Shorts

Macedonian Cow Disease

After foot-and-mouth disease was reported in Macedonia, a ban was placed on transport of livestock and meat to and from the republic. Epidemics of the dangerous disease were reported in predominantly ethnic-Albanian populated villages of the Skoplje and Titov Veles regions, so local media say the disease may have come from neighbouring Albania where it was reported this spring. In some of the regions as many as 30 per cent of the cattle have been infected, which is a threat to all livestock. Macedonian authorities have a special regime for the villages with infected cattle. Veterinarian services are assisted by the police, and the Macedonian government has decided that even the army might be engaged. Agriculture Minister Nikola Parakeov said that the infected cattle and contaminated stables would be destroyed and the government would provide compensation.

Farmers are asked to cooperate with veterinarian authorities. Check-points have been set up for disinfection. Lorries, cars and passengers must undergo the disinfection procedure also when leaving Macedonia. Traffic regime on the northern border has been changed in order to prevent spreading of the disease. Transportation of goods is carried out completely via Presevo border pass, while Prohor Pcinjski and Djeneral Jankovic are open only to passenger traffic.

At the beginning of this week, no humans were reported as having been infected. Doctors say that although people are not likely to catch the disease, such a possibility might occur, so they advise caution. The last time a similar epidemic was reported in Macedonia was in 1963.

Activities of Fund for Open Society

The Fund for Open Society has begun its humanitarian medical aid programme. On two occasions it organized distribution of medical supplies and is now beginning the distribution of medical equipment. The first distribution will include nine children's hospitals in the country which offer medical help to locals and refugees.

Distribution of medical aid took place on 2 July 1996.

Hallo, Sarajevo

Representatives of Bosnia-Herzegovina Post, Telegraph and Telephone Public Company (PTT) met with their Serbian colleagues in Sarajevo on 31 June. In the meeting held at the office of a ranking official of the international community it was decided that the priority of the two companies should be to establish telephone traffic between Belgrade and Sarajevo, ONASA reported. It was decided to immediately initiate establishing of direct connections between the two cities, first with 30 plus 30 lines. Bosnia-Herzegovina Foreign Ministry will launch the initiative with F.R. Yugoslavia Foreign Ministry to hold a meeting of the two PTT companies in order to discuss telecommunications.

Warrant

Legal proceedings against Sulejman Ugljanin began, Beta learned from sources close to the Muslim National Council of Sandzak (MNVS). MNVS sent a letter to Federal Interior Minister Vukasin Jokanovic, requesting a meeting with him. Jokanovic answered that the "warrant raised against Ugljanin in 1993 is still valid", but that the ministry was "not engaged in the case, so there is no reason to meet and discuss it." MNSV delegation in late June visited the embassies of France and Switzerland in Belgrade, requesting that they help Ugljanin return to F.R. Yugoslavia. MNSV claims that "Ugljanin's safe return to the country would contribute to the easing of tension in Sandzak and would be a positive step in the regime's relation to those against whom charges had been brought because of their political activity."

Preventive Detention

On 31 June proceedings were instituted in Budva against owner of "Bela Vista" pizzeria Mijo Martinovic who had refused to voluntarily close his pizzeria during the Mediterranean music festival "Budva 96," as the police had ordered in the interest of the safety of Montenegro President Momir Bulatovic. Having refused to carry out police orders, Martinovic and his staff Predrag Micevic, Stepan Petrovic, Boris Gnjipa and Gordana Todorovic spent the night at Budva prison. The trial will resume on 31 July.

Montenegro Human Rights Committee President Slobodan Franovic has told Montena-fax that they suspect the police illegally arrested the pizzeria owner and staff. According to Franovic, there was no written document about their arrest, which is a violation of constitutional rights.

Prices Doubled in June

According to Federal Statistics Office (SZS), prices in June increased by 106.4 per cent as compared to June 1995 and by 33 per cent as compared to December 1995. The prices in Yugoslavia in June went up by 3.3 per cent as compared to May, while expenses went up by 3.6 per cent, said SZS deputy director Mirjana Rankovic. The price of services went up by nine per cent - especially for education and culture, i.e. TV subscription: 56.2 per cent, municipal services 10.9 per cent and financial services 10.4 per cent.

Day-Labourers

Janja is a small town near Bijeljina. Until the war, mostly Muslims lived there. Some ten thousand people. When the Semberija region was taken over, they decided to be loyal, to turn in some of their guns and remain on their thresholds, which proved wrong. They were soon "persuaded" that it was impossible to live alongside other ethnic groups and that they belonged with other Muslims. They headed for Tuzla. Serbian authorities helped them leave and even "freed" them of excessive luggage on the way. A self-proclaimed Major Djurovic was particulary active.

There are no more Muslims in Janja now. It is populated by the Serbs who came there from many towns in Bosnia. The last lot to arrive were from Sarajevo. They had nothing to share, so they are working for the "veterans" as day-labourers. Many of these penniless people gather every morning at a kind of labour exchange in order to get a chance to work for "bosses" for ten German Marks a day. The supply is greater than the demand. Warriors fight with one another in order to get a chance to dig. The latest issue of the Bijeljina "Ekstra Magazin" published an article on this and quoted a refugee from Sarajevo: "Since I left Sarajevo, all kinds of thoughts have been passing through my head. I don't trust anyone, sometimes not even myself. I've seen all kinds of things here. I have two young daughters who used to have everything and now they have nothing. I dig to earn meals for us, to give the two of them their basic needs. I work hard so that my daughters would not have to sell their bodies to this shit. I'd rather suffer myself and be blackmailed, than let those stinks blackmail my daughters."