BELGRADE,20 June 2000 C O N T E N T S : BELGRADE, 21 June 2000 YUGOSLAVIA - INDIA -YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT ACCEPTS INDIAN AMBASSADOR'S CREDENTIALS YUGOSLAVIA - EGUPT, QATAR, JORDAN -YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER RETURNS FROM EGYPT, QATAR, JORDAN YUGOSLAVIA - RUSSIA -YUGOSLAV AND RUSSIAN CUSTOMS SERVICES DISCUSS COOPERATION YUGOSLAVIA - CHINA -TANJUG BIGGEST INFORMATION PROCESSOR IN SOUTHERN EUROPE FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA -MRKONJIC: MILOSEVIC BEGAN RENEWAL ALREADY IN WAR-TIME -YUGOSLAV MINISTER RECEIVES WHO OFFICIAL SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA -INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIANS FREEZE AID TO SERB HOSPITAL -TWO SERBS WOUNDED IN UN-PROTECTED KOSOVO-METOHIJA'S PRISTINA CITY HAGUE TRIBUNAL - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS -CHINA SAYS HAGUE TRIBUNAL BECOMING POLITICAL TOOL -RUSSIA AND CHINA SHARPLY CRITICIZE HAGUE TRIBUNAL * * * YUGOSLAVIA - INDIA YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT ACCEPTS INDIAN AMBASSADOR'S CREDENTIALS BELGRADE, June 21 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic accepted on Wednesday the credentials of India's new ambassador in Belgrade Arun Kumar. Before presenting the credentials, the new ambassador inspected the guard of honour. Addressing President Milosevic, Ambassador Kumar said India and Yugoslavia have a long tradition of excellent mutual political relations which have stood the test of time. These relations should be turned into permanent cooperation in the economic, cultural and other spheres of mutual interest, he said, adding that the two economies have huge potential for cooperation. He went on to say that the Indian government, too, is prepared to cooperate with the Yugoslav government towards further promoting mutually advantageous ties. Accepting the credentials, President Milosevic said that the Yugoslav people have sincere friendly feelings for the people of India. Through decades of jointly investing into peace, freedom, independence and equality among states and nations, the two countries have earned affirmation and renown in the world, he added. Their consistent efforts against the policy of colonialism and domination, exerted especially within the non-aligned movement, of which they are co-founders, is a special kind of contribution to peace and understanding among states and nations. Successful development of bilateral cooperation, to which Yugoslavia is committed, is of vital importance to the people of both Yugoslavia and India, Milosevic said. He wished Ambassador Kumar success in discharging his diplomatic office, in which he will have the cooperation of Yugoslav state bodies. After the ceremony, President Milosevic and Ambassador Kumar spent some time in cordial conversation, attended by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic. YUGOSLAVIA - EGUPT, QATAR, JORDAN YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER RETURNS FROM EGYPT, QATAR, JORDAN BELGRADE, June 21 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia enjoys great prestige and full support as a reliable partner with rich experience in decades-long economic cooperation with the Arab countries which we visited, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said at Belgrade Airport late Tuesday on his return from a tour of Egypt, Qatar and Jordan. Jovanovic said he was convinced these visits would further strengthen Yugoslav-Arab relations, not only with Egypt, Qatar and Jordan, but all Arab and Islamic countries. The talks in Cairo, Doha and Amman showed agreement that the future of the world was not in dictates, hegemony or imposing foreign interests and policies, but in finding common interests which satisfy all peoples and secure equal possibilities for all countries, members of the international community, Jovanovic said. The Yugoslav delegation is returning from the tour "encouraged with the interest and wish of state representatives-hosts and businessmen for the further promotion of traditional relations and cooperation in the bilateral and international areas, primarily within the United Nations and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, he said. The Yugoslav delegation received assurances that it would continue enjoying the full support and solidarity of all these countries, regarding Yugoslavia's legitimate interests and rights, both in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and in the United Nations. These countries believe that Yugoslavia's reactivation in the NAM would be equally useful for the realization of Yugoslavia's legitimate interests and rights and those of the movement, Jovanovic said. "All the countries I visited showed keen interest in Yugoslavia's renewal after the NATO aggression, and an interest in joining our efforts to reconstruct and modernize the economy," he said. Asked to comment on the alleged conceptual conflict between Yugoslavia and Islamic countries, Jovanovic said this was a "fabrication and trick" aimed equally against both sides, so