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============================================================
4. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY CONTENTS:
YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT EXPECTS EARLY RESUMPTION OF BOSNIA PEACE TALKS
B u d a p e s t, Jan. 1 (Tanjug) - Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia President Zoran Lilic expressed hope on
Sunday that the international 'Contact Group' plan for Bosnia
would soon come up for adoption. He said it would
create conditions for new talks and a restoration of
lasting peace in the former Yugoslav republic of
Bosnia-Herzegovina. In an interview with Hungarian Radio
and the national MTI news agency, Lilic said more and more
countries now admitted that the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia wanted the Bosnian crisis to be settled
peacefully and that it was making concrete moves in that
direction. Commenting on the unjust sanctions imposed on
Yugoslavia, Lilic said that Yugoslavia had done everything in
its power to bring about their lifting. He expressed hope that
the sanctions would indeed be lifted this year. It is
possible to restore peace in Bosnia only by treating equally
all of the three confronted sides there, Lilic said. He
denied accusations that Belgrade is aspiring to create a
'greater Serbia.' Speaking about the former Yugoslav
republics, he said that Yugoslavia 'will not recognize
Bosnia-Herzegovina until it has become a new state acceptable
to all of its three peoples.' There is no reason for haste
because it was the early recognition that led to the current
civil war in the first place, he said. Yugoslavia will
recognize the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia when it
settles its dispute with Greece, while Slovenia has already been
recognized by the previous Yugoslav Government and there is no
need to repeat that, said the Yugoslav President. In the
case of Croatia, Yugoslavia supports Cyrus Vance's plan and
will recognize Croatia after the plan is implemented, said Lilic
and repeated that the F.R. of Yugoslavia had no territorial
claims. Asked about the future of Serbia's southern
province of Kosovo and Metohija, Lilic said that it was an
integral part of the Republic of Serbia and that current
difficulties could be surmounted only by democratic means if
the ethnic Albanians should accept dialogue. Lilic voiced
satisfaction over the development of the overall
Yugoslav-Hungarian relations. He said, however, that the
regime of U.N. sanctions was an obstacle to developing those
relations in a scope the two sides hoped for. Lilic
rejected the possibility of giving autonomy to ethnic
Hungarians in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina
because it would violate the rights of other minorities in the
province. 'In Yugoslavia, all ethnic minorities have
equal rights and there is no reason to give autonomy to one
of them alone,' said Lilic. 'Why should we give more (rights)
to our minorities than other european countries, including
Hungary, give to theirs. If (a form of) autonomy such as
Vojvodina Hungarians are seeking should be included in the
U.N. Charter, then Yugoslavia would accept it,' the Yugoslav
President said in an interview to Hungarian Radio and the MTI
news agency.
YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT IS READY TO WORK WITH WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
N e w Y o r k, Jan. 3 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Government
has informed the U.N. Secretary-General that it is ready to
cooperate with the International Tribunal for War Crimes in
Former Yugoslavia. Yugoslav Ambassador to the U.N.
Dragomir Djokic on Tuesday submitted to Boutros
Boutros-Ghali a copy of Yugoslav Justice Minister Uros
Klikovac's letter to chief prosecutor of the Hague
International Tribunal Richard Goldstone. The letter says
a legal licence would be provided for relevant Yugoslav bodies
to submit to the tribunal documents relating to war crimes in
cases when Yugoslav courts are unable to prosecute. When
the international tribunal or its prosecutors officially
address the F.R. of Yugoslavia, their officials will be
allowed to attend hearings before Yugoslav courts. This means
that they will be allowed to put questions and request
additional explanation, but only through the investigating
judge. Minister Klikovac informed Goldstone that Yugoslav
organs would also start criminal proceedings on the basis of
evidence received from him personally or the tribunal in cases
where there is a legal basis for prosecution under Yugoslav
laws. Concerning Goldstone's request that a liaison officer
be posted in Belgrade, the Yugoslav Government has agreed that
one tribunal official could be based in Belgrade as part of
the UNPROFOR. However, he would not have the right to act
publicly, to wear symbols of the tribunal or to start any kind
of proceedings. The tribunal official would be allowed to
maintain contacts with relevant federal and republican bodies
and non-governmental organizations. He would enjoy the same
rights and immunity as all other U.N. officials. Klikovac
said such conditions were in keeping with the fact that there
had been no war in the territory of the F.R. of Yugoslavia and
that, consequently, no war crimes had been committed there.
The letter also warns that the tribunal's impartiality
and future cooperation are seriously undermined by the fact
that the tribunal has so far brought charges only against two
Serbs.
CROATIA VIOLATES SERB CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
N e w Y o r k, Jan. 2 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Foreign
Minister Vladislav Jovanovic has strongly protested the
violation of Serb civil and political rights by Croatian
authorities. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Jovanovic said Croatia was violating an
international agreement on civilian and political rights
where it affects Serb Orthodox nationals and Orthodox
priests. Jovanovic said the Croatian authorities were
continuing the practice of the former fascist regime of Ante
Pavelic by forcefully converting Serbs into catholicism or
expelling them from Croatia. Jovanovic said that
specially targeted were kindergarten and elementary school
children and Serbian Orthodox church clergy. Jovanovic said
no-one was denying Croatia the right to introduce Catholic
religious instruction into schools. However, he said that
Orthodox Serb children, who do not attend these classes, were
being called non-christians, harassed and scorned. In order
to spare their children of all this and to secure them a normal
education, parents have asked the Serbian Orthodox church to
issue papers confirming it had baptized these children,
Jovanovic said. He said these papers are handed over to
Catholic priests who then baptize the Serb children and send
them to attend school classes with Catholic religious
instruction. Jovanovic said data presented in the Croatian
Parliament showed that about 10,000 Orthodox children had so
far been converted into catholicism. The deputy who
revealed this to the public was physically assaulted by the
representatives of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union Party.
Although the Croatian authorities claim this resulted from
the failure of the Serbian Orthodox church to organize
religious instruction in Croatian schools, which the law
permits, Jovanovic said the Croatian authorities had
forgotten their previous public statements that Serb
churches in Croatia had been destroyed and Orthodox priests
arrested and tortured in prison. Jovanovic said the majority
of Serbian Orthodox priests had been expelled form Croatia,
including five bishops who were banned from returning.
Even if they had decided to come back, they would have nowhere
to go since as many as 279 Orthodox religious churches and
shrines in Croatia had either been demolished or completely
destroyed, he said. Jovanovic asked Boutros-Ghali to use
his influence on the Croatian Government to fulfil its
international obligations regarding the civil and political
rights of Serb Orthodox nationals.
=====================================================
05. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY C O N T E N T S:
SERB KRAJINA PRESIDENT THANKS JORDANIAN SOVEREIGN
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 4 (Tanjug) - Republic of Serb
Krajina President Milan Martic on Wednesday thanked King
Hussein of Jordan for the impeccable attitude of the
Jordanian UNPROFOR troops in Krajina. In a letter to the
Jordanian Sovereign, Martic said that the attitude of the
Jordanian battalion of the United Nations Protection Force
toward the Republic of Serb Krajina and its people had been
irreproachable. Martic said Jordanian peacekeepers were
providing free medical assistance to Krajina civilians,
especially children.The medical staff of the Jordanian
battalion also provides medicine and medical equipment for
out-patient hospitals in Krajina, and opens infirmaries in
areas where there are none, said Martic.Martic said the
Jordanian peacekeepers had also showed exceptional dedication in
helping about 60,000 Muslim refugees from west Bosnia, who had
found refuge in the Serb Krajina territory in August 1994.
