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), April 28, 1997

      E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
   5  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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      C O N T E N T S
  10  ==================================================================


      NEWS BY 4 PM

        SPO Blames Democrats for Novi Sad Chaos  . . . . . . . . . .  25
        DS: State Incapable of Solving Basic Problems  . . . . . . .  39
        Chance to Chat for Djukanovic and Pesic  . . . . . . . . . .  47
  15    Social Protest on May 1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  64
        SPO Claims HDZ Expulsionist  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  69
        Galbraith Slams Pavelic Rehabilitation   . . . . . . . . . .  78
        SDSS Accepts Independent Croatia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  90
        Serbs Attack Mulims in Brcko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
  20    Macedonian Signs with EU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
        Merrill Lynch Bank Warns on Yugoslav Government  . . . . . . 119

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      NEWS BY 4 PM
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  25  SPO BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR NOVI SAD CHAOS

      The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) said on Monday that the cause
      of the dissent in the SPO branch in Novi Sad was its coalition
      partner, the Democratic Party (DS), according to Beta. The SPO
      statement said the party had demanded an urgent reshufle of the
  30  city government in Novi Sad, sharing of power with the Vojavodina
      Coalition and radical reforms in the interests of citizens of Novi
      Sad. It further said that the DS, holding two thirds of the seats
      in the Novi Sad city council, had practically taken over the power
      and refused any serious changes, including the replacement of
  35  compromised communist officials. The statement said that the DS
      leader Zoran Djindjic had, in the last session of the Zajedno's
      Presidential Council, agreed to a reshufle of the Novi Sad City
      Council but that he had sent different instructions to Novi Sad.


      DS: STATE INCAPABLE OF SOLVING BASIC PROBLEMS

  40  A spokesman for the Democratic Party (DS), Slobodan Vuksanovic,
      said on Monday that the government's decision to extend the list
      of medical services citizens have to pay for showed that the state
      was not capable of providing for the basic needs of its citizens.
      He told Beta that the decision to make citizens pay if a physician
  45  decides that a call for an ambulance had not been urgent was
      outrageous.


      CHANCE TO CHAT FOR DJUKANOVIC AND PESIC

      Civic Alliance leader Vesna Pesic met Prime Minister Milo
      Djukanovic in Podgorica on Saturday. According to Mrs Pesic the
  50  meeting was accidental, but the two took the chance for a full and
      frank exchange of political views. Mrs Pesic told Radio B92 that
      Mr Djukanovic had impressed her as a pragmatic politician,
      concerned with the real issues of life. She also said that she
      supported his resistance to the Belgrade regime's interference
  55  with internal affairs of Montenegro.

      Mrs Pesic said that Mr Djukanovic believed that decisions must be
      made by the institutions of the system, and not on the
      instructions of a political party. She also said that they had
      discussed economic issues and agreed that these were critical, as
  60  there would be no funds for salaries or pensions within a year if
      the present crisis was not solved. Mrs Pesic emphasised that there
      had been no discussion of Zajedno or any possible liaison between
      the coalition and the Montenegrin Government.


      SOCIAL PROTEST ON MAY 1

  65  The trade union Nezavisnost, the Student Parliament and the
      Independent Association of Pensioners will jointly hold
      demonstrations in Belgrade on May 1st. They will present their
      program for the protests in a news conference on Tuesday.


      SPO CLAIMS HDZ EXPULSIONIST

  70  The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) on Monday said that the demand
      by the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) that all extremist Serbs leave
      the Ilok region showed a clear Croat intention to expel all Serbs
      from Eastern Slavonia. The SPO statement expressed outrage at the
      violation of the Erdut Agreement and called on Serbian President
  75  Slobodan Milosevic, one of the authors of the Agreement, to give a
      clear statement on this new attempt by the HDZ to prepare
      contitions for yet another mass exodus of Serbs from Croatia.


