Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-12-18

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RECEIVES RUSSIAN CORRESPONDENTS

[02] KRAJISNIK RECEIVES HEAD OF RUSSIA'S SARAJEVO MISSION GERASIMOV

[03] KRAJISNIK RECEIVES FROWICK ON FAREWELL VISIT

[04] POLISH PRESS REPORTS ON TRAINING OF MUJAHIDEEN IN BOSNIA

[05] KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY TERRORISTS CONVICTED

[06] YUGOSLAV PREMIER GIVES INTERVIEW TO RUSSIAN BELGRADE CORRESPONDENTS

[07] YUGOSLAVIA'S 1997 GNP TO REACH 8 PERCENT - STATISTICS

[08] BILDT SPEAKS ABOUT MISTAKES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA

[09] YUGOSLAVIA-CROATIA SMALL BORDER TRADE AGREEMENT TAKES FORCE

[10] YUGOSLAVIA OPENS ITS CONSULAR OFFICE IN VUKOVAR

[11] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA WELCOMES BELGRADE AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

[12] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT SPEAKER BOZOVIC CONFERS WITH BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

[13] ITALY'S FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN BELGRADE ON MONDAY

[14] PRIME MINSITER KONTIC RECEIVES AMBASSADOR OF DPR OF KOREA

[15] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARIANS 1998.

[16] U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES: YUGOSLAVIA IS A SOVEREIGN STATE

[17] YUGOSLAVIA, BOSNIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

[18] MILUTINOVIC: DUAL CITIZENSHIP DEAL VITAL FOR CLOSER TIES WITH BOSNIA

[01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RECEIVES RUSSIAN CORRESPONDENTS

Tanjug, 1997-12-16

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic received on Tuesday the correspondents of Russian media in Belgrade to thank them for their contribution to the success of the recent visit of a Yugoslav state delegation to Russia, as their professional reporting had helped create the atmosphere for signing a series of bilateral agreements.

Kontic said his visit to Russia, the first of a Yugoslav Premier in ten years, had been very successful and contributed to strengthening the friendship between the two countries which has stood the test of time. The visit also demonstrated the identity of Russia's and Yugoslavia's views on all important international issues, Kontic said, Yugoslav information secretariat said in a statement.

As there are no obstacles hindering overall bilateral cooperation, Kontic expects bilateral trade to reach between 2 and 2.5 billion dollars by the end of the century, provided that the recently signed agreements are realized.

Bilateral dialogue will continue next year at the highest level, as Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has accepted Kontic's invitation to visit Yugoslavia.

Kontic expressed to Russian reporters his best wishes for 1998, the statement says.

[02] KRAJISNIK RECEIVES HEAD OF RUSSIA'S SARAJEVO MISSION GERASIMOV

Tanjug, 1997-12-16

Republika Srpska member in Bosnia's three-man Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik received on Tuesday Head of Russia's mission in Sarajevo Yakov Gerasimov.

Krajisnik told reporters after the meeting that the Bosnian Serbs would not accept Bosnia's Law on Citizenship if it did not contain a provision on dual citizenship. Krajisnik said Gerasimov had backed the Serb side's position on the issue.

He said the Moslems wanted to make more complicated the adoption of the Citizenship Law because of the provision on dual citizenship, provided for by an agreement recently signed in Belgrade.

Krajisnik said the Agreement had been approved by the other two Presidency members, Alija Izetbegovic and Kresimir Zubak.

He said the Moslems were obstructing the adoption of the law hoping that something might change because they had not expected that Yugoslavia would agree to sign the dual citizenship deal.

Krajisnik said he had informed Gerasimov about the Serb side's position that the Bosnian Serbs were entitled to the same rights granted to the Bosnian Croats in Croatia and provided for by the Dayton Peace Accords.

[03] KRAJISNIK RECEIVES FROWICK ON FAREWELL VISIT

Tanjug, 1997-12-16

The Republika Srpska member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik received on Tuesday in Pale the outgoing Head of the OSCE mission Robert Frowick.

Krajisnik said after the meeting that he had thanked Frowick for what he had done during his mission and asked him to to tell the truth about Bosnia, Republika Srpska and its people in his home country, the United States.

Frowick said that the past year was characterized by many difficulties in implementing the compromises stemming from the Dayton Peace Agreement, and added that he had understood during his mission the scope of the fight that had to be waged to create Republika Srpska and the OSCE endeavors to legalize the election results in the Serb entity in Bosnia.