CROATIA, SERB KRAJINA ADOPT PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTING ECONOMIC ACCORD
Z a g r e b, Jan. 4 (Tanjug) - Croatian and Serb
Krajina representatives adopted late on Wednesday a plan for
implementing a landmark economic agreement signed recently.
After full-day talks conducted at a United Nations base at
Zagreb airport the plan was agreed by Croatian chief
negotiator Hrvoje Sarinic and Serb Krajina Prime Minister
Borislav Mikelic. According to the agreement, the
Zagreb-Belgrade highway, so far opened for half a day only,
will be opened to traffic for full 24 hours as of Jan. 6.
The plan on implementing the economic accord established that
generators would be tested in Zagreb as of Thursday, under the
control of international experts. Generators would on Jan. 9
be transported to the generating plant in Obrovac in Serb
Krajina, where they would be assembled.Repairs on all damaged
electric lines and water supply facilities would be done as
soon as possible, in keeping with the plan to be agreed by a
joint commission. Legal and trade experts would continue
negotiations on a statute of the joint commercial oil
enterprise, with the view to reaching an agreement on its
setting up. The plan envisaged that U.N. protection force
experts, with the assistance of experts from Zagreb and Knin
should inspect the railway track from Zagreb via Okucani and
from Slavonski Brod to Mirkovci. They should submit a report
with a proposal for its urgent repair by Jan. 10. It was
agreed that reparation should be done under UNPROFOR control,
and that the Croatian and Serb Krajina authorities should
provide equipment and personnel free of charge. The same
technical procedure, as agreed, would be carried out for the
Zagreb-Knin-Split railway track, and the report there on
would be submitted as soon as possible. Oil pipeline
through sector north, based in the Serb Krajina town of
Topusko, should be inspected by UNPROFOR experts, as soon as
weather conditions allowed it.
BOSNIAN SERBS, MUSLIMS INTERRUPT TALKS
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 4 (Tanjug) - Talks between the
Bosnian Serbs and Muslims were interrupted Wednesday as the
Muslims failed to withdraw from the demilitarized zone on Mt
Igman. Reuters reported that the talks on defining
separation lines and other important issues were interrupted
after seven hours and postponed until later this week,
although the two sides were close to reaching accord. Bosnian
Serb Foreign Minister Aleksa Buha told newsmen the two sides
were nearly agreed on all points when it was learned that
withdrawal from Mt Igman had not been completed by the set
deadline at noon Wednesday.Buha said the talks were interrupted
when the Muslim representatives declined the offer from the Serb
side to tour the demilitarized zone on Mt Igman and check on
the Muslim pullout. U.N. Forces Commander in Bosnia gen.
Michael Rose said he hoped to rally the negotiators again on
Friday, together with gen. Ratko Mladic, Bosnian Serb Army
Commander, and Rasim Delic, who commands the Muslim forces.
Rose also said verification measures were the main stumbling
block as regards implementation of the accord in the
Sarajevo area. More than 1,000 Muslim troops have
infiltrated the demilitarized zone on Mt Igman in the course of
last summer and autumn in violation of the August 1993 accord.
Earlier on Wednesday, U.N. Commander for Sarajevo
Herve Gobillard said the Muslim forces were leaving the
demilitarized zone as agreed. Later, however, a U.N.
Spokesaman told Reuters withdrawal was not unfolding as good as
thought at first.
========================================================
17. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT CONCERNED OVER ZAGREB DECISION ON UNPROFOR
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 16 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Government on
Monday said it was seriously concerned over Croatia's official
decision to deny hospitality to the U.N. Protection Force as of
March 31. A Yugoslav Government statement said the Government
had decided that Prime Minister Radoje Kontic send a letter to
U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali informing him about
the Government's view of the Croatian authorities' decision. The
statement said the Yugoslav Government had pointed up the
headway made in the efforts for a peaceful resolution of the
crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in the normalisation of
economic ties between the Republic of Serb Krajina and Croatia.
The statement said the Yugoslav Government had discussed also
'some current foreign policy issues relating to the resolution
of the crisis on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.'
YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL: SET UP OF AD HOC TRIBUNAL DISCRIMINATORY ACT
N o v i S a d, Jan. 16 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Deputy Prime
Minister and Justice Minister Uros Klikovac said the setting up
of the International Court for War Crimes in the former
Yugoslavia was 'to a degree discriminatory' against
Yugoslavia.Klikovac said there had been no initiative of a kind
in other similar situations. The Novi Sad daily Dnevnik quoted
Klikovac as saying that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was
advocating the forming of a permanent international war crime
tribunal that could deal with similar situations equitably and
treat the citizens of all countries equally. Klikovac said that
the International Tribunal for War Crimes Committed in the
Territory of the Former Yugoslavia was 'an auxiliary body of the
Security Council and an ad hoc tribunal set up to prosecute,
organize trials and make decisions exclusively for the territory
of Yugoslavia.' He said that 'the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
could not support the formation of such a tribunal, despite its
permanent efforts to put on trial and adequately punish all
offenders of international war and humanitarian laws.'
U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL REPORT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL
BOUTROS-GHALI SAYS U.N. WITHDRAWAL WOULD MOST LIKELY MEAN WAR
N e w Y o r k, Jan. 16 (Tanjug) - Withdrawal of U.N. forces
would most likely renewed war on the territory of the former
Yugoslav Republic of Croatia, said the U.N. Secretary-General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali. In a report submitted Monday to the U.N.
Security Council, Boutros-Ghali assessed that this would happen
despite Croatia's claims that, even after U.N. withdrawal,
Croatia would try to integrate the Republic of Serb Krajina in a
peaceful manner.In his report, Boutros-Ghali stated concern that
a possible new conflict, considering the amount of weapons
concentrated in the region, could be much fiercer than the one
in 1991. In the report, he voiced concern that withdrawal of the
U.N. forces would likely mean an end to the agreement on
economic cooperation, as well as cancel all the progress made so
far in Krajina-Croatia relations as mediated by the U.N.
Boutros-Ghali stated regret that the potential for the success
of the negotiating process has not been made use of to the full
prior to Croatia's decision on withdrawal of the peace forces
and said he hoped that the Croatian Government would re-examine
its position before the present mandate expired. If Croatia
failed to change its stance, the U.N. would undertake the
necessary steps towards withdrawing the U.N. Protection Force,
but also their commands for the area of the former Yugoslavia
from Zagreb, because in his view, it would not be right for the
UNPROFOR Command to be in a country which had denied it
hospitality. He stated the conviction that dialogue between the
opposing sides was the only way to resolve the problem of
Krajina.