that certain powers could cause rifts and sow distrust so as more easily to realize their interests which are contrary to the interests of Yugoslavia and the Islamic countries. "I received a strong impression that this trick is well understood and cannot pass any longer," Minister Jovanovic said. YUGOSLAVIA - RUSSIA YUGOSLAV AND RUSSIAN CUSTOMS SERVICES DISCUSS COOPERATION BELGRADE, June 21 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Customs Administrator Mihalj Kertes received Russia's Ambassador Valery Egoshkin in Belgrade on Wednesday to discuss cooperation between the two countries' customs services, the Yugoslav customs service said. The Yugoslav and Russian government are expected shortly to sign an accord on free trade and a memorandum on implementing an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance between their customs services, the Yugoslav service said in its statement. This should promote and intensify cooperation, especially in the area of granting trade preferential and checking certificates of origin of goods, the statement said. YUGOSLAVIA - CHINA TANJUG BIGGEST INFORMATION PROCESSOR IN SOUTHERN EUROPE BELGRADE, June 21 (Tanjug) - A delegation of the Pan-Chinese Reporters' Association on Wednesday visited the Tanjug news agency and spoke with its Director and Editor-in-Chief Dusan Djordjevic. In comparison with its long-term partner, the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Tanjug is a smaller media company, which employs 400 people at home and 25 foreign correspondents, Djordjevic said, but it is the biggest information processor in southern Europe. Tanjug's General Service daily broadcasts 300-500 news items, reports are also available on three InterNet sites, including photographs and daily news in Serbian, English and French. In the course of last year's NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, the site www.tanjug.co.yu was visited up to 1.7 million times every day, he said. "News items for the Serb diaspora are also broadcast once a week," Djordjevic said. Tanjug daily publishes an English-language Daily News bulletin for requirements of foreign embassies, and it opened its radio station (88.10 MHz FM) in September 1999, he said. During the 78 days of the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia (March 24-June 10, 1999), the national news agency worked 24 hours every day without interruption, in spite of daily threatening messages from the west that the building would be bombarded, said Djordjevic. "Tanjug was in the front line of the defense of our country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is why (Yugoslav) President Slobodan Milosevic presented it with the Medal of Merit for Yugoslavia," Djordjevic said. Tanjug has begun a project for its technical-technological development, which comprises the construction of the most up-to-date information system which will also broadcast video reports, he said. Delegation head Zhang Desyu showed deep respect for the Yugoslav colleagues who he said honourably carried out their obligation and protected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their fatherland, fighting for the truth during the 78 days of air strikes. The delegation of the Pan-Chinese Reporters' Association is on a several days' long visit to the Serbian Reporters' Association UNS. FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA MRKONJIC: MILOSEVIC BEGAN RENEWAL ALREADY IN WAR-TIME BELGRADE, June 21 (Tanjug) - Serbian Directorate for National Reconstruction Director Milutin Mrkonjic said the second phase of renewal, which ends on July 7, was as successful as the defense had been, and that its traits - speed, quality and world standards in construction - would be present also in the next stage of development. In an extensive interview to the U.S. TV network CNN on Tuesday, Mrkonjic underscored that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had decided to set up the Directorate for Reconstruction already during the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia and daily asked about each of the begun reconstruction projects. Milosevic is a modern man, an excellent politician, a visionary, a man of business, but, above all, a man who appreciates freedom and who cannot be bought, Mrkonjic said when he was asked by the CNN reporter to describe Milosevic the man. The world is wrong about Milosevic, since the Yugoslav president is a modern politician and a wise man, one who has achieved results, said Mrkonjic. Serbia and Yugoslavia have not attacked anyone, and they did not try to persuade anyone with bombs to accept their views, he said. This is an open country, ready for all forms of cooperation on an equal basis. Foreign capital can be engaged without any problems in Serbia, where laws are fully compatible with the legal acts of the European Union, he said. Mrkonjic underscored that Yugoslavia has good cooperation and communications with over two-thirds of the world's population - China, Russia and India - and that these countries are daily present and interested in joint investments in development