Republika Srpska has survived an internal crisis, Frowick said and paid homage to its citizens for resolving it peacefully.

Promising to inform the US public of all he has learned, Frowick said he admired the Serb people for its intellectual and creative capabilities and its courage which will help it build a happy and permanent community.

The meeting was attended also by the Srpska parliament Speaker Dragan Kalinic, Deputy Prime Ministers Velibor Ostojic and Aleksa Buha and Deputy Foreign Minister in the Bosnia-Herzegovina Council of Ministers Dragan Bozanic.

[04] POLISH PRESS REPORTS ON TRAINING OF MUJAHIDEEN IN BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-12-16

Intelligence services of the Nordic-Polish SFOR Brigade suspect that a center for training terrorists from Islamic countries is located in the Bocina Donja village near Maglaj in Bosnia, Warsaw daily Rzecspospolita writes on Tuesday.

The author of the article, Marek Popowsky, who used to be in both SFOR and its predecessor IFOR in Bosnia, writes that mujahideen had first come to Bosnia in 1992, and numbered over 3,000 in the summer of 1995.

Besides mujahideen from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan, there were several hundred Muslim extremists who had come from Italy, France, Germany and Britain, he notes.

Deserters from the Turkish, Malaysian and French UNPROFOR battalions also volunteered as mujahideen, Popowsky writes.

In addition to dangerous military actions, the mujahideen also carried out a religious and ideological mission, enforcing abidance by the Koran and recruiting young soldiers to die for Allah, Popowsky writes.

Noting that Bosniac (Muslim) troops respected their allies but feared them at the same time as Allahs' warriors used to carry out high-risk actions and were cruel fighters, Popowsky quotes Serb officers as saying that the mujahideen never took prisoners. Wounded enemy soldiers were usually decapitated or slaughtered by mujahideen, Popowsky writes.

The Dayton Agreement committed (Bosnian Muslim leader) Alija Izetbegovic to remove all foreign fighters from Bosnia, but about one thousand mujahideen who obtained Bosnian citizenship in the meantime remain in Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zenica and about ten villages, the daily writes.

The largest group of mujahideen is now in Bocina Donja, a formerly Serb village near Maglaj, the daily writes, adding that the Nordic-Polish intelligence service G-5 is following the activities of such unusual "settlers", as it suspects that a camp for training terrorists is located in the village following reports from Serb and Croat forces' commandders.

Noting that Islamic states had allocated to the Muslim part of Bosnia military and humanitarian aid to the value of over one billion dollars and that decisions to this effect had been taken not only by governments but also by various extremist Muslim groups and informal institutions, the daily writes that the activities of mujahideen in Bocina Donja would continue to be monitored by international special services to prevent the village from being transformed into a base for launching terrorist operations.

[05] KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY TERRORISTS CONVICTED

Tanjug, 1997-12-16

Verdicts were delivered on Tuesday in the district court of Pristina to nineteen ethnic Albanians, members of the terrorist organization Liberation Army of Kosovo, 17 of which are prison terms, and two acquittals.

Presiding the five-member court council, judge Dragoljub Zdravkovic, sentenced to 20 years in prison Naiti Hasani, Agron Toljaji and Arif Voksi. Hasan Zenelji received a 15-year prison term and Agim Makoli 11 years. Aslan Selimi, Echrem Kastrati and Isak Sabani received 10-year prison terms, and Alija Djulic nine years. Demir Ljimaj received eight years, Hajdin Rama six years, Bisljim Zogaj, Agim Huljaj and Selim Ljokaj five years, and Nezir Zogaj four years.

Two convicted in abstentia, Cherim Keljmendi and Hamza Pandjaj, received 15 and 13 years.

All the convicted were charged, as Kosovo Liberation Army members, with taking part in the planning and executing of several terrorist actions throughout Kosmet, in which three persons lost their lives.

The acquitted are Aljban Neziri and Iljir Gasi, due to lack of evidence of their guilt.

[06] YUGOSLAV PREMIER GIVES INTERVIEW TO RUSSIAN BELGRADE CORRESPONDENTS

Tanjug, 1997-12-16

Russia's Itar-TASS news agency carried on Tuesday a statement by Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic urging a speedy ratification of Accords signed during his recent visit to Moscow.