LETTER DATED 13 JANUARY 1995 FROM THE PERMANENT
REPRESENTATIVE OF YUGOSLAVIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO
THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL
I am writing to you concerning the letter dated 22 December
1994 (S/1994/1439) from the Permanent representative of Turkey
to United Nations addressed to the President of the Security
Council. Upon the instructions of my Government, I have the
honour to state the following: In his letter to the President of
the United Nations Security Council, the Permanent
Representative of Turkey to the United Nations sought to deny,
without obvious success, the assertions contained in the letter
of the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FR of
Yugoslavia, Vladislav Jovanovi}, to the United Nations
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali of 16 December 1994
(S/1994/1426), that Turkey has been in gross violation of United
Nations Security Council resolution 713 on the arms embargo.
However, the fact remains that Turkey has not denied publicly
and unequivocally the statements of its Defence Minister Mehmet
Golhan and its former Chief of General Staff Dogan Gures who
confirmed that Turkey supplied arms to Bosnian Muslims. The arms
supplies to only one party in the civil war in former
BosniaHercegovina are along the lines of the continued one-sided
and biased Turkish policy on the crisis in former
Bosnia-Hercegovina and quite consistent with its persistent
calls for the lifting of the embargo, which undermines the
constructive efforts of the international community to bring
about a lasting and just political solution. Although it accuses
other countries for the "disintegration" of Yugoslavia, it
should be borne in mind that Turkey was among the first States
which recognized former Bosnia-Hercegovina, which conduced to
the outbreak of the conflict. For its one-sided policy and full
support to the regime of Alija Izetbegovi} including arms
supplies, Turkey has misused even its contingent within
UNPROFOR, which, according to the reports from Western European
sources, is one of the most persistent and largest violators of
United Nations sanctions. In point of fact, the Turkish forces
within UNPROFOR continually supply the military industry of
Bosnian Muslims with necessary components and parts. The
activities of a team of Turkish military instructors in the army
of Bosnian Muslims, who are not within the United Nations
Protection Force, testify to the direct involvement of Turkey in
the civil war in former Bosnia-Hercegovina. These Turkish moves
confirm once again the reservations and objections of the FR of
Yugoslavia and other Balkan countries (Romania, Bulgaria,
Greece) to the participation of Turkey in UNPROFOR because of
the negative historical experience and biased position of Turkey
on the Yugoslav crisis. This policy and concrete actions of
Turkey are at variance with its advocacy of peace, pursued
obviously only verbally. They reveal the real goal of the policy
of Turkey - the instrumentalization of the crisis in former
Bosnia-Hercegovina for the realization of Turkish goals and
ambitions in the Balkans, what makes Turkey a factor of
instability in the region. As to the solution of the crisis in
former Bosnia-Hercegovina, Turkey persists in upholding an
unrealistic political concept: a unitary State under the
domination of Bosnian Muslims, that led to the conflict, mass
killings and destruction. At the same time at home Turkey is not
prepared to even discuss a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural
concept, hence flagrantly and on a large-scale basis violating
the human, national and political rights of Kurds, waging a real
internal war against them. Unable to provide a viable
explanation of the fact that Turkey supplies arms to Bosnian
Muslims, the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United
Nations resorts to unfounded allegations about alleged support
by the FR of Yugoslavia to Bosnian Serbs in arms, military and
logistical assistance. However, the fact is that the border
between the FR of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Srpska has been
closed for all transport except humanitarian assistance, food
and medicine, which has been confirmed in all reports of the
United Nations Secretary-General to the Security Council. I
should be grateful if You would have this letter circulated as a
document of the Security Council.
U.N. SAYS MUSLIMS JEOPARDIZE BOSNIA TRUCE
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 16 (Tanjug) - A U.N. Force Spokesman said
Monday that the presence of Muslim troops in the dmz on Mt.
Igman near Sarajevo was jeopardizing the current truce in
Bosnia. U.N. Protection Force Spokesman in Sarajevo Paul Risley
said that the four-month cessation of hostilities was under a
cloud also because of a hold-up in talks on opening routes into
the city across Sarajevo airport. The Bosnian Serb news agency
SRNA quoted Risley as saying the situation was further
complicated by stepped up military activity, viz. Muslim attacks
from the U.N.-designated 'safe haven' of Bihac in northwestern
bosnia on adjacent Bosnian Serb positions on Saturday. An
UNPROFOR helicopter reconnaissance of Mt Igman south of sarajevo
on sunday revealed 50 or so Muslim troops and a military column
moving in mid-zone, said UNPROFOR reconnaissance team leader
col. Patrick Declety. Declety said that a group of Muslim troops
was still on Krupac point whence they control a large
Serb-populated area. Under the terms of the truce, the Muslims
should have vacated the 100-square-kilometre demilitarized zone
on Mt. Igman by Jan. 4. No headway has been made in the
Muslim-Serb dispute about opening routes around Sarajevo to
non-military transports, because the Muslim negotiators insist
to use to routes for their humanitarian convoys, said Risley.
The Bosnian Serb side is agreeing only to open the routes to
convoys of international humanitarian organizations, civilian
groups and materials for rebuilding Sarajevo's infrastructure.
============================================================
18. JANUARY 1995
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
SERB KRAJINA READY TO RECEIVE PEACEKEEPERS IF CROATIA EXPELS
THEM
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 17 (Tanjug) - Republic of Serb Krajina
President Milan Martic on Tuesday informed United Nations
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali that Krajina Serbs were
ready to receive U.N. peacekeepers if Zagreb should send them
away from its territory. Martic said in a letter that the
Krajina Government had decided to offer hospitality to the small
part of the UNPROFOR that is currently in Croatia if Croatia
expelled them on March 31. Martic also informed Boutros-Ghali
that the Krajina Government was prepared to continue peace
negotiations with Croatia. Martic informed that Tudjman's latest
letter to Boutros-Ghali contained false information that
frequently appeared in Croatian documents and misled U.N.
officials. Unfortunately, this has decisively influenced the
U.N. Security Council to adopt decisions that were harmful to
the Republic of Serb Krajina, Martic said. He recommended to the
U.N. Secretary-General to compare the Croatian Government's
letter to the U.N. General Assembly on May 31, 1994, and
Tudjman's latest letter. In the former, the Croatian Government
asserted that 179,068 Croats had lived in Krajina, while in the
latter Tudjman claimed that Krajina Serbs had expelled from that
territory about 390,000 Croats. Tudjman mocks both the truth and
the United Nations by claiming that the Serb side has been
persecuting and killing Croats in the Serb Krajina and Croatia
during UNPROFOR's presence, while the truth, as the U.N.
Secretary-General should know, is the opposite, Martic said. He
said UNPROFOR troops had reported in the period between January
1992 and January 1993 about 800 Croatian incursions or opening
of fire on the Serb Krajina territory, in which about 600 Serbs
had been killed. Martic informed Boutros-Ghali that the Krajina
non-profit non-governmental documentation and information center
Veritas had submitted to the International War Crime Court in
the Hague reports about Croatian crimes (Dec. 23, 1994 - No.
