Yugoslav Daily Survey, 96-11-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES YOUTH DELEGATION OF THE RULING GREEK PARTY PASOK

[02] AID TO REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA WILL BE PROVIDED

[03] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER MILUTINOVIC MEETS WITH E.U. COUNCIL PRESIDENT SPRING

[04] E.U. MINISTERIAL COUNCIL TO DISCUSS COOPERATION WITH YUGOSLAVIA

[05] BELGRADE DELEGATION ATTENDS MOSCOW CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN REGIONS

[06] SWITZERLAND FORMALLY LIFTS SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

[07] SOCIALISTS AND YUGOSLAV LEFT WIN AT REPEATED LOCAL ELECTIONS

[08] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SAID CITIZENS OPTED FOR CONTINUITY

[09] SERBIAN TRADE UNIONS CRITICISE OPPOSITION'S CALL FOR VIOLENCE

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES YOUTH DELEGATION OF THE RULING GREEK PARTY PASOK

The Greek delegation informed Milosevic about their activities in establishing cooperation and friendly relations between the people of Yugoslavia and Greece, and about the very positive experiences created through this cooperation.

Milosevic expressed satisfaction over the two countries' comprehensive and successful cooperation. He asked the Greek youth delegation to convey his greetings to Greek President Costas Simitis.

[02] AID TO REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA WILL BE PROVIDED

Morina said the meeting in Geneva with U.N. High Commissioner for refugees Sadako Ogata and other prominent figures working for humanitarian agencies had helped to present the real situation of the refugees in Yugoslavia. She said Yugoslavia was near the top of the list for humanitarian aid, conducive to which are a number of internationally controlled regulations which had established that Yugoslavia supported more than 600,000 refugees.

Morina said Ogata had promised at the coming London Conference to bring up the question of re-activating donors, whose aid would be sent directly to Yugoslavia.

[03] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER MILUTINOVIC MEETS WITH E.U. COUNCIL PRESIDENT SPRING

The meeting with Spring, Ireland's Foreign Minister, took place shortly after Milutinovic's arrival earlier on Monday on a three-day visit to the European Parliament, the European Union and Belgium.

Expressing pleasure at the meeting, the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia said that the talks were a continuation of what had become a permanent high-level dialogue being maintained with E.U. officials.

Milutinovic said that E.U. Council President Lamberto Dini and European Commission President Jacques Santer had visited Belgrade in June, and that Spring and Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek had been in Belgrade after taking office in July. The talks had been devoted to a further normalisation and expansion of mutual relations as part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's reintegration in the International Community, Milutinovic said.

There had been a detailed exchange of views, he added, about the current stage in the Peace Process, primarily the implementation of the Dayton/Paris Accords and the basic agreement for the Srem-Baranya region. Minister Spring had stressed again the importance of the role played by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in dealing with the region's problems, Milutinovic said.

He added that the European Union's autonomous measures in the treatment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had also been discussed. Milutinovic explained that the feeling seemed to be that Yugoslavia should be put on the list of countries for the application of these measures, which was a first step in the process of normalising its cooperation with the European Union.

After this, he added, talks should be held on establishing normal cooperation which should result in the signing of corresponding agreements. This should formally and substantively define a framework for lasting and mutually advantageous cooperation, in which there was an interest, he stressed.

In the context of Yugoslav-Irish cooperation, both sides had said they expected bilateral cooperation to be intensified and expanded in the coming period, Milutinovic said. As part of this, he added, the FRY and Ireland were expected to open diplomatic representations in each other's capitals, which should undoubtedly add another plank to their cooperation platform.

On the whole, Milutinovic said, the talks had been highly positive and represented a further step toward's defining positions and better understanding of each other's policies.

He said he had no doubt but that the process would lead to a speedy conclusion of agreements on cooperation and a full restoration of cooperation between Yugoslavia and the European Union.

[04] E.U. MINISTERIAL COUNCIL TO DISCUSS COOPERATION WITH YUGOSLAVIA

The E.U. countries will subsequently decide about applying a system of autonomous trade measures towards Yugoslavia which would truly normalize cooperation between Yugoslavia and the European Union, according to a statement released in Brussels. The measures will regulate the export of textile and other products under the export quotas granted to former Yugoslavia in the E.U. market and which were denied Yugoslavia during the four years of international sanctions.

The Ministerial Council is expected to discuss also expanding the preferential trade scheme to include Yugoslavia where its export of agricultural produce to the European Union is concerned.

The foreign ministers heard a report by the International Community's High Representative Carl Bildt in which he made a favourable assessment of the unfolding of the Peace Process in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

[05] BELGRADE DELEGATION ATTENDS MOSCOW CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN REGIONS

The participants of the meeting, organized by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Government of the Russian Federation and Moscow City Administration, were welcomed by Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

Belgrade Deputy Mayor Slobodan Drobnjakovic and President of the Congress of European local and regional authorities Claude Haegi discussed on Monday Yugoslav development projects and prospects for foreign investments. The Belgrade delegation will meet on Tuesday Russian ministers of construction and energy and bank representatives to discuss future cooperation between Moscow and Belgrade.