Meeting with Russian corrspondents in Belgrade earlier on Tuesday, Kontic analysed the results of the visit, saying that the Accords were mutually useful and should therefore take effect as soon as possible.

He singled out as especially important the Memorandum on liberalising trade, which he said reflected the spirit of the times and raised the level of trade and economic cooperation between the two states making a transition to an open-market economy.

Itar-TASS highlighed Kontic's statement that Yugoslavia expects the first phase of the Accord to be implemented already in 1998, when tariffs for commodities on the two countries' priority lists would be sharply reduced or even abolished.

It gave prominence also to Kontic's statement that the reintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in international financial organisations will be the country's priority in 1998.

Kontic is quoted as saying that, in attaining this crucial objective, Yugoslavia counted on Russia's support pledged during their meeting by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

Kontic is further quoted as saying that the United States' linking the removal of the so-called "outer wall of sanctions" against Yugoslavia to settling the problem of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija Province was a non sequitur. "Yugoslavia considers (the situation in the Province) as its internal affair, and does not accept attempts at internationalising the problem," Itar-TASS quotes Kontic as saying. He also said that Yugoslav authorities "are ready to open dialogue with ethnic Albanians on a normalisation."

Yugoslavia, he added, was consistently urging the implementation of all provisions of the Dayton Accord, and saw it as the only alternative if the peace process were to be achieved in the Balkans.

He said that the level of democracy and of market economy development in Yugoslavia satified the international standards for an open society.

Therefore, he added, there should be no serious obstacle to Yugoslavia's reintegration in world financial, commercial and political bodies and equal place in the world community of nations.

[07] YUGOSLAVIA'S 1997 GNP TO REACH 8 PERCENT - STATISTICS

Tanjug, 1997-12-14

Yugoslavia's GNP will be between 7.5 and 8 percent this year, Tanjug was told by Yugoslav Statistics Bureau Director Milovan Zivkovic. The assessment was based on expectations that the industrial production would grow by 9.6 percent, agricultural production by 3 percent and production in other sectors by more than 10 percent, Zivkovic said.

He said that these results were satisfactory, in view of the fact that Yugoslavia had not regulated its membership in international financial and trade organisations.

Speaking about prices, Zivkovic said that they were not expected to grow in December and that in view of their 8.3-increase in the past 11 months, the inflation rate would be between 8 and 8.5 percent. The stability of prices was certainly the main feature this year, he said.

The prices of some Yugoslav products are higher than those in Europe, which means that they can be reduced, Zivkovic said.

He said that Yugoslavia was expected to increase its exports by more than one-third in comparison with 1996 and deliver goods worth a total of 2.370 billion dollars.

Zivkovic said that Yugoslavia had taken advantage of just a small part of E.U. trade preferentials because of a complicated procedure.

On the other hand, exports will grow by 15 percent this year and Yugoslavia's foreign trade deficit would amount to more than two billion dollars, like last year, Zivkovic said.

He said that the import of raw materials and intermediates accounted to 65 percent of the deficit.

Yugoslavia's GNP in 1998 should grow by about 10 percent, industrial production by 10.5 percent, agricultural production by 3 percent and production in other sectors by 13.5 percent, he said.

We do not expect an increase of the inflation rate, the Yugoslav Statistics Bureau director said and added that prices should be lowered by 4 to 4.5 percent next year.

In the foreign trade sector, Yugoslavia plans to increase exports by 32 percent and reduce its imports, he said.

[08] BILDT SPEAKS ABOUT MISTAKES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Swedish politician Carl Bildt, former High Representative of the international community in Bosnia said that peace could have been in place much earlier in Bosnia if a higher level of cohesion had been present earlier in the international community, which, he said, has made many mistakes in the region.

Bildt made this assessment in a statement to the Milanese daily Corriere della Sera, adding that the region now depended on the policy of the United States.

The Milanese daily writes about Bildt on the occasion of the publishing of his book Peace Mission, about what was really happening in and around Bosnia.

Bildt said his book was a history of mistakes, conspiracies and treachery, intended to undermine the mission, starting from the precipitated recognition of the former Yugoslav republics, arduous agreements about military initiatives and interventions, until peace was finally restored, and peace-keeping established or the initiative and agreement for lasting peace, Bildt told the Milanese daily.

Corriere said that Bildt was full of bitterness because of the incredible things that happened in Bosnia, and which are still happening.

