Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-05-08

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV ECONOMY MINISTER RECEIVES CHINESE DEPUTY MINISTER

[02] REINFORCEMENT OF YUGOSLAVIA'S INTERNATIONAL POSITION

[03] WORLD SHOULD CONTINUE SENDING AID TO YUGOSLAVIA, SAYS ICRC OFFICIAL

[04] SECOND SESSION OF YUGOSLAV-CROATIAN COMMISSION

[05] CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING STATE-OWNED PROPERTY MUST BE DEFINED

[06] YUGOSLAV EXPERT: E.U. TRADE PREFERENCES HAVE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

[07] INFORMATION MINISTER MILENTIJEVIC RECEIVES U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES

[08] UPPER HOUSE SPEAKER RECEIVES TURKISH AMBASSADOR

[01] YUGOSLAV ECONOMY MINISTER RECEIVES CHINESE DEPUTY MINISTER

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

Yugoslav Economy Minister Rade Filipovic on Wednesday received Chinese Deputy Chemical Industry Minister Li Yong Wu, who is in Yugoslavia with a group of Chineseche Ministry experts.

The Yugoslav Government said in a statement that both sides had expressed interest in signing a contract on the purchase on credit of equipment and material from China for an urea plant at the Chemical Industry Azotara of the town of Pancevo near Belgrade.

The Yugoslav side voiced interest in the export to China of products made by the Yugoslav chemical and tobacco industries in exchange for crude oil, with in an arrangement between the Yugoslav company NIS Jugopetrol and its Chinese partner Sinochem.

In this context, talks were held on arrangements with the firms Grmec and Duga of Belgade, Tigar of the Southern Serbian town of Pirot and Trayal of the central Serbian town of Krusevac. Possibilities were also discussed for rendering engineering services in the petrochemical industry and making projects for chemical plants for the third markets, the statement said.

[02] REINFORCEMENT OF YUGOSLAVIA'S INTERNATIONAL POSITION

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

Yugoslavia's international position has stabilized following the years of international sanctions and attempts to isolate it, as was demonstrated in the last days of April, when the country celebrated its Constitution Day on April 27. Yugoslav diplomatic missions marked the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Constituion by giving receptions and organizing various other events. The celebrations, attended by officials of host countries, foreign diplomats, public figures, media representatives and Yugoslav nationals living abroad, provided an opportunity to observe a positive change in the attitude towards Yugoslavia following the lifting of the sanctions.

The principal guests at the receptions were often prime ministers or their deputies, parliament speakers, foreign and other ministers, mayors, ambassadors and other eminent figures. The celebration of April 27 was thus recognized by foreign authorities and media as Yugoslavia's National Day.

Despite numerous difficulties Yugoslavia has had to face in the past few years, the celebrations have demonstrated its constructive peace policy which has greatly contributed to stabilizing the situation in the region of the former Yugoslavia and the entire Balkans.

The number of guests at such receptions was also outstanding - 700 in France and Russia, 600 in Sweden, China and Ukraine, 500 initaly, Greece and Macedonia, and many also in Turkey, India, Egypt etc., proving their intention to promote all-round bilateral cooperation.

Yugoslav nationals living in those countries also joined the celebrations in demonstration of their desire to maintain close ties with the home country. The guests generally expressed satisfaction with the stabilization of the situation in the former Yugoslavia and praised Yugoslavia's consistent peace policy and its contribution to the establishment of peace and resolving complex problems stemming from the crisis. Representatives of many countries expressed readiness to uphold full normalization of Yugoalavia's status in the U.N. and other international organizations.

The receptions were also attended by many businessmen, bankers and economic experts, proving their interest in developing various forms of economic and financial cooperation with Yugoslav partners.

Foreign media reported extensively on the celebration of Yugoslavia's Constitution Day, and carried interviews of Yugoslav Officials, which was not the case in the past few years, thus demonstrating a change in attitude and a willingness to present a more authentic picture of developments in Yugoslavia and the official stances of its authorities.

Many heads of state or government and foreign ministers addressed messages of best wishes to Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic, Prime Minister Radoje Kontic and Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic.

[03] WORLD SHOULD CONTINUE SENDING AID TO YUGOSLAVIA, SAYS ICRC OFFICIAL

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

The humanitarian situation in Yugoslavia is very serious and the international community should continue sending aid, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Cocieties delegation to Yugoslavia Haness Haukson said in Belgrade on Wednesday. Speaking at a news conference held at the Yugoslav Red Cross on the occasion of May 8, International Red Cross Day, Haukson said that the IFRC continued appealing to donors, because it was very important that humanitarian aid deliveries in this region continue.

The IFRC is very concerned about the fate of more than half a million refugees in Yugoslavia and an increasing number of the poor, Haukson said and added that the Federation used every opportunity to remind the international community of Yugoslavia. He said that in June the IFRC would review the situation and designate the priority programmes and activities that should be carried out by the end of the year.

Head of the IFRC delegation to Yugoslavia Thomas Markelbach said that the ICRC realised how difficult the situation in Yugoslavia was and that it made efforts aimed at making this clear to the international community. The ICRC is trying to keep the international community informed about the fact that a large number of refugees in Yugoslavia still have problems and that their needs have not reduced, he said. Markelbach said that the ICRC believed that aid to Yugoslavia should not be reduced at a time when permanent solutions for the stabilisation of the region were being sought in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

[04] SECOND SESSION OF YUGOSLAV-CROATIAN COMMISSION

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

The Joint Yugoslav-Croatian Commission said at its second session on Wednesday in Zagreb that in line with the Agreement on the normalization of bilateral relations, conditions must be ensured for the return of refugees and displaced persons to Yugoslavia and Croatia is they so desire.

