OMRI SPECIAL REPORT: PURSUING BALKAN PEACE
Vol. 1, No. 8, 27 February 1996

WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL INTERVIEWS SERBS IN ROMANIA. Meanwhile, other
hearings have been taking place in the Romanian part of the Banat, an
historically Hungarian region that the Treaty of Trianon after World War
I divided between Romania and the former Yugoslavia. Radio Bucharest
announced on 21 February that members of The Hague tribunal had started
interviewing in Timisoara people from Serbia who were detained in Muslim
camps during the war. Those interviewed had volunteered to testify and
Timisoara has been chosen "at the request of Serbian citizens" who
consider the Romanian town near the Serbian border to be "a safe place,
where nothing can happen to them." The findings will be made public once
the interviews end, Radio Bucharest said. -- Michael Shafir

HOLBROOKE TAKES HIS LEAVE. Few, if any, would deny that the Dayton
agreement that ended the worst of those wars was chiefly the work of U.S
Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke. He left office on 21
February to return to Wall Street, although speculation abounds that he
is simply playing a waiting game in hopes of being summoned later to
higher office. In the meantime, he left some parting thoughts, as
reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His central theme was
that Bosnia showed that American leadership is necessary for world
peace, adding that this lesson could be applied to other potential
points of conflict in the region. He specifically mentioned Hungary's
relations with Romania and Slovakia, and Romanian-Ukrainian issues.
Turning to Dayton, he called the negotiations the most dramatic ones of
their kind in history. Like most observers, he felt that the military
provisions are being met better than are the civilian ones and pointed
out that the success or failure of
Dayton will have a big impact for both the U.S. and for NATO. He greeted
the deployment of 4,000 Germans to Croatia to maintain transport links
between their home country and Bosnia, and pointed out that French
policy toward NATO has taken a clear turn away from that set down by
President Charles de Gaulle in 1966. Ultimately, however, the civilian
aspects will make or break Dayton, and Holbrooke specifically mentioned
the need for successful elections, the return of refugees, and the
prosecution of war criminals. -- Patrick Moore

Jan Urban and Yvonne Badal are OMRI special correspondents in Sarajevo

Compiled by Patrick Moore


OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 41, 27 February 1996

HUNGARIAN PREMIER NOMINATES MEDGYESSY AS FINANCE MINISTER. Gyula Horn on
26 February announced he is nominating Peter Medgyessy to replace
departing Finance Minister Lajos Bokros, Hungarian dailies reported. The
Socialist Party presidium and the junior coalition partner, the Alliance
of Free Democrats, have both supported Medgyessy's nomination. Horn said
previously that Medgyessy has laid down no conditions for accepting the
nomination, except that the cabinet's economic committee be given
greater decision-making powers. Opposition Democratic Forum leader Ivan
Szabo said he respects Medgyessy's professional skills, but both he and
other opposition parties criticized Horn for choosing someone from the
Socialist elite of the 1980s. Medgyessy was finance minister in 1987 and
served as deputy prime minister in charge of economic policy until 1990.
The Budapest Stock Exchange Index rose by 122 points, mostly due to
interest among foreign investors who felt reassured by Medgyessy's
nomination, Vilaggazdasag reported. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave