Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-06-17

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED BILDT

[02] FRY AND CROATIA COMMISSION TALKS RECEIVE SUPPORT

[03] YUGOSLAV LEFT NOMINATED MILOSEVIC AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

[04] MILUTINOVIC: RELATIONS NORMALIZED WITH LEADING WORLD COUNTRIES

[05] YUGOSLAV ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: YUGOSLAVIA IS A RELIABLE PARTNER TO FRIENDS

[06] YUGOSLAV AND IRAQI MIXED COMMITTEE MEETING OPENS

[07] SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN BUSINESSMEN INTEND TO DEVELOP COOPERATION

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED BILDT

Tanjug, 1997-06-16

Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic received on Monday in a farewell visit outgoing International Community's High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Carl Bildt who will be succeeded by former Spanish Foreign Minister Carlos Westendorph.

Attending the reception was Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic.

[02] FRY AND CROATIA COMMISSION TALKS RECEIVE SUPPORT

Tanjug, 1997-06-16

The Committee for the protection of the interests of displaced persons and their right to return to their homes supported, at a Monday meeting in Belgrade, the Agreement on social security reached by FR Yugoslavia and Croatia, and the Yugoslav State Commission's stand that the return of refugees to Croatia must be organised and collective.

Committee Chairman Borislav Mikelic said that after the ratification of the Agreement on social security in Yugoslav and Croatian parliaments over 40, 000 pensioners from Krajina will solve the problem of their pensions.

The Accord on social security is a prerequisite for the solution of other issues relating to pensions, disability and health care for all refugees from Croatia in the FRY, Mikelic said.

Despite statements made by President Tudjman in Vukovar that Croatia will not allow the return of all expelled Serbs, determination was expressed at the session that the Committee would continue to work actively on the return and especially on the solution of the issue of the property of refugees and expellees 'as that property does not belong to any president or state but to individual refugees.'

The current humanitarian situation in the FRY was assessed as very grave and the condition of the most destitute refugees and expellees is deteriorating every day. That is why the Committee has appealed to all humanitarian organisations in the FRY, and to Yugoslav clubs abroad to make additional efforts in sending humanitarian aid to refugees in the FRY.

Referring to the situation in Eastern Slavonia, the Committee supported the stand of the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry sent to the UN Security Council to extend the UNTAES mandate for six more months.

Finally, the Committee will appeal to the Yugoslav Government to draft a bill on dual citizenship for refugees and expellees.

[03] YUGOSLAV LEFT NOMINATED MILOSEVIC AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Tanjug, 1997-06-16

The Main Committee of the Yugoslav Left (JUL) nominated Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic as its candidate for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at its session on Monday chaired by JUL President Ljubisa Ristic.

A statement issued by JUL says that this proposal reflects the opinion and the trust of Yugoslavia's citizens and expresses the support of all JUL district, town and municipal committees and the will and aspirations of JUL organizations and members.

President Milosevic's peace policy aimed at preserving national dignity and state integrity and at saving the country from war, his contribution to the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and to the political and economic stabilization of the country, and his great international renown and influence justify the proposal, the statement says.

As a party represented in the Parliament, the Yugoslav Left endorses the proposal of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) for amending the Articles 97. and 98. of the Yugoslav Constitution as this initiative does not affect in any significant way the principles and provisions which guarantee the equality of the two Republics, members of the Yugoslav Federation - Serbia and Montenegro, the statement says.

The JUL Main Committee sees this initiative as a democratic act and is in full agreement with the similar corresponding principles in other democratic states which give to citizens the right and the possibility to elect the highest political and state leader of the country through direct, general and secret balloting, the statement says.

The Yugoslav Left advocates the full consolidation of the federal state as a community of citizens and states (member-republics) founded on the principle of equality, and the development and promotion of the constitutional system of the country in a manner which would reaffirm this goal. This stance demonstrates that JUL is a movement gathering together parties and individuals of leftist, democratic and patriotic orientation, the statement says.

The Main Committee is convinced that the JUL and SPS proposal to nominate Slobodan Milosevic as candidate for the presidential elections and to have the future President of Yugoslavia elected directly by the citizens clearly demonstrates the will of the citizens who believe that their prosperity is linked with the programs and the personality of Slobodan Milosevic, the statement says in conclusion.

[04] MILUTINOVIC: RELATIONS NORMALIZED WITH LEADING WORLD COUNTRIES

Tanjug, 1997-06-16

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic said on Friday that Yugoslavia had fully normalized relations with leading countries of the world.

'Relations have been normalized with seven of the G-8 Group of the most industrialized nations,' Milutinovic said at a session of the Council for International Cooperation of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).