29/94). In a document containing 35 pages of text and 70
photographs, Veritas showed to the Hague Tribunal the results of
Croatia's occupation of the Miljevac plateau in Serb Krajina in
June 1992, in which 40 Serb Krajina citizens were killed, said
Martic. The Croatian Army launched a new offensive on Krajina
and UNPROFOR on Jan. 22, 1993, when it killed a total of 326
inhabitants of the Ravni Kotari region, including children and
old people, Martic said. Two hundred photographs were enclosed
to the 26-page document on the offensive. The center informed
the Hague Court that the Croatian Army had totally razed three
large and six smaller villages in the Medak pocket on Sept. 8,
1993, Martic said, adding that the offensive was covered on 45
pages and included 112 photographs. In the village of Mirlovic
Polje near Drnis, Croatian troops killed seven civilians on
Sept. 6, 1993 and the massacre is described on 23 pages of text
accompanied by eight photographs, said Martic. He said Tudjman's
allegations about persecution on the part of the Krajina Serbs
were insolent because real ethnic cleansing had been practised
by the Republic of Croatia against Serbs. Martic said
Boutros-Ghali was aware of this because he had personally said
in a report to the Security Council on May 15, 1993 that Croatia
had expelled to Krajina and Yugoslavia 251,000 Serbs, who had
lived as peaceful citizens mostly in the depth of the Croatian
territory and in major towns. Martic expressed hope that
Boutros-Ghali would agree that Croatia's numerous false
allegations had been imposed on the international community as
truth and that it was essential that they be fully revealed, so
that their fatal influence on the peace process should cease.
BOSNIAN SERBS ASK GEN. ROSE TO END MUSLIM OFFENSIVE IN BIHAC
AREA
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 17 (Tanjug) - The Bosnian Serb Army on
Tuesday called on U.N. Commander for Bosnia-Herzegovina, gen.
Michael Rose to end the Muslim offensive launched from the
U.N.-protected 'safe area' of Bihac in northwestern Bosnia. The
Bosnian Serb Army General Staff said in a letter of protest to
gen. Rose that the Muslim offensive operations launched from
Bihac were a most flagrant violation of the agreement on the
cessation of hostilities. The Army General Staff said it
expected the U.N. Protection Force Commander for
Bosnia-Herzegovina to take an immediate and effective action for
the Muslim forces to return to their positions of Dec. 31 last
year, when the truce agreement was signed. The General Staff
said it expected of gen. Rose to be energetic and at least to
take the same measures he had taken against the Bosnian Serb
Army at times when it had been compelled to counter the
offensives of the Muslim-Croat Army. The letter of protest said
Muslim forces had used all available weapons to break through
the Bosnian Serb defense line and brutally destroyed Bosnian
Serb civilian facilities in occupying the areas of Vedro Polje,
Klokot and Baljevac east of Bihac. It said the attacks of the
Muslim forces, which were being reinforced, were not ceasing.
The Bosnian Serb army General Staff called on gen. Rose
objectively to inform the U.N. Security Council, other
international factors and the international public about the
newly created situation. It said the failure to take the
respective steps would be proof that gen. Rose was biased and
would threaten the sincere efforts for peace in the region.
BOSNIAN MUSLIMS SET ULTIMATUM TO UNPROFOR IN TUZLA
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 17 (Tanjug) - The Sarajevo Muslim
Government on Monday sent a letter to U.N. officials asking them
to open the airport in the northeastern city of Tuzla by Feb.1
or to pull out unconditionally by March 1. World news agencies
said Hasan Muratovic, the Bosnian Muslim Minister for Relations
with the United Nations, had set the ultimatum in the letters
sent to U.N. Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi and UNPROFOR Commander
for Bosnia-Herzegovina gen. Michael Rose. The AP quoted
Muratovic as saying that his letter to the U.N. officials was in
fact an ultimatum. 'We will not change our position, we are very
firm about this,' Muratovic said, announcing deterioration of
relations with UNPROFOR.
=============================
19. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
CROATIANS DESTROY 13 SERBIAN VILLAGES IN WESTERN BOSNIA
B a nj a L u k a, Jan. 18 (Tanjug) - Thirteen Serbian
villages have been occupied and destroyed by an 8,000-strong
force of Croatia's regular Army and Bosnian Croats. Dusan
Deura, Mayor of Grahovo, told a news conference Wednesday that
the Croats in their offensive from Livno toward Grahovo
razed to the ground the Serbian villages of Caprazlije,
Provo, Gubin, Sajkovic, Kazance, Przine, Celebic, Bojmunte,
Radanovce, Vrbica, Bogdase, Batase and Crni Lug. Deura said a
total of 8,500 Serb refugees from the embattled areas were now
in Grahovo.
==============================
20. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
PRESIDENT LILIC SAYS YUGOSLAV INTERNATIONAL POSITION
STRENGTHENED
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 19 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav President Zoran
Lilic has said that the country has strengthened its internal
stability and international position, making its starting
position much more favourable than it was last year. Lilic said
in an interview published in the Army of Yugoslavia weekly
Vojska on Thursday that the greatest achievement was that
Yugoslavia 'has succeeded in preserving peace.' Lilic said: 'I
believe that the international community will not let some
unreasonable move neutralize everything that has been achieved
so far. I believe that the world public has become more aware
that that would mean a return to the starting point, and are
turn to the starting point could mean only one thing - a return
to war.' 'The unavoidable conclusion in view of all this is
that the fulfillment of the goals and interests of the Serb
people, which had lived in a single state until the forcible
secession of the former Yugoslav republics, is closer than ever
before,' the Yugoslav President said. Lilic said, 'Yugoslavia's
international position has improved of late and the trend
continues. This is illustrated by the fact that we had in the
first eleven months of last year more than a hundred contacts at
a high or the highest level with official representatives of
foreign states and governments. There were also numerous
parliamentary, party and other visits and talks. Belgrade is
increasingly frequently a centre of world diplomacy.' 'At the
same time, we must at no cost lose hold of the economic
stabilization results, because they are, together with peace,
equally important not just for our progress but also and above
all for our survival,' Lilic said. Lilic said that Yugoslavia
'rightly expects the sanctions to be lifted this year because it
has eliminated all the reasons, even the formal ones, which were
used to impose them.' Lilic said the transformation of the Army
of Yugoslavia was primarily to make the army numerically
smaller, modernly equipped and potentially more effective in
terms of combat. 'Further cuts in the standing Army of
Yugoslavia personnel in peacetime conditions is directly linked
to the material possibilities and means we dispose of, as a
limiting factor for the time being,' Lilic said. The Yugoslav
President said that '5.5 percent of the estimated social product
will be set aside for the basic requirements of a successful
functioning of the Army of Yugoslavia this year.' 'The resources
are of course not sufficient to cover all the needs of the Army
of Yugoslavia but the society has not been able to set aside
more in the existing conditions and the Army will have to share
the fate of its people,' Yugoslav President Lilic said.
UNESCO'S ENVOY IN PRISTINA
P r i s t i n a, Jan. 19 (Tanjug) - UNESCO's Special Envoy for
former Yugoslavia Luis Ramalho has said that the suspension of
selected sanctions against Yugoslavia opened possibilities for
better cooperation between UNESCO and Yugoslavia. Ramalho had a
talk on Thursday in Pristina with Information Secretary Bosko
Drobnjak and head of the Kosovo District Aleksa Jokic. Jokic
said Yugoslav and Serbian Governments were concerned over the
children of ethnic Albanians who suffer the consequences of the
Albanian separatist policy in Kosovo and Metohija.
