Interview

Ivica Dacic, spokesman for the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS), head of the party information section and chairman of the "Palilulac" soccer club went on Studio B on April 28. He was guest on a show where a journalist interviews the guest with a few phone calls from viewers for good measure. One of the callers asked Dacic if President Milosevic knows 70% of the people in Serbia are going hungry, that 10% are living more or less normally and that the rest are profiteers and criminals who robbed the people. Was Milosevic informed of this or are the people around him keeping him in the dark like Tito?

Dacic first said figures are relative and then blamed everything on the opposition, went on about the elections and unjust sanctions.

He proved the old SPS rule was right: it doesn't matter what you're asked what matters is your answer.

Plan

Bosnian Serb weekly "Javnost" in its April 27 issue revealed the latest plan of aggression against the RS which is "cunningly masterminded not only in Moslem army headquarters but also by NATO planners in Washington and Brussels". The need for the plan came because the "Moslem authorities and their allies failed to achieve a military defeat of the Serb people". "Javnost" described the return of refugees to Doboj, Prijedor and other towns all as part of the following plan:

1. First, small groups of Moslems cross into RS territory to scout around;

2. Next, large groups flood into towns to cause riots and panic;

3. IFOR steps in to legalize the Moslem incursions and blames the Serbs for the riots.

"Javnost" said the goal of the Moslem hordes is to make the RS a true entity without statehood. There can hardly be a better confession that the RS can exist only with Serbs living in it.

The Broz Family in Croatia

Zagreb daily "Vecernji List" published an article titled "The Return of the Widow of Communism" which asked whether Croatia would issue a passport and other documents to the widow of Josip Broz Tito, who "has that right because she was born in Croatia". The article also claimed Jovanka Broz faced many difficulties over the past few years and added that it was no surprise that she wanted to "come back to her true homeland - Croatia."

Zvonimir Markovic, head of the Croatian bureau in Belgrade stated that Jovanka Broz never contacted his office in connection with passport nor was the bureau authorized to issue it. He added that she could have filed her request with any Croatian Embassy. Markovic said the bureau also did not get any specific request to transfer the remains of Josip Broz Tito to his hometown of Kumrovec.

Worthless Coupons

The coupons worth 108 dinars for electricity payments which pensioners from Serbia got along with their pensions in Montenegro are practically worthless since the Montenegrin power company doesn't recognize them. There are some 3,000 pensioners in the republic who receive their pensions from Serbia. The Serbian pension fund said they are only responsible for printing and distributing the coupons. The Montenegrin fund said they expect the two power companies to reach some kind of agreement.

Bishop of Kotor

Monsignor Ilija Janjic was formally inducted as Catholic Bishop of Kotor on April 27 by his predecessor Don Ivo Gugic, Split Archbishop Ante Juric and Primate of Serbia Petar Prkolic. The ceremony was attended by Montenegrin religions minister Slobodan Tomovic, Kotor Mayor Branko Ivanovic, Montenegrin Orthodox Bishop Amfilohije, the Papal Nuncio in Belgrade Majo Casapi, Cardinal Vinko Puljic from Sarajevo and 12 archbishops and bishops.

Protecting the Denar

The Macedonian National Bank Governor suspended the director of the Skoplje Commercial Bank, the second largest financial institution in the country. The reason for the unusual decision was the fact that the Bank issued a large sum of denar loans and hid foreign currency funds in foreign banks. The Bank had six million USD in foreign banks at one time and achieved huge exchange rate profits but that operation also helped devalue the national currency. The stable denar which has been trading for trading for 27 to the DEM for two years is the basis of Macedonia's monetary policy.

The governor suspended only the one director and raised no charges against the bank itself. That radical measure was preceded by a letter from five of the largest share holders who claimed the director intended to "systematically eliminate them".