Belgrade: St. Dimitrije Church

The board for the permanent commemoration of Greek-Serb friendship from Athens said a Greek Orthodox church should be built in Belgrade. The church of St. Dimitrije would be financed by contributions in Serbia and Montenegro, Beta news agency reported. Board chairman Diogenes Valavanidis told an Athens press conference that the city authorities had already earmarked a location for the church in central Belgrade. He said the construction of the church was the board's main job and added that it will be an "eternal symbol of gratitude" of the Serbs to the Greeks. Valvanidis said Energoprojekt would draw up plans for the church for free and added that it would be constructed by a company that is very optimistic in regard to business ties with Greece. "Our initiative was strongly supported by Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Belgrade mayor Nebojsa Covic and the Serbian patriarch, his holiness Pavle," he said. He also handed a gift from Belgrade (an icon of the Holy Virgin) to Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopolous.

Paid Neo-Nazis

A spokesman for the German federal crime fighting bureau (BKA) said German neo-nazis were going to former Yugoslavia as mercenaries and training for future terrorist activities at home. The BKA spokesman told a seminar that the information came from a neo-nazi who was arrested when he came back from former Yugoslavia. he didn't specify which of the former Yugoslav republics is hiring the neo-nazis or who was training them. He added that the neo-nazis were bringing guns and ammunition back to Germany. The German authorities discovered a depot near Frankfurt in November where the neo-nazis had stored explosives. The spokesman, who refused to be named, said the BKA suspected other depots across Germany and added that it could be a serious threat to national security.

Montenegro: Independent Protest

Montenegro's parliament deputies were handed copies of a letter from the republic's independent media on February 8 which demanded they take a stand on accusations that "the independent media were performing a dishonorable task". The accusation was voiced in the presence of parliament speaker Svetozar Marovic by Yugoslav Journalists' Association president Dusan Cukic at a recent Montenegrin Journalists' Association meeting in Kolasin, Montena Fax reported. The letter said the accusation voiced with the silent verification of the parliament speaker made "libel official". The Montenegrin Independent Journalists' and Media Association (Monitor, Montena Fax, Radio Antena M and Onogost Standard) protested in the hope that "deputies would assure them and the public that the accusations are not parliament's official stand".

Macedonia: Incident in Parliament

Macedonian parliament speaker Stojan Andov interrupted a February 7 session after ethnic Albanian deputy Sali Ramadani made a speech in Albanian. Makfaks news agency reported that parliament debated a draft law on ID cards the next day under which names can be written in national minority languages. Albanian deputies demanded all personal documents to be in Albanian. They voiced those demands at earlier sessions which they walked out of when the demands were not adopted.

The Macedonian government does not accept bilingual documents, invoking article 7 of the republic's constitution. Albanians also invoke article 7 but interpret it differently.

Observers in Skoplje said Albanian deputies could withdraw from parliament. That withdrawal and the withdrawal of four ethnic Albanian ministers has been announced several times to date.

The Paris Summit

European Union foreign ministers agreed to invite Slobodan Milosevic, Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic to Paris last Monday to force them to agree to recognize each others' states. The invitation will be made by French president Francios Mitterand but a date has not been released for the meeting. The EU wants the meeting held as soon as possible in the hope that the summit will pave the way for a new international conference on former Yugoslavia. Initial reactions show that hopes of the meeting taking place aren't good.

Croatian foreign minister Mate Granic said Zagreb is ready for the summit.

Alija Izetbegovic said he would talk to Milosevic only if the FRY recognizes Bosnia-Herzegovina first.

The Serb stand was voiced by foreign minister Vladislav Jovanovic who said there can be no mention of recognizing Bosnia-Herzegovina. "As long as there's no political solution acceptable to all three sides we see no wise reason for recognition," he said.

One of the ideas behind the summit is to get Milosevic back into the game and send a signal to Radovan Karadzic for his disobedience.

UFO Over Bosnia

Someone thought last week that Dutch UNPROFOR military observers near Srebrenica noticed a formation of helicopters last Friday flying from Serbia over the Drina and landing somewhere. They didn't even manage to count them right: they say there were 15-20 of them. For some reason the UN commands in Zagreb and New York raised a fuss about Milosevic breaking his promise and supplying Mladic's forces. The Yugoslav Army general staff denied the report and UNPROFOR command in Zagreb said it had no proof because "UN military observers were denied access to radars at Yugoslav airports" (the observers have portable radars). despite protests and the screams of US ambassador Madeleine Albright, the whole thing died willingly in about two days. Chances of it getting anywhere are minimal.

Why was the whole thing raised at all? We know there's a silent agreement that helicopter flights will not be considered violations of the no-fly zone over Bosnia; sources close to the Yugoslav Army doubt it could raise 20 Mi-8 helicopters at any given moment because of technical difficulties; there's no answer to why the FRY would launch a provocation of that magnitude; if it wanted the FRY could help general Mladic in more efficient and discreet ways (there wasn't any fighting around Srebrenica that would require immediate assistance by helicopter) etc. In any case the original report by the Dutch observers hasn't been published which could only mean that the UN has changed its opinion.

Krajina: Drums of War

The first special session of the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) parliament unanimously decided to suspend further economic negotiations with Croatia and declared a state of impending war, speaker Rajko Lezajic said. Talks will remain suspended until Croatia changes its decision to expel UNPROFOR or until the UN Security Council extends the mandate on RSK territory against Zagreb's will.

The session was attended by 75 of the total 84 parliament members, as well as president Milan Martic, prime minister Borislav Mikelic, all the ministers, Krajina Army commander general Milan Celeketic and representatives of all local councils. The session was held behind closed doors to prevent Croatia from learning information vital to RSK state interests.

The proposal to suspend talks was formally submitted by the Krajina SDS party. Mikelic said after the session it was a temporary solution until the Security Council rules on the UNPROFOR mandate.

The deputies were handed copies of the mini Contact group plan before the session. The plan was actually copies of the original published in Zagreb daily Vecernji List because Martic refused to accept it earlier. There were no reports that the RSK parliament debated the plan. The BBC quoted UNPROFOR which said the RSK was mobilizing army reserves and reported an increasing number of cease-fire violations but did not specify who started the violations.

Yugoslavia: Avramovic in Hospital

National Bank Governor Dragoslav Avramovic was taken to hospital on February 8. A statement from his cabinet said he had pneumonia.