STEPPED-UP PRESENCE OF CROATIAN ARMY IN SECTOR WEST
O k u c a n i, Jan. 19 (Tanjug) - UNPROFOR has recently
observed an increased presence of Croatian army in sector West,
UNPROFOR Spokeswoman Susan Manuel said on Thursday. At a press
conference, Manuel specified that concentration of Croatian army
was observed in the area between the towns of Nova Gradiska and
Stara Gradiska. Manuel said Croatia was increasingly frequently
violating the ceasefire agreement, inviting UNPROFOR's concern.
Asked how UNPROFOR would behave after Croatia's decision to deny
hospitality to the U.N. peacekeepers, Manuel answered that all
UNPROFOR's duties continued normally, and that the U.N. Security
Council would decide on the extension or change in the mandate.
She said a report by U.N. Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali to the Security Council to be submitted on Friday
would be of crucial importance.
SERB KRAJINA COURT CONVICTS SERB FOR WAR CRIMES
B e l i M a n a s t i r, Jan. 19 (Tanjug) - A District Court
in the eastern Serb Krajina town of Beli Manastir on Thursday
sentenced Dusan Boljevic, a Serb, to ten years for war crimes.
The Court said that it had been proved that Boljevic, 48, had
killed six Croatians and ethnic Hungarians in the eastern
Krajina village of Bilje in the Oct. 23 - Dec. 16, 1991 period.
Boljevic committed the crimes as member of the territorial
defense of the eastern Krajina region of Baranja at the time of
Krajina-Croatia clashes, prompted by Croatia's launching a war
of secession from the former Yugoslavia. As the trial opened,
Boljevic was charged with murder of another 11 Croatian and
ethnic Hungarian civilians, but the prosecution dropped these
charges due to insufficient evidence. Boljevic's wife Jagoda,
46, his alleged accomplice in the crimes, was acquitted.
===================================
24. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
YUGOSLAV PRIME MINISTER: U.N. DID NOT REWARD YUGOSLAVIA
ADEQUATELY
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 23 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Prime
Minister Radoje Kontic has said that the U.N. Security council
decision on extending the partial suspension of the
anti-Yugoslav sanctions is not an adequate reward for
Yugoslavia's peaceful policy. Further maintaining of the regime
of sanctions could not possibly be justified, Kontic said in an
interview published in Tuesday's edition of the Podgorica daily
Pobjeda. Kontic said Yugoslavia had fulfilled the demands
contained in U.N. Security Council resolution 752, so that
there was no justification for further maintaining of the
sanctions. 'Under the circumstances, we have to be
disappointed with the Security Council decision, which has
not adequately valued Yugoslavia's peaceful and constructive
policy in settling the Yugoslav crisis,' the Yugoslav Prime
Minister said. 'The Security Council has thus,
deliberately or not, objectively sided with the extremists who
find the development of the peace process in former
Bosnia-Herzegovina undesirable,' said the Yugoslav Prime
Minister. Kontic said it was unacceptable for
Yugoslavia to make the elimination of the sanctions
conditional on the settling of some other problems existing
in the territory of the former Yugoslavia or of some internal
questions. Kontic said such tendencies existed and
foreign interests were certainly involved. He said those
foreign factors could slow down, but not stop Yugoslavia's
reintegration into the international community. Commenting
on the first anniversary of the successful beginning of the
implementation of the economic recovery program on Jan. 24 last
year, Kontic said that Yugoslavia had achieved in many
economic domains more than it had been expected and that
the Yugoslavs should not be dissatisfied altogether.
'In a truly brief period, a radical change was made, turning
the chaos of hyperinlfation and the bleakness of economic and
social situation into a process of stabilization of
macro-economy and a significant economic recovery,' said
Kontic. Kontic said social product had grown C.5% last year
while another 7% increase was planned for this year.He said
this gave ground to a belief that Yugoslavia was now in an
advanced stage of economic recovery and at the beginning of
structural economic changes. Kontic said further
development and intensive structural changes could take place
only after the lifting of the international blockade and the
country's reintegration in the world market.
ON YUGOSLAV ECONOMY
GOVERNOR AVRAMOVIC: YUGOSLAVIA OVERCOMES ECONOMIC DISASTER
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 23 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav National
Bank Governor Dragoslav Avramovic has said that Yugoslavia
overcame an economic disaster last year, despite the
international sanctions. Avramovic made the statement on
Radio Belgrade on Sunday on the first anniversary of his
programme of monetary restructuring and economic recovery, which
has won international recognition. The program was
inaugurated on Jan. 24 in the conditions of the comprehensive
U.N. Security Council sanctions due to which the Yugoslav
economy had suffered at least 45 billion dollars in losses in
the May 1992-August 1994 period, according to Yugoslav
Government figures. It is thanks to Avramovic's program
that hyperinflation, which had stood at 300 million percent
for the month of December in 1993, had been practically
eliminated in the first months of 1994. The program pegged the
Yugoslav dinar to the German mark at a rate 1-1 on the basis of
a coverage in gold and foreign-currency reserves. It secured
elementary conditions for economic activity, which led to
a high increase in industrial production. Avramovic said
that the Yugoslav economy was now in a better position than a
year ago, especially in terms of industrial production growth
and also plans and expectations. Avramovic said that
'everything will be better' this year and forecasted a further
rise in industrial production.
YUGOSLAVIA HAS CURBED ONE OF WORLD'S WORST HYPERINFLATIONS
EVER
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 23 (Tanjug) - For the past year,
Yugoslavia has had one of the world's lowest inflation rates
despite two and a half years of total economic blockade. This
time last year, Yugoslavia was in the throes of struggling
against the dazzling monthly inflation of over 313 million
percent, one of the world's worst economic catastrophes ever.
On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Yugoslavs will remember last
year's beginning of the implementation of an original
Yugoslav program of economic recovery, whose chief author was
Dragoslav Avramovic. Avramovic, who is currently National
Bank Governor, is an economic expert who had worked for various
international financial institutions in the past. His
unprecedented economic project was put into practice without any
foreign assistance and under the regime of sanctions, and it
has soon initiated a gradual growth in production, employment
and the standard of living. Most Yugoslavs were in
January 1994 preoccupied with the galloping price rises and a
hectic situation on the foreign currency black market. The
Government was at the same time struggling to stop a disastrous
plunge in receipts and was issuing ever increasing amounts of
worthless money. Industrial production was brought almost
to a standstill, shops were empty, while salaries and pensions
were reduced to barely between three and six dollars. In the
fall of 1993, inflation began to gallop at a rate of 2.03% per
hour, which is daily C2%. In January 1994, it reached a
monthly rate of 313,5C3,558%, which at the annual level
amounted to fantastic 11C,545,90C,5C3,330%. The
Government of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia then asked
professor Avramovic, a retired expert at the time, to try to
find a way out and he and his team of experts worked out an
anti-inflation program based on 14 simple and clearly defined
rules. The pith of the program was a new, convertible dinar,
which was fixed at par with the German mark. The new dinar
had a gold coverage and coverage in foreign currency
amounting to 200 million dollars. Inflation soon dropped to
near zero and production doubled. Another 100,000 people were
employed, although most economists believed a rampant inflation
of such proportions could not be curbed without a dismissal of
between 300,000 and C00,000 people.Salaries and pensions rose
as much as 1,000%, so that the standard of living today,
although still very modest in comparison to developed
countries, has considerably grown. The country's social
product, which had been on a decline for five years, last
year finally began to rise and has grown C.5% since the
beginning of the implementation of Avramovic's program.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT KARADZIC CONFERS WITH U.S. DIPLOMAT
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 23 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serb
President Radovan Karadzic conferred with U.S. Envoy Charles
Thomas in Pale on Monday, focusing on possibilities for
resuming the Bosnia peace process. Bosnian Serb Foreign
Minister Aleksa Buha also attended the talks which were held in
the Bosnian Serb administrative center. The Bosnian Serb
news agency SRNA quoted Thomas as saying after the talks that
they had been very intensive, but that he feared the
international 'Contact Group' for Bosnia, of which he was a
member, was still not in a position to renew talks with full
confidence. Asked about prospects for the warring sides to
get back to the negotiating table, Thomas said he did not like
to make predictions. 'Yesterday and today we worked
thoroughly on possibilities for resuming the talks and we
are confident that certain progress has been made,' Karadzic
said after the talks.
