E' USCITA LA NUOVA CASSETTA DI SADDAM

Il nastro di Saddam messo in distribuzione nei giorni scorsi e'
autentico: la conferma viene dalla CIA, casa di produzione
statunitense, nell'ambito della campagna promozionale. Secondo la CIA
la voce che si sente e' proprio quella di Saddam.
Ricordiamo agli appassionati che sono sempre disponibili anche i piu'
recenti video di Osama Bin Laden.
Solo nei migliori negozi.

Alla Redazione di
"Il Messaggero", Roma
e per conoscenza al
Prof. Predrag Matvejevic

Su "il Messaggero" del 22 agosto appariva l'articolo "Mostar, è rinato
il vecchio ponte" a firma Predrag Matvejevic.

Belle le parole sul Ponte,  "alla luce del sole... così luminoso" (ma
anche "alla luna..."),  riportate dal prof Matvejevic. Quel sasso
bianco e luminoso è stato di ispirazione per tanti poeti e scrittori,
in primis Ivo Andric, jugoslavo, premio Nobel per la letteratura.
Giustamente Valerio Pelizzari ce lo ricorda
nell'articolo sulla stessa pagina: "Il Ponte di Mostar, rinasce un
sogno". 

Siccome però in passato abbiamo dovuto lamentare, in tante occasioni,
la assoluta mancanza di coerenza da parte di Matvejevic, ci siamo ormai
abituati a registrare incongruenze in ognuno dei suoi scritti
riguardanti la tragedia jugoslava. Poco male, per la Bosnia e per la
Jugoslavia, se qualche professore usa promuovere se stesso, fintantoché
trova spazio sulla stampa di ogni orientamento politico... Ma talvolta
Matvejevic distorce deliberatamente la storia ed i concetti, e Camus ha
ben spiegato che "non chiamare le cose con il proprio nome, significa
seminare disgrazia tra la gente".

Scrive il Matvejevic nell'articolo: <<Poi cercarono di danneggiarlo i
"serbi". I "croati" completarono la distruzione... Metto fra
le virgolette i nomi dei due popoli per non confondere i distruttori di
quella straordinaria opera architettonica con quei croati e serbi che
hanno pianto per questo atto vandalico...>> (Sono sempre parole del
Matvejevic)

I serbi,  nel caso di Mostar non c'entrano assolutamente niente, nè
quelli con le virgolette, nè quelli senza.

Lo sforzo del professore di scaricare sui serbi (se "il pesce puzza
dalla testa", allora esimio professore, nel contesto le virgolette le
può anche evitare) la responsabilità "originaria" per la distruzione
del Ponte è in linea con il "pensiero unico" sulla guerra fratricida in
Jugoslavia. Questo "pensiero unico", del quale Matvejevic è uno dei
grandi ideologi insieme a troppi intellettuali e professori "di
servizio", imputa ai serbi il "peccato originale" del nazionalismo.

Ma i serbi si ritirarono da Mostar e dintorni prima ancora che
iniziassero gli scontri tra nazionalisti croati e nazionalisti
musulmani bosniaci, nell'ambito dei quali il Ponte fu abbattuto.

Matvejevic volentieri dimentica di ricordare che la "Erzegbosnia"
(come  lui stesso definì quella regione, agli inizi delle sue "uscite"
davanti al pubblico italiano, secondo la più ignobile "vulgata"
ustascia) ha partorito i nazionalisti croati più efferati. D'altronde,
anche il loro storico duce Pavelic proviene da quelle parti.  Tutti,
tranne gli ignoranti ed i miserabili, sanno DA CHI E DA DOVE   partì
l'ordine di organizzare i croati nati in Bosnia ed Erzegovina in unità
speciali, con a capo "un certo" Tihomir Blaskic, per andare in quella
ex repubblica federata jugoslava a fare la guerra e la pulizia etnica
contro i musulmani (bosgnazzi!?) oltrechè contro i serbi.

