> > > Yugoslav Daily Survey > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > BELGRADE, 25 May 2000 > > C O N T E N T S : > > FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA > > a.. PREMIER BULATOVIC CONGRATULATES NATIONAL HOLIDAY OF JORDAN > b.. YUGOSLAVIA PROTESTS WITH BOSNIA PEACE IMPLEMENTATIO >COUNCIL > c.. MINISTER JOJIC ACCUSES CARLA DEL PONTE OF SHIELDING NATO > d.. MINISTER SIPOVAC RECEIVES AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR > e.. WFP PLEDGES RELIEF AID TO YUGOSLAVIA BY MID-2001 > f.. YUGOSLAV CURRENCY DINAR'S OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATE REMAINS >UNCHANGED > YUGOSLAVIA - RUSSIA > > a.. RUSSIAN STATE DUMA DELEGATION VISITS YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - TERRORISM > > a.. RUSSIAN KFOR TROOPS TARGETED BY TERRORISTS IN >KOSOVO-METOHIJA > b.. ETHNIC ALBANIANS GUN DOWN SERB IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS > > a.. NATO-RUSSIAN COUNCIL ISSUES STATEMENT > YUGOSLAVIA - DANUBE - EUROPEAN COMMISSION > > a.. 22 MILLION EUROS PROPOSED FOR DANUBE CLEAR UP > FROM FOREIGN PRESS > > a.. INFRASTRUCTURAL PROBLEMS CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY BYPASSING >YUGOSLAVIA > b.. NATO AGGRESSION AGGRAVATED KOSOVO-METOHIJA PROBLEMS - >FRASER > > > * * * > > > FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA > > PREMIER BULATOVIC CONGRATULATES NATIONAL HOLIDAY OF JORDAN > > BELGRADE, May 25 (Tanjug) - On the occasion of the national >holiday of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir >Bulatovic sent congratulations to Prime Minister Abd Al-Rauf Al-Ravabidahu, >said on Thursday the Yugoslav Information Ministry. > > Prime Minister Bulatovic said he was confident that the >cooperation and friendship of the two countries would be further developed and >strengthened, the statement said. > > YUGOSLAVIA PROTESTS WITH BOSNIA PEACE IMPLEMENTATION COUNCIL > > BRUSSELS, May 24 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia's charge d'affaires to the >European Union in Brussels Nikola Lukic on Wednesday lodged a strong protest >with the E.U. Presidency and the Bosnia Peace Implementation Council which is >holding a ministerial conference here. > > The Yugoslav Government said in the protest note it is >incomprehensible that Yugoslavia, a signatory to and guarantor of the 1995 >Dayton/Paris Peace Accords for Bosnia-Herzegovina, has not been invited to >attend the conference. > > The non-invitation of Yugoslavia is in flagrant violation of the >Accords, because Yugoslavia is a key factor of the implementation of the >Dayton/Paris Accords and of peace and stability in southeast Europe, the note >said. > > The Yugoslav Government takes the view that the prevention of its >attendance at the conference is in gross violation also of U.N. Security >Council Resolutions 1022 and 1031 (1995). > > Also, it added, because of the non-attendance of two guarantors of >the Accords - Yugoslavia and Russia - the Council cannot take binding >decisions. > > Russia has refused to send a delegation to Brussels for principled >reasons, because of Yugoslavia's non-attendance. > > Although most Council members were in favour of Yugoslavia >attending the conference, they had to bow to the United States' dictate and >adopt a different decision. > > MINISTER JOJIC ACCUSES CARLA DEL PONTE OF SHIELDING NATO > > BELGRADE, May 24 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia's Justice Minister said on >Wednesday he has replied to a letter from the prosecutor of the international >court for the former Yugoslavia and blasted the abuse of human rights for >political purposes. > > Speaking to domestic and foreign reporters, Minister Petar Jojic >disclosed the contents of his reply to Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, who has >demanded that Yugoslavia cooperate with the Hague-based court and extradite >some Yugoslav nationals suspected of war crimes. > > Jojic wrote that the dungeon run by Carla del Ponte under the name >of the Hague Tribunal, where innocent Serbs are dragged by main force, is an >illegal institution set up contrary to the provisions of the U.N. Charter and >international law. > > He said the Tribunal, set up to deal with crimes committed in the >former Yugoslavia's war conflicts since 1991, in fact implements the policy of >the United States and NATO countries and is no international legal >institution. > > It is, in fact, a criminal organisation employing mercenaries, >spies and unethical people employ use dirty methods, according to