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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.