1. "NATO Exercise Starts in Croatia"
BBC Monitoring, October 1, 2007

2. "Italian soldier wounded in NATO exercise in Croatia" BBC Monitoring, October 2, 2007

3. "Croatian president visits headquarters of Noble Midas 07 NATO exercise"
BBC Monitoring, October 5, 2007

4. "Montenegrin officials reject Italian prosecutors' tobacco-smuggling accusations"
BBC Monitoring, June 24, 2007

5. "Nazis Held Ready to Crush Serb Guerrillas and Jews," New York Times, May 11, 1941
With comment by Jared Israel

[Posted Oct. 11, 2007]

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1. "Nato Exercise Starts in Croatia"
BBC Monitoring International Reports, October 1, 2007 Monday
Source: HINA news agency, Zagreb

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SPLIT/ZAGREB, Oct 1 (Hina) - The NATO military exercise "Noble Midas '07" started on Monday [1 October] with NATO ships sailing out of the southern Adriatic military port of Lora and their deployment along the waters of the southern and central Adriatic.

The exercise, that is scheduled to last until 12 October, will also be held in Knin and Slunj and the Zemunik and Divulje military air bases.

A total of 12 NATO member countries with 40 ships and six submarines will take part in the exercise.

The submarines, however, will not enter Croatian territorial waters. Air forces will participate in the exercise with 29 combat planes, 23 helicopters, nine aircraft and 8,000 soldiers of whom 800 are marines.

A total 250 Croatian Armed Forces members will participate in the manoeuvre with ten ships, two MIG 21 aircraft, four Mi-8 helicopters and four PC-9 aircraft.

Other participating countries are Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, the United States, Spain, Turkey and Great Britain while Canada, Albania and Montenegro will participate as observers.

The exercise will cost Croatia some 7.5 million kuna and NATO member states will cover their own expenses. About 80 per cent of the Croatian costs will be refunded through the Warsaw Initiative Foundation and a large portion of that sum will be invested in the reconstruction of infrastructure.

Croatian top officials will visit the participants in the exercise on 5 October.

After the exercise started in Split some 30 environmental activists and members of the Centre for Peace Studies with the support of the Women's Network of Croatia, staged a peaceful rally outside the Defence Ministry building in Zagreb, protesting against the NATO exercise.

The protesters, wearing bathing suits and holding beach towels held banners reading "We want tourists, not terrorists".

(C) 2007, BBC Monitoring * Reprinted for Fair Use Only

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2. "Italian soldier wounded in NATO exercise in Croatia" BBC Monitoring Europe - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring, October 2, 2007
Source: HINA news agency, Zagreb

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Text of report in English by Croatian news agency HINA

Zagreb, 2 October: An Italian Marine suffered gunshot injuries to the lower legs in an accident that occurred on Monday afternoon during mobile target practice as part of the NATO exercise "Noble Midas 07" on the Croatian Army training ground at Slunj, Hina learned at the "Noble Midas 07" press centre on Tuesday.

The Italian had been transferred in a Croatian Army helicopter to the Dubrava Clinical Hospital in Zagreb, where doctors said today that he was in a stable condition and that the injury would most likely have no permanent consequences.

An investigation was under way.

(C) 2007, BBC Monitoring * Reprinted for Fair Use Only
 

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3. "Croatian president visits headquarters of Noble Midas 07 NATO exercise"
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring, October 5, 2007

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Split, 5 October: Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, accompanied by the ministers of defence and the interior, the Armed Forces chief of staff and the Navy commander, visited the headquarters of the NATO exercise "Noble Midas 07" aboard the French ship "Tonnere" in Split on Friday [5 October], expressing his satisfaction with what had been demonstrated in the exercise and saying that the participation of the Croatian military in such an exercise was a privilege and credit to the Croatian Armed Forces.

"The fact that the exercise is being held in this country is a sign of confidence NATO has in the Croatian military," Mesic said, adding that Croatia could be satisfied with everything its Army and Navy had done in the reform process, as well as with their coordination with international armed forces.

Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic said that NATO perceived Croatia as a partner and a country that would very soon become a member of the alliance.

"This exercise is a test of the organizational abilities and an evaluation of the readiness, interoperability and compatibility of the Croatian forces with NATO," Roncevic said, stressing that Croatia was given very positive marks.

