored a landslide victory.

He is the founder and President of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).

President Milosevic is a key political figure in Serbia whose name is linked with the establishing of Serbia's constitutional and legal unity as well as the attainment of major state and national interests of Serbia and its people.

[17] RUSSIA STRONGLY CRITICIZES OVERSTEPPING OF SFOR MANDATE

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov said on Tuesday during a meeting with his British counterpart Robin Cook that Moscow strongly condemned the overstepping of the SFOR mandate in Bosnia, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ministry spokesman Gennady Tarassov said at a press conference in Moscow that Primakov had stated that it was inadmissible to have the international force overstep its mandate and exercise any kind of police function. This is an exceptionally firm stance taken by Moscow, Tarassov said.

During his meeting with Cook, Primakov also said that the recent arrest of several Serbs in Bosnia, allegedly indicted for war crimes, can only destabilize the situation and undermine the position of SFOR, the spokesman added.

[18] YUGOSLAVIA'S EXPORTS RISE BY 28.5 PERCENT IN JANUARY-JUNE PERIOD

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Yugoslavia's exports amounted to 1.028 billion dollars in the January-June period and were 28.5 percent up on the same period last year, Milovan Zivkovic, head of the Yugoslav Statistics Bureau, has said. Zivkovic added that, according to the latest figures, imports amounted to 2.112 biilion dollars in the same period and were 21.7 percent up on the same period last year. He said the overall value of trade of 3.140 billion dollars indicated dynamic business contacts with the world.

He said that, in that period, Yugoslavia had traded with about a hundred countries. Zivkovic said that Italy, to which 121 million dollars' worth of goods had been delivered in the first sixth months of the year, was Yugoslavia's major partner in the field of exports, while Germany, from which it had imported 315 million dollars' worth of goods, had remained its major partner in the field of imports. He listed Russia, Macedonia and the (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska as Yugoslavia's other major partners, saying trade with these countries had amounted to 287 million dollars in the January-June period.

Heading the list of exports were tobacco and tobacco industry products with 41.7 million dollars, followed by vegetables and fruit with 52.2 million dollars, plastics with 45.2 million dollars, non-ferrous metals with 151.3 million dollars, iron and steel with 103.6 million dollars and clothing with 33.5 million dollars.

Heading the list of imports were oil and oil derivatives with 259.5 million dollars, yarn, textile fabrics and products with 172.4 million dollars, mineral ore and waste metal with 89.5 million dollars, vegetables and fruit with 95.6 million dollars and paper, cardboard and cellulose products with 70.6 million dollars.

Zivkovic said the sixth-month deficit of 1.084 billion dollars was mainly incurred by imports in which raw materials and semi-manufactures had been predominant.

He said imports of raw materials and semi-manufactures had amounted to 1.452 billion dollars in the January-June period, accounting for 68.7 percent of Yugoslavia's imports.

Exports dropped by 12.5 percent in June compared to May, while imports dropped by 30.7 percent, he said adding that a decrease in trade in summer months had been registered before, even before the imposition of anti- Yugoslav sanctions.

[19] BOSNIAN SERB OFFICIAL: VENICE COMMISSION'S VIEWS ARE NOT BINDING

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

The Republika Srpska's Deputy Foreign Minister said on Tuesday that opinions held by the Council of Europe's working body, the Venice Commission, were not binding on the Republika Srpska. Radomir Lukic, who is the Republika Srpska Government's legal representative, said that the Venice Commission was not one of the bodies in charge of implementing the Dayton Accord and as such had no authority over the Republika Srpska's state bodies.

The legal representative of the international community's High Representative has sought the opinion of the Venice Commission in connection with the decision of Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic to dissolve Parliament.

The Venice Commission is not among the bodies in charge of the implementation of the Dayton Accord and as such has no legal position in it, according to Lukic.

