Yugoslav Daily Survey, 96-09-30

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAVIA DID MOST FOR PEACE PROCESS

[02] YUGOSLAVIA IS CALM AS IT AWAITS LIFTING OF SANCTIONS

[03] YUGOSLAVIA EQUAL PARTNER OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS

[04] TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF R.S. VIOLATED

[05] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT PLANS TO APPOINT HONORARY CONSULS IN 67 STATES

[01] YUGOSLAVIA DID MOST FOR PEACE PROCESS

It was heard in the course of these talks on the situation in former Yugoslavia that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was that side which had contributed most to the peace process and had been the most cooperative, he said.

'That is why I hope we shall witness the definite and formal lifting of the sanctions very early next week,' Milutinovic told Serbian television's prime-time news broadcast.

Asked about prospects for promoting bilateral cooperation with European Union countries, with whose ministers he had conferred in New York, Milutinovic said he had been given not only understanding and support, but that concrete activities had been agreed on as well.

'Certainly, they should also result in better cooperation with the European Union as a whole, because we have, already at this time, what could be called excellent political relations with each of the member-states,' he said.

Regarding the normalization of diplomatic relations with the United States and the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Milutinovic said the talks had focused on the current situation in former Yugoslavia.

'We spoke in principle on bilateral relations and I shall be in Washington next week for more extensive talks on all issues which lead to the full normalization of relations, full in the sense of an exchange of ambassadors,' said Milutinovic.

'Otherwise, in the political sense, cooperation with the United States is very intense, sometimes even on a daily basis, on a series of political issues in connection with the peace process in Bosnia,' he said.

Milutinovic said, however, that things would not be the same in Bosnia-Herzegovina after the elections. 'New leaderships have been elected. They have their legitimacy, and they also have a great responsibility toward their voters to make life in Bosnia-Herzegovina and each of its entities better and of a finer quality and that the people feel a real and essential change with respect to the former situation,' Milutinovic said.

[02] YUGOSLAVIA IS CALM AS IT AWAITS LIFTING OF SANCTIONS

Milutinovic deplored, however, that the matter of the sanctions' lifting had lately been unnecessarily complicated.

He told reporters at the U.N. palace that the economic embargo could be lifted today, because the matter had been clearly and precisely defined at Dayton in November 1995 and subsequently put down in the U.N. Security Council's Resolution no. 1022.

He said that the only condition for lifting the sanctions was to hold elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

According to Milutinovic, the international community has assessed the elections to be successful, the voting regular and the turnout to have been above expectations.

There has been no dispute about any of this, Milutinovic said, adding that the international community had de facto verified the elections and that the document to this effect that was now being awaited was no more than a formality.

Yugoslavia has waited for more than four years for the sanctions to be lifted and can wait for a few days more, he added.

Yugoslavia was one of the founders of the United Nations Organisation and its member since the Organisation was born in 1945, Milutinovic said, answering a reporter's question about Yugoslavia's status in the U.N. Therefore, Yugoslavia has neither the intention or the need to seek membership again, as it has never left the Organisation, he added. Milutinovic said he had submitted to U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Thursday copies of receipts showing that Yugoslavia had paid its quota to the U.N. for 1996, which proved Belgrade's position vis-a-vis of the U.N.

In answer to a question, Milutinovic said that the matter of normalisation and resumption of bilateral relations between Yugoslavia and the U.S. had been broached during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Thursday. Milutinovic added that both sides had shown willingness to go ahead and overcome the stagnation of the past few years. The two countries are maintaining good and regular cooperation at present, too, especially in the implementation of the Dayton peace accords, he added.

Milutinovic said that the matter of Yugoslav Airlines JAT starting a regular service to the United Sates would be solved, and hoped that economic cooperation between Yugoslavia and the United States would start, too.

He said that the F.R.Y. recognised Bosnia-Herzegovina as a state as defined under the Dayton accords, adding he believed that the newly-elected bodies of power in Bosnia-Herzegovina would be consolidated. The F.R.Y. will give them the necessary support in this, just as it has supported the implementation of the Dayton peace accords to date, Milutinovic said.

[03] YUGOSLAVIA EQUAL PARTNER OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Speaking to local radio in Serbian town of Kragujevac, Klikovac said that this resulted from Yugoslavia's consistent and correct policy and certain changes in misconceptions which some international community members had about its role and solution of topical issues in the Balkans and Europe.

Klikovac said that this was proved by an increasing number of exchanges of delegations between Yugoslavia and European countries and 'conclusion of numerous international agreements with members of the community which had disputed us at some point.'.

Speaking about the recent Bosnian elections, Klikovac said that their result would have an influence on Yugoslavia's speedy reintegration in the international community.