BOSNIAN SERBS, MUSLIMS SIGN ACCORD ON OPENING OF 'BLUE
ROUTES'
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 23 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serbs and
Muslims at Sarajevo airport on Monday signed an agreement on
the opening of 'blue routes' for civilian and humanitarian
goods transport. The Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA reported
that the agreement set the Jan. 31 deadline for the opening of
these roads into and from Sarajevo. The Muslim side had
turned down the Serb proposal to open the roads immediately,
SRNA was told by Bosnian Serb assembly President Momcilo
Krajisnik.Krajisnik was quoted by SRNA as saying that as of
Monday all residents of Bosnia-Herzegovina were allowed to
change their place of residence as they wanted. He said this
complied well with the Jan. 1 agreement on the cessation
of hostilities.
U.S. POLICY TOWARD BOSNIA UNDERGOES TACTICAL ADJUSTMENT
BY STEVAN CORDAS
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 23 (Tanjug) - The announced direct
U.S.-Bosnian Serb talks are not a sensational turn in the
U.S. policy, but its 'tactical adjustment' to the situation
in Bosnia and the relations within the 'Contact Group',
observers in Belgrade assessed Monday.The New York Times on
Saturday cited a letter by U.S. Secretary of State Warren
Christopher to Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic as saying
that the United States, in the light of the four-month truce
accord which took effect on Jan. 1, would initiate direct
talks with the Bosnian Serb Republic authorities.Observers
in Belgrade said it was certain that U.S. President Bill
Clinton, under strong pressure from the republicans, was trying
to find a solution to the Bosnian crisis before the expiry of
the four-month truce on May 1. They said if Clinton
succeeded in doing this, he would significantly moderate the
pressure from the republicans and avoid a real danger of
being forced to veto 'Dole's Bill' on the unilateral
exemption of the Bosnian Muslims from the U.N. embargo on
arms deliveries to the entire territory of the former
Yugoslavia. Numerous comments in Europe and the United
States on Monday said that, in any event, the latest U.S.
move toward Bosnia could give initial positive results within
the following few days.To achieve these results, the U.S.
officials will have to convince the Bosnian Muslims that direct
talks with the Bosnian Serbs would be useful. The
'friendly persuasion' could be completed in the next few days,
when Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic is to arrive in Washington.There are assessments
that the new move has placed the United States in a situation
to take the lead in the 'Contact Group' and renew the
Bosnian peace process according to its own scenario.
Earliest close analyses of Cristopher's letter to Izetbegovic
imply that the United States has finally realized that a
solution to the Bosnian crisis can hardly be found without
meeting the basic interests of the Bosnian Serbs. The United
States is now facing a new task - to reconcile the Bosnian
Serb with the Muslim interests, which means that Washington has
the next move.
=======================================
23. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
KARADZIC: BOSNIAN SERBS WILL DO EVERYTHING TO MAKE CEASEFIRE
HOLD
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 22 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serb President
Radovan Karadzic on Sunday said the Serbs would do everything to
make the ceasefire hold. 'The Serb side will not react to
hostile provocations so that the ceasefire could hold and make
possible a restoration of peace talks,' Karadzic said after a
meeting in Pale with U.S. Representative on the international
'Contact Group' for Bosnia Charlse Thomas. 'The most important
thing is to ensure that the ceasefire holds,' the Bosnian Serb
news agency SRNA quoted Karadzic as saying after talks with
Thomas about a possible restoration of peace negotiations.
Karadzic described the talks as constructive and said that the
Contact Group experts would next Tuesday visit the Bosnian Serb
political center of Pale. Evidently satisfied with the results
of the meeting, Thomas confirmed that the Contact Group would
arrive on Monday in Bosnia to meet with officials in Pale and in
the Muslim part of Sarajevo. SRNA quoted Thomas as saying that
dialogue would continue very intensively and that he hoped it
would lead to a resumption of peace talks.
BOSNIAN SERB OFFICIAL: 'CONTACT GROUP' DOES NOT IMPOSE SOLUTION
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 22 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serb Vice
President Nikola Koljevic said Sunday that the international
'Contact Group' for Bosnia-Herzegovina did not want to impose a
solution, but to be a mediator between the warring sides in the
former Yugoslav republic. He told a local radio in Kragujevac
that the Contact Group representatives believed everything would
depend on the outcome of direct contacts between the Serbs and
the Muslims. Koljevic said the latest U.S. stand on the
necessity of direct talks with the Bosnian Serbs could
contribute to an early restoration of negotiations between the
warring parties. He said the change of Washington's policy
came after the publishing of several articles on the civil war
in Bosnia-Herzegovina which were more objective and unbiased.
Koljevic said that good conditions for negotiations were created
after the mediating mission of former U.S. President Jimmy
Carter and the signing of the four-month truce because the talks
could now be held in a comparatively peaceful atmosphere.
Koljevic also said that the British Government's decision to
reinforce its units deployed with the United Nations Protection
Force raised hopes that the ceasefire could hold and be
controlled.
BOSNIAN MUSLIMS AND SERBS AGREE TO OPEN ROAD TO SARAJEVO
AIRPORT
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 22 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serbs and Muslims
on Sunday agreed to open for civilian and humanitarian traffic
the road that crosses Sarajevo airport. All transports on the
route are to be organized by internationally recognized
organizations. Bosnian Serb Parliament Speaker Momcilo Krajisnik
said that some progress had also been made in the talks on the
opening of 'blue routes' and that the confronted sides had
agreed that the population should be allowed to travel or change
residence while the ceasefire agreement was in force. 'Our
primary interest is to exchange prisoners and we will strive in
that direction,' he said and expressed concern over the
conditions in which Serb prisoners are living in Muslim
detention camps in Sarajevo. The Bosnian Serb delegation on
Sunday told the Muslim side that there could be no peace in the
city of Sarajevo unless all places like the Tarcin camp were
closed, Krajisnik said.
