Yugoslav Daily Survey, 96-10-14

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

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV MINISTER HIGHLIGHTS CONSISTENT PEACE POLICY

[02] MILOSEVIC RECEIVES KORNBLUM

[03] YUGOSLAV VICE-PREMIER MEETS WITH VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT

[04] YUGOSLAV INTERIOR MINISTER DESCRIBES VISIT TO GERMANY AS SUCCESSFUL

[05] UNHCR SAYS SOLUTION MUST BE FOUND FOR REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA

[06] BOSNIA UNCONDITIONALLY RECOGNISES STATE CONTINUITY OF YUGOSLAVIA

[07] KINKEL-KRAJISNIK TALKS ON WORK OF JOINT ORGANS IN BOSNIA

[08] R.S. IN BOSNIA PRESIDENCY, PARLIAMENT BY OCT. 28

[09] THE CONFERENCE ON SERBS IN MACEDONIA ENDS IN SREMSKI KARLOVCI

[01] YUGOSLAV MINISTER HIGHLIGHTS CONSISTENT PEACE POLICY

The country can now communicate freely with the world, Milutinovic said.

Milutinovic said that the Serbian leadership, headed by President Slobodan Milosevic, had managed under difficult conditions to save the country from devastation and improve its international reputation. He added that these successes had been due to Serbia's 'totally principled policy, which has not aimed at achieving any propaganda effects, but has instead always insisted on quenching the flame of war.'

Milutinovic stressed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's contribution to the negotiation and signing of the Dayton peace accord for Bosnia-Herzegovina. The accord, he stressed, is based on 'the equality of the three nations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is a state of two entities. this is what the Serbs in Bosnia rose up in arms for in the first place.'

'We have succeeded in the international community practically endorsing this at Dayton and protecting the Dayton accord, too, instead of us doing it alone,' Milutinovic said, adding that Yugoslavia had also contributed to the success of Bosnia's elections.

He said that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was open for cooperation with all, including countries that had emerged in the lands of former Yugoslavia and had recognised Yugoslavia's continuity with the former federation.

'Our continuity has practically been recognised by the U.N. Security Council members, the Group of eight industrialised states, and many European states, as they have recognised all accords signed by former Yugoslavia entirely or with some minor changes,' he said.

Milutinovic quoted 150 inter-state accords and other agreements signed over the past year as proof of the country's rising reputation.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 'is today recognised in the world as a proud country which knew how to persevere on principles which the international community, too, has embraced', he added.

Priority in our foreign policy was the full normalisation of relations with Yugoslavia's neighbours - Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia - now that the U.N. sanctions against the country have been lifted, Milutinovic said Sunday. Milutinovic told Radio Belgrade that another priority was the full normalisation of relations with the European Union and the reviving of all agreements Yugoslavia had reached with it.

Asked about the so-called outer wall of sanctions, Milutinovic said it was an empty phrase and a way of exerting political pressure rather than something that prevented the country to strengthen economic, diplomatic and other relations with the world.

'Those who say that all sanctions have not been lifted are lying. They (sanctions) do not exist. We have diplomatic relations with 163 countries in the world. We have signed or ratified more than 150 agreements with the world over the past year, so there could be no mention of the outer wall of sanctions. I do not see it that way,' he said.

He said it was Yugoslavia's goal to attract as many foreign investors as possible, to realise as many joint investments as possible and to start its economic development through higher output and exports, because he said all obstacles to it had been removed.

[02] MILOSEVIC RECEIVES KORNBLUM

Yugoslavia would decisively pursue the peace policy and offer the biggest contribution toward the consolidation of peace and stability, the affirmation of equality and understanding among states and peoples, said Milosevic.

Yugoslavia will encourage overall cooperation and openness toward contemporary integration processes in the world, Milosevic said in talks with the Head of the U.S. team for the Balkans, Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum, who arrived in Belgrade late on Saturday.

The two parties widely exchanged views on the promotion of Yugoslav-American relations, and questions pertaining to the stabilization of peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina and comprehensive consolidation of the political situation in the region, said a statement released by the President's Cabinet.

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, U.S. Charge d'Affaires Richard Miles and other personalities attended the talks.

[03] YUGOSLAV VICE-PREMIER MEETS WITH VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT

Caldera met with Yugoslav Vice-Premier Jovan Zebic, who heads a Yugoslav state and business delegation touring Latin America, at a reception in Caracas on Friday.

Zebic said Venezuela and Yugoslavia, both developing countries, had held almost identical views on all major economic and political issues, and said Yugoslavia was interested in resuming all-round cooperation with Venezuela.

He also said there was every reason to regard Yugoslavia as a partner with the best economic prospects in the Balkans, saying the country was gradually returning to the world market due to its natural resources and position as well as its constructive policy of peace.

Zebic conveyed to Caldera Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic's best regards.

Zebic informed Venezuelan Foreign Minister Miguel Anhel Burelli about Yugoslavia's efforts aimed at consolidating peace in the former Yugoslavia. Zebic and Burelli said that the traditionally good relations represented a firm basis for promoting dialogue and cooperation between the two countries' complementary economies.