The international community is investing millions of dollars in the reconstruction of Bosnia. But Muslims and Croats in Bosnia are using over half of the money for purchasing arms, Bildt said.

In a statement to the Milanese daily, Bildt said in conclusion that the international community and NATO will have to deal with Bosnia for years, as peace in Bosnia is maintained by the multinational forces.

[09] YUGOSLAVIA-CROATIA SMALL BORDER TRADE AGREEMENT TAKES FORCE

Tanjug, 1997-12-14

As of Sunday, those wishing to cross the border between the Srem-Baranya region and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are using either small border passes or visas. An Agreement on small border trade, signed between Yugoslavia and Croatia in September, took effect at midnight local time.

Under the Agreement, people living in most parts of the Srem-Baranya region on the Croatian side and in Apatin, Bac, Backa Palanka, Beocin, Novi Sad, Odzaci, Ruma, Sombor, Sremska Mitrovica, Sid, Beska, Golubinci, Stari Slankamen and Novi Slankamen on the Yugoslav side of the border are entitled to small border passes.

The passes may be obtained at local police precincts.

Yugoslav Ambassador to Croatia Veljko Knezevic was present at the opening of the Consulate.

The Yugoslav visa is valid for six months. Also entitled to the visa are the region's students attending schools and universities in Yugoslavia.

[10] YUGOSLAVIA OPENS ITS CONSULAR OFFICE IN VUKOVAR

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on Saturday opened its Consular Office in Vukovar, Serbian Radio-TV reported. Such an office will work in Beli Manastir on Sunday.

Since the Yugoslav-Croatian Agreement on local border traffic will take force on Sunday and since a large number of eastern Slavonia's citizens are interested in Yugoslav visas, the Office will work in Vukovar on Saturdays and in Beli Manastir on Sundays.

[11] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA WELCOMES BELGRADE AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Republika Srpska received with approval news that Bosnian Serb member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic signed an Agreement on Dual Citizenship between Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Belgrade Saturday. Local media and people welcomed the news, saying this was something that was expected.

[12] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT SPEAKER BOZOVIC CONFERS WITH BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Speaker of the Assembly of Yugoslavia Chamber of Republics Srdja Bozovic discussed on Friday with Bulgarian Ambassador in Belgrade Ivail Trifonov the strengthening of parliamentary cooperation between the two countries. It was established in the talk that cooperation between the two Parliaments should be intensified, as a good basis for the resolution of major issues of interest to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

Relations between the two countries are an example of good-neighbourly cooperation, but can be even better, more substantive and comprehensive, it was set out in the talk.

Bozovic and Trifonov pointed up the need for an all-round development of the bilateral relations, especially economic and cultural.

[13] ITALY'S FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN BELGRADE ON MONDAY

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Italy's Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini will pay a one-day working visit to Yugoslavia on Monday, at the invitation of his Yugoslav counterpart Milan Milutinovic.

[14] PRIME MINSITER KONTIC RECEIVES AMBASSADOR OF DPR OF KOREA

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic received on Friday the Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Von Ho, who is has ended his diplomatic mission in Belgrade, the Federal Information Secretariat has said.

In a long and open talk about current issues of bilateral cooperation and international relations, expressed was full agreement about the existence of conditions and joint interest for the promotion of cooperation in all spheres.

Underscoring that Ambassador Kim Von Ho's diplomatic mission in Belgrade resulted in the promotion of friendly relations betewen the two countries and their peoples, Kontic set out that the constructive position of DPR of Korea towards the Yugoslav crisis and efforts for its political and peaceful resolution, are of importance for the development of cooperation in the coming period.

Both sides said that it was necessary to complete the institutional framework for economic cooperation. First of all, it is necessary to coordinate interstate agreements on the protection of investments and the avoiding of dual taxation. Also expressed was the readiness for the intensification of interstate contacts at the highest level and revival of work of the Mixed Committee in order to speed up the resolution of practical issues and promote economic cooperation.

Ambassador Kim Von Ho expressed gratitute for the cooperation and help during his time as Ambassador and underscored the importance of the humanitarian aid which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia sent to DPR of Korea. He also thanked Yugoslavia for its support to the constructive unification efforts of the Korean people.

Both sides expressed belief that the unification issue without outside interference, could best be solved by the people themselves. It was said that this would be in the interest of Korea, but also of the entire region, the statement said.