Lukic said that the Republika Srpska's Constitutional Court was the only body competent to protect the Constitution unless this competence had been specifically placed in the hands of another court or state body. He stressed that only a Constitutional Court decision could resolve the crisis in the Republika Srpska, and described as important Plavsic's statement that she accepted this role of the Constitutional Court and was willing to abide by its decision.

Lukic said this was an important statement that might help contain the crisis, and a first sign that the crisis was moving towards a settlement under the Constitution and in the competence of the bodies set up to protect constitutional law and order.

[20] SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION OF DR. KOVACEVIC

Tanjug, 1997-07-15

Dr. Milan Kovacevic, director of the Prijedor hospital kidnapped and taken to the Hague a few days ago by SFOR troops, was admitted on Tuesday to the prison hospital as his condition was very serious, his lawyer Igor Pantelic said. Pantelic said on the telephone immediately after he visited Kovacevic at the hospital that his client suffered serious heart and urinary disorders.

Pantelic said he would request that Kovacevic be examined also by Yugoslav doctors following the tragic experience of what had happened precisely in the same hospital to the Republika Srpska Army General Djordje Djukic while he was in custody. We believe that the late General Djukic had nor received proper medical care and the consequences were fatal, Pantelic said.

The defense will intensify its endeavors for the release of Dr. Kovacevic, Pantelic said and added that he would address several objections to the War Crimes Tribunal in a few days. One of the key objections will concern the existence of secret lists of persons indicted for war crimes. The defense will also request the release of Dr. Kovacevic as he was kidnapped despite the fact that his name had not been on the official list of the indictees, Pantelic said.

The defense will also inform the Tribunal of the results of investigation and of the charges brought by Republika Srpska against SFOR troops for the brutal murder of the former Prijedor police chief Simo Drljaca and for the kidnapping of Dr. Kovacevic.

Asked to comment the reports by some western news agencies that Dr. Kovacevic had allegedly told investigators on his arrival in the Hague that he regretted everything that had happened in the Prijedor area during the Bosnian war, Pantelic answered that Kovacevic had never made such a statement, and that he would only speak in the presence of his lawyer.

[21] YUGOSLAV CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT MEETS WITH BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce President Mihailo Milojevic discussed on Monday with Bulgarian Ambassador in Belgrade Filip Ispekov the promotion of cooperation between the two countries' companies and creation of conditions for an increase in their trade. Milojevic and Ispekov described cooperation to date as successful, saying business contacts among Yugoslav and Bulgarian companies had been good last year despite difficulties that had been overcome through joint efforts. Milojevic said inter-chamber cooperation as well as that among the two countries' companies developed well, saying Yugoslavia urged good relations with Bulgaria and its economy and people. Commenting on the imbalance in Yugoslav-Bulgarian trade, Milojevic said Yugoslavia's exports to Bulgaria should be higher. He said the Bulgarian Embassy in Belgrade had backed the promotion of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Ispekov, who will soon end his diplomatic mission in Belgrade, said the two countries' future lay in friendly ties, saying this meant that all forms of cooperation should be strengthened. In this connection, he said a joint effort should be made to promote cooperation still further, saying that, regardless of the volume of trade between the two countries, their cooperation in some sectors was on a rather low level. He said good business ties stimulated the development of all forms of cooperation. Milojevic and Ispekov agreed that room existed for a more efficient economic cooperation and cooperation among banks, saying the two countries should continue building good relations.

[22] SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC ONLY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

The Credentials-Immunity Committees of the Yugoslav parliament's Chamber of Citizens and Chamber of Republics established ON Monday that only Slobodan Milosevic's candidacy for President of Yugoslavia was valid. The candidacy of Slobodan Milosevic for President of Yugoslavia has been put up by the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Yugoslav Left (JUL), and New Democracy (ND) in the Chamber of Citizens. The SPS, JUL and ND said in the proposal, which was read to the Credentials-Immunity Committee of the Chamber of Citizens by Committee chairman Dragisa Ivkovic, that "Slobodan Milosevic, a personality with the greatest prestige and authority in Serbia and Yugoslavia, was elected President of Serbia twice in a row in direct, secret and democratic elections by an overwhelming majority of votes."