La faziosità di Matvejevic non ci stupisce. Uno al quale è stata
attribuita una onorificenza (la "Stella Polare Croata" - sic!) da un
presidente che si vantava "sarò l'ultimo presidente della RFS di
Jugoslavia", e ci scriveva poi pure un libro "Come abbiamo distrutto la
Jugoslavia"; uno che in quella occasione ha tenuto a precisare "questo
distintivo rosso che porto all'occhiello non è un residuo del
comunismo" (mentre era candidato con i cossuttiani!); beh, un
professore così andrebbe "bacchettato" proprio come  facevano una volta
i professori con gli alunni.

Ivan Pavicevac (Roma)
Andrea Martocchia (Roma)
Giuseppe Catapano (Roma)
Manuela Marianetti (Roma)
Olga Daric (Parigi)
Nada Znirdasic (Parigi)
Bogdan Manojlovic (Parigi)
Gordana Mojasevic (Parigi)
Joseph Kaminski (Parigi)
Rada Wolf (Saint Tropez)
Lusi Milenkovic (Gubbio)
Serena Marchionni (Bologna)
Miriam Pellegrini Ferri (Roma)
Gruppo Atei Materialisti Dialettici - GAMADI (Roma)
Fulvio Grimaldi (Roma)
Sandra Paganini (Roma)
Enrico Vigna (Torino)
Milena Cubrakovic (Roma)
Alessandro Di Meo (Roma)
Gilberto Vlaic (Trieste)
Aldo Bernardini (Roma)
Mirjana Jovanovic (Roma)

Il terrorismo "buono" / 5

1. Happy Days, Here Again
(New York Press,  Volume 15, Issue 6,  February 2002)

2. Taliban heroin profits arming Balkan rebels
(The Daily Telegraph, February 19, 2002)


=== 1 ===


The Bush Administration supports Terrorists in Kosovo, Macedonia and
Chechnya


Happy Days, Here Again


by George Szamuely

New York Press,  Volume 15, Issue 6,  February 2002

Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG),  globalresearch.ca,   14  
February 2002
 