[06] SWITZERLAND FORMALLY LIFTS SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

The Swiss Government's act has been described as a new impetus to the promotion of relations between Yugoslavia and Switzerland, since both sides maintain there are good conditions for this.

Switzerland was among the first to support the United Nations' October 1 decision on the lifting of the embargo against Yugoslavia. Contacts between Yugoslav and Swiss officials and businessmen followed the lifting of sanctions. According to Swiss businessmen, the level of the economic cooperation between Yugoslavia and Switzerland is likely to exceed the levels preceding the imposition of the sanctions in late May 1991.

[07] SOCIALISTS AND YUGOSLAV LEFT WIN AT REPEATED LOCAL ELECTIONS

The coalition 'Zajedno' ('Together'), consisting of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), the Democratic Party (DS) and the Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS), received five seats or 12.86%, the opposition Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and a Group of Citizens 2 seats each or 2.86%, and the coalition 'Vojvodina' and the Democratic Association of Vojvodina Hungarians 1 seat each or 1.43%.

The vote was also repeated on Sunday for ten seats in the Vojvodina Assembly. Here, SPS won 6 seats, while SRS, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, the coalition 'Vojvodina' and the coalition 'Zajedno' 1 seat each. In the Vojvodina Assembly, SPS now has 74 of the 120 seats.

[08] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SAID CITIZENS OPTED FOR CONTINUITY

In an interview to Belgrade 'Politika' daily and radio, Dragan Tomic said normally the opposition had scored a majority in some Municipalities.

Tomic described the behaviour of leaders of the coalition opposition 'Zajedno' ('Together') as shameful. Their behaviour during the election campaign showed they expected poor results from the vote and were seriously preparing to declare the election results irregular in order to ease their own defeat, said Tomic. Serbia has one of the most democratic Election Laws, with strictly prescribed mechanisms of control of election procedures, that virtually incapacitate any possibility of fraud, said Tomic.

Referring to the behaviour of 'Zajedno', he said everyone could see that the same night the polling stations were closed, the coalition's leaders gloried in their victory throughout Serbia, when there was no chance of knowing the results. Tomic said it was physically impossible to count so many ballots in so short a time, considering the complex and strict procedure of control.

I believe it was all part of a scenario that began with that vile letter to the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade that aimed to show Yugoslavia as an undemocratic country in which the citizens' will was not respected and where political fraud so inappropriate to Europe could take place at the close of the 20th century, said Tomic.

The development of events confirms this thesis, he said. The leaders of 'Zajedno' contacted diplomatic missions in Belgrade, asking that their governments exert pressure so that the results they themselves proclaimed would be accepted.

Asked to comment on the social and political climate with the federal and local elections nearly over, Tomic said that with the ending of war, the lifting of the U.N. sanctions, and the victory of the peaceful policy of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, the way was open for economic growth and development, Yugoslavia's return to international organizations and cooperation with world financial institutions.

The citizens opted for a continuity of the current authorities, placing their trust in the candidates of SPS-JUL-ND, said Tomic. The convincing victory of the SPS-JUL-ND coalition and the triumph of the Democratic Party of Socialists in Montenegro guarantee the stable and successful work of the Federal Parliament, and the functioning of Yugoslavia, said Tomic. I am optimistic by nature, and I think we have all prerequisites for speedy economic and cultural development, he said.

I am absolutely convinced that the injudicious and irresponsible moves of certain vain and power-loving party leaders will not prevent or stop us, said Tomic. Protests in the streets, calls for violence, threats of terrorist acts and bombs and attempts to permanently compromise the country are inappropriate to democratic societies, contradictory to the desires of most citizens in Serbia, and a direct threat to stability in the Region, he said.

Fortunately, most Serbians realize the fatality of this policy and do not support it, said Tomic and added that it was evident that the uproar was not staged for Serbian citizens, but for foreigners, from whom they expect support against their own state.

[09] SERBIAN TRADE UNIONS CRITICISE OPPOSITION'S CALL FOR VIOLENCE

The Unions urge respect for the electoral procedure, which means allowing the Electoral Commissions to organise a third round of municipal elections in keeping with the Law, Banovic added.

'I think that this time somebody should have invited the people to get to work and join forces to get out of the crisis,' Banovic said. 'The lifting of the sanctions and the signing of the Dayton Accords have opened new prospects for us to work, earn and achieve social welfare, which is what we plan to achieve by the end of the year and in 1997,' he added.

Banovic said that nothing good could come out of the current street protests, and appealed to the workers to make sure they were not being manipulated for some personal and narrow party interests.

The current problems should be dealt with in a democratic way, he said. This means, he added, respecting the will of the people and patiently allowing the third round of elections to take place and then waiting for the official results to be published, as is the practice in countries where Laws and the Constitution are respected.

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