Bosnian democratic opposition speaks out
Selim Beslagic (left) presents the Bosnian democratic opposition's viewpoints to OSCE chairman (and Danish
Foreign Minister) Niels Helveg Petersen (right).
A spokesman for the multi-ethnic and democratic opposition in Bosnia recently visited Denmark, thanks to the efforts of a new NGO which seeks to support education and trade union projects in Tuzla, Bosnia.
The initiative to invite Selim Beslagic, president of the Union of Bosnian Social Democrats, and mayor of the multi-ethnic town of Tuzla, came from the Stoet Tuzlas Skoler (Help Bosnia's Schools) group.
Beslagic was received by the foreign committee of the Danish parliament, and Niels Helveg Petersen, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Petersen is also chairman of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This was the first time the OSCE accepted to meet with a representative of the Bosnian democratic opposition.
Beslagic said that until Bosnian refugees had the right to return to their home towns, western Governments should not push them to return. Otherwise they would only return to the "Muslim" part of Bosnia, "becoming refugees in their own country." He stressed the changing mood among Bosnians, pointing to a recent meeting in Banja Luka (controlled by the Bosnian Serb authorities) where 5,000 ethnic Serbs repeated their desire to return to their homes in the Muslim-Croat Federation. INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
The meeting was organised by the "shadow government," established by democratic forces from all parts of Bosnia.
Meetings with the Danish left parties were also productive. Until this trip, active support for progressive groups in Bosnia was more or less confined to the far left in Denmark. But representatives of the (ruling) Social Democratic Party and the (left reformist) Peoples Socialist Party pledged to give a higher priority to contacts with their Bosnian counterparts.
Help Tuzla's Schools will contribute to the running costs of a sister-office in Tuzla, which will co-ordinate international support for Tuzla's school system. It will also serve as a support centre for the Tuzla teachers' union, other trade unions, and democratic and multi-ethnic organisations in general. It will organise holiday projects for Bosnian children, in co-operation with a Belgo-Slovenian project based in Ljubljana. * [JD] Notes Selim Beslagic visited Denmark from 8-11 April 1997. Help Tuzla's Schools (Stoet Tuzlas Skoler) is a spin-off from International Workers Aid, a solidarity NGO in which Danish Fourth International supporters are particularly active. The new group is supported by all Denmark's teachers unions, and represents a wide range of political views. It has about 500 members. For more information contact: Stoet Tuzlas Skoler, Borgediget 23, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Tel +45 42 37 06 73, E-mail < [email protected]>
The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia: an overview by Catherine Samary
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June 1997 #289
The right wing Afrikaner Freedom Front plans to develop a "Food Corridor" extending across the Southern part of the continent from Angola to Mozambique. The objective is to set up Whiteowned farms beyond South Africa's borders. Afrikaner agribusiness will extend its grip into neighbouring countries with large scale investments in commercial farming, food processing and eco-tourism. This "Food Corridor" does not mean food for the local people. On the contrary, local peasants will loose their land. African small-holders will become farm labourers or tenants on large scale plantations owned by the Boers. Michel Chossudovsky*