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IT'S STILL MAY 31st AT THE POLLS

By J. Pavkovic

Vecernji list, Zagreb, Croatia, May 15, 1996

The elections in Mostar will be held as expected, on May 31st, stated EU Administrator for Mostar, Ricard Peres Casado, in Brussels. The fifteen EU Foreign Ministers showed their resoluteness by not giving in to Muslim pressure and their threats of boycotting the elections if their demand that all citizens of Mostar be able to vote is not complied with.

It is probable that the decision in Brussels was made because it was known that the Muslims registered to vote. Apart from HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), HSP (Croatian Party of Rights) and the Croatian Pure Party of Rights, the Women's Party from Bosnia-Herzegovina also registered. If one is to carefully look at the list of candidates from that party, one will, in fact, find members and leaders of SDA (Party of Democratic Action) on it.

Consequently, the Muslims did not formally distinguish their parties, so that they may put pressure on Europe. Since members of the EU didn't put up with this, the Muslims became the "second variant". They are now going to ask their people to vote for the "women", and will thereby simultaneously homogenize their electoral body, which at any rate, is very significant. With that, leaders of the SDA avoid the possibility of dividing constituents, which was a serious threat in Mostar after the formation of Silajdzic's party and his growing popularity. Regarding the Muslims in the city of the Neretva River, there will be an enumeration of inhabitants instead of elections, while the three Croatian parties need to redeem democracy.

Therefore, an electoral race begins today for the Croatian parties, while the Muslims may continue to calculate and pressure. It is a forsaken possibility for them in Brussels, in which the new EU Administrator for Mostar, Ricard Peres Casado, has the right to delay the elections for two weeks due to technical reasons. If Mr. Casado makes that decision, it will certainly start a chain reaction in which the situation in Mostar may be complicated to a maximum degree, while terms for the September elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina may be seriously jeopardized as well.


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Through Neum Without a Customs Inspection

D. Knezevic

Vecernji List, Zagreb, Croatia, May 14, 1996

Croatian citizens as well as foreign tourists who will be coming to the Croatian Adriatic coast will have the right to freely pass through the Neum municipality. The Ploce harbor will be open for the needs of the Bosnia- Herzegovina Federation. Those are, in a practical sense, two legal documents which were signed by the Premiers of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Zagreb on Saturday. They deal with the implementation of the agreement made between Croatia and the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation in which Croatian passage through Federation territory is ensured, as is Federation access to the Adriatic. It is clear that the signing of those documents had certain political weight because they demonstrate adherence to the Washington and Dayton Agreements, as well as favorable economic implications for both countries.

THE RESTORATION OF ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

Guaranteeing unrestricted transit through Neum, as well as the opening of the Ploce harbor for the needs of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation, will at the same time give both countries admission to the World Bank so that they may receive credit for the restoration of road infrastructure.

Among others, the agreement maintains that the Bosnia- Herzegovina Federation is to allow trucks and remaining road vehicles unrestricted entry for the transit of goods and passengers from Croatia through Neum. Customs inspections do not apply to vehicles with Croatian license plates. Those vehicles will not be checked, nor will official Federation authorities approach them, unless the driver commits some type of traffic or customs violation. Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Ljerka Mintas Hodak estimates that the agreement realizes more than the agreements in the US resolved because the Croatian side chose freedom of transit for tourists who are coming to the Croatian Adriatic coast and wish to pass through Neum.

In the second agreement, Croatia guarantees Bosnia- Herzegovina the unhindered and safe flow of goods through the customs zone in the Ploce harbor. Goods that are passing through that harbor on the way from the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation or on the way in, do not pay customs or other dues and do not file a customs report.

MEASURES AGAINST BLACK-MARKETEERING

With that agreement, Croatia is obligated to maintain land traffic (road and railway) from the harbor to the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, and not discriminate against ships which are sailing for the needs of the Federation, regardless of their national afiliation. Since with the legal establishment of freedom of transit for Neum and Ploce comes the risk of an increase in black- marketeering, there is a clause built into the agreement about Ploce in which road transit in and from the the Federation will proceed with the supervision or accompaniment of Croatian police. It will be like that until a separate road from the unrestricted customs zone to the Bosnia-Herzegovina border is buildt. Similarly, it is expected that black-marketeering in Neum will be rendered impossible only when a road is constructed in which full transit control would be made possible.

The agreements signed last Saturday in Zagreb went into effect immediately but are considered temporary. Passage through the Federation should be continuously regulated by other documents which would control railway as well as road transit. Likewise, new documents for permanent means in the future should be arranged for Federation access to the Adriatic. The present agreement does not apply to goods and destinations in the rest of Bosnia- Herzegovina.


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WHY ARE THEY SAVING MLADIC?

by Zeljko Toth

Vecernji list, Zagreb, Croatia, May 13, 1996

In the search for an answer as to why only "mere trifles" from the Serb genocidal order are arriving in Den Haag, The Sunday Times conducted its own investigation and came to a shocking revelation: the UN, Western governments, and even members of the British elite SAS had a shameful role in the genocide. In the first part of the report about its investigation (the second part will be announced next Sunday), The Sunday Times responded to why organizers of crime, both those from Serbia and those from Bosnia, aren't in Den Haag: because Western governments and the UN knew what was going on, didn't do anything to prevent it, and do not want their spinelessness disclosed at the International War Crimes Tribunal.

The British weekly re-enacted events which occurred in Srebrenica before and after its fall into Serb hands. At the beginning of July, Srebrenica defenders warned Dutch UN soldiers daily of the arrival of Serb reinforcement from the South and the South-east, but the Dutch soldiers acted as if they did not hear anything. The Dutch came to the conclusion that the only Serb objective was to ensure the southern entry to the "protected zone". Their alarm didn't even go off when Serb tanks took over their observation posts in the south. When in the early morning of July 6, the Serbs fired six shells upon the UN staff in Potocari, the Dutch soldiers took refuge in a shelter and spent all five days of the Serb offensive there.

The Dutch claim that they requested for NATO air attacks from Sarajevo authorities everyday. The usual excuse was that there were "technical difficulties". Nevertheless, on July 11, the Dutch informed Muslim authorities in Srebrenica that the UN advised the Serbs to be prepared for air attacks from forty NATO aircraft, including anti-tank fighter planes. It was recommended that everyone take shelter. However, nothing happened. The mayor of Srebrenica wrathfully protested, but a Dutch officer explained: "Two minutes ago, we received new instructions. We were given a command to request for air attacks only if our soldiers were to see a Serb soldier in the city with their very own eyes." However, the Serbs were already in Srebrenica. At that moment, the SAS group, which the people of Srebrenica didn't even know were amongst them, took over their role in the tragedy. The members of SAS came before the Bosnian Army headquarters, situated in a post office, and met with high- ranking officers of the Bosnian Army. British specialists asked for an interpreter and guide to show them the position of the Serbs. When they got closer to the Serb tanks, the Bosnian guide, Ekrem, showed the British, from a distance of 150 meters, the position of the Serb tanks. Surrounding them were thirty Serb soldiers. Yet, the British replied by asking, "Where are they? We can't see anything." Ekrem showed them once again, yet the members of the SAS again asserted to not seeing anything. An intense debate emerged which finished upon their return to the city headquarters. The British left the interpreter and guide and went to the main UN headquarters. One can only assume what happened in the meantime between the Srebrenica-Sarajevo-New York- Brussels connection, because a whole six hours later NATO air intervention followed. However, it was too late. The Serbs had already captured Srebrenica and executed those taken as prisoners. That is how the largest single war crime began in Europe.


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