[15] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARIANS 1998.

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Moldovan President Petru Luchinski has received a Yugoslav parliamentary delegation headed by Miodrag Koprivica, member of the Lower House Foreign Relations Committee, which is attending for the first time a session of the parliamentary assembly of the Black Sea Organization for Economic Cooperation.

Luchinski said Moldova supported Yugoslavia's endeavors for reintegration in all international institutions and wished to develop bilateral relations in all fields.

The Yugoslav delegation thanked the Moldovan President for the invitation to attend the session and for Moldova's support to Yugoslavia.

The delegation held a separate meeting with Moldovan Deputy Minister of the Economy and Reform Dumitru Bragish, which focused on the need for accelerating the conclusion of bilateral agreements on trade, economic cooperation, investments, avoidance of double taxation, education, culture and transports, possibly in the first months of 1998.

The Yugoslav delegation also had several informal meetings on the sidelines of the session with representatives of Moldova, Russia, Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Armenia, Romania, Albania, Egypt, Israel, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The session endorsed a draft charter of the Black Sea Organization for Economic Cooperation and urged national parliaments to ratify it as soon as it is signed in the beginnng of

The session ended by handing over the chairmanship of the organization to Romanian Senate Speaker Petre Romanu for the next six month period.

The next session of the Black Sea cooperation Parliamentary Assembly will be held next June in Bucharest.

[16] U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES: YUGOSLAVIA IS A SOVEREIGN STATE

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

The U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Yugoslavia said in the southern city of Nis on Friday that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a sovereign state and that the Province of Kosovo-Metohija was its internal affair. Speaking about international interest in this Province of Yugoslavia's Republic of Serbia, Richard Miles said that international norms should be applied in dealing with the problem of Kosovo-Metohija.

Miles said that actions speak louder than words and that the Yugoslav authorities needed to take but a small step to reach a global political solution to the problem. He did not elaborate, but did not miss the opportunity, either, to say that the reaching or otherwise of a global settlement would determine future bilateral economic cooperation and the return of Yugoslav exporters, those in Nis included, to the U.S. market.

He described his closed-door talks at the regional Chamber of Commerce as a high-level exchange of views on economic issues, saying they would be resumed.

There was no comment from the local officials, whose victory in last year's local elections Miles described as the result of their own efforts and a little help from their friends.

[17] YUGOSLAVIA, BOSNIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic and Republika Srpska member in Bosnia's three-man Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik signed here on Saturday an Agreement on dual citizenship. A statement released by the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had agreed that Bosnia's citizens be enabled to apply also for the Yugoslav citizenship, in keeping with the European Human Rights Charter and the General Peace Agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The dual citizenship deal reflects Yugoslavia's contribution and support to the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the strengthening of the peace process, stability and goodneighbourly relations in the region as well as to stepping up overall relations and cooperation with Bosnia- Herzegovina and the protection of interests and rights of the Serb and Montenegrin peoples in Bosnia.

[18] MILUTINOVIC: DUAL CITIZENSHIP DEAL VITAL FOR CLOSER TIES WITH BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic said on Saturday that Republika Srpska member in Bosnia's three-man Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik and himself had signed an Agreement on Dual Citizenship earlier in the day. Milutinovic said the Agreement entitled all citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina and in particular Serbs and Montenegrins in the Republika Srpska to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship. "This is a major contribution to establishing closer relations between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Bosnia- Herzegovina and goodneighbourly relations in general," he said.

He said the Agreement would help all the interested citizens to feel safer and communicate more easily with their mother country.

Krajisnik said Bosnia officials were reviewing the draft law on citizenship, passports and travel papers at this point, saying the law was to be adopted early next week. He said preliminary agreement on the draft law had been reached at a recent conference of the Peace Implementation Council in Bonn.

He said all three members of Bosnia's Presidency had signed at the conference a statement enabling Serbs and all other citizens of Bosnia- Herzegovina to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship.

"The Dayton Peace Agreement contains a provision providing for dual citizenship of Bosnia's citizens," he said explaining that the signing of an Agreement to this effect with a mother country was a condition for it.

Krajisnik welcomed the Agreement, saying it enabled all citizens of Bosnia- Herzegovina to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship. "The agreement does not only enable Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship but also entitles them to the same rights granted to the Bosnian Croats in Croatia," he said.

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