Serbia Today, 97-05-20

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

Serbia Today

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED IGOR IVANOV

[02] BREACHING THE DAYTON DOCUMENT

[03] YUGOSLAVIA IS ONE OF THE MAJOR RUSSIAN FOREIGN TRADE PARTNERS

[04] ANOTHER CAMPAIGN BY THE CROATIAN REGIME NEWSPAPERS

[05] EQUAL RIGHTS FOR MINORITIES

[06] INVITATION TO DISCUS THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT LAW

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED IGOR IVANOV

Politika, 1997-05-20

Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister received - Mr. Igor Ivanov - accompanied by his assistants. The talks concerned the further evolution of bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries, as well as current international issues of mutual interest. Both sides agreed that the constant political dialogue between FR Yugoslavia and Russia has major bearing, and that a mutual determination to strengthen relations and enhance cooperation exists. One of the priorities is the improvement of the economic relations, and special attention has been dedicated to their promotion. The contribution given by FR Yugoslavia to the stabilization of the political situation in the region has also been stressed, along with the major responsibility to coherently implement the Dayton-Paris documents on peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The consistent realization of the Basic Agreement on the Srem-Baranja Region has also been given specific importance, in view of the need to normalize the situation and efficiently protect the rights and freedoms of all people living in this particular area.

After meeting with President Milosevic, Mr. Ivanov stated that his country endorses the return of Yugoslavia into all international organizations. "It is a question of principle for us, and we pursue it actively in all international institutions" said Mr. Ivanov. He also stressed that Moscow is pleased with the development of political relations between Russia and Yugoslavia, stressing however that additional efforts must be made to enhance the economic relations between the two countries.

[02] BREACHING THE DAYTON DOCUMENT

Vecernje Novosti, 1997-05-20

The Dayton Agreement defines the position of the Republic of Srpska, and one can say that our rating is directly related to the attitude of the international community in implementing the agreement, said Prof. Dr. Aleksa Buha, Republic of Srpska Deputy Premier, Foreign Minister and Acting President of the Serbian Democratic Party. Speaking about the elements of the Dayton document, which are constantly being ignored, Mr. Buha offered the following example: "The Agreement specifies that the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are to have joint foreign affairs and foreign trade. We should be covering one third of the embassies or a third of the staff in each embassy. The deadline for the implementation of this particular part of the Agreement expired on March 31. Ambassador posts and all other positions in diplomatic service have been usurped by Moslem staff , and the international community has shown no determination to honor the specified deadline." Prof. Buha also commented upon the donors conference for the Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina stressing that even back in December 1995 when the international community efforts to reconstruct Bosnia were launched, "we had no illusions on equal treatment of the two state entities." Even though it had been announced that RS should receive one third of the anticipated 5 billion dollars of aid, after a year 1.2 billion dollars have been allocated to the Bosnian Federation, only 2 percent being diverted to the Republic of Srpska - underscored Prof. Dr. Buha. There are no signs that a new conference of the donors is to be held. "Either the international community can not secure the aid that has been announced, or it is looking for a way to repeat last year's methods of distribution. Still the economic depauperation of Republic of Srpska is not the biggest problem we are facing. Far more serious is the fact that the international factors are preventing even private companies from investing in RS." - warned Mr. Buha.

[03] YUGOSLAVIA IS ONE OF THE MAJOR RUSSIAN FOREIGN TRADE PARTNERS

Borba, 1997-05-20

This year, Yugoslavia will join the so-called "Billionaires" club, i.e. become one of the ten countries having a trade volume with Russia in excess of one billion dollars - said the head of the Russian trade office in Belgrade - Mr. Lev Antoshcenkov. This forecast is based on the results of the economic cooperation between the two countries in the first trimester when the trade volume reached 212 million dollars. The Russian official stressed that this analysis does not include the services of Yugoslav construction firms operating in Russia, which reached (according to most conservative estimates) some 240 million dollars last year. This gives us the right to set the billion dollars objective - observed Mr. Antoshcenkov adding that Russia will remain the primary trade partner for Yugoslavia.

