Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-07-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAVIA IS INCREASINGLY BEING APPRECIATED IN THE WORLD

[02] YUGOSLAVIA GIVES PRIORITY TO NORMALISATION WITH THE WORLD

[03] BILDT REJECTS SEPARATIST OPTION ON 'KOSOVO STATE'

[04] PROTOCOL ON COOPERATION

[05] REFUGEES FACE VERY SERIOUS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

[06] VICE PREMIER SAYS MUSLIMS OBSTRUCT ELECTIONS

[07] BOSNIAN CROATS, MUSLIMS MUTILATE BODIES OF SERBS

[01] YUGOSLAVIA IS INCREASINGLY BEING APPRECIATED IN THE WORLD

Kontic positively assessed the participation of a Yugoslav delegation he had headed at the summit of Central and East European countries in Salzburg. He said that the summit had expressed expectations that in the coming period Yugoslavia would play a key role in strengthening peace and stability in the region.

'The summit often said Yugoslavia was the guarantor of security in the territory of Southeast Europe,' he said.

Kontic said that at the summit, attended by more than ten heads of state or government, certain statements had reflected discord and the failure to comprehend the situation in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. However, of importance is the increased readiness of all to support Yugoslavia's return into international political and financial institutions and its participation in subregional and regional cooperation in Europe, he said.

Kontic underscored that the summit agreed that the sanctions should fully be lifted, especially their 'outer wall' since this could prevent Yugoslavia from being a factor of peace and stability in the Balkans, as the international community expects.

Kontic said that the Yugoslav delegation had presented very successfully Yugoslavia's economic abilities and informed foreign delegations and businessmen about its new economic system and the recently adopted organic laws.

According to Kontic, businessmen from Central and East European countries, as well as those from the West, have shown great interest in cooperation with the Yugoslav economy. Yugoslavia is very interested in normalizing relations with the European Union 'in a positive and pragmatic' manner, Kontic said.

The conditions posed by E.U. for normalizing relations do not present a problem, as E.U. requests are in fact identical with Yugoslavia's goals and with the stance of its government, Kontic said, noting however that such tasks and goals cannot be achieved overnight as many things are beyond the control of the Yugoslav side.

Kontic cited as example the request for normalizing relations with the new states in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, underlining that Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had done all it could and that it was now up to others to act.

[02] YUGOSLAVIA GIVES PRIORITY TO NORMALISATION WITH THE WORLD

Prime Minister Radoje Kontic was speaking for the Belgrade weekly Intervju, which appears on Thursday.

Kontic said that the outer wall of sanctions was still there and hampered the return of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to world organisations and institutions, blocking its free access to the world capital market.

He said that stepping up bilateral and multilateral cooperation with other states, intensifying structural changes and the privatisation process and raising business efficacy were among the government's priorities.

The recently adopted foreign investment regulations are highly liberal and stimulating, as are concessions, Kontic said. He explained that regulations in the spheres of foreign trade, hard-currency transactions and tariffs were all in the service of attracting foreign capital.

Kontic said that by normalising relations with the International Monetary Fund and the Paris and London clubs of creditors, Yugoslavia would gain access to the world capital market, new credit arrangements and unfreezing of its assets in foreign banks.

The regulation of Yugoslavia's membership in the IMF would automatically regulate its membership in the World Bank, he said, adding that Yugoslavia had drafted adequate programmes and would be ready at the proper time to open talks with that institution, too.

Kontic said that Yugoslavia was trying to regulate its membership in the IMF in a pragmatic way, without broaching the question of continuity with former Yugoslavia, but requiring the IMF not to insist on succession, either.

He said that, in its talks with the London and Paris clubs of creditors and the task force for succession, Yugoslavia had from the first insisted on dealing with economic issues on the principle of common contribution and equal justice, not of economic continuity.

Insistence on economic continuity would mean that Yugoslavia has pretensions on the sole right to all assets and all obligations of the former common state, he explained.

Kontic said that unpaid maturities on foreign credits had reached billions of dollars during the four years of the United Nations' sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia is unable to meet these obligations at present, so it is necessary that they be rescheduled and refinanced, he explained.

Kontic said that the other side in the normalisation talks with the IMF had at first made some political conditions, but these had since been dropped, on the Yugoslav side's insistence on keeping political and economic issues apart.

He said that Yugoslavia's assets abroad were still unjustifiably blocked, slowing down the process of structural changes and privatisation.

[03] BILDT REJECTS SEPARATIST OPTION ON 'KOSOVO STATE'

Bildt said the issue must be resolved within this Yugoslav republic.

This should be done through the principle of respecting existing state borders, because experience from other areas has taught us that the principle is very important, Bildt said.

In an interview to the Albanian-language Buiku paper published in Pristina, the capital of the province, Bildt said his preoccupation referred to the respect of human rights in Kosmet, adding that he makes efforts to contribute towards the establishment of a dialogue between Albanians and the Serbian authorities, to enable a satisfactory degree of human rights for all.

We are looking for possibilities of initiating a dialogue, Bildt said, rejecting any possible parallel between the Republika Srpska, the Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosmet.

[04] PROTOCOL ON COOPERATION

The Federal Defense Ministry said the document will regulate in the next five years mutual obligations of the Yugoslav Defense Ministry and of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The protocol provides for the training of Yugoslav Army professionals to implement the Geneva convention and positive regulations in the field of humanitarian law. Specialized courses are to be organized in Yugoslavia, Yugoslav army officers are expected to take part in international courses and special publications in the field of humanitarian law will be issued.

[05] REFUGEES FACE VERY SERIOUS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

Serbian Red Cross President Slobodanka Gruden and Yugoslav Red Cross General Secretary Rade Dubajic said at a joint meeting that it is necessary to warn both the domestic and international public about the huge problems in providing for the 700,000 refugees, of whom the majority have found shelter with relatives and friends.

Gruden and Dubajic said that of primarily importance is to find a way to secure food and personal hygiene packages, because the European Union's Humanitarian Office has this month stopped sending aid for refugees in private accommodations.

Gruden and Dubajic also warned that the situation in collective accommodation centres is alarming since there are no means for maintaing these facilities.

[06] VICE PREMIER SAYS MUSLIMS OBSTRUCT ELECTIONS

Republika Srpska Vice Premier Velibor Ostojic was speaking to reporters after meeting with Demiamin Karakosanoglu, regional director of the OSCE.

Ostojic said that some international factors were stimulating the Muslims to the utmost to complicate the situation in connection with the Dayton accords.

Threats of banning the Serb Democratic Party from the elections unless it replaces its leader Radovan Karadzic carry the risk of the elections not being held at all, he said. This might be the aim of some forces which have a motive to continue the war and are providing themselves with an alibi and a scape-goat, he added.

[07] BOSNIAN CROATS, MUSLIMS MUTILATE BODIES OF SERBS

The identification of many of the victims was not possible even by their families, Stankovic, who worked on the identification, told reporters in the Herzegovina town of Bileca.

All the details have been registered. The ways in which the bodies were mutilated have been established in the majority of cases, on which detailed files are available. The complete documentation has been sent to international judicial authorities.

Stankovic and his team have examined about 5,000 bodies of Serb victims since the outbreak of the Bosnian war. The list is not final, because, according to Bosnian Serb sources, the bodies of many Serb victims remain on the territory of what is today the Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation.

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