Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-05-12

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] POLICE SAY THERE ARE NO ROAD BLOCKS IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA

[02] THE WASHINGTON POST: RUGOVA REFUSES TO CONDEMN TERRORISTS

[03] VUCIC: FOREIGN MEDIA LAUNCH FORGED REPORTS ON KOSMET

[04] MORINA: ETHNIC ALBANIANS IN KOSMET ENJOY ALL MINORITY RIGHTS

[05] RATKO MARKOVIC MEETS WITH ITALIAN AMBASSADOR

[06] PRIME MINISTER KONTIC TERMS UNJUSTIFIED, ONE-SIDED PRESSURES ON YUGOSLAVIA

[07] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY OFFICIAL DACIC CONFERRED WITH BULGARIAN DEPUTY VIDENOV

[08] FOREIGN MINISTER JOVANOVIC RECEIVED FORMER ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ILIESCU

[09] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED FORMER ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ILIESCU

[10] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS SERIOUSLY WOUND THREE MEMBERS OF ONE FAMILY

[11] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED RICHARD HOLBROOKE

[12] TERRORISTS SHOOT AT A COLUMN OF POLICE CARS

[01] POLICE SAY THERE ARE NO ROAD BLOCKS IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

There are no road blocks in Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province, police sources told Tanjug on Monday evening. It was also stated that there were no blocks on the road linking Pec and Pristina. Ethnic Albanian terrorists wounded three Serbs in a car moving along the Pec-Pristina road Monday morning, after which reports were released saying that this road was blocked.

[02] THE WASHINGTON POST: RUGOVA REFUSES TO CONDEMN TERRORISTS

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Finally, western media have also noticed and openly reported that Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova persistently refuses to condemn terrorists and the so-called liberation army of Kosovo which is directly responsible for many murders of policemen and civilians in Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet). The Washington Post said on Monday in a report on the talks between U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke and Kosovo Albanians in Pristina, as well as officials in Tirana this weekend, that although Rugova claims he has no connection whatsoever with the rebels, he persists in rejecting the demands and pressure from the West to condemn them. The daily said the United States had condemned the liberation army of Kosovo as a terrorist organization, pointing out that it was getting stronger thanks to arms supplies smuggled in through the mountains from Albania. The Washington Post and some other local media, such as The New York Times, for example, report that Holbrooke had told Kosovo Albanian leaders and the Albanian leadership that problems in Kosovo must be resolved strictly in a peaceful manner.

Holbrooke presented this message in a diplomatic tone as support to Rugova and the Tirana leadership and their promise that non-violent methods would be used in settling problems. In a report from Skopje, The New York Times said separatism similar to that in Kosmet was also very strong among the Albanian national minority in Macedonia, where ethnic Albanians increasingly advocate an armed struggle against the country in which they live. The report also said a certain number of ethnic Albanians had crossed from Macedonia to Kosmet to join the so-called liberation army of Kosovo. The report also quotes statements by certain political officials of Skopje, who said that the separatism of ethnic Albanians, regardless of the country where they live, has the creation of a Greater Albania as its key objective.

[03] VUCIC: FOREIGN MEDIA LAUNCH FORGED REPORTS ON KOSMET

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday that there was an evident intention of certain foreign media to launch very negative reports for the Serb side about developments in Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet), using obvious forgeries in the process. Appearing in a Radio Belgrade talk show as guest speaker, Vucic said that, in addition to the foreign media, ethnic Albanian separatists and terrorists also have the support of some so-called independent media based in Belgrade, "which serve as logistics support."

"Independent media do not exist and no intelligent man can say that, because if someone from abroad finances a certain media, they decide also about the editorial policy," Vucic said. He said state media in Serbia should shed the stigma of being in a "slightly inferior position" imposed on them in public by the allegedly independent media.