projects. Many in the world are already interested in our development projects, Mrkonjic said, giving the example of the great interest of prominent firms and bridge constructors who acquired a tender and entered for an international contest to construct a bridge on the Danube in Novi Sad, as well as the daily contacts with European firms and businessmen. My stand is extremely positive - foreign countries should come here and invest, Mrkonjic said. There is vast interest of foreign companies in investing in Yugoslavia's economy, and the economies of western countries will put an end to the wrong policy regarding this part of the Balkans, he said. Underscoring that Serbia and Yugoslavia cannot be bypassed, Mrkonjic said the greatest interest of European countries was that goods transport and communication of people proceed through Serbia, which is the shortest link between southern Europe and the Middle East. Mrkonjic announced that the economy would be restructured because almost the entire industrial complex of Serbia, in particular the oil and petrochemical industries, had been severely damaged and destroyed in last year's NATO aggression (March-June), and that great funds were needed for repairs. That which is profitable is kept and renewed, and emphasis is placed on new attractive development programs which provide chances for the local economy, but also for world companies, he said. We have great projects to offer to the world, Mrkonjic said, specifying that these were big development ideas in the area of the electric power industry, telecommunications, the PTT system, the oil industry or petrochemical industry. The realization of some of these projects has already begun, he said, like the construction of a highway through Yugoslavia on the sections Belgrade-Novi Sad, Belgrade-Pancevo, and the construction of 100,000 apartments over the next 10 years. Asked by CNN if he saw the national renewal as competing with the world, Mrkonjic criticized all solutions imposed by war and said that, without the NATO aggression, Serbia would have already been in the development stage and that one should compete with the world only in development. About 500,000 builders from 150 companies have taken part in national renewal, showing great enthusiasm in rebuilding their country, he said. We are not cannibals, and we have been present in these lands as a state for 12 centuries, presenting a cultural, civilized people with a rich freedom-loving tradition, Mrkonjic said, critically alluding to the stand of the west on Serbs and Serbia. Speaking about the stability of the funds from which renewal is financed, Mrkonjic said part of the money came from taxes and that some 20 percent was from donations by friends from the country and abroad, and bank credits. Mrkonjic told CNN that those who destroyed this country should pay reparation for war damages which are estimated at about 100 billion dollars. Our builders renewed or constructed 40 road and 15 railway bridges, 520 houses and apartments, four central heating plants, nine educational and five medical facilities, and they are currently engaged on 72 construction sites, Mrkonjic specified. YUGOSLAV MINISTER RECEIVES WHO OFFICIAL BELGRADE, June 21 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav minister for refugee and humanitarian affairs Bratislava Morina received on Wednesday Yuk Pukila, head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Belgrade office, to discuss the health situation and medical needs of the population. A government statement quotes Morina as saying there are problems in health protection for the refugees and internally displaced people. She stressed that these people are "doubly punished" - by being driven from their homes, and by the effects of international anti-Yugoslav sanctions, which affect them just as they do the entire Yugoslav population. People's health is affected mostly by last year's three-month long NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a monotonous low-quality diet and a shortage of medicaments due to years of anti-Yugoslav sanctions, she explained. The worst-affected categories of the population require greater medical assistance from international relief agencies, she said. Pukila, for his part, stressed that they are aware at the WHO of the consequences of NATO's air strikes for the environment and for the health of the people in Yugoslavia, and of the conditions and quality of life for the refugees and internally displaced people. According to him, the WHO is investigating the health situation and needs of the population in order to seek greater international donations. As of September, the WHO Belgrade office will be headed by Luigi Migliorini, the statement said. SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIANS FREEZE AID TO SERB HOSPITAL KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia, June 21 (Tanjug) - The Serb hospital in UN-ruled Kosovska Mitrovica works in very difficult conditions, as the UN civilian mission (UNMIK) and international relief agencies have been denying it aid for months because