Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-06-09

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER TO LEAVE FOR SALONIKA

[02] IFRC OFFICIAL SAYS SERBIA WAS LABELLED

[03] OVER 65,000 REFUGEE VOTERS REGISTERED IN YUGOSLAVIA

[04] YUGOSLAVIA - INTERNATIONAL VISITS

[05] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION VISITS IRAN

[06] YUGOSLAV VICE-PRIME MINISTER IN SYRIA AND JORDAN

[07] BALKAN COUNTRIES RENEW MULTILATERAL COOPERATION

[01] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER TO LEAVE FOR SALONIKA

Tanjug, 1997-06-08

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic will participate in a ministerial meeting of southeastern European countries in Salonika on June 9-10 at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos.

The meeting will be a continuation of the process of multilateral regional cooperation and will be devoted to the strengthening of confidence, stability and good neighbourly relations in the region.

The ministers are expected to work out concrete proposals and initiatives for promoting cooperation among the Balkan countries.

In addition to Greece and Yugoslavia, the participants will include Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania. A number of countries will attend the meeting as observers.

Representatives of the 'Contact Group' for Bosnia-Herzegovina, the OSCE, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Central European Initiative, the US initiative for cooperation in southeastern Europe, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have also confirmed their arrival.

The participants in the meeting are expected to adopt a declaration on good neighbourly relations, stability, security and cooperation in the Balkans.

[02] IFRC OFFICIAL SAYS SERBIA WAS LABELLED

Tanjug, 1997-06-06

Representative of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Alistair Henderson of Australia told Tanjug on Friday that Serbia had been labelled in the world public and that injustice had to be redressed for the sake of the truth.

Henderson said that in the three and a half months he had spent on logistic operations in Yugoslavia he realised that Serbs were not a satanic people as described by foreign media.

He said he had visited over 40 Red Cross offices and saw that Serbia assisted refugees with much attention and material sacrifice.

Henderson said that a false image of Serbs had been created because politics was entering all pores of public life but that politics could not change the principles of the Red Cross founder, which in fact represented the conscience of the mankind.

Henderson said that foreign donations would stop because there were other crisis regions in the world which need humanitarian aid, but that he believed that Yugoslavia would stand on its own feet.

[03] OVER 65,000 REFUGEE VOTERS REGISTERED IN YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1997-06-07

In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia more than 65,000 potential voters have registered for the 13-14 Sept. elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina since the start of this process on May 5, Vladimir Cucic, the Chairman of the Federal Government Committee for Aiding Refugees in the Elections, has said.

Cucic told a press conference that currently indications are that the electorate has responded well over the past few days. He expressed hope this figure would reach the 70,000-mark by June 14 when the registration ends.

'This means that the majority of the 87,000 who are entitled to chose option A, i.e. to vote in the place where they lived in 1991, responded to the registration call, while about 4,000 persons chose option B, i.e. the place where they intend to live in the future, and this is the result of the strict rules set out by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,' Cucic said.

He underscored that this year the registration process passed without any problems and that its characteristic is that it primarily reflected the will of the individual and his decision whether and for which option to register.

'Registering for the elections in Bosnia, or the failure to do so, will have no effect on the refugees in FRY and is not linked to any conditions. Certain manipulations that refugees who register will be sent back are untrue because this did not happen last year either,' Cucic said.

He set out that this fear had been conveyed to the refugees in FRY from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden since these countries have announced the mass return of refugees following the September elections.

According to Cucic, the only consequence for the refugees in FRY who fail to register within the set deadline is that, in keeping with the OSCE rules, they will be unable to cast their ballots at the September elections in Bosnia.

[04] YUGOSLAVIA - INTERNATIONAL VISITS

Tanjug, 1997-06-06

The Government adopted the plan of international visits till the end of the year prepared by the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The plan reflects the increased need for foreign political activities and the greatest attention is devoted to visits which will lead to the full reintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the international community and its full return into political, financial, trade and other international and regional organisations and forums.

One of the basic Yugoslav foreign political priorities is the continuation of normalisation of relations with former Yugoslav republics, as well as with all other neighbouring countries. The greatest importance has been attached to the European option of our foreign policy.

The Government reviewed and approved a report on the visit of the Yugoslav expert delegation to the European Union Commission in Brussels.

Appropriate departments have been charged with undertaking further measures for creating conditions for making the most efficient possible use of the autonomous trade measures adopted by the European Union.

[05] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION VISITS IRAN

Tanjug, 1997-06-08

A Yugoslav state and economic delegation, headed by Yugoslav Foreign Trade Minister Borislav Vukovic, met on Sunday with Iranian Economy and Finance Minister Mortaz Han and his associates.