"It is thanks to his engagement, principled and realistic policy that the state unity of Serbia has been achieved in a crucial decade for our people and citizens; that our country has been constituted on the principles of multi-party democracy and market economy as a state of citizens based on full respect for equality; that Yugoslavia has been reorganized as a federal state of equal republics; that radical economic and political reforms, aimed at securing development and progress of all citizens, have been defined and are being carried out," the SPS, JUL and ND said.

It is in the interest of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, on the basis of the principles of freedom, autonomy and independence, to grow stronger, develop and affirm itself in the world as a factor of peace, stability, cooperation and understanding on an equal footing, and, as a democratic state, to become part of European and world integration processes, the three parties said in the explanation of their candidacy of Slobodan Milosevic for President of Yugoslavia.

"The choice of Slobodan Milosevic for President of the F.R. of Yugoslavia, with his affirmed values of a politician and statesman, is a great contribution to the fulfillment of the interests and goals of our country, people and all citizens. We are convinced that Slobodan Milosevic will meet with the greatest of success the obligations of the high state post for which we are proposing him and that he will consistently exercise those duties in the interest of the people of Montenegro and Serbia and all citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," the SPS, JUL and ND stressed.

The proposal was signed by heads of the SPS, JUL and ND parliamentary groupings Milutin Stojkovic, Zivko Soklovacki and Miroslav Stefanovic and 46 members of the Chamber of Citizens.

Both Committees established that the candidacies put up by four civic groups and one by the Preporod coalition were not in line with the law which regulates the election of president of the republic or with the Rules of the Chamber of Citizens.

[23] INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL SAYS ARRESTS OF WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS CONTINUE

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

Spokesman for the International Community's High Representative for Bosnia- Herzegovina Simon Haselock said here on Monday that the arrests of war crimes suspects would continue regardless of tensions in the Republika Srpska. Speaking at a press conference, Haselock criticised Republika Srpska Parliament Speaker Dragan Kalinic's statement that all Republika Srpska citizens who had participated in the fighting were in jeopardy and said that only those accused of war crimes should be frightened.

U.N. representatives said that the U.N. mission was concerned about an explosion in Zvornik late on Sunday, in which no one was hurt but one Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe vehicle was destroyed. They said that in the Republika Srpska there had been a number of other attacks at international organisation's staff, who had been advised to take measures of precaution.

[24] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PRESIDENT: TADIC'S SENTENCE IS HORRIBLE

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic said on Monday in Banja Luka that the 20 year prison sentence given to Dusan Tadic by the War Crimes Tribunal was horrible. The Tribunal was even unable to determine with certainty whether the man that stood trial was the real indictee or whether he was another man having the same name, Plavsic said. Plavsic said she had once visited the village where Tadic was born to see his house. The villagers told her he was a good man but criticized him for desertion as soon as the war started. Can a deserter be a war criminal, Plavsic wondered.

[25] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL RECEIVES SWISS RED CROSS PRESIDENT

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

Head of the Yugoslav Government's Commission for humanitarian issues and missing persons Pavle Todorovic on Monday received Swiss Red Cross President Franz Mucheima, who is also vice president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies. Speaking about the difficult humanitarian situation in Yugoslavia, Todorovic said that international humanitarian factors overlooked the fact that more than 90 percent of refugees lived with the families affected by the four-and-a-half- year U.N. sanctions against Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Government said in a statement. Another difficulty is that the donors have grown tired and the aid that arrives in Yugoslavia cannot cover the minimum needs of refugees, 65 percent of whom are children and the elderly. Another difficulty in the humanitarian situation is that international aid to Yugoslavia is made conditional on some Dayton Accords provisions, on which Yugoslavia cannot have an influence.