of the 800 employees' refusal to submit to an international administration of the hospital. Deputy Director of the hospital Milan Ivanovic told TANJUG on Wednesday the Serb health workers have been threatened there will be no more oxygen deliveries because of their last week's refusal to give the Medicines Sans Frontiers charity and the World Health Organisation (WHO) space to work in the hospital. Ivanovic said that problems with electricity and water supply in the north, Serb-populated part of the ethnically divided city and the nearby Zvecan locality are of vital importance to the Serb population, and hospital work is very difficult. "International force KFor troops that have moved into the building next to the children's ward have recently cut underground cables when they were digging something, and the hospital was without electricity for ten days," he said. He said that the hospital has a large number of patients, and performed 350 surgeries and 170 deliveries in the first five months of the year. Although health institutions function as part of the system of Yugoslavia and its republic of Serbia (in which Kosovo-Metohija is a province), UNMIK and WHO continue to put pressure on the Serb hospital to join something called the Kosovo health system, he added. TWO SERBS WOUNDED IN UN-PROTECTED KOSOVO-METOHIJA'S PRISTINA CITY PRISTINA, Serbia, June 21 (Tanjug) - Two Serbs - a man and a woman - were wounded late on Tuesday in central Pristina in the UN-ruled Serbian (Yugoslav) province of Kosovo-Metohija, according to the international KFor force in Pristina on Wednesday. According to KFor spokesman Lieutenant Tim Serrell-Cook, the incident occurred when unknown persons opened fire from a moving car on people in Pristina's main street. One KFor soldier and one official of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) took the wounded Serbs to the British hospital in Pristina. HAGUE TRIBUNAL - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS CHINA SAYS HAGUE TRIBUNAL BECOMING POLITICAL TOOL PEKING, June 21 (Tanjug) - China believes that the Hague tribunal is not independent, not an unbiased organ of justice, and too much under the influence of international politics, Chinese media said on Wednesday in reports on a speech by the Chinese ambassador at the U.N. Security Council session in New York on Tuesday. The tribunal can have authority only if it is independent and unbiased and is not a political tool, deputy permanent Chinese representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Shen Guofang was quoted as saying. It had been underscored in China on several occasions, regarding actions by the Hague tribunal, that, as a judicial institution, it must preserve its legal dignity and prestige of independent and fair justice, and not be a political tool of a few NATO countries, spearheaded by the United States. China recently asked that an investigation be launched into possible grave violations of humanitarian law by NATO during last year's (March-June) air strikes on Yugoslavia. China rejected claims by tribunal Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte that there were allegedly no grounds for such an investigation, and warned that she did not validly substantiate such a stand. RUSSIA AND CHINA SHARPLY CRITICIZE HAGUE TRIBUNAL NEW YORK, June 21 (Tanjug) - The Russian and Chinese representatives on the United Nations Security Council sharply criticized The Hague tribunal late Tuesday, accusing it of being policized, one-sided and biased. At a council session, the two ambassadors severely criticized the tribunal for failing to open an investigation against NATO for crimes committed in bombing civilians in Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999. Ambassadors Sergei Lavrov and Shen Guofang reacted to a speech by tribunal President Claude Jorda, who briefly informed the council on the work of the tribunal. Lavrov accused the court of having political ambitions and practising an anti-Serb policy. Everything indicates that the Hague tribunal has in advance determined the guilty parties in the Yugoslav tragedy by closing its eyes to crimes committed by Croats and Muslims, the Russian ambassador said. Criticizing the practice of so-called sealed indictments, Lavrov pointed out to council members that this body should have had greater control over the tribunal. The Chinese ambassador voiced similar criticisms. He said the tribunal had become a political tool, and, addressing directly Jorda, said he was too much under the influence of politics and criticized his arrogant approach from the positions of a western super power. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke commented on the Chinese and Russian stands with the words that he was very concerned over attacks by "other delegations" on the Hague tribunal. U.S. media reports about the Security Council session omitted the criticisms voiced by the Russian and Chinese ambassadors and placed emphasis on Holbrooke's request that a war crimes tribunal be set up for Sierra Leone. __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