Forget the war on terrorism. The United States is once again supporting
the drug dealers, gangsters and warlord fundamentalists. The other day
a State Dept. official met Chechnya’s self-declared foreign
minister, Ilyas Akhmadov. The Russians were dismayed. Having thrown
their lot in with the supposed common struggle against terrorism, they
find the Americans giving support to terrorists. Last month, after
a post-Sept. 11 lull, the U.S. stepped up its criticism of human rights
abuses in Chechnya. The Russians professed to be "amazed" that the
United States, as Agence France Presse reported, would meet with
Chechens, "whose direct links with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda are
being proven with constantly emerging, irrefutable evidence…"
Chechnya has always been seen here as a rerun of Kosovo, which itself
was a rerun of Afghanistan. All the ingredients are there: a spurious
"national liberation" struggle financed by organized crime, drug
trafficking and the global Islamic network; support from Western
governments and human rights groups; Islamic fundamentalism as a
substitute for genuine nationhood; violently enforced clan loyalty;
political legitimacy based on appeals to Islam; and terrorists in
power. Consider Kosovo: The U.S. is currently brokering a deal on the
distribution of power. Leaders of the three leading Kosovo Albanian
parties recently met the head of the U.S. office in Pristina, John
Menzies, and it was proposed that the job of prime minister should
go to Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK). Thaci is the
leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Its links to Islamic
terrorism and bin Laden have been amply documented. The KLA
allegedly disbanded after the NATO takeover and reconstituted itself as
a "civil defense force," the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC). Its wages
were paid by the UN.
Last summer, the Bush administration discovered that the KPC was a
terrorist organization after all and that it was fueling a terrorist
insurgency in neighboring Macedonia. The President signed two
decrees depriving "Albanian extremists who were threatening the
stability of Macedonia" of all financial or material support. The
decrees also barred them from entering the United States. This
followed the embarrassing revelation that the U.S. military had
facilitated the escape of NLA terrorists holed up in Arcinovo from the
Macedonian army. According to Hamburger Abendblatt, "Among the
rebels that were withdrawing were 17 ‘instructors’–former US officers
that provided military training for the rebels. Not only that: the
Macedonian security forces claim that 70 percent of the equipment
that the guerrilla fighters took with them are of US production." The
"instructors" were almost certainly members of an outfit called
Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI). It is filled with
former senior U.S. Army personnel and works on contract for the U.S.
government. It had trained and directed the Croatian army during
Operation Storm, in which something like 300,000 Serbs were driven out
of their homes in Krajina. One of the commanders of Operation Storm was
an Albanian, Agim Ceku, who also happens to be the chief of the
Kosovo Protection Corps.
The people Bush banned from entering the United States included Gezim
Ostremi, the KPC’s chief-of-staff; his replacement, Daut Haradinaj; the
commander and deputy commander of the KPC’s elite force, the Rapid
Reaction Corps, plus the leaders of two of its six regional divisions,
Sami Lushtaku and Mustafa Rrustem. The UN expressed shock and surprise
and demanded proof that people on its payroll were terrorists. This
was an odd request. The UN had itself reported a year earlier that the
KPC was a bunch of gangsters.
The U.S. decrees were more rhetoric than reality. As an Irish Times
report put it sarcastically: "Commander Rrustem…earned fame during the
Kosovo war as one of the most successful guerrilla commanders. He
has since become a favourite with NATO commanders, whose glowing
commendations line the walls of his office. Certainly if the Americans
have reservations about him they have yet to show it: on Tuesday
two separate US army teams came to his base to train his men."
There we have it: The KLA-NLA terrorists are funded by U.S. military
aid, the UN peacekeeping budget, Al Qaeda and by drug trafficking and
prostitution. If everything goes according to plan, their leader is
about to be appointed prime minister thanks to U.S. efforts. O what a
lovely war! Now on to Central Asia.
Washington now has 13 bases in nine countries ringing Afghanistan and
in the Gulf. Agreements are in place to use airfields in Tajikistan. An
air base is being built in Kyrgyzstan to hold 3000 troops. Gen.
Tommy Franks vows to crush the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones promises $160 million in
aid. Some 1500 U.S. servicemen are already stationed there; 3000
American troops are in Kyrgyzstan. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul
Wolfowitz says the bases will serve to facilitate cooperation and
training with the local military. In other words, the U.S. will, as
in the Balkans, play the Islamists and anti-Islamists off against each
other and reduce the countries to abject dependence. If the fates of
Kosovo and Macedonia are anything to go by, the Soviet Union era
will soon seem like a glorious one.

Copyright  New York Press 2002. Reprinted for fair use only.

The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/SZA202A.html


=== 2 ===


http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20020219/
98481.html&qs=jennings