[04] ANOTHER CAMPAIGN BY THE CROATIAN REGIME NEWSPAPERS

Politika, 1997-05-20

The peaceful re-integration of Baranja, Western Srem and Eastern Slavonia is now entering its most delicate phase, the return of refugees being its hardest part in view of the latest sorry events in the Serbian villages around the town of Kostajnica, where organized mobs assaulted the Serbs that had returned home. Details regarding these despicable incidents are already well-known - three dozen people have been savagely beaten, and about a hundred Serbian houses have been demolished - but Croatian regime- controlled newspapers are making every possible effort to minimize the lynching. This re-proposes the situation that followed the operations of the Croatian Army in western Slavonia and Krayina (two years ago) - when these same newspapers insisted that no crimes had been committed against Serbian civilians, even though the real truth and the epilogue were already known. Whilst independent papers, humanitarian organizations and many international official observers have supplied field reports about the events that recently appalled the world, the Zagreb daily "Vjesnik" reports that "there are no traces of burned villages" around the town of Kostajnica. The "Slobodna Dalmacija" reports from the zone of Banija even speak of "illegal Serbian settlers around Kostajnica", even though all Serbs that returned had valid Croatian personal documents, meaning that they are Croatian citizens enjoying equal rights - unless some secret law or government instruction exists in this regard. All these fabrications and lies are clearly intended to hide from the public the shameful violence, perpetrated with the unreserved support of the local authorities. The Zupan (County Superintendent) of Sisak - Mr. Djura Brodarac even tried to publicly justify the attacks that brought anarchy to the entire Kostajnica zone. Probably the best illustration of the mob attacks of Croatian settlers against unprotected Serbian refugees (prevalently elderly people) is offered by an article published yesterday by the Split newspaper "Feral Tribune". The reporter registered on the spot the conversation between the bewildered mob and a Croatian policeman. "People, stop. It's fifty against one, it isn't fair! " - said the police officer. "What do you want? Aren't you a Croat?". - "I am, we all are. That's why I am telling you this! You are just to many. Split up into groups of two or there. Then grab one of them and take him to the forest, instead of doing it like a mob. It's too obvious. There are reporters around."

[05] EQUAL RIGHTS FOR MINORITIES

Politika Ekspres, 1997-05-20

Mr. Ivan Sedlak - Minister without Portfolio in the Serbian Cabinet - received yesterday a delegation of the Moraca-Rozafa Society from Albania, whose members include Albanian citizens of Serbian and Montenegrin ethnic origin. The delegation was headed by the Society Secretary General and Chairman of the Human Rights Party for Scutary - Mr. Milan Bojovic. The delegation members have been informed about the plans of the Serbian Government to dedicate particular attention to the implementation and enhancement of human and minority rights as part of the general democratization process in our society. Minister Sedlak underscored that the ethnic Albanians in Serbia enjoy the same rights as the other citizens, but that the separatist activity pursued for many years by the leaders of political parties and groups in Kosovo and Metohija, alienated the ethnic Albanians from active participation in the political, economic and social life in Serbia. The Serbian Government is determined to settle all problems related to the involvement of ethnic Albanians in normal life and work environment in a democratic and civilized way, relying on system institutions, said Mr. Sedlak. At the same time, Serbia and Yugoslavia believe that Albania - within the framework of its regulations and European standards - should also provide basic human and ethnic rights to all its citizens belonging to ethnic communities - including Serbs and Montenegrins - thus helping build trust and better relations between the two neighboring countries - Mr. Sedlak said.

[06] INVITATION TO DISCUS THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT LAW

Politika, 1997-05-20

The Serbian Government is preparing a legal project that will regulate a number of important issues concerning local self-government and address various questions regarding the organization and functioning of towns and municipalities in Serbia, reads the letter that Prime Minister Marjanovic circulated to the parliamentary parties. "We believe that two questions have a central position in this legal project. Firstly, the functioning of the local self-government in multi-ethnic communities, and secondly the elimination of noted weak points in the procedure for the election of local self-government bodies. Due to the fact that the solutions offered by this law greatly affect the improvement of conditions in which the citizens live and work, we believe that it would be very useful to exchange opinions with the chairmen of parliamentary parties on these and other issues linked to the forthcoming activities of the Serbian Government, its competency and duty to initiate legal activities that will enhance and further democratize the political life in Serbia." - reads the letter. At its session held yesterday, the Serbian Government discussed the draft version of the Law on Local Self-Government. Following consultations the Government will formulate the final document and submit it to the Parliament for approval.

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