      GALBRAITH SLAMS PAVELIC REHABILITATION

      In an interview published in the latest issue of the Croatian
  80  weekly Feral Tribune, US Ambassador to Zagreb Peter Galbraith
      condemned any attempt to rehabilitate Ante Pavelic, the head of
      the Ustasa Independent State of Croatia in World War Two. He said
      that the US government had opposed any changes to the monuments in
      Jasenovac, the World War Two Croatian detention camp for Serbs. Mr
  85  Galbraith said that the establishment of the Federation of Bosnia-
      Herzegovina was the first great success of international diplomacy
      in the Bosnia crisis and that there was such entity as Herzeg-
      Bosnia [the South-Eastern region in Bosnia controlled by the
      Croats].


  90  SDSS ACCEPTS INDEPENDENT CROATIA

      Milorad Pupovac, an MP in the Croatian Parliament and Chairman of
      the Program Council of the Independent Democratic Serb Party
      (SDSS), told the Croatian newspaper 'Novi List' on Monday that the
      SDSS management had clearly opted for acknowledging an independent
  95  Croatia. He said that this was stated in the party's program and
      was also the way party members felt.

      Mr. Pupovac stressed that a way for repatriating both Croat and
      Serb refugees to Croatia simultaneously must be found. He stressed
      that Serbs wished to live throughout the Republic of Croatia as
 100  free citizens rather than in a Serb ghetto.


      SERBS ATTACK MULIMS IN BRCKO

      Bosnian Serbs in Brcko attacked Muslims in two separate incidents
      late on Sunday. The UN police told AFP that a sixtyfive-year-old
      was taken to hospital after he had been robbed and beaten up by 20
 105  Serbs on the towns outskirts. His four friends managed to flee
      without injuries. A few hours prior to this incident, a an
      intoxicated Serb had hit a thirtyfive-year-old Muslim woman on the
      head. The assailant was later arrested.


      MACEDONIAN SIGNS WITH EU

 110  Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and the Chairman of
      the European Union (EU), Dutch Foreign Minister Hans Van Mierlo
      will sign a cooperation agreement between Macedonia and the EU in
      Luxembourg on Tuesday. Because of Greece's objections to the
      agreement containing the name of ``The Republic of Macedonia,''
 115  the cooperation agreement will be put in place by an exchange of
      letters. It will become effective on July 1st. Simultaneously with
      this, negotiations on Macedonia's affiliated membership to the EU
      will begin.


      MERRILL LYNCH BANK WARNS ON YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT

 120  The April analysis of the international investment bank Merrill
      Lynch found predicts that price of the Yugoslav debt will continue
      to fall from its current 49c on the secondary market unless the
      Serbian Government is replaced by the end of the year.

      The Merrill Lynch report says that the price of the Yugoslav debt
 125  might be somewhere above 70c if there were a greater possibility
      of negotiations between the FR Yugoslavia and the international
      monetary institutions. but that this could not be expected in the
      next 18 months or even longer.

      Merrill Lynch predicted that the Yugoslav foreign debt would reach
 130  $11b in 1997, which together with the $3.8b internal debt is as
      much as the gross annual product.

      The report says that a government formed by Zajedno would, despite
      the coalition's lack of clear policy, effect the lifting of the
      outer wall of the sanctions provided the policy on Kosovo changed.
 135  That would as a concequence lead to Yugoslavia's return to
      international monetary institutions by the end of 1998.

      Merrill Lynch's analysts believe the opportunity to open
      negotiations between FR Yugoslavia and international monetary
      institutions would be smaller if Serbian President Slobodan
 140  Milosevic remains in power. Western governments would probably
      lift the outer wall of sanctions, but this could be drawn out
      depending on Mr Milosevic's policy on Kosovo and Bosnia, the
      report said. The political survival of the Serbian President would
      imply an incrased risk of internal destabilization, in the light
 145  of regional tensions in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro.

      Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic
      Edited by: Steve Agnew

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