The conditions set before our country as the so-called outer wall of sanctions are less and less convincing, and such pressure should become even weaker in the future.

Speaking about the current processes in the Balkans and in Europe, and Yugoslavia's foreign policy, minister Milutinovic warned that NATO's eastward expansion was a new reality which must be taken seriously.

He mentioned as an important element of the new reality in Europe the increasing importance of the left in the Old Continent, as well as the fact that there were fewer and fewer countries where a rightist government was in power.

Although this new left is transformed, it nevertheless brings a series of big and serious social changes in the behaviour of European countries, regarding such major issues as problems regarding employment, development and relations with the Third World, the big powers, in particular the United States, Milutinovic said.

These changes will also affect future relations within the European Union (E.U.). It remains to be seen if this organization will remain as it is or will undergo certain changes, said Milutinovic.

Commenting on the victory of the left at the parliamentary elections in France and Great Britain, Milutinovic said this could have a crucial effect on the further realization of the earlier agreed integration of the European Union.

Milutinovic singled out the implementation of the peace plan for Bosnia and all of former Yugoslavia as a major element of overall European stability.

The planned withdrawal of the Peace Force from Bosnia next year causes apprehension and puts pressure on all the conflicting sides and neighbouring countries, including the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Milutinovic said.

Speaking briefly about developments in neighbouring Albania, Milutinovic said there were no guarantees there for achieving the necessary stability even after the parliamentary elections planned for June 29.

Milutinovic marked as a very important event in the region, the Conference on economic-political cooperation and stability in the Balkans, which was held in Thessaloniki early last week.

'That is the first conference where Balkan countries adopted a concrete programme of action which they made themselves,' Milutinovic said.

He mentioned as a special quality of this meeting that very important problems of regional cooperation had been discussed for two days, and a series of initiatives adopted, including proposals put forth by Yugoslavia.

Milutinovic said the most important agreements at the Thessaloniki meeting were to hold annual meetings of foreign ministers of Balkan countries and summits of the heads of state or government of the regional countries. The Thessaloniki agreements are an important step in future cooperation among Balkan countries, Milutinovic said, adding that Yugoslavia's proposal for the founding of a Consultative Assembly of the Parliaments of Balkan countries had been accepted.

Milutinovic said that this form of establishing close relations among Balkan countries was a good way to achieve higher forms of cooperation, like the E.U. members did at one point.

The Balkan countries' Consultative Assembly should be made up of special deputy groups and it might become a Parliament of the countries of the region whose members would be chosen at elections, like in the European Union, Milutinovic said.

He said that Yugoslavia's idea had been accepted at the Thessalonika gathering for a maximum lifting of all barriers in economic cooperation, such as customs and other limitations. The consolidation of economic ties in the Balkans, inhabited by about 150 million people, is very important for a further development of the region, Milutinovic said.

'We have gained much support for the opening of six to ten European traffic corridors, which is of vital importance to us,' Milutinovic said and added that Yugoslavia had succeeded in getting a Regional Environment Protection Centre.

The environment protection problem is very important because it will continue to be a priority issue in Europe, Milutinovic pointed out, explaining why it is important that the FR of Yugoslavia has been the one granted the right to be the Regional Centre for the Protection of Environment in the Balkans.

In assessing the political achievements of the Thessalonika gathering, minister Milutinovic said that none of the participants had mentioned the Kosovo issue, which proved that the international community's stand on this issue was changing for the better.

Speaking about Bosnia, Milutinovic urged a balanced approach of the world's most influential countries and said that real and lasting stabilisation of political and economic circumstances was impossible without it.

Yugoslavia is interested in the normalisation of relations with Bosnia, which implies mutual opening and the abolishing of the visa regime, passport control and customs, i.e. a true economic integration, Milutinovic said.

If this level of relations is adopted, the Agreement on special relations between Yugoslavia and the Republika Srpska will get a new quality.

Milutinovic described Yugoslavia's relations with Macedonia as good and said that some disputed issues would be resolved during the coming visit to Belgrade of Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski.

The Yugoslav-Croatian relations are now burdened by Zagreb's fears from a mass return of Serb refugees, Milutinovic said and added that this was why the Croatian side stalled with accepting agreements that had previously been coordinated or should be initialled soon.

Yugoslavia and Croatia are in the process of making and realising 18 concrete agreements that regulate different economic and social issues (return of refugees, social insurance, pensions, border traffic and transport), Milutinovic said.

Despite present difficulties, progress should be expected in the Yugoslav- Croatian relations, Milutinovic said and added that the overall stability in all of the former Yugoslavia depended on it.

