Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service

    Odraz B92 vesti (by 4 PM), January 30, 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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    SEVERAL THOUSAND STUDENTS AT RAILWAY STATION

    Several thousand students from all departments of the University
    of Belgrade gathered near the main Railway Station in Belgrade at
    12:30 PM today. The police did not intervene, although traffic
    around the station was at a standstill as students arrived from
    different parts of the City, Beta reports.


    SURVEY ON PROTESTS

    Belgrade Institute for Social Sciences has conducted a study of
    the participation of the Serbian population in the current
    protests. Results show that around 700,000 citizens take an active
    part in the protest -- about 12% of the population. Approximately
    42% people think that the elections were unfair, whilst 28% think
    they were fair. 34% people have confidence in state media and 20%
    people believe alternative media. About 7% of citizens believe
    that news reports on the radio are true: of those 5% trust Radio
    B92. [N.B. we can only be heard in central Belgrade -- i.e. by
    approximately 12% of Serbia's total population! ]


    UNIVERSITY PROTEST COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED

    Staff from the Universities of Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac and Novi
    Sad have formed a protest committee to coordinate protests and
    facilitate the exchange of information. They have announced that
    they support the Deans' decision to cease cmmunicating with the
    current Chancellor of Belgrade University.


    MONTENEGRIN AUTHORITIES DENY ALLEGED DEAL WITH MILOSEVIC

    A statement issued by the offices of Montenegrin President Momir
    Bulatovic denies speculative reports of a deal which would give
    the Federal Presidency to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic,
    with Mr. Bulatovic as Federal Prime Minister. ``This is absolutely
    not true, that was not the topic of conversation at all. The
    presidents of Serbia and Montenegro have regular consultations
    behind closed doors, but these cannot be branded 'secret'
    meetings'' a Montenegrin government spokesman said.


    GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE ALREADY DONE

    The expected reshuffle of the Serbian Government has been carried
    out, reported state run newspaper 'Vecernje Novosti'on Thursday.
    The New Democratic party remain in government and Mr. Mirko
    Marjanovic stays as Prime Minister. The Ministers of Private
    Enterprise, Education and Justice have been replaced, as has the
    entire Ministry of Information. Miodrag Popovic, a journalist from
    state television, has been appointed as official government
    spokesman in its place.


    YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT HAS LIMITED POWER

    Professor of Constitutional Law Pavle Nikolic talked to the daily
    'Dnevni Telegraf' about Milosevic's possible transfer to the
    Yugoslav Federal Presidency. ``The present constitutional
    authority of the Yugoslav President is so insignificant that it is
    very hard to believe that Milosevic would accept such a marginal
    position. If he were elected as Federal President he would have
    more influence than the current incumbent, but he still would not
    have a lot of power. It is technically possible to change the
    Federal constitution in order to strengthen the position of the
    Federal President. However, if you want to change the constitution
    you must have a two-thirds majority in the Federal Parliament, and
    the ruling parties of Serbia and Montenegro do not,'' stated
    Professor Nikolic.


    CZECH DAILY ON SERBIAN OPPOSITION

    Czech economic daily 'Hospodarske Novini' commented today that
    opposition Zajedno have not made much progress with formulating
    policy and plans for economic regeneration after two months of
    demonstrations. They forecast that Zoran Djindic has the brightest
    political future of the opposition leaders, but comment that
    making policy and implementing it with three such different
    leaders will be the opposition's main problem.


    POPE TO VISIT SARAJEVO

    The Vatican have officially announced that Pope John Paul II will
    visit Sarajevo on April 13, Reuters reports. ``The Pope goes to
    Sarajevo in order to encourage the catholic community in Bosnia
    and Herzegovina to practice their faith actively in all parts of
    the country, so they can promote understanding and cooperation
    among people of all religions,'' says the announcement from
    Vatican.

    Prepared by: 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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