Todorovic especially deplored and protested against the abuse of the Red Cross symbol in the arrest operation in the Republika Srpska. Mucheima said he would try to influence the Swiss Red Cross and the IFRC to increase humanitarian aid deliveries to Yugoslavia.

[26] YUGOSLAV CONSTITUTIONAL COURT PRESIDENT RECEIVES GUINEA'S AMBASSADOR

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

President of the Yugoslav Constitutional Court Milomir Jakovljevic received on Monday Guinea's Ambassador in Belgrade Alexandre Cece Loua. The two officials discussed the promotion of cooperation between the two countries' Constitutional Courts. Cece Lou= a handed Jakovljevic a letter by President of the Guinean Constitutional Court Lamine Sidima in which he thanked for hospitality shown him during his recent visit to Yugoslavia. Also present was Ambassador with the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry Danilo Milic.

[27] SRPSKA ARMY GENERAL MEETS SFOR DEPUTY COMMANDER

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

Republika Srpska Army Chief of Staff General Pero Colic met on Monday the Deputy Commander of SFOR land forces Cordy Simpson. The meeting focused on the SFOR action last week in Prijedor, in which one man was killed and three were detained. General Colic said after the meeting that SFOR had carried out an action contrary to the Dayton Agreement, describing it as an attack on the Serb people. If a similar action is undertaken again in the future, there will be no more cooperation with SFOR, Colic said. Simpson said that SFOR did not overstep its mandate in Prijedor and added that it would try to restore the former level of cooperation with the Republika Srpska leadership.

[28] RUSSIA OPPOSES UNILATERAL ACTIONS IN BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov told visiting British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on Monday that Moscow was against unannounced actions in Bosnia of the kind undertaken by NATO troops of the SFOR in Republika Srpska last week.

"I would not like for operations of that kind to be repeated, for they will not help improve the situation," Primakov told a news conference after the meeting with Cook, who is on a three-day visit to Russia. The Russian Foreign Minister said Moscow had not been informed about the plans for the operation of the arrest of war-crimes suspects, carried out in the town of Prijedor by British troops with strong U.S. support. Primakov proposed in the meeting with Cook that the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina be discussed at the first session of the Joint Russia-NATO Council in New York in September. He said it was necesary that the Joint Council discuss in general regional conflicts and possibilities for countering them, including by means of setting up multinational NATO operational forces which would act on a permanent basis and in which Russia could take part.

[29] KRAJISNIK SAYS TADIC SENTENCED WITHOUT COMPLETE EVIDENCE

Tanjug, 1997-07-14

Republika Srpska member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik said Monday that the "sentence received by Dusan Tadic is further proof that it was actually passed on the basis of imcomplete data and evidence." "It is more a political than legal sentence, and that is why we in Republika Srpska are indignated," Krajisnik said.

[30] RUSSIAN MEDIA ON SFOR OPERATION IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

Tanjug, 1997-07-12

The majority of Moscow newspapers on Saturday carried a statement in which Russia strongly condemned the recent SFOR operation in the Republika Srpska and said that this development might cause a rift between the guarantors of peace in Bosnia.

Quoting NATO officials as saying that the peace mission in Bosnia proves that Russia and NATO can cooperate well regardless of all differences, the daily Sevodnya said, "It would be interesting to see what would remain of this cooperation if the pecaekeeping force in Bosnia, including the Russian contingent, were ordered by the NATO Commander Europe to begin with a large- scale operation of arresting war crimes suspects."

Izvestiya said that operations, such as the one in Prijedor, could hardly help consolidate trust, particularly between the SFOR and Serb forces, especially because British SFOR troops had abused the Red Cross sign during the arrest.

Most of Russian commentators belive that the arrests in Prijedor were just an overture to a bigger operation, aimed at a complete removal of the Republika Srpska political leadership, which acts against current President Biljana Plavsic.

Estimates say that such NATO operations might lead to results that would be diametrically opposed to what was planned. Sevodnya said that the Serb leaders might unite in the face of an outside threat, which has already happened more than once.

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