February 19, 2002

Taliban heroin profits arming Balkan rebels

Albanian extremists: Weapons order could equip force
of up to 2,000

Christian Jennings
The Daily Telegraph

SKOPJE, Macedonia - Heroin from huge stockpiles in
Afghanistan is beginning to pour into European
capitals, with much of the profit being used to buy
arms for Albanian rebels seeking to start a new round
of conflict in the southern Balkans.
Senior drug trade analysts from the United Nations
Drug Control Program in Vienna and Western police
officials say much of the heroin being sold in
countries such as Austria, Germany and Switzerland is
coming from stocks in Afghanistan, much of it
controlled by al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
European drug squad officers say Albanian and Kosovo
Albanian dealers are ruthlessly trying to seize
control of the European heroin market, worth up to
$27-billion a year, and have taken over the trade in
at least six European countries.
Western intelligence officials in Kosovo, Macedonia
and Switzerland say Albanian gangs have used
$7-million of their heroin profits since last October
to re-equip rebels in Macedonia who gave up their
weapons to NATO troops.
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's interim leader, hopes to
replace opium growing in Afghanistan, which provides
90% of the heroin in Europe, with cultivation of
agricultural staples.
But Thomas Pietschmann, a senior researcher with the
UN's drug control program, said bumper crops in
Afghanistan in 1999 and 2000 meant there were
stockpiles of heroin and opium worth $68-billion to
$114-billion.
"This is enough to keep every addict in Europe
supplied for three years, even if another poppy is not
grown in Afghanistan, and leave some over for the
increasing market in Russia,'' Dr. Pietschmann said.
Police chiefs are particularly worried about the
arrival of a new brand of heroin from Afghanistan and
Pakistan. It is 80% pure and known as Heroin No. 4 or
white heroin.
Recently, there have been large seizures of white
heroin along the eastern boundary of the European
Union, which stretches from Poland, Germany and
Finland southward to Turkey. It has all come from
Afghanistan and Pakistan via Central Asia.
Police say Albanian criminal gangs have taken over the
heroin trade along this border, muscling in on
gangland turf formerly controlled by Russians,
Ukrainians, Czechs and Turks.
"The rebels in Macedonia, former [Kosovo Liberation
Army] freedom fighters in Kosovo and extremist
Albanians in southern Serbia are all part of the
network of Albanian and Kosovo Albanian families who
control criminal networks in Switzerland, Austria,
Germany and elsewhere,'' said a Western intelligence
official in the province.
"Albanians account for up to 90% of our problems with
drugs and drug dealings,'' said Thomas Koeppel, a
senior Swiss police official involved in the drug war.
Norwegian police made their country's largest heroin
haul last month, arresting three former KLA
guerrillas.
This month, the Drugs Investigative Committee in
Bavaria announced seven Albanians at the centre of a
drug ring that spanned Europe had been arrested in a
multinational operation. The haul included 55
kilograms en route to Scandinavia, via Italy, Austria
and Switzerland.
The smugglers had already moved at least 90 kilograms
to other suppliers.
Albanian extremists from Macedonia and Kosovo have
used part of the profits to buy new weapons since last
October. They have used arms dealers in Belgrade,
Bulgaria, Macedonia and Bosnia, and sometimes also
Swiss and Serb middle men.
Western defence intelligence officials say many of the
weapons have been smuggled into northern Macedonia and
Albania.
Arms trade experts say the deals include at least 20
SA-18 and SA-7 shoulder-held anti-aircraft missile
systems.
The missiles could tip the balance of the dormant
conflict in Macedonia by giving rebels the ability to
shoot down the Macedonian army's Mi-24 Hind helicopter
gunships and Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack jets
The rest of the weapons on the Albanians' shopping
list include Chinese and Yugoslav 120mm and 82mm
mortars, Yugoslav RBR M79 anti-tank rockets,
large-calibre machine guns, grenade launchers, up to
1,500 assault rifles, high-calibre M93 sniper rifles
and millions of rounds of ammunition.
Military experts believe this is enough to arm a force
of up to 2,000.
Thousands of Albanian rebels from the National
Liberation Army (NLA) in Macedonia handed their
weapons over to NATO troops last fall after seven
months of fighting with Macedonian government forces.
The disarmament program was part of an internationally
sponsored peace deal designed to head off the prospect
of a fifth Balkan war.
Although rebel leaders from the former NLA have
renounced violence, a hardline breakaway element
calling itself the Albanian National Army has
threatened more trouble this spring.

Croazia/Slovenia: se li vedesse Tito...

