> > Yugoslav Daily Survey > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > (Morning edition) > > BELGRADE, 20 March 2000 > > > FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA > > a.. STOJILJKOVIC: INTERIOR MINISTRY WORKS LEGALLY AND >RESPONSIBLY > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS > > a.. IVANOV, PAPANDREAU AND PATRIARCH ALEXEI DISCUSSED KOSOVO >AND METOHIJA > b.. IVANOV-PAPANDREAU: YUGOSLAVIA MUST DECIDE ABOUT KOSOVO AND >METOHIJA > NATO AGGRESSION - ANNIVERSARY > > a.. ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH NATO AGGRESSION ANNIVERSARY > > > * * * > > > FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA > > STOJILJKOVIC: INTERIOR MINISTRY WORKS LEGALLY AND RESPONSIBLY > > Belgrade, 20 march (Tanjug) - The interior affairs department >exists mainly for the sake of its citizens and considers securing their >peaceful and serene life and work its primary and basic duty, which it intends >to fulfil, said Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic. > > In an interview to the 'Politika' daily, published in its Sunday >issue, Minister Stojiljkovic stressed that the Ministry has been following the >developments in Kosovo and Metohija province, that it maintains continuous >contacts with representatives of the peacekeeping force (KFOR) as well as with >those of the international community, who should resolve the basic security >problems more efficiently, primarily the protection of the non-Albanian >community, and enable the safe return of expelled Serbs and other citizens to >their ancestral homes. > > A considerable number of police have been engaged in the security >zone on the ground, mainly to prevent possible ethnic Albanian separatist >attempts to spread terrorist activities from Kosovo and Metohija into Serbia >proper, the minister pointed out. > > Stojiljkovic also stressed, that the number of terrorist attacks >perpetrated by the ethnic Albanian bands has dramatically risen since the >arrival of the KFOR. > > Before the international peacekeeping force arrived, when the >security situation was in the domain of the Interior Ministry, the average >rate of ethnic Albanian separatist attacks was 2.1 a day, and it has risen to >as many as 19.3 attacks a day since, said Stojiljkovic. > > Official Serbian Interior Ministry data show that during the >period between June 10 last year, when KFOR arrived in Kosmet, and March 11 >this year, ethnic Albanian terrorist bands committed 4.481 terrorist attacks >which resulted in 933 dead, 865 wounded, and 860 kidnapped persons. > > During the aggression against Yugoslavia last year, NATO forces >committed 3.381 attacks on civilian objects, killing or wounding thousands of >innocent civilians, including women, children and elderly people, and >destroying a large number of civilian objects and other infrastructure, the >Interior Ministry data show. > > In 1999, 176 police were killed and 508 were wounded in fighting >against ethnic Albanian separatism and terrorism in Kosovo and Metohija. > > During this period, 27 policemen were kidnapped, including six who >were released and four were killed, while the fate of the other 15 policemen >is still unknown. > > During the NATO aggression, 123 Serbian Interior Ministry >buildings, totalling 175 000 square metres, were completely destroyed. > > The minister pointed out that police exposed 1,277 criminal acts >in Kosovo and Metohija, and arrested 1,587 persons on criminal charges, >regardless of their ethnic background. > > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS > > IVANOV, PAPANDREAU AND PATRIARCH ALEXEI DISCUSSED KOSOVO AND >METOHIJA > > MOSCOW, March 20 (Tanjug) - The situation in Serbia's Kosovo and >Metohija province is now much more difficult than it was before the NATO >aggression on Yugoslavia, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Sunday. > > > Ivanov addressed a press conference at the Greek Embassy in >Moscow, where he held talks with Greek Foreign Minister Iorgos Papandreau and >Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexei the Second, on the occasion of >Orthodox Christianity Day. > > The Russian minister said it was an informal meeting, but the >situation in Kosovo and Metohija was discussed on this occasion as well. > > Ivanov and Papandreau set a detailed consideration of this issue >for Monday. > > The situation in Kosovo and Metohija is extremely difficult, the >Russian Foreign Minister said. He said the participants in the meeting had >been united in the opinion that it was necessary for the international >community to take cardinal steps to prevent its further aggravation. > > It is quite obvious now that it is necessary for the international >community to take more active participation toward finding a solution for the >Kosovo crisis, Ivanov said. No final decision has been adopted yet on a >meeting of the Contact Group in Paris at the level of political directors, he >said. > > Papandreau underscored it was necessary that all participants in >the conflict respect and strictly implement United Nations Security Council >Resolution 1244 on Kosovo and Metohija, which unequivocally states that this >province is a part of Yugoslavia. > > Greece is the only Orthodox country in the European Union and >essentially a bridge between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Europe, Papandreau >said, underscoring that he views Orthodox Christianity as an important force >of reconciliation. > > Patriarch Alexei on this occasion again appealed for a peaceful >settlement of all problems in Kosovo and Metohija. > > IVANOV-PAPANDREAU: YUGOSLAVIA MUST DECIDE ABOUT KOSOVO AND >METOHIJA > > MOSCOW, March 20 (Tanjug) - All decisions regarding the settling >of the situation in Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province must be carried >within Yugoslavia, Greek Foreign Minister Iorgos Papandreau said in Moscow on >Monday. > > There must be respect of human rights in Kosovo and Metohija and >the province should remain multi-ethnic, Papandreau told a press conference >which was devoted to the results of today's talks with Russian Foreign >Minister Igor Ivanov. > > Serbs, ethnic Albanians, Romanies, and even the small ethnic >Turkish community must have equal rights, he said. > > Ivanov said the situation in Kosovo and Metohija was disturbing, >and urged that the international community be engaged more diversely toward >the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 on >Kosovo and Metohija. > > Underscoring that this was a common stand reached during talks >with Papandreau, he said the stands of the Russian and Greek sides during a >detailed consideration of the situation in Yugoslavia largely coincided. > > The two ministers expressed deep concern over the present >situation in Kosovo and Metohija. Proceeding from this standpoint, the >ministers considered different steps that might contribute to a resolving of >the situation in the entire region, Ivanov said, without elaborating on the >possible measures. > > Ivanov also said he was against decisions on principled European >issues being adopted behind Russia's back and without its participation. > > NATO AGGRESSION - ANNIVERSARY > > ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH NATO AGGRESSION ANNIVERSARY > > BRUSSELS, March 20 (Tanjug) - Representatives of the Yugoslav >diaspora in Belgium plan to organize several actions on the occasion of the >anniversary of the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, in an effort to show the >tragical consequences of the bombardments and the constantly worsening >conditions of the remaining Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. > > The closing manifestation, which will also include a major number >of the Belgian peace and anti-war movements, is scheduled to take place on >March 24 in Brussels. > > On Wednesday, representatives of the "Diaspora" organization will >attend a press conference at the International press centre in Brussels, and >warn against the latest developments in Kosovo and Metohija, where the terror >against non-Albanians continues, nine months after the arrival of >international peacekeeping forces. > > Journalists will be addressed by Dejan Mihajlovic, Sasa Petkovic, >Djordje Jovanovic and Cezar Frank, a university professor in Leuven. > > According to announcements, "Diaspora" members will these days try >to present letters of protest to the ambassadors of the NATO member countries >based in Brussels. The appeal stresses the necessity of resolving the Kosovo >problems strictly according to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, in order >to end ethnic Albanian terrorism and separatism. > > The delegation of Yugoslav citizens in Belgium has also asked to >be received by certain E.U. officials, as well as by the Belgian Senate and >Parliament, in order to urge a lifting of the sanctions against Yugoslavia. __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