SERB KRAJINA PRESIDENT: CROATIA COULD IMPOSE WAR ON SERB
KRAJINA
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 21 (Tanjug) - Serb Krajina President
Milan Martic has said that Croatia had virtually declared a war
on the Krajina Serbs by deciding to deny hospitality to UNPROFOR
beyond March 31. In an interview with the Belgrade Saturday's
daily Borba, Martic said that 'a decision to deny hospitality to
UNPROFOR cannot be solely Croatia's, because both the Republic
of Serb Krajina and Yugoslavia had given their approvals for
UNPROFOR's deployment. 'I am convinced that Croatia and its
President had not made the decision of their own accord,' said
Martic and added they had probably received a signal 'above all
from their permanent sponsor - Germany.' He said the plan
created by mediator Cyrus Vance brings Yugoslavia under
obligation to protect Serb Krajina should the U.N. peacekeepers
pull out from Krajina, and the Krajina Serbs had guarantees to
this effect. Martic said Serb Krajina and the neighbouring
Bosnian Serb Republic had signed an agreement on mutual
assistance in 1992. Martic said that Serb Krajina 'was
absolutely determined to find a peaceful resolution to all
disputes with Croatia,' and that it was not threatening and
would not want to threaten, Croatia with a war. Should the war
be imposed on Serb Krajina, it would be the 'beginning of an end
of Croatia', Martic said.
SERB KRAJINA HOPES U.N. WILL NOT ACCEPT CROATIA'S DECISION
K n i n, Jan. 22 (Tanjug) - Republic of Serb Krajina Prime
Minister Borislav Mikelic on Sunday said he hoped the U.N.
Security Council would not accept Croatia's decision concerning
UNPROFOR's mandate. The Croatian unilateral decision to deny
further hospitality to the U.N. Protection Force could cause a
new escalation of war, he said in a letter to U.N.
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.Mikelic asked
Boutros-Ghali to inform the Security Council about Krajina's
stand and said that Krajina feared the positive results achieved
by UNPROFOR so far in consolidating the ceasefire and building
trust would be jeopardized if UNPROFOR's mandate were not
extended beyond March 31. Mikelic said in the letter to
Boutros-Ghali that Krajina and Croatia planned negotiations on
the opening of railway traffic and the problem of refugees but
that Krajina was not prepared to enter such talks if the U.N.
Security Council failed to renew UNPROFOR's mandate. Mikelic
also described as unacceptable last week's Security Council
resolution 970 that banned transport of goods from eastern to
western parts of the Serb Krajina across the territory of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
AKASHI BLAMES U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL OVER FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
T o k y o, Jan. 20 (Tanjug) - United Nations Special Envoy
for the Former Yugoslavia Yasushi Akashi said Friday the U.N.
Security Council shared the blame for the failure of peace
efforts in the former Yugoslavia. Akashi said that the
Security Council was not unanimous over ways of solving problems
in the former Yugoslavia but that there were also major
differences in the international community, especially between
European and Islamic countries. Akashi was one of the
prominent speakers at a international symposium in Tokyo on U.N.
peacekeeping operations that was attended also by other leading
u.N. Officials and experts. Akashi said the Security Council
had adopted in the past three years more than 100 resolutions on
the former Yugoslavia and that some of them had been
contradictory. He cited resolutions 824 and 836, which were
contradictory to one another to such a degree that the U.N.
peacekeepers were at a loss how to implement them. Akashi laid
special emphasis on NATO's role and described it as an
organization with a radically different history, character and
intentions. He said NATO aimed to win a military victory, and
clearly defined its enemy, while the U.N. was trying to stop the
war without blaming any of the sides involved. Akashi said
many problems had emerged as a result of the fact that some
protagonists of the Yugoslav conflict had been pushed aside
because many governments saw the Bosnian Muslims as the only
legitimate and wronged side. He said the Bosnian Serbs had, as
a result, lost confidence in the U.N. and had frequently refused
to cooperate with its officials. Akashi also shed more light
to the problem of 'safe areas,' which had triggered air strikes
against Bosnian Serb positions around Gorazde last spring and
criticism of the Serb side alone. The 'safe areas' were declared
in order to protect the population and not to safeguard the
territory for one of the sides, said Akashi. However, those
towns have frequently been used by Muslims as bases for resting
troops and getting supplies, which is the reason why Bosnian
Serbs were attacking them, said Akashi. In a debate after his
report, Akashi repeated his stand that NATO was not entitled to
point at sides responsible for violation of U.N. resolutions, or
to determine targets of attacks because this was exclusively
within the competence of the U.N., which had given it a mandate
to carry out tasks.
U.N. OFFICER: UNPROFOR'S DEPARTURE FROM CROATIA WILL TRIGGER
WAR
P a r i s, Jan. 21 (Tanjug) - Etienne Masseret, UNPROFOR
Commander in the Serb Krajina region of Baranja, has said that
war would immediately break out if UNPROFOR withdrew from
Croatia. The Paris daily Le Figaro on Saturday quoted the
Belgian U.N. officer as saying that the entire region would
become a powder keg without UNPROFOR. Le Figaro said the
Krajina Serbs and Croats respected the demilitarized zone and
the ceasefire agreement reached at the end of March last year,
primarily because of UNPROFOR's presence. The paper said that
Croatia had embarked upon a war path and that both the Croats
and the Krajina Serbs possessed military arsenals whose scope
could hardly be estimated. French papers on Saturday cited a
boastful statement by Croatian Ambassador to Franch Branko
Salaja, in which he said that the Croatian Army now possessed
offensive weapons, as well as defensive, and that Zagreb was no
longer prepared to accept compromise.
=================================================
25. JANUARY 1995.
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
MILOSEVIC EXPECTS RESUMPTION OF BOSNIA PEACE PROCESS B e l g r
a d e, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic
said Tuesday he was confident the warring sides in Bosnia, with
the engagement of the Contact Group, would bring closer views on
conditions for the resumption of the peace process. During talks
with Co-Chairman of the Conference on former Yugoslavia David
Owen, Milosevic said all actions leading toward peace in former
Bosnia-Herzegovina should enjoy the support of the international
community, a statement released by the President's Office said.
Lord Owen was accompanied by Deputy Conference Co-Chairman
Ambassador Kai Aide. Milosevic warned UNPROFOR's pullout from
UNPAS after its mandate expires on March 31, as the Croatian
authorities demand, would 'threaten results acheved so far in
the peace processin this region and reopened possibilities of
the war being fanned.' This would result in unforseen
consequences, he said. Milosevic assessed that the Vance Plan
setting up UNPAS and engaging peace forces, 'presents the best
international peace document adopted regarding the Yugoslav
crisis, which has been confirmed in practice as a solid and
generally accepted basis for resolving conflicts through
negotiations.' 'That is why it would be extremely dangerous for
the Vance Plan, which has set conditions for life and also the
Knin-Zagreb relations returning to normal, to be abandoned
before a political solution is reached,' Milosevic said. 'In
that case, those international and local factors which would
eliminate the Vance Plan as a factor for blocking the escalation
of armed conflicts, would take a step toward war at a time when
the positive development of the process of normalization of
relations is leading toward peace,' Milosevic said in his talks
with Lord Owen. Milosevic pointed out that the process of
normalization of relations which had been given a significant
impetus with the conclusion of the Knin-Zagreb economic
agreement and its begun implementation presents a step toward
consolidating peace and stability in these lands.