As for the Sirmium-Baranja Region, the U.N. Transitional Administration (UNTAES) force should remain there until the end of 1998 according to all previous agreements, Milutinovic said.

[05] YUGOSLAV ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: YUGOSLAVIA IS A RELIABLE PARTNER TO FRIENDS

Tanjug, 1997-06-16

Yugoslav Army Chief of General Staff Lt. gen. Momcilo Perisic said late on Monday that peace-oriented factors in the world should regard Yugoslavia and its army as a reliable partner and a friend, while for enemies they were an opponent to be reckoned with.

Speaking in a ceremony marking the Day of Yugoslav Army, Lt.gen. Perisic said the Yugoslav Army was being built as a core of defence of free and independent Yugoslavia, saying it would be the first to start defending the country in case of an armed aggression and the last to stop defending it.

Perisic said a decision to take the oldest date appearing in documents on a Military Alliance between Serbia and Montenegro as a day of their common army was well-grounded, although this military and state alliance was of a much older date and could not be separated from the joint opposition to common enemies manifested in all rebellions, battles and military operations, ranging from the Kosovo battle, the Balkan Wars to World War I and World War II.

He said that, in recent history that was yet to be recorded, following the tragic dismembering of the former Yugoslavia and chaos in neighbouring Albania, Serbia and Montenegro had preserved peace primarily owing to their firm ties in their common state * Yugoslavia.

He also said that Yugoslavs were a freedom-, justice- and dignity-loving people, but said they should not succumb to fantasies of glorious historic events, because there were two million troops in the immediate neighbourhood that was often affected by conflicting events or processes whose outcome was uncertain.

He said new processes were taking place in Europe and the Balkans that were both encouraging as well as threatening.

'It is encouraging that the international community has taken steps to bring peace to our immediate neighbourhood, but the deployment of more troops poses a threat in the region where peace has just been restored,' he said.

Referring to adverse effects of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, Perisic said efforts to prevent Serbs from returning to their ancestral lands were tantamount to terrorism and crime that were in the service of revanchism, separatism and territorial claims.

Perisic said in these lands, there was a clash of interests of many factors that sought their self-proclaimed rights, saying the Yugoslav people's right to protect their territory and the territory of their descendants was eternal and inviolable.

He said the Yugoslav Army had acted as a stabilising factor, saying it had preserved the unity of the Yugoslav people and the territory that it had been entrusted to defend under the Federal Constitution.

He said it had ensued security to state officials in their numerous talks, saying that, in reaching international agreements, they had accepted only those solutions that were possible and rational in the given conditions.

Perisic said the Yugoslav Army was faced with serious trials, saying the fate of Bosnian Serbs was uncertain while pressure was still being exerted on Yugoslavia.

He said the country's position was primarily the result of the world's power-wielders' hypocritical attitude and the country's inability to learn from its eventful history how it should act now as well as in the future.

Also present were Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, Yugoslav Vice-Premier Nikola Sainovic, Yugoslav Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Sokolovic, Serbian Premier Mirko Marjanovic, Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, Patriarch Pavle of the Serbian Orthodox Church, top Yugoslav Army officials, Belgrade- based diplomats and prominent public figures.

[06] YUGOSLAV AND IRAQI MIXED COMMITTEE MEETING OPENS

Tanjug, 1997-06-16

The Yugoslav-Iraqi Mixed Committee meeting opened in Belgrade on Monday chaired by Yugoslav Foreign Trade Minister Borislav Vukovic, one of the co- Chairmen.

The Iraqi delegation is headed by Mohamed Mahdi Saleh, Trade Minister and Chairman of the Iraqi part of the Committee, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said.

Possibilities were reviewed for resuming and developing cooperation, which was very intensive before 1990.

In view of Security Council sanctions, still in force against Iraq, possibilities are sought for cooperation in conditions of sanctions, primarily within the Program oil for food, where the offers of some Yugoslav firms are being considered.

Talks also tackled possibilities of expanding cooperation in the period once international conditions are created for that.

A particular area of interest for both countries is the settling of mutual debts, and agreement was reached to find solutions through new arrangements and business cooperation between firms, the statement said.

[07] SERBIAN AND BULGARIAN BUSINESSMEN INTEND TO DEVELOP COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1997-06-16

President of the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce Mihailo Milojevic met on Monday the President of the Bulgarian Parliament Business Committee Georgi Gonchev to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, the Chamber Press Service said in a statement.

Serbian and Bulgarian businessmen intend to promote bilateral ties in all fields, it was noted during the meeting.

Gonchev and Milojevic noted that economic rapprochement of Balkan states was one of important factors of stability in the region, the statement said.

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