(english / italiano)


=== ITALIANO ===


http://www.ansa.it/balcani/slovenia/slovenia.shtml
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/croazia/croazia.shtml

SLOVENIA-CROAZIA: LUBIANA INSISTE PER CORRIDOIO MARITTIMO
(ANSA) - LUBIANA, 28 AGO

SLOVENIA-CROAZIA: LUBIANA RICHIAMA AMBASCIATORE A ZAGABRIA
(ANSA) - LUBIANA, 01 SET

SLOVENIA-CROAZIA: TENSIONI PER ZONA ECONOMICA E FRONTIERA
(ANSA) - LUBIANA, 1 SET

CROAZIA-SLOVENIA: NESSUNA SCHIARITA PER ZONA ADRIATICO/ ANSA

(ANSA) - ZAGABRIA, 2 SET - L'accesso della Slovenia alle acque
internazionali e l'annuncio della zona economica che la Croazia vuole
proclamare nell'Adriatico entro la fine dell'anno, hanno provocato la
piu' grave crisi nei rapporti tra Lubiana e Zagabria dalla loro
indipendenza nel 1991, arrivando al richiamo ''per consultazioni''
dell'ambasciatore sloveno a Zagabria. L'annuncio della zona
economica, istituita probabilmente insieme all'Italia, aveva gia'
provocato nelle scorse settimane quella che e' stata definita una
"guerra delle note diplomatiche'' per le proteste di Lubiana secondo
cui non e' possibile la proclamazione di una tale area senza il
contributo di tutti i paesi interessati. A far scattare il
richiamo dell'ambasciatore sloveno sono state le dichiarazioni del
ministro degli esteri croato Tonino Picula, pubblicate domenica sul
quotidiano di Spalato 'Slobodna Dalmacija'. ''La Slovenia - ha detto
Picula - non ha uno sbocco diretto alle acque internazionali e
l'accordo sulla frontiera (marittima, ndr) siglato nel 2001 non ha
alcun effetto legale''. Picula si riferiva all'accordo raggiunto
dai primi ministri dei due paesi nel 2001, approvato dal parlamento
sloveno ma che, per opposizione dell'opinione pubblica, non e' mai
stato nemmeno presentato al parlamento croato. Spiegando ieri la
decisione di richiamare l'ambasciatore a Zagabria, il ministro degli
esteri sloveno Dimitri Rupel ha detto che ''le dicharazioni di Picula
potrebbero provocare un reale peggioramento dei rapporti
sloveno-croati'' ed ha aggiunto che Lubiana ''sta pensando di
riconsiderare il proprio appoggio all'ingresso della Croazia nella
Nato e nell'Unione europea''. Curiosamente, quasi come se non
riconoscesse l'autorita' del ministro degli esteri, il premier croato
Ivica Racan ha dichiarato stasera di voler sperare che dietro le
dichiarazioni di Rupel non corrispondano all'atteggiamento dei
cittadini e del governo sloveno e che il ''suon delle armi politiche
e' estremamente inappropriato'', auspicando che si tratti di un
malinteso che si possa rapidamente chiarire. Ieri, il presidente
croato Stipe Mesic aveva espresso il suo ''sincero rammarico'',
mentre il ministro Picula ha soltanto ribadito che nelle sue
dichiarazioni non ha detto ''nulla che non fosse gia' noto''. Fonti
del governo hanno fatto sapere di essere ''spiacevolmente sorprese
per le dichiarazioni smisurate e senza fondamento e per il tono
radicalmente litigioso di Rupel'' aggiungendo che per quanto riguarda
la zona economica nell'Adriatico non e' stata ancora presa una
decisone ufficiale e che ''la questione e' oggetto di seri colloqui
con i paesi vicini''. A fine luglio, durante un incontro a
Zagabria tra i sottosegretari agli esteri Roberto Antonione e Ivan
Simonovic, l'Italia e la Croazia hanno discusso della tutela delle
risorse ambientali ed economiche dell'Adriatico e dell'ipotesi di una
zona economica che porterebbe ai due paesi il controllo della
navigazione e il diritto di stabilire le quote di pesca nelle
rispettive zone. Il presidente della Regione Friuli-Venezia
Giulia Riccardo Illy, in visita oggi a Lubiana, ha sostenuto le
ragioni di Lubiana affermando la necessita' di preservare ''una
fascia di acque internazionali in Adriatico e la libera circolazione
di tutte le navi di qualunque Paese''. Dopo l'incontro con Illy,
Rupel ha lanciato una proposta alla Croazia di proclamare ''una zona
ecologica comune nell'Adriatico che non ha bisogno di frontiere''.
(ANSA) COR*VD 02/09/2003 20:01