Jojic. > > The court's indictments give not a single specific date, a single >piece of evidence that the crime a person is accused of was in fact committed, >he said, noting that there is a wide discrepancy in the number and rank of >indictees depending on their nationality. > > The Tribunal has indicted the highest Yugoslav state, military and >political leaders, just because they are Serbs, but its attitude to Croats and >Muslims is quite different, he specified. > > None of the top officials of Croatia and the Bosnian Muslim-Croat >Federation have been indicted for ordering the commission of crimes, Jojic >said. > > He accused Carla del Ponte of bias, saying that, in her capacity >as the Tribunal Prosecutor, she had not even tried to prevent last spring's >NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, let alone to indict the perpetrators of crimes >against Yugoslavia and its civilians. > > Jojic asked that all charges brought against Serbs be reexamined >and, if found to be groundless, dropped. > > He also asked that the leaders of the aggressor states and NATO be >indicted for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity and >crimes of genocide. He went on to say that all Yugoslav citizens have the >right to stand trial before the competent court in their own country and >according to their country's laws. > > MINISTER SIPOVAC RECEIVES AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR > > BELGRADE, May 25 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Minister of Agriculture >Nedeljko Sipovac received on Thursday Australia's new Ambassador Charles >Stuart to discuss ways and means of promoting bilateral cooperation, >especially in the economy, a government statement said. > > Both sides expressed readiness to intensify bilateral economic >ties, stressing especially the importance of cooperation in agriculture and a >need for raising it to a higher level. > > Yugoslavia is interested in buying beef and considerable >quantities of wool, while Australia would like to import agricultural >machinery and seed for cultivation, it was noted. > > The large number of Yugoslavs living in Australia are an important >link between the two countries and strengthen their overall relations, it was >stressed. > > WFP PLEDGES RELIEF AID TO YUGOSLAVIA BY MID-2001 > > BELGRADE, May 25 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav and World Food Programme >(WFP) officials discussed on Thursday the WFP's new projects to be implemented >in Yugoslavia's republics of Serbia and Montenegro in the course of June, a >government statement said. > > Minister for Refugee Affairs Bratislava Morina stressed on the >occasion that humanitarian aid is still necessary to a large number of >refugees and displaced people and to the poorer sections of society. > > Morina hoped the WFP would continue to give aid in food and >implement the agriculture development programmes begun in Yugoslavia. > > Robert Hauser, who heads the WFP Belgrade office, said for his >part the WFP was aware of the great humanitarian needs of Yugoslavia and had >secured, with the help of donors, sufficient funds for implementing all its >relief aid programmes by mid-2001. > > YUGOSLAV CURRENCY DINAR'S OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATE REMAINS UNCHANGED > > BELGRADE, May 25 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Government reviewed the >economic situation at Thursday's session chaired by Prime Minister Momir >Bulatovic. > > It noted that positive results are being achieved in increasing >production and stabilising the overall economic situation. > > These results are the more impressive in view of sanctions and >economic pressure being brought to bear on Yugoslavia by a part of the >international community, and most especially by the United States and the >European Union, a statement from the session said. > > The Government remained firm on its position not to devalue the >national currency, the dinar, and opted to retain its present official >exchange rate. > > In order to stimulate production, it was decided to calculate at >the official exchange rate customs duty on raw materials, semi-manufactures, >equipment and spare parts. > > A number of other facilities will be applied with a view to >practically exempting from import duty these commodities, necessary to >domestic industry, the statement said. > > YUGOSLAVIA - RUSSIA > > RUSSIAN STATE DUMA DELEGATION VISITS YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT > > BELGRADE, May 24 (Tanjug) - Delegations of the Yugoslav Parliament >and the Russian State Duma (lower house) discussed in Belgrade on Wednesday >the most efficacious measures for mitigating the damage caused in Yugoslavia >by NATO's aggression last spring. > > Nikolai Bezborodov of the delegation of the State Duma Commission >on assistance to Yugoslavia said there are indications that processes are >unfolding in the U.N.