B e l g r a d e, Sept. 27 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Parliament Upper House ratified in its first autumn session on Friday an agreement on the normalisation of relations with Croatia signed on August 23. Addressing the M.P.S, Deputy Foreign Minister Radoslav Bulajic said the agreement was a crucial step in the normalisation of Yugoslavia's relations with the former Yugoslav republics, this being a major commitment of the country's foreign policy.

Bulajic said, 'the agreement provides for the framework of our long-term relations and cooperation based on an equal footing, mutual respect and mutual interests.'

He said the signing of the agreement had been described as crucial not only for the two countries but also for the region and Europe in general.

'Croatia has accepted Yugoslavia as a successor of the former Yugoslavia, as well as the setting up of full diplomatic relations and resolution of all outstanding issues through peaceful means and negotiations, in keeping with the U.N. charter,' he said.

He said the agreement regulated the resolution of issues concerning the common border, specifically the disputed area of the strategic Prevlaka promontory in the Adriatic. In this connection, he said all issues concerning Prevlaka would be solved through negotiations and in line with the U.N. charter, while U.N. monitors would remain in the area until a final solution to the issue.

The agreement calls also for the consistent implementation of an accord reached between Serbs in the region of Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem and Croatian authorities last November, resolution of the issue of the former Yugoslavia's successors on the principles of international law, guaranteeing all civil rights to Serbs and Montenegrins in Croatia, free and safe repatriation of refugees and displaced persons, giving them either their property back or fair compensation, he said.

The ratification of the agreement will even more contribute to Yugoslavia being viewed as a constructive and peace-orientated factor in the region and Europe as well as to its full reintegration into the international community, he said.

Only by implementing the agreement consistently and fully can Yugoslavia and Croatia confirm their firm commitment to the development of stable and goodneighbourly relations and cooperation in keeping with the U.N. charter, he said.

The Yugoslav Parliament's Lower House at its first fall session on Friday ratified agreements on normalization of relations with Croatia and Macedonia. The members ratified without debate a package of bills endorsing the agreement with Macedonia.

The Yugoslav Parliament Upper House on Friday adopted a package of laws on the ratification of agreements on economic cooperation with Macedonia. The laws confirm agreements on trade cooperation, spurring and protecting investments, avoidance of double taxation in the case of income and property, customs cooperation and cooperation in road, railway and air transport.

[04] TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF R.S. VIOLATED

The R.S. Government said at a session that the objective of the presence of armed paramilitary formations in this area of this Bosnian Serb entity was to change inter-ethnic demarcation lines and create neuralgic points for causing incident situations and possibly renewing armed conflicts.

As senior intelligence officers of the Bosnia-Herzegovina federation army are in command of the action to seize and fortify the said area, these are obviously actions preconceived and well planned by the political and military leaderships of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, said the statement for the public.

The R.S. government sees these actions, carried out in early September, as part of the political take-over of R.S. territory step by step, with the objective of creating preconditions for the territory to become part of the Federation at some point in the future.

The statement said IFOR forces, in agreement with their mandate, had taken urgent measures, but that these had not yielded any results so far. The R.S. Government strongly demands that IFOR forces and those of other international organizations act in agreement with the authorization stemming from the Dayton accords and the demarche sent by the international forces to Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency President Alija Izetbegovic on Sept. 22, this year.

It was demanded of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation Government on this occasion, among other things, that the paramilitary forces immediately leave the seized area or be disarmed by multi-national forces and handed over to R.S. police for further action. Unless an action by the international forces soon resolves the problem, the R.S. Government will be forced to take measures and action through respective state organs to protect the safety of its citizens and the territorial integrity of R.S, said the statement.

[05] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT PLANS TO APPOINT HONORARY CONSULS IN 67 STATES

'The nomination of honorary consuls in Israel, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Jordan, Madagascar and Brazil in under way,' Yugoslav Foreign Ministry official Milutin Simic told Politika.

He said that Yugoslavia would have two honorary consuls in Brazil, a Brazilian of Yugoslav origin in Sao Paolo and a Brazilian businessmen, who is linked with Serbian and Montenegrin firms, in Porto Alegre.

Speaking about the Foreign Ministry's motives for increasing the number of honorary consuls, Simic quoted the positive experiences of E.U. countries and the Yugoslav tradition. In this context, he said that the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had 65 honorary consuls before the outbreak of World War II.

Speaking about the former Yugoslavia, he said that six years ago, it had 26 honorary consuls, 11 of whom are the honorary consuls of the F.R.Y. in Canada, Brazil, Guatemala, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Chile, Greece, Spain and Sierra Leone.

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