=== ENGLISH ===


Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Lun 1 Set 2003 21:25:41 Europe/Rome
A: antinato@...
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] Slovenia Balks At Croatian Attempt To 'Damage
Its Strategic Interests'

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/af/Qslovenia-croatia.RmVZ_DS1.html

Slovenia threatens to drop support for Croatia's EU
bid over Adriatic row

-Croatia and Italy propose to divide the Adriatic Sea
bordering their territorial waters into two exclusive
economic zones, leaving Slovenia without direct access
to international shipping waters leading to the
Mediterranean.
The two former Yugoslav states have since independence
in 1991 been locked in a dispute over their shared
border at Piran Bay on the Adriatic.
-Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula was quoted in
the press here Sunday as saying the 2001 deal on the
Adriatic was dead and Slovenia should accept it has no
direct access to international shipping waters.





LJUBLJANA, Sept 1 (AFP) - Slovenia on Monday
threatened to withdraw its support for Croatia's
European Union aspirations in response to Zagreb's
plans to proclaim an exclusive economic zone in the
Adriatic Sea.

"We are coming to the point at which Slovenia will
have to re-consider its policy (of backing Croatia's
accession to the EU)", Slovenian Foreign Minister
Dimitrij Rupel said.

The Slovenian government on Sunday recalled its
ambassador to Zagreb, Peter Bekes, "for consultations"
amid outrage at Croatia's plans to lay claim to a
large part of the Adriatic.

Croatia and Italy propose to divide the Adriatic Sea
bordering their territorial waters into two exclusive
economic zones, leaving Slovenia without direct access
to international shipping waters leading to the
Mediterranean.

This has brought to a head a long-standing row between
Croatia and Slovenia over access to the Adriatic.

The two former Yugoslav states have since independence
in 1991 been locked in a dispute over their shared
border at Piran Bay on the Adriatic.

The two governments reached a deal in 2001 that
granted Slovenia direct access to international
shipping waters in the Adriatic, but this was later
rejected by the Croatian parliament.

Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula was quoted in
the press here Sunday as saying the 2001 deal on the
Adriatic was dead and Slovenia should accept it has no
direct access to international shipping waters.

Slovenia, which is set to join the EU in May 2004, had
so far supported Croatia's bid to join the bloc in the
next wave of enlargement.

But Rupel Monday accused Zagreb of trying to damage
Slovenia's strategic interests.

"That is an attempt to damage Slovenia's economic and
political interests and creating complicated relations
on the border between the enlarged EU and Croatia," he
said.

"The Croatian minister's statements are unacceptable
and could provoke a serious worsening in relations,"
he added.

Rupel said experts from both countries are expected to
meet in Ljubljana on September 16 to discuss the
matter.

Slovenia's coastline is just over 42 kilometres (26
miles) long, while Croatia's is more than 1,000
kilometres (600 miles) long.

---

Croatian government won't react yet to attacks from Slovenia

http://www.hina.hr/nws-bin/genews.cgi?TOP=ehot&NID=ehot/politika/
H9019243.2yc


CROATIAN GOVERNMENT WON'T REACT YET TO ATTACKS FROM SLOVENIA
HNA
HR-POLITICS-Politika

ZAGREB, Sept 1 (Hina) - The Croatian government will not react to
the latest attacks from Slovenia today, while the foreign ministry
will most likely define its stand on Tuesday, after Ljubljana has
officially notified Zagreb, a source at the government said on Monday.
#L#

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the diplomatic
corps was likely to be convened at the foreign ministry in the coming
days to be briefed about Croatia's standpoints.