YUGOSLAV PREMIER: SANCTIONS WILL BE GRADUALLY LIFTED THIS YEAR
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia Prime Minister Radoje Kontic on Tuesday said the
United Nations sanctions against Yugoslavia would be gradually
lifted in 1995. There is an awareness in the international
community that the policy of pressure is counter-productive,
Kontic said at a ceremony celebrating the 45th anniversary of
the Yugoslav Archives. The Yugoslav Prime Minister expressed
confidence that this year would be a crucial year for the
country's reintegration into the international community and for
promotion of Yugoslavia's foreign policy, just like 1994 was a
crucial year in the area of economy.
KARADZIC: TALKS WITH CONTACT GROUP BRIDGE IN BOSNIA PEACE TALKS
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Serb President
Radovan Karadzic said on Tuesday that talks with the 'Contact
Group' for Bosnia were a 'bridge' until the Bosnia peace talks
resumed.
The Bosnian Serb News Agency SRNA quoted Karadzic as saying
after the meeting of the Bosnian Serb leaders with the Contact
Group inpale that the talks had been serious, explaining that
more talks were necessary in order to find a good solution. The
U.S. representative on the Group, Ambassador Charles Thomas said
the talks had been comprehensive and that work would continue on
a new project for resuming the peace talks, SRNA said.
BOSNIAN SERB OFFICIAL SEES END OF BOSNIAN CRISIS IN TWO MONTHS
B e l g r a d e, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Speaker of the Bosnian Serb
Parliament Momcilo Krajisnik has said the Bosnian peace talks
could result in the final resolution of the conflict in two
months' time. In Tuesday's interview with the Belgrade Politika
Radio, Krajisnik commented on the talks Bosnian Serbs had had
with the U.S. representative in the international 'Contact
Group' for Bosnia Charles Thomas, in the Bosnian Serb
administrative centre of Pale. Krajisnik viewed the talks with
Thomas as a positive step forward, because they had resulted in
a formula for renewed peace talks. He said that Bosnian Serbs
had accepted to renew the talks, mediated by the Contact Group,
and on the basis of the plan the group had earlier proposed to
the warring sides in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Krajisnik said this
meant that the different ways to resolve the conflict were now
available. He said that a new step ahead in the peace process
was the fact that the Contact Group plan was not offered on 'a
take it or leave it' basis, but could be negotiated. 'We expect
that the talks might be restarted soon, maybe early next month,
and expected to end with a final resolution in two months'
time,' said Krajisnik.
GEN.MICHAEL ROSE AFTER HIS ONE-YEAR MANDATE IN BOSNIA EXPIRED
GEN. ROSE SAYS BOSNIA CEASEFIRE ALMOST A MIRACLE P a r i s,
Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Outgoing U.N. Commander for Bosnia
Gen.Michael Rose has called a miracle the agreement on a
cessation of hostilities in Bosnia signed among its warring
sides early this year. In an interview published Tuesday by the
Paris daily Le Figaro, Gen. Rose said the UNPROFOR could have
done better in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but it also could have done
worse. In any case, UNPROFOR has carried out its mandate, he
said. Rose said UNPROFOR could not be criticized for not having
restored peace in Bosnia, since this had never been covered by
its mission in the region. Rose said UNPROFOR had created
conditions for a peaceful agreement in Bosnia, and said if
relevant politicians were not capable of taking that chance,
UNPROFOR could not be responsible for it. Rose said the UNPROFOR
mandate in Bosnia explicitly prohibited its favoring or
defending one army only, because that would mean to wage war.
Rose said UNPROFOR had had to be neutral, and said the problem
was that the Bosnian Muslims were striving to achieve one goal
alone - to draw NATO into the conflict in order to wage the war
instead of them.
ROSE: WORLD PROPAGANDA MACHINE WORKS FOR BOSNIAN MUSLIMS L o n
d o n, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Former UNPROFOR Bosnia Commander
Gen.Michael Rose said Tuesday the world propaganda machine which
had had a crucial effect on the international community's policy
so far, was working for Bosnian Muslims. Speaking in a special
BBC Broadcast on Monday evening, the British General, whose
mandate expired on tuesday, illustrated this statement with
incidents regarding the Muslim town of Gorazde in eastern
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Rose said the U.S. had shown satellite
photos of torched and plundered houses in Gorazde which were in
fact burned by Muslims more than two years ago in ethnic
cleansing operations to banish Serbs from the town. He said he
had been pressured into keeping silent about this and that,
thanks to such propaganda machinery, the Muslims had launched an
offensive against Serbs from Gorazde, although it was a U.N.
Safe Area. When Serbs answered the offensive, Rose said, NATO
bombed their positions. Giving also examples in Bihac, western
Bosnia, and Sarajevo, where Muslims were mostly the ones who
violated the ceasefire established in February 1994, Rose said
completely false information had been released to media which
had influenced major decisions. The scenario for Gorazde was
repeated also in the case of Bihac. Muslims from Bihac, which is
also a U.N. Safe Area, launched an offensive against Serbs and,
again, when Serbs answered, NATO bombed their positions, Rose
said.
U.S. CHANGE OF POLICY RAISES FRESH HOPES FOR BOSNIA L o n d o
n, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - The london Daily Telegraph on Tuesday said
direct contacts between the U.S. Administration and the Bosnian
Serbs raised new hopes that peace could finally be restored in
Bosnia. The paper said that the process of normalization of the
situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina would not be fast but that more
important was the change of U.S. policy towards that former
Yugoslav republic. Another British daily paper, The Guardian,
said Washington was now trying to consider the reality in Bosnia
and to negotiate with all warring sides on the ground. The daily
said Washington was trying to avoid a possible sending of U.S.
troops to Bosnia if war should continue, and to all eviate
pressure exerted by the republican-dominated U.S. Congress for
an unilateral exemption of the Bosnian Muslims from the U.N.
arms embargo. The Guardian said Britain and France had
repeatedly stated that the Bosnian Serb Republic was a relevant
factor which should be treated equally. It also said that London
had pointed out several times that Bosnia was the scene of a
civil war, in which the Serbs should be considered the winners.
The Bosnian Serbs, who last year rejected the Contact Group map
for Bosnia's division, now see the Plan as a starting point for
peace negotiations, the paper said.
NEW YORK TIMES: U.S. GENERAL TO HELP SET UP MUSLIM-CROAT ARMY N
e w Y o r k, Jan. 24 (Tanjug) - Retired U.S. General and Vietnam
and Gulf war veteran Gen. Frederick Franks will soon help set up
a Muslim-Croat federal army in Bosnia, New York Times said
Tuesday. The daily lists as one of the reasons why Franks was
chosen for this job his frienship of many years with British
Gen. Rubert Smith, new UNPROFOR Commander for
Bosnia-Herzegovina, the daily said. Franks was Smith's superior
in the Gulf war and the two men have been on friedly terms since
that time, New York Times said. During their tasks in Bosnia,
however, the two generals might come into conflicting
situations. Smith is expected to maintain a neutral position, as
his predecessor Michael Rose did, while Franks will have to form
an army that might one day have to fight a war with Bosnian
Serbs.