-administered Serbian (Yugoslav) province of >Kosovo-Metohija which serve solely the interests of the United States and >NATO. > > "We would like to see these processes stopped," said Bezborodov, >vice chairman of the Duma's Defence Committee. > > He expressed dissatisfaction with the world public's staying aloof >from the efforts to alleviate the consequences of the aggression, noting that >Yugoslavia is doing all the work on its own. > > Yugoslav delegation head Milisav Cutovic, in turn, stressed that >international anti-Yugoslav sanctions and the Hague-based war crimes court for >the former Yugoslavia must be abolished if the effects of the NATO aggression >are to be alleviated. > > Also, Yugoslavia must be indemnified for the damage it sustained >through the NATO air strikes (March 24-June 10, 1999), said Cutovic, who >chairs the Chamber of Citizens (lower house) Committee on labour, health and >the environment. > > Before leaving Yugoslavia on May 28, the Russian delegation will >tour Kosovo-Metohija and inspect the results of post-NATO-war reconstruction >efforts in the northern Serbian (Yugoslav) cities of Pancevo and Novi Sad. > > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - TERRORISM > > RUSSIAN KFOR TROOPS TARGETED BY TERRORISTS IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA > > PRISTINA, May 24 (Tanjug) - Two Russian KFor soldiers in >Kosovo-Metohija were wounded early on Wednesday in attacks believed by KFor >(international force) to be in retaliation for an earlier incident involving >an ethnic Albanian terrorist. > > The incident occurred when a former commander of the ethnic >Albanian terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was found in illegal >possession of weapons and tried to escape, assaulting a Russian peacekeeper in >the process. > > KFor in Kosovo-Metohija's city of Pristina said the soldiers were >slightly wounded in two separate shellings from anti-tank weapons of a Russian >camp in the locality of Kijev. > > Earlier during the night, Russian troops had come under fire at >several checkpoints throughout that province of the Yugoslav republic of >Serbia. > > The attacks support the view that the terrorist KLA has not been >disarmed, although it has officially been disbanded and transformed into the >Kosovo Protection Corps and a number of political parties. > > One of the parties - the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo - is >headed by Ramush Haradinaj, the person who was found in possession of >unlicensed weapons on Tuesday. KFor seized the weapons, while Haradinaj tried >to escape, assaulting a Russian soldier. > > KFor and military police subdued Haradinaj, who was slightly >wounded in the scuffle, KFor said, stressing that the Russian troops had >behaved correctly throughout the incident. > > ETHNIC ALBANIANS GUN DOWN SERB IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA > > KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia, May 24 (Tanjug) - Two ethnic Albanians >murdered a Serb in cold blood in his courtyard on Wednesday, according to >reports. > > Vladimir Ilic was gunned down as he came out of his house to >investigate the fierce barking of his guard-dog. Two ethnic Albanians outside >his home pulled guns and shot him, amateur radio operators report. > > Ilic turned around looking for shelter, but a bullet caught him in >the back and came out through the chest, inflicting a fatal wound. > > International KFor force investigators found five shells on the >scene. > > Ilic had received death threats from his ethnic Albanian >neighbours and had several times brought them to the attention of KFor, but >got no help. > > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS > > NATO-RUSSIAN COUNCIL ISSUES STATEMENT > > BRUSSELS, May 25 (Tanjug) - At a session of the permanent >NATO-Russian Council, held on Wednesday at the ministerial level in Florence, >was stressed the readiness of the two sides, a joint statement said, for the >consistent implementation of Security Council Resolution 1244 on >Kosovo-Metohija. > > The foreign ministers of NATO member countries and of Russia, said >the statement issued on Wednesday in