(C) 2007, BBC Monitoring * Reprinted for Fair Use Only

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4. "Montenegrin officials reject Italian prosecutors' tobacco-smuggling accusations
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring, June 24, 2007

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Excerpt from report by Ndj. Rudovic and B. Mandic: "Again - conspiracy against DPS and Montenegro" published by Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti on 24 June

The news that Italian prosecutors have completed their investigation into [Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, chairman and ex-PM] Milo Djukanovic's alleged involvement in tobacco-smuggling activities and that charges will most probably be brought against him, as well as against former finance minister and deputy prime minister Miroslav Ivanisevic, former head of the Montenegrin trade mission in Italy Dusanka Pesic-Jeknic and ten more persons have demonstrated that the ruling party [DPS] has the same explanation to offer as several years ago - that the investigation is a politically-motivated story whose objective is to besmirch the DPS, its leadership and Montenegro.

Djukanovic did not issue a statement yesterday but his lawyer in Italy Enrico Tucillo stated that there is no proof against Djukanovic and that a plan to discredit Montenegro is behind the whole story. Ivanisevic and Jeknic have told Vijesti that the accusations against them are groundless and that it would be in the interest of Montenegro to finally resolve the whole case.

[Passage omitted: Djukanovic's lawyer Tucillo says that the accusations are unsubstantiated]

"I support every activity that leads to the full truth being established and I think that it is in the interest of Montenegro, too, that a thing that has been mentioned frequently in the public for years be demystified - I am talking about some business activities conducted during a period when the very state and economic functions of Montenegro were threatened," Miroslav Ivanisevic has told Vijesti. During the period mentioned by the investigation he was the Montenegrin finance minister and now he is the chairman of the Senate of the State Auditing Institution. He added that it is a fact that the transit of cigarettes through Montenegro actually took place and that the relevant fees were collected on behalf of the state of Montenegro in line with then valid laws and decrees.

"Everything had been recorded, every fee had been collected and all the money spent in line with our state policy and decisions. That is a fact. Another fact is - on several occasions the public has been informed about this and the parliament once discussed this situation after being provided with relevant papers. Also, the European Commission specialized agency OLAF, had investigated everything on several occasions - and their results confirmed that there were no irregularities," Ivanisevic said.

He added that the entire tobacco-smuggling income was channelled to the state budget, that the records are detailed and that everything was done in line with the government policy and decisions. Ivanisevic pointed out that he has not been informed that the investigation had been completed and that he was surprised to hear that his name was mentioned.

[Reporter] Italian prosecutors say that they discovered a secret account in a Cyprus bank with 500m euros and that that money was reinvested in Montenegro. How does that sound to you?

[Miroslav Ivanisevic] I cannot comment because I have absolutely no idea about that, I do not have that document so I cannot comment in any way.
Source: Vijesti, Podgorica, in Serbian 24 Jun 07, p2&3
[Passage omitted: Ivanisevic says he acted in line with government decisions]

(C) 2007, BBC Monitoring * Reprinted for Fair Use Only

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5. "Nazis Held Ready to Crush Serb Guerrillas and Jews,"
by Ray Brock, by Telephone to The New York Times, May 11, 1941, Page 1

Excerpt includes exact copy of second and third paragraphs

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With the departure of the American mission next Thursday, according to German officers in Belgrade, the last restraining factor will be removed and "we can proceed with the treatment these Serbians deserve." This "treatment," according to the Germans, means the systematic execution [my emphasis – J.I.], internment in concentration camps, or sentences to forced labor for every Serbian man or woman judged guilty of opposition to Germany since March 27. [My emphasis - J.I.]

[Note: March 27th was two weeks before the German invasion of Yugoslavia. It was the day the Serbian Air Force overthrew the pro-German government, with the very public support of virtually the entire Serbian population. It was this coup, and the massive public demonstrations that preceded it, accompanied and followed it – the massive demonstrations that continued after the coup of March 27th, during which, for example, many thousands of Belgrade demonstrators, overjoyed by the coup, destroyed the German travel office – that infuriated Hitler and prompted the Nazi invasion. So according to the Times, the German execution threat included virtually every Serb. - J.I.]

"They must be taught a lesson they will never forget," said a German Oberlieutenant, who outlined the German program for defeated Serbians. "The Croats fought with us and they will receive the fruits they deserve. We shall not be too hard upon the Bosnians. What the Italians do with the Montenegrins and Dalmatians is their business. We shall deal with the Serbs as Nordic conquerors must deal with vain inferiors who opposed them."

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