Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-06-13

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] POLAND WILL BACK YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION IN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

[02] FASTER INTEGRATION IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IS A PRIORITY

[03] MEASURES FOR INCREASING EXPORTS TO EUROPEAN UNION

[01] POLAND WILL BACK YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION IN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Tanjug, 1997-06-12

Polish Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said Thursday that following the conclusion of the Dayton Agreement and the lifting of the anti-Yugoslav sanctions, no obstacles remained for Yugoslavia's reintegration in the international community.

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic said that Poland had once again promised its full support to Yugoslavia's reintegration in international organizations.

Following the holding of plenary sessions between the two Government delegations and the signing of several inter-ministerial and inter-state agreements, Kontic and Cimoszewicz held a press conference on the need and the prospects of promoting bilateral cooperation. They also discussed international issues, including the consolidation of peace in the former Yugoslavia.

Kontic, who is heading a Yugoslav state and business delegation on a two- day visit to Poland, said that both sides had noted that only a consistent implementation of the Dayton and Erdut Agreements would guarantee lasting peace and stability in the Balkans. This is why, he said, it is necessary to find a right solution to the problem of refugees and displaced persons and to ensure equal treatment of both Bosnian entities by the international community.

The Polish Prime Minister said that Poland had a great understanding for Yugoslavia's endeavors to reintegrate international institutions.

Cimoszewicz said he was sure that the talks held during the visit would lead to qualitative changes in bilateral relations and to the restoring of the formerly high level of bilateral cooperation in all fields.

Noting that the talks had focused on concrete issues regarding economic cooperation and on the prospects for liberalizing trade and restoring cooperation between Yugoslav and Polish companies, Cimoszewicz said that this cooperation should also include joint ventures at