Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service

    Odraz B92 vesti (by 10 PM), March 16, 1997

    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 10 PM
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    YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER: TRIP TO COPENHAGEN WAS OUT OF QUESTION

    Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic announced in Paris on
    Sunday that he would not attend the Copenhagen meeting, organized
    by Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
    Europe (OSCE) Niels Hoelveg Petersen, on Monday. The meeting was
    intended to open discussions on the democratization of Serbia with
    the Zajedno leaders.

    Minister Milutinovic said that he had explicitly told Mr. Petersen
    that a visit to Copenhagen was out of the question because the
    OSCE was an organization of states and governments rather than
    parties. He said he could talk to the opposition in Belgrade and
    that no mediators were needed for that.

    Minister Milutinovic is on a 2-day visit to France where he
    intends to discuss bilateral cooperation, relations between FR
    Yugoslavia and the EU and the situation in Albania and the Balkans
    with French Foreign Minister Hervet de Charette, according to the
    state Radio Television Serbia.


    ZAJEDNO DEMAND THAT EU GIVE YUGOSLAVIA TRADE CONCESSIONS

    Zajedno leaders have been pressing the EU to grant trade
    concessions and save Serbia from economic collapse. During last
    week's session of the Political Committee, a number of states
    pressed the European Commission to prepare a formal proposal for
    the March 24 Ministerial Council, granting trade concessions to FR
    Yugoslavia, Mirko Klarin reported for FoNet on Sunday. Although
    the Commission is still hesitant, diplomatic sources claim that
    the proposal will be prepared. They stress that the conditions for
    accepting the proposal are ``signals'' from Belgrade that a
    dialogue with the opposition will be started in addition to the
    implementation of the Gonzalez report. Opposition support would
    also help-if the Zajedno leaders continue their urgent appeals for
    the trade concessions at Monday's meeting in Copenhagen, the
    chances that they will be granted will increase.

    The diplomats also claimed that if the trade concessions are
    granted, the Ministerial Council would state specifically that
    this was done at the opposition' request ``inspite of Milosevic
    rather than according to his deserts.''


    DJINDJIC: IF ALBANIA DID NOT HAVE ITS OWN PROBLEMS, IT WOULD
    INTERFERE DANGEROUSLY WITH KOSOVO

    Zoran Djindjic, leader of the Democratic Party told the Greek
    newspaper 'Elefterotipia' on Sunday that ``it was lucky for the
    Serbs that Albania had its own problems, otherwise it would
    dangerously interfere with Kosovo.'' He admitted that he was
    committed to ``healthy nationalism'' and said that ``on principle,
    nationalism was not a bad thing,'' ``being natural for the present
    circumstances.'' He stressed the difference between ``constructive
    and destructive nationalism,'' adding that he had ``nothing in
    common with the nationalism of [Serbian President Slobodan]
    Milosevic or [Radicals' leader Vojislav] Seselj.''


    MOSCOW MEDIA

    The Moscow newsagency Itar-Tass reported on Sunday that the
    Yugoslav Government were clearly worried by the developments in
    Albania, especially since the riots had rolled closer to Kosovo.
    Despite the international request that Albanian refugees be taken
    in, Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Greece have closed their borders to
    Albania to prevent raids of the armed rebels, the newsagency
    reported.

    Russian independent TV company NTV stressed that by closing the
    Yugoslav-Albanian border-crossings, the Yugoslav Government was
    trying to isolate Kosovo, where ``the secessionist Albanian
    majority is waiting for an outside signal to start its
    rebellion.''


    ``DADDY, SEE ME DRIVE''

    Belgrade students organized a protest entitled ``Daddy, see me
    drive'' on Sunday, which had a double ironic symbolism. The park
    at the mouth of the rivers Sava and Danube is the usual site for
    pro-Socialist rallies, but the students expressed their support
    for the University Council. The event was a car-race, because the
    students decided to emulate the Serbian President's son, who is
    well-known for his car-racing bent. It was rumoured that the
    winner out of the 30 decrepit cars was chosen after the judge had
    received orders over the phone. The cup presented to him was
    confiscated immediately because it was borrowed. The Student
    protest will continue on Monday.


    INFORMATION MINISTER AND BANNED RADIO BOOM 93

    The independent Radio BOOM 93 in Pozarevac stated on Sunday, that
    the Radio's General Manager and Editor-in-Chief Milorad Tadic and
    attorney Branislav Zivkovic had met with Serbian Information
    Minister Radmila Milentijevic on Saturday. The meeting came 102
    days after the ban on the Radio's broadcasts.

    The representatives of the Radio told the Minister that there were
    legal irregularities with regard to getting a broadcasting
    licence. They stressed that the ban on Radio BOOM 93 was primarily
    of political nature. According to Radio BOOM 93, the Minister
    heard them out, and admitted that the ban was unfair, BOOM 93
    being the only banned station in Serbia. Mr. Tadic said that
    Minister Milentijevic had promised to try and find a solution as
    soon as possible after her trip to the US on Monday, according to
    FoNet.


    SILAJDZIC: AGREEEMENT ON SPECIAL RELATIONS BEFORE CONTACT GROUP?

    Co-President[ from the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina] of the
    Bosnian Ministerial Council Haris Silajdzic told Bosnian state
    television on Sunday that Sarajevo might bring the issue of the
    Agreement of Special Parallel Relations Between Republika Srpska
    (RS) and FR Yugoslavia before the Contact Group and UN Security
    Council. ``This Agreement is not contrary to the implementation of
    the Dayton agreement, but also peace in general,'' Mr. Silajdzic
    said, stressing that ``the RS exists only in the Dayton Bosnia
    Herzegivona, without which there would be no RS.''


    BERLIN TO SEND BACK REFUGEES

    The city council of Berlin intend to send back some 29,000
    refugees from Bosnia on charter flights, Jerg Schonbem, the city's
    Interior Minister stated in a interview with the 'Berliner
    Morgenpost' on Sunday.


    BOMB EXPLODES AT MOSK NEAR TOMISLAVGRAD

    A bomb was hurled into a mosque in the village of Stipanjci near
    Tomislavgrad in Western Herzegovina on Sunday. The explosion did
    considerable damage to the building and the near-by houses, but
    there were no casualties, Bosnian state radio reports. AFP reports
    that the majority of the region's population is Croat. The
    incident followed a series of attacks against Catholic churches in
    regions under Muslim control, especially in Sarajevo.


    TENSIONS MOUNT IN MACEDONIA

    Tensions in Macedonia are mounting, after the local Albanians
    demanded autonomy and Macedonians protested against teaching in
    Albanian at the University, according to Reuters and FoNet.

    The Mayors of Tetovo and Gostivar, both Albanians, demanded that
    their municipalities be granted greater powers. In these two
    municipalities the Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity had
    won in the local elections held 3 weeks ago. The two Mayors intend
    to establish regional taxes, banking and other institutions, but
    claim their demands are not a threat to Macedonia.

    Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov and Foreign Minister Ljubomir
    Frkovski oppose these demands for regionalization. Thousands of
    Macedonian students have recently protested in the capital Skople
    against the law allowing the use of Albanian at the Faculty of
    Pedagogy.

    ``All Albanian parties in Macedonia support [Albanian President
    Sali] Berisha. That is a mistake,'' said a Western diplomat in
    Skopje, adding that these parties were severed from Albania, and
    incapable of taking any action without it.

    Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic
    Edited by: Mary Anne Wood

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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