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), January 19, 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 4 PM
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    ZAJEDNO: JUL AND MILOSEVIC PROVOKE WAR IN KOSOVO

    Leaders of the coalition Zajedno commented, at their Sunday
    protest meeting, that Slobodan Milosevic was ready to start war in
    Kosovo in order to avoid recognizing local election results from
    November 17. Thousands of Belgrade citizens attended Sunday's
    rally.

    President of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Vuk Draskovic, said
    that there was no chance that the Yugoslav Left (JUL) and the
    Socialist Party (SPS) would recognize the election results from
    November 17, despite international and local pressure.

    Mr. Draskovic added that he could no longer rely on the Army's
    neutrality and that they would be held responsible by the Serbian
    people if they allowed the terrorist organization JUL to start a
    war in Kosovo.

    He also stated that JUL was a ``source of misery'' and that its
    management should be ``isolated.''

    Head of the Civil Alliance of Serbia, Vesna Pesic, accused state
    television of insulting citizens by saying that protesters in
    Belgrade and terrorists in Kosovo were ``led by the same hand.''

    She also stressed that ``whenever Serbia moves towards reform and
    democracy, its President finds external conflicts and wars to
    preserve his rule and power.'' That was why Mr. Milosevic was now
    playing the Kosovo card, she said.


    DJINDJIC: EUROPEAN UNION WILL STOP GIVING AID TO MILOSEVIC

    President of the Democratic Party, Zoran Djindjic, returned on
    Sunday from his visit to Germany. In a statement for Radio B92,
    Mr. Djindjic said that German Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, had
    stated that he would encourage members of the European Union to
    take a united position on current events in Serbia.

    ``First, the EU will refuse to give Milosevic a single dollar or
    mark until he implements the demands of the Gonzalez report.
    Second, the EU will insist on the full recognition of the second
    round of local elections of November 17,'' Mr. Djindjic said.

    Mr. Djindjic added the EU would insisit on democratisation in
    Serbia as a key part of the implementation of the Dayton accords.
    ``The EU see the strengthening of democratic institutions in
    Serbia as key to stability in the Balkans.''

    Mr. Djindjic, also commented on the Kosovo question, saying that
    the problem of Kosovo must be solved in a democratic way, within
    Serbia.


    STUDENTS PROTEST UNTIL RIOT POLICE ALLOW MARCH

    Riot police cordons for the fourth time blocked Sunday's student
    march. Trade Union activisits, including journalists, and
    prominant actors joined the 59th successive student protest.

    Students announced future protest actions, the first of which will
    be called ``blessed soil.'' The goal of that protest will be to
    invite students from all over Serbia to bring soil to Belgrade
    where it will blessed by priests from the Srbian Orthodox Church.
    A further action will be called ``Bloodshed,'' where students will
    donate blood to the Belgrade Blood Transfusion Centre to infect
    Serbia with a 'freedom virus'.


    EVENING NOISE MAKERS JOIN STUDENT PROCESSION

    The daily 19.30 noise protest to drown out the 'din' of the main
    evening news bulletin on state TV, spilled over into local protest
    walks through various suburbs of Belgrade on Sunday. Many 'noise
    makers' then joined the Sunday student protest near the Faculty of
    Philosophy, where the students were blocked by riot police.


    BILDT TO RETURN TO SWEDEN

    High Representative for Bosnia, Karl Bildt, is preparing to resume
    his political career in Sweden, FoNet reported on Sunday. Many
    Swedes think that his return will be of utmost importance for the
    opposition in the run up to next year's elections. It is still
    unknown when Bildt will abandon his function in Bosnia, but his
    spokesman implied that it could happen by the end of 1997.


    KOSOVO

    The Union of the Associations of Fighters from the 1992/93 War,
    issued a statement on Sunday warning that they would respond in
    kind to anyone who was against the co-existence of the peoples in
    Kosovo.

    ``We will respond to all those, especially the so called
    'Liberation Army of Kosovo' who want Kosovo to secede from
    Serbia,'' said the statement.


    RUSSIAN MEDIA: DEVLOPMENTS IN SERBIA STIR HOPE

    Belgrade correspondent of Russian NTV Television, reported on
    Sunday that ``the carnival of freedom on the streets of the
    Serbian capital has now lasted for more than two months.''

    State television network ``Russia,'' reported on Zoran Djindjic's
    official visit to Germany, and commented that the world
    acknowledged the Serbian opposition as the only democratic
    alternative to Milosevic.

    Moscow weekly ``Moskovske Novosti,'' in its latest issue, said:
    ``It seems that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic will accept
    two key conditions for the peaceful solution to the conflict -- he
    will recognize opposition victories and refrain from the use of
    force.''


    HUNGARY DEMANDS RECOGNITION OF ELECTORAL RESULTS IN SERBIA

    Hungarian Deputy Foreign Minister, Gabor Bodi, stated on Sunday
    that Hungary once again called on Serbian authorities to recognize
    in full opposition wins in the second round of local elections
    last November.

    Mr. Bodi also said this would clear a path for Serbia's transition
    to democracy and stressed the future of Yugoslav / Hungarian
    relations very much depended on the extent of democracy in Serbia.

    Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic and Goran Dimitrijevic
    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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