Brussels, exchanged opinions about >cooperation within the international peacekeeping forces in the Serbian >province. > > Resolve was expressed, it was said, for the two sides to work >together on ensuring the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo-Metohija, to stem >the violence against ethnic minorities, regardless of ethnicity. > > "NATO and Russia have agreed to cooperation in all those fields >and to the protection of all ethnic groups in Kosovo," the statement said. > > The two sides underlined they would "not tolerate any provocations >or attempts of undermining the peace process." > > YUGOSLAVIA - DANUBE - EUROPEAN COMMISSION > > 22 MILLION EUROS PROPOSED FOR DANUBE CLEAR UP > > BRUSSELS, May 25 (Tanjug) - The European Commission proposed on >Wednesday at a meeting in Brussels, that 22 million euros (about 22 million >dollars) be earmarked to help clear up the Danube, one of the longest >navigable systems in Europe, which is now blocked by the ruble of bridges >destroyed in last year's (March-June) NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. > > The European Commission asked from the EU ministerial council, >made up of the foreign ministers of EU states and of the European parliament, >for the urgent approval of the funds. > > The statement, issued after the session, said that the money >covers about 85 percent of the expenses for clearing the Danube from the ruble >of destroyed bridges. The project, it is said, has been confirmed by the >Danube commission. > > Members of the "European government" also demand that the Danube >clear up starts as soon as possible, so that navigation on the Danube be >secured in the shortest possible time. > > FROM FOREIGN PRESS > > INFRASTRUCTURAL PROBLEMS CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY BYPASSING >YUGOSLAVIA > > SOFIA, May 25 (Tanjug) - Bulgaria cannot resolve its >infrastructural problems, nor can there be traffic in the Balkans if >Yugoslavia is bypassed, Sofia daily "Duma" said. The pact for stability in >southeastern Europe is ready to finance the building of a bridge across the >Danube between Bulgaria and Romania, the project "Vidin-Kalafat," but only if >it's economic-traffic feasibility is proved, Duma said. > > The project "Vidin-Kalafat" could have the same fate of some >European projects, because, the daily warned "arguments justifying the >building of another bridge on the Danube, by bypassing Yugoslavia, are very >shaky." According to the Bulgarian daily, infrastructural problems in the >strategic part of the Balkans, on the junction of three borders, should be >resolved by those countries - Bulgaria, Romania and FR Yugoslavia. > > Analysts in Sofia point out that the old "Constantinople road" >from Sofia though towns in Yugoslavia - Nis, Belgrade, Subotica - and >Budapest, has been and remained the shortest, most feasible and most secure >link between the Middle East, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece and other parts of the >Balkans with central and western Europe. > > NATO AGGRESSION AGGRAVATED KOSOVO-METOHIJA PROBLEMS - FRASER > > GENEVA, May 25 (Tanjug) - A prominent magazine for diplomats in >Geneva carries a text by Australia's former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to >the effect that last year's NATO aggression on Yugoslavia has greatly >aggravated Kosovo-Metohija's humanitarian problems. In its issue for June, >"Geneva Diplomatic Magazine" quotes Fraser, who heads CARE Australia charity, >as blasting last spring's air strikes by the world's mightiest military >machine on civilian facilities in Yugoslavia as unacceptable. > > He goes on to say that, since the end of the war, the ethnic >Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), working hand in glove with Albanian >organised crime, has been dominating the U.N.-administered Serbian (Yugoslav) >province of Kosovo-Metohija. > > He pays tribute to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for the >release of Australian nationals - activists of CARE Australia - arrested and >convicted on espionage charges in Yugoslavia. > > Fraser says that the talks at Rambouillet, France, which led up to >the air strikes, had not been true negotiations, but merely a pretext for >starting the war. Nobody on the Serbian side could in all conscience have >accepted the terms offered at Rambouillet, according to him. > > Since NATO has meanwhile committed an act of aggression against >Yugoslavia, Fraser asks who should punish NATO now. __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