The Commission, in charge of implementing the Article 7 of the Agreement on Normalization, reiterated that both countries would guarantee property rights, regardless of owners' citizenship. Both sides agreed to exchange regulations on issues under the Commission's competence by its next session to be held in Belgrade.

The session was chaired by the head of the Croatian delegation and of the Croatian Government Office for succession Bozo Marendic, and the Yugoslav delegaton was headed by Assistant Minister of Justice Radivoj Rajakovic.

A statement issued at the end of the session says that the Croatian delegation informed the Yugoslav one of the regulations, measures and activities Croatia had undertaken in order to implementthe Article 7.

At the next session, the two delegations will exchange information available to the two Governments in order to undertake parallel activities for the implementation of the Article 7.

[05] CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING STATE-OWNED PROPERTY MUST BE DEFINED

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

The Yugoslav Government Commission for relations with Peace Implementation Council and international financial and trade organizations endorsed on Wednesday a report on a meeting between a Yugoslav delegation and Chairman of the Peace Implementation Council's Working Group for Succession Sir Arthur Watts, a Government statement said.

The Commission, whose session was chaired by Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, devoted special attention to criteria for identifying state-owned property. It assessed that no significant headway had been made in defining the concept of state-owned property in the internationally-mediated talks with the former Yugoslav republics, and underscored that the Yugoslav proposals, based on joint investments, provided the fairest criteria for the identification of state-owned property.

The Commission discussed and sent to the Federal Government a report on the participation of a Yugoslav delegation in a meeting of the Peace Implementation Council's Working Group for humanitarian issues held in Geneva in late in April.

The Commission noted that the Yugoslav delegation had drawn great attention at the Geneva meeting, above all because it presented the most comprehesive program for a lasting resoluton of the issue of refugees on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

The Commission said Yugoslavia was spending significan funds for the housing, food, clothes, footwear, health and social protection, and the schooling of refugees.

Yugoslavia bore the immense burder even in the hardest days of the international sanctions, sanctions whose consequences are still felt, especially due to the prevention of Yugoslavia's full reintegration into the international community and world financial institutions.

The Commission took the stand that a national plan for the resolution of the issue of refugees and displaced persons had to be finalized as soon as possible.

It endorsed a report on the third meeting of the International Commission for missing persons held in Zagreb under the chairmanship of Cyrus Vance. The International Commission is to meet next in Belgrade in June, the Government statement said.

[06] YUGOSLAV EXPERT: E.U. TRADE PREFERENCES HAVE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

The E.U. decision to grant trade preferences to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is an act of good will and good intentions, i.e. an implicit collective recognition of Yugoslavia's international and legal personality, Belgrade Economic Sciences Institute Director Tomislav Popovic said on Wednesday. Popovic was speaking at a regular press conference after the issuing of the Bulletin Mesecne Analize i Prognoze (Monthly Analyses and Forecasts).

He said that the decision enabled Yugoslavia to use the umbrella of the E.U., as a very important political, trade, economicand technological bloc, in its reintegration in the international community and the world market. Popovic said that without this bloc, it was difficult to expect any success in talks with the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Under the decision, Yugoslavia is institutionally equated with Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which reaffirms the E.U. strategic interest to stabilise the Balkans by liberalising economic relations between the three countries and their neighbours, Popovic said.

According to Popovic, the decision creates conditions for solving a series of problems stemming from the unresolved status of Yugoslav nationals in E.U. countries. The E.U. trade preferences will strengthen the position of Yugoslav companies in negotiations and in competition with foreign partners, he said. The preferences also create a general precondition for E.U. capital investments in the infrastructure development projects in the country and enables E.U. partners to conclude contracts with Yugoslavia, rather than being mere observers.

[07] INFORMATION MINISTER MILENTIJEVIC RECEIVES U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

Serbian Information Minister Radmila Milentijevic received Wednesday Charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade Richard Miles and U.S. Embassy Adviser John Brown. The U.S. Charge d'affaires conveyed his country's readiness to establish full cooperation and diversify relations with Yugoslavia and Serbia, a Government statement said.

Charge d'affaires Miles said the desired relations called for the Creation of conditions for further social changes in Yugoslavia interms of democratization, the exercise of human rights, and ownership transformation, according to the statement.

Minister Milentijevic pointed up the significance of the lifting of the 'outer wall' of sanctions against Yugoslavia for a stepped upprocess of privatization and overall democratization.

Miles was informed in detail about the situation and changes in the information area, especially the work done so far on the passage of a new Information Law.

Charge d'affaires Miles said positive changes had been noted, and Minister Milentijevic, for her part, set out that changes conducive to a further democratization would continue being made.

Milentijevic urged Miles to try and secure as many scholarships as possible for the specialization of young journalists at U.S. newspapers, TV stations, and universities. She said renown foreign journalists would be engaged to lecture at seminars for domestic journalists at home.

[08] UPPER HOUSE SPEAKER RECEIVES TURKISH AMBASSADOR

Tanjug, 1997-05-07

Speaker of the Upper House of Yugoslav Parliament Srdja Bozovic received the Turkish Ambassador to Yugoslavia Alev Kilic. Bozovic and Kilic expressed satisfaction with the successful resumption of parliamentary cooperation between the two countries and pointed to the need for its further development.

Parliamentary cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, can provide a great impetus to inter-state and other forms of cooperation among international community members, they noted.

Regional cooperation in the Balkans should be expanded in the interest of all states in the region, and Yugoslavia and Turkey can play a key role in maintaining peace and stability, they said.

Bozovic pointed to Yugoslavia's readiness for all forms of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

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