Shorts

The Anti-Soros Campaign

President of the League of Communists - Movement for Yugoslavia (SK-PJ) Ratko Krsmanovic informed a press conference in Belgrade that he had discovered a connection between the Soros Foundation and the paper Nasa Borba: "How can we accept the fact that it is this Foundation which backs the independent media, including Nasa Borba, whose name and contents have been forgotten by a great part of the public. I will remind you that Adolf Hitler first wrote his work "Mein Kampf", and the followers of fascism in these parts headed by Dimitrije Ljotic, hurried to toady up to Hitler and accepted Hitler's 'struggle' in 1941 as their own and launched the paper Nasa Borba".

Ratko then concluded: "There was once a Nasa Borba which paraded in Hitler's propaganda machine. It is difficult to ignore the impression that the revival of this paper does not have the same significance, all the more so as the hypocrisy of the Soros Foundation lies in the background."

Vasa Rokic, a retired journalist and columnist of the state-sponsored daily "Borba", did not pass up the opportunity of giving his personal view of the Soros Foundation's work: "The Soros Foundation's activities are nothing new. All colonial powers used to send their advance parties ahead of their conquering armies: various 'scientific-research' and 'humanitarian' expeditions, and with them the inevitable priests-missionaries... In the work of his Foundation, Soros has just united all the activities of the earlier colonial expeditions".

Vecernje Novosti journalist Dijana Dimitrovska's article entitled "Soros's Mask Drops Off" appeared last Tuesday (March 21). In it Ms Dimitrovska gives following sensational information: "The Soros Foundation, which, like the people around it has never supported peace, but the breaking up of the former and the present Yugoslavia, has remained consistent in one thing: to be against the Serbs. The multi-millionaire of Hungarian origin who has decided that he must establish a New World Order and be the pioneer of 'democracy in Serbia and Yugoslavia', took from the Serbs in order that he might destroy the Serbs!" Dijana then lists the names of firms which "helped Soros": "Pionir" (Banja Luka), Nest-bank (Laktasi, Republic of Srpska), Prior-bank (Brcko), "Jozo-komerc" (Cacak) and Resavska bank (Despotovac).

Dijana, what has happened to greatest part of the money which this cunning multi-millionaire took from the Serbs?

"Most of the money which this cunning multi-millionaire took from the 'generous' domestic benefactors was used to support the so-called independent media."

Well?

"Instead of the West paying to topple the regime, as was thought, - they paid him to do so, and he is being paid by the Serbs themselves!"

Galija

The rock group "Galija" gave a concert in the sports hall "Borik" in Banja Luka. The boys from Nis were the first show business stars to pass through the insecure corridor two years ago on the "other side of the Drina River" and hold a concert in Banja Luka in the middle of the war. This concert was reminiscent of the well known rock spectacles in the sports hall before the war, when there was no hatred, division, and general insanity. Apart from the introductory rock group "Big Bang" from Banja Luka, Galija played for three whole hours for some old and some new kids who filled the hall. Thanks to Nesa, and his interpretation of the legendary song "I Dream" by the Index band (from Sarajevo) and Film's (prominent Croatian rock group) "How Many Times Did You Love A Stranger", the spirit of Sarajevo and Zagreb were felt fleetingly in Banja Luka. The audience called the group back to the stage several times, and refused to leave even after the lights had been switched off.

Decree

When the Serbian Government's draft measures for the curbing of the "grey economy" were leaked last week, there were many whose hair stood on end. Namely, in the draft law the Government has promised to prevent all changes of ownership in property matters without a written confirmation that the money from the sale (in dinars) has been paid to the giro account or current account of the seller.

In practice the whole thing would look like this: if someone were crazy enough to sell their apartment for dinars, they would have to find a buyer who would pay the agreed dinar sum to the seller's current account. Only then would the new owner be able to register the flat he had bought, but the seller's problems would begin: a square meter in the center of Belgrade costs approximately 2,000 DEM, so that it is easy to calculate that the person selling a 50 sq meters apartment would get 200,000 new dinars. Under the existing regulations so-called physical persons cannot withdraw more than 500 dinars from their giro or current accounts daily, so that our imaginary seller would be able to withdraw the last of his money 400 days after the payment had been made, on condition that he went to the bank every day and that it remained solvent. In fact, if we count the weekends and holidays, the seller would have to wait two years after the sale before clearing his account. In the meantime, inflation would eat up at least two-thirds of the sum, if not more.

Real estate agencies were in a panic. They reminded the Government that the decree would deprive the state of income derived from a 3% sales tax (in DEM) which is in force under this regime for such transactions. They were promised that the proposed measure would refer solely to legal persons.

Vaccine

UNICEF recently joined the long list of humanitarian organizations which send aid to Yugoslavia, and are then accused of giving our children medicine and vaccines whose expiry date has long passed. Accusations against UNICEF have not been linked to the "international conspiracy against our country", but considering the seriousness, they forced the head of Belgrade's UNICEF office Dr. Boris Tolstopjatov to call a press conference and try to explain what it was all about. The "Torlak" Institute experts recently accused UNICEF of offering Yugoslavia vaccines produced by Torlak, and of not wishing to help with things that were deficit. UNICEF has also been suspected of sending children in Yugoslavia inadequate vaccines for smallpox.

As far as the first accusation is concerned, Tolstopjatov claims that "it is up to the Government of every country to decide which vaccines it will buy". Tolstopjatov was surprised that the anti-smallpox vaccines had been declared inadequate, because "there is only one type of vaccine in use for smallpox". UNICEF officials said that they did not wish to take part in scandals of this type, and recommended that the state settle its relations with the only vaccine producer - the Torlak Institute. At the UNICEF office we were told that six vaccines in the World Health Organization's standard program cost 200,000 dollars, whereas Torlak was asking five million dollars for the same thing. Dr. Tolstopjatov said in conclusion, that "prices could not be raised indefinitely, using the excuse of sanctions", and also informed the Yugoslav public that UNICEF would not be delivering vaccines to Yugoslavia over the next two years, because it had been estimated that the "domestic producer could satisfy local needs".