Earlier today, Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said his
Croatian counterpart Tonino Picula's claims that Slovenia did not have
access to the open sea and that a border deal was legally invalid were
"unacceptable" and could deteriorate relations between the two
countries.

Rupel went on to say that Slovenia might reconsider its support to
Croatia's bids to join the European Union and NATO.

The source at the Croatian government said the government had been
"unpleasantly surprised by the unfounded, tactless and radically
quarrelsome tone of Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel's
statements".

The Croatian government "wishes to believe that this is not the
stance of the Slovene government, and the Croatian government doesn't
want to participate in such a quarrel," said the source. It added the
proclamation of an economic zone in the Adriatic was a matter for
serious discussion, something Slovenia had been refusing for the past
two months by offering talks at the expert level or a row.

(hina) ha sb  
ISSN 1334-0034 / Masthead / © Copyright Hina 2003. All rights reserved

---

Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Mar 2 Set 2003 18:03:20 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] Slovenia Recalls Ambassador In Coastal
Dispute With Croatia

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/09/4-SEE/see-020903.asp

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 2, 2003

SLOVENIA RECALLS ITS AMBASSADOR FROM CROATIA

-Croatia is planning to declare an exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) in the Adriatic that would cut Slovenia off
from international waters.


The Slovenian Foreign Ministry announced on 31 August
that it has recalled its ambassador to Croatia "for
consultations," RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service reported. Foreign Minister Dimitrij
Rupel said the next day that remarks made by his
Croatian counterpart, Tonino Picula, to the daily
"Slobodna Dalmacija" to the effect that the 2001
agreement on the maritime and land borders between the
two countries has not been signed or ratified and
hence is not legally binding, were unacceptable.
Croatia is planning to declare an exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) in the Adriatic that would cut Slovenia off
from international waters. Ljubljana opposes the move
on the grounds that it will prejudice the final
demarcation of the maritime frontier). The recall of
the Slovenian ambassador suggests that relations
between the two former Yugoslav republics are at their
lowest point since the two states declared
independence from Belgrade in June 1991. PM


Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Mer 3 Set 2003 11:47:27 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Croatia, Slovenia: Balkans NATO Aspirants Heading Toward
Border War?

1) Slovenia Balks At Croatian Attempt To 'Damage Its
Strategic Interests'
2) Slovenia Recalls Ambassador In Coastal Dispute With
Croatia
3) Croatian Government Says It Won't React To 'Attacks
From Slovenia'; Slovenia Threatens To Thwart Croatia's
NATO, EU Memberships



http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/af/Qslovenia-croatia.RmVZ_DS1.html

Slovenia threatens to drop support for Croatia's EU
bid over Adriatic row

-Croatia and Italy propose to divide the Adriatic Sea
bordering their territorial waters into two exclusive
economic zones, leaving Slovenia without direct access
to international shipping waters leading to the
Mediterranean.
The two former Yugoslav states have since independence
in 1991 been locked in a dispute over their shared
border at Piran Bay on the Adriatic.
-Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula was quoted in
the press here Sunday as saying the 2001 deal on the
Adriatic was dead and Slovenia should accept it has no
direct access to international shipping waters.





LJUBLJANA, Sept 1 (AFP) - Slovenia on Monday
threatened to withdraw its support for Croatia's
European Union aspirations in response to Zagreb's
plans to proclaim an exclusive economic zone in the
Adriatic Sea.

"We are coming to the point at which Slovenia will
have to re-consider its policy (of backing Croatia's
accession to the EU)", Slovenian Foreign Minister
Dimitrij Rupel said.

The Slovenian government on Sunday recalled its
ambassador to Zagreb, Peter Bekes, "for consultations"
amid outrage at Croatia's plans to lay claim to a
large part of the Adriatic.

Croatia and Italy propose to divide the Adriatic Sea
bordering their territorial waters into two exclusive
economic zones, leaving Slovenia without direct access
to international shipping waters leading to the
Mediterranean.