The delegations exchanged views about concrete possibilities for promoting bilateral economic cooperation, especially in trade and cooperation in the field of investment and technology.

The Yugoslav delegation discussed bilateral financial cooperation with Iranian Central Bank Governor Azizi.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati on Sunday received Vukovic. The two sides agreed that bilateral relations should enter a new phase based on tradition of a once wide friendly cooperation and new mutually useful economic relations.

Iran appreciates Yugoslavia's role in the stabilisation of the Balkan region and supports its right to take its place in all international organs.

Consultations on bilateral issues were held at the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday, with the participation of Foreign Ministry Director Vladimir Krsljanin on the Yugoslav side and ranking Foreign Ministry officials Mahmud Vaezi and Ebrahim Rahimpur on the Iranian side.

[06] YUGOSLAV VICE-PRIME MINISTER IN SYRIA AND JORDAN

Tanjug, 1997-06-08

Yugoslav Vice-Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic arrives Sunday evening in Amman on an official visit to Jordan following a successful two-day tour of Syria.

On Saturday, his first day in Damascus, Sainovic was received by President Hafiz Al-Assad whom he presented with a personal message from Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic. Al-Aassad spoke about the friendship between the peoples of the two countries, underscoring that memories of relations with Yugoslavia are deep and lasting. 'We are always your friends and this is why we are willing to promote all forms of cooperation,' Al-Assad said. He wished the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia further advancement so that it could take its rightful place in the world.

Sainovic also met with Prime Minister Mahmud Al Zoebi with whom he agreed that it is necessary to find concrete forms of cooperation in keeping with the former good relations. Sainovic and Al Zoebi agreed on international topics which were discussed and that peace and stability in the Balkans and in the Middle East should be maintained.

During plenary talks between the two delegations at the Government seat in Damascus, expressed was readiness for renewing and promoting bilateral cooperation, primarily in the economic and trade spheres.

Sainovic proposed joint ventures on third markets and the engagement of Yugoslav experts on development projects throughout Syria. He invited the representatives of Syrian companies to visit FRY.

The two sides underscored the need for exchanging expert groups.

At the end of the first day in Syria, the Yugoslav delegation met with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara. Both sides expressed readiness to promote relations between the two countries and rise them to higher levels.

During the crisis in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Syria maintained a correct attitude towards this country and did not withdraw its Ambassador from Belgrade.

[07] BALKAN COUNTRIES RENEW MULTILATERAL COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1997-06-06

The main purpose of the renewal of the multilateral cooperation of Balkan countries is the strengthening of good-neighbourly relations, stability and confidence in the region, Head of the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry Department for Neighbouring Countries Ambassador Vucicevic said friday on Radio Belgrade.

'The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as the initiator of the cooperation among countries of the region, plays an active role in the resumption of the process proceeding from its strategic foreign-policy commitment to peace, cooperation and good-neighbourly relations in the Balkans. Yugoslavia makes a major contribution with its overall policy to the strengthening of positive trends in the region and thus to the creation of a basis for the strengthening of the regional cooperation,' Ambassador Vucicevic said.

He set out that the conference of Balkan foreign ministers to be held in Salonika June 9-10 was a confirmation of the continuity of the regional cooperation and of that cooperation being embraced by all Balkan countries.

The Yugoslav official said the conference was to adopt a document which would facilitate the development of various forms of cooperation and stress the region's European orientation, since he noted 'it is not possible to round off the process of European integration without the full participation of the Balkan countries.'

Ambassador Vucicevic underscored that, regardless of numerous differences among Balkan countries, there were areas in which multilateral cooperation was already maintained, such as science, economy, culture and sports.

He said that 'everything conducive to better mutual knowledge and closer ties surely positively reflects on the overall climate for constructive cooperation among Balkan countries in the interest of more than a million people living in the region.'

Commenting several initiatives for Balkan cooperation raised outside the region, including the initiatives of the European Union and the US, Ambassador Vucicevic said that Balkan countries were interested in all initiatives aimed at strengthening stability in the region and stepping up the region's economic and democratic development and helping it draw closer to developed European countries.

'If initiatives are to be productive, they must be complementary and all countries of the region must be included in their realization on an equal footing. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has always supported such an approach to regional cooperation and is ready within those frameworks fully and constructively to contribute to the realization of the planned activities and projects. These are the positions which Yugoslavia will advocate at the upcoming meeting in Salonika,' Ambassador Vucicevic said on Radio Belgrade.

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