To illustrate his claims about forgeries, Vucic mentioned a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television which said Serb snipers had fired at an ethnic Albanian funeral procession, while the showed film depicted quite the opposite. Ethnic Albanian terrorists were firing at a funeral procession with the mourners carrying a cross and with a Christian Orthodox church in the background. Vucic also gave the example of a report by a so-called independent paper published in Belgrade, "which does not hide that it is financed by Soros,". The report was illustrated with a photograph of ethnic Albanian women allegedly being mistreated by police, but the text did not say when and how they were mistreated, or if the police had at all intervened in that area. Pointing out the big role of radio as the fastest media, Vucic underscored that it was the obligation of all that the public, especially the foreign public, be informed duly on developments in Kosovo and Metohija in the best and most objective way, in order to show what is really happening in that southern Serbian province. "I would like the professionalism demonstrated by state media to be at an even higher level, in order to show those who are financed from abroad that a programme better than theirs is being made," said the Serbian Information Minister.

[04] MORINA: ETHNIC ALBANIANS IN KOSMET ENJOY ALL MINORITY RIGHTS

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Serbian Commissioner for Refugees Bratislava Morina said on Monday that ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija enjoy wider national rights than any other national minority in Europe and that the Serbian Constitution guarantees the same rights to all citizens of the Republic. Morina told Radio Yugoslavia that the human rights of all nations are not being threatened in Kosmet, but that the problem there lies in the separatist tendencies of a part of the Albanian national minority and their political leaders. Everyone in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) wants to preserve our country and we are investing huge efforts to establish a dialogue with the Albanians, Morina said. She expressed concern that the international community is not showing readiness to pressure the ethnic Albanian political leaders to open the talks. Morina set out that the ethnic Albanian leaders are not attending the talks because, in the sphere of national rights, the Republic of Serbia has given them everything and there is nothing else to ask for.

[05] RATKO MARKOVIC MEETS WITH ITALIAN AMBASSADOR

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Serbian Vice-Premier Ratko Markovic met on Monday with Italian Ambassador Riccardo Sessa to discuss possibilities for the faster resolution of the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija through political means and through an open dialogue between the representatives of the Government and the national minorities living in this province, the Serbian Information Ministry has said. Sessa underscored the expectations and need for speeding up and devising more efficient and concrete steps for establishing the dialogue. He said that the Government representatives have shown more cooperativeness and initiative than the representatives of the Kosovo Albanians. Sessa pointed out the interest and demand of the international community, and specially of the neighbouring countries, for the first expert talks which would represent a gradual movement towards a political dialogue and a peaceful way out of the crisis in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. In this sense, he proposed several different possibilities for finding a speedy solution to the crisis, ranging from the intensification of diplomatic initiatives, analysis of different forms of existing autonomies in the world, to the necessary serious analytical activities in the media sphere. Sessa positively assessed Markovic's recent letter to the Albanian side inviting it to participate in the dialogue. Sessa said that the letter is an example of a positive initiative within the framework set by the international community. Markovic thanked Sessa for his engagement and initiatives which contribute to the emergence of the truth and the faster opening up of the real possibilities for a fundamental dialogue on the crisis. Markovic expressed gratitude for the international community's support regarding Kosovo and Metohija's status as an integral part of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the inviolability of borders. He underscored the possible negative effect of the international community's sanctions against only one side in the expected dialogue.

[06] PRIME MINISTER KONTIC TERMS UNJUSTIFIED, ONE-SIDED PRESSURES ON YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic said on Monday that the sanctions and pressures applied against Yugoslavia were unjustified, one-sided and counter-productive. "They not only slow down democratic and transition processes in the country but also move further away realistic political options in the resolution of problems in Kosovo and Metohija, since they encourage ethnic-Albanian separatists and terrorists in their maximalist demands," Prime Minister Kontic said opening the Belgrade International Technology Fair. "Despite the constructive and peaceable policy pursued by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, despite the unquestionable contribution we make to the implementation of the Dayton agreement and despite the undisputable results we record in developing a model of market economy, we confront reservations and unjustified conditions regarding the normalization of our relations with international organizations and institutions," Kontic stressed. He set out that the development of market economy and the European option were the only alternatives for Yugoslavia and that Yugoslavia would not abandon the adopted economic policy for the current year.

Kontic said that Yugoslavia would "intensify cooperation with states and the companies which want to cooperate on foundations of equality and without political conditions."