This has brought to a head a long-standing row between
Croatia and Slovenia over access to the Adriatic.

The two former Yugoslav states have since independence
in 1991 been locked in a dispute over their shared
border at Piran Bay on the Adriatic.

The two governments reached a deal in 2001 that
granted Slovenia direct access to international
shipping waters in the Adriatic, but this was later
rejected by the Croatian parliament.

Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula was quoted in
the press here Sunday as saying the 2001 deal on the
Adriatic was dead and Slovenia should accept it has no
direct access to international shipping waters.

Slovenia, which is set to join the EU in May 2004, had
so far supported Croatia's bid to join the bloc in the
next wave of enlargement.

But Rupel Monday accused Zagreb of trying to damage
Slovenia's strategic interests.

"That is an attempt to damage Slovenia's economic and
political interests and creating complicated relations
on the border between the enlarged EU and Croatia," he
said.

"The Croatian minister's statements are unacceptable
and could provoke a serious worsening in relations,"
he added.

Rupel said experts from both countries are expected to
meet in Ljubljana on September 16 to discuss the
matter.

Slovenia's coastline is just over 42 kilometres (26
miles) long, while Croatia's is more than 1,000
kilometres (600 miles) long.
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http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/09/4-SEE/see-020903.asp

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 2, 2003

SLOVENIA RECALLS ITS AMBASSADOR FROM CROATIA

-Croatia is planning to declare an exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) in the Adriatic that would cut Slovenia off
from international waters.


The Slovenian Foreign Ministry announced on 31 August
that it has recalled its ambassador to Croatia "for
consultations," RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian
Languages Service reported. Foreign Minister Dimitrij
Rupel said the next day that remarks made by his
Croatian counterpart, Tonino Picula, to the daily
"Slobodna Dalmacija" to the effect that the 2001
agreement on the maritime and land borders between the
two countries has not been signed or ratified and
hence is not legally binding, were unacceptable.
Croatia is planning to declare an exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) in the Adriatic that would cut Slovenia off
from international waters. Ljubljana opposes the move
on the grounds that it will prejudice the final
demarcation of the maritime frontier). The recall of
the Slovenian ambassador suggests that relations
between the two former Yugoslav republics are at their
lowest point since the two states declared
independence from Belgrade in June 1991. PM
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=43130&LangID=1

Seeurope.net
September 3, 2003

Croatian Gov’t Won't React Yet To Attacks From
Slovenia

-Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said his
Croatian counterpart Tonino Picula's claims that
Slovenia did not have access to the open sea and that
a border deal was legally invalid were "unacceptable"
and could deteriorate relations between the two
countries.
Rupel went on to say that Slovenia might reconsider
its support to Croatia's bids to join the European
Union and NATO, HINA reported.

The Croatian government will not react to the latest
attacks from Slovenia on Monday, while the foreign
ministry will most likely define its stand on Tuesday,
after Ljubljana has officially notified Zagreb, a
source at the government said on Monday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said
the diplomatic corps was likely to be convened at the
foreign ministry in the coming days to be briefed
about Croatia's standpoints.

Earlier on Monady, Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij
Rupel said his Croatian counterpart Tonino Picula's
claims that Slovenia did not have access to the open
sea and that a border deal was legally invalid were
"unacceptable" and could deteriorate relations between
the two countries.

Rupel went on to say that Slovenia might reconsider
its support to Croatia's bids to join the European
Union and NATO, HINA reported.

The source at the Croatian government said the
government had been "unpleasantly surprised by the
unfounded, tactless and radically quarrelsome tone of
Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel's statements".


The Croatian government "wishes to believe that this
is not the stance of the Slovene government, and the
Croatian government doesn't want to participate in
such a quarrel," said the source. It added the
proclamation of an economic zone in the Adriatic was a
matter for serious discussion, something Slovenia had
been refusing for the past two months by offering
talks at the expert level or a row.