Burelli also said that the Venezuelan Government had already reached decisions aimed at restoring the work of the Embassy in Belgrade.

Meeting with Venezuelan Economy Minister Wilmer Perez, Zebic suggested that the two countries, whose economic structures are complementary, should open a process of direct cooperation at state and business levels as soon as possible. Zebic met also with Venezuelan Minister of Agriculture Raul Alegreto, whom he informed that Yugoslavia had an agricultural surplus for export.

Zebic told a press conference on Thursday that Venezuelan Government officials had agreed that the 1988 Venezuelan-Yugoslav trade agreement should be extended since the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia continued the state and legal continuity of the former Yugoslavia. He said it had been agreed that talks should open soon on the conclusion of new agreements on mutual investment protection and stimulation and avoiding double taxation.

[04] YUGOSLAV INTERIOR MINISTER DESCRIBES VISIT TO GERMANY AS SUCCESSFUL

Jokanovic said that he had reached agreement with the officials he had met with on forms of cooperation between the Yugoslav and German Interior Ministries as well as on other forms of cooperation between the two countries.

Jokanovic said the officials had shown great interest in a speedy and full normalisation of bilateral relations and in restoring cooperation to the former level.

[05] UNHCR SAYS SOLUTION MUST BE FOUND FOR REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA

Head of the UNHCR Mission to Yugoslavia Margaret O'Keeffe conveyed the Committee's position on the issue to Serbian Refugee Commissioner Bratislava Morina in a meeting in Belgrade on Friday.

A statement released by the Serbian Refugee Commissioner's office quoted O'Keeffe as saying the Committee had endorsed the figure of 650,000 refugees and displaced persons registered in Yugoslavia.

O'Keeffe said a delegation of the World Bank would visit Yugoslavia by the end of the year, and said UNHCR and other U.N. agencies would call for funds for the integration of refugees who could not return home.

[06] BOSNIA UNCONDITIONALLY RECOGNISES STATE CONTINUITY OF YUGOSLAVIA

Muratovic told the local Radio in Kragujevac, Central Serbia, that an agreement signed between Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Chair of Bosnia's three-man Presidency Alija Izetbegovic in Paris on October 3 would be a step ahead in eliminating neuralgic points in the region.

Muratovic also said the Moslem-Croat Federation as well as Bosnia-Herzegovina would do nothing to hinder Yugoslavia from establishing contacts with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international financial institutions. He said this could have positive effects on Yugoslavia as well as the Federation.

[07] KINKEL-KRAJISNIK TALKS ON WORK OF JOINT ORGANS IN BOSNIA

After the meetings in the U.S. and German Embassies in Sarajevo, Krajisnik told reporters talks had covered delays in the constituting and functioning of the common organs in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Krajisnik said he had pointed out that Republika Srpska wanted to work in the common organs. He said Kinkel had proposed that he sign the declaration of loyalty to Bosnian statehood in the federation premises, but that he had refused.

Krajisnik said he had been ready, after agreement was reached on the functioning of the common organs, to sign the oath somewhere else, at the German Embassy for instance, but that this possibility had been rejected after Kinkel consulted Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency President Alija Izetbegovic.

Krajisnik said Kinkel had not used any pressure on the Republika Srpska representatives.

Kinkel told the press conference the talks at the German Embassy had been a step forward, but that no agreement had been reached on where Krajisnik would sign the declaration of loyalty to Bosnian statehood. 'I would have liked there to have been a signing,' Kinkel said, adding: 'We have not yet reached that point but we have taken a few steps forward.'

Kinkel admitted that, this time, Serbs were not the only side responsible for the repeated failure of the Presidency to begin work. He said Croat and Muslim representatives, whom he met before the Serb side, had refused to cooperate.

The German news agency DPA emphasized the fact that Kinkel was the first official with whom Krajisnik met in Sarajevo since war in Bosnia-Herzegovina broke out in April 1992.

[08] R.S. IN BOSNIA PRESIDENCY, PARLIAMENT BY OCT. 28

Klickovic and Republika Srpska Foreign Minister Aleksa Buha held talks Friday with representatives of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

They discussed problems effected by the failure of the Serb representatives to attend the inaugural session of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency and House of Representatives in Sarajevo. The Republika Srpska representatives explained that they were unable to attend the inaugural session strictly for security reasons.

[09] THE CONFERENCE ON SERBS IN MACEDONIA ENDS IN SREMSKI KARLOVCI

The participants in the Conference said it was necessary to secure conditions in the sphere of economy, religion, culture, education and science for Serbs to remain in Macedonia. Serbs in Macedonia are an autochthonous people that had for a long time had their own state, they said.

The participants also said bearing in mind the importance of cultural and historical monuments in Macedonia for the Serb culture and spirituality, it was vital to preserve and protect them.

The resolution of these issues will contribute to the further strengthening of relations between Yugoslavia and Macedonia, they said.

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