[07] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARY OFFICIAL DACIC CONFERRED WITH BULGARIAN DEPUTY VIDENOV

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Chairman of the Chamber of Citizens Public Relations Committee and member of the same chamber's Foreign Policy Committee Ivica Dacic conferred on Monday with Bulgarian Deputy and former prime minister Zhan Videnov.

Both sides assessed that Kosovo and Metohija was an internal affair of Serbia and Yugoslavia and that all issues there could be resolved through direct and unconditional dialogue. In a lengthy and candid talk, the two sides set out that pressures on Serbia and Yugoslavia were unacceptable and were an attempt at destabilizing the entire Balkans.

Dacic and Videnov rejected all pressures and threats coming from some countries of the international community and their interference in the resolution of issues in the Balkans. The two sides underscored that the Balkans must be a zone of peace, cooperation and good-neighbourly relations. They pointed out the need for more active cooperation among parliaments of the Balkan countries and the direct exchange of information among them. Dacic reiterated Yugoslavia's firm commitment to good- neighbourly and friendly relations with Bulgaria, as well as with all countries of the Balkans, Europe, as a whole, and the world.

[08] FOREIGN MINISTER JOVANOVIC RECEIVED FORMER ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ILIESCU

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic received on Monday former Romania president and currently member of the Romanian Senate Ion Iliescu. In a friendly talk, views were exchanged about relations between the two countries, the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, regional cooperation and current trends in southeastern Europe and Europe as a whole. The talk reflected a lasting commitment to a further all-round development of traditionally friendly relations and cooperation between Yugoslavia and Romania in the spirit of good-neighbourly relations and the principles of the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation. Accent was placed on the importance of political dialogue between representatives of governments, parliaments and political parties and of direct contacts in the economic, cultural, scientific and other domains. Romanian Ambassador to Yugoslavia Panait Lefter also attended the meeting.

[09] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED FORMER ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ILIESCU

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic received on Monday the former Romanian president Ion Iliescu, now a senator and President of the Social Democracy Party. President Milosevic said he was happy to meet again the Romanian leader and Yugoslavia's friend, who has made a significant contribution to the development of good-neighbourly relations and cooperation between Yugoslavia and Romania. Milosevic and Iliescu exchanged views on issues of mutual concern and pointed to the importance Yugoslavia and Romania attach to intensifying political, economic and cultural ties among states and peoples in southeastern Europe. Open cooperation on the basis of equality is the best incentive to the consolidation of peace and stability in the region, they said. The meeting was attended also by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic and Romanian Ambassador to Yugoslavia Panait Lefter.

[10] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS SERIOUSLY WOUND THREE MEMBERS OF ONE FAMILY

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

Ethnic Albanian terrorists opened fire with automatic weapons on a car moving along the route linking Kosovska Mitrovica and Pec at about 10 a.m. local time on Monday seriously wounding three members of a family from a nearby village. Brothers Dragisa and Drakce Deverdzic and their sister Ilinka, from the village of Radisevo, were first taken to hospital in Pec and then transferred to the Clinical Centre in Pristina, centre of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, police sources told Tanjug. The sources quoted Dragisa Deverdzic, employed with Serbia's Postal, Telegraph and Telephone services, as saying he had recognised some of his neighbours among the terrorists.

[11] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED RICHARD HOLBROOKE

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic received on Monday a US delegation headed by Richard Holbrooke, which has returned to Yugoslavia after a one-day visit to Albania.

The meeting focused on bilateral relations and on the situation in the region. President Milosevic said that the policy of pressure should be replaced by a policy of confidence-building and of cooperation based on equality, as the best means of realizing the goals of regional stability, peace, economic and cultural cooperation among Balkan countries.

President Milosevic pointed to the importance of the respect of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states for the successful building of a stable and peaceful future in the Balkans. The meeting was attended also by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic.

[12] TERRORISTS SHOOT AT A COLUMN OF POLICE CARS

Tanjug, 1998-05-11

A column of police cars came under heavy fire from automatic weapons at Careva Cesma on the Pristina-Pec road in Kosovo and Metohija at around 7 a.m. local time on Monday, according to the Media Centre in the provincial capital of Pristina. There were no casualties among the policemen. The policemen fired back. No information is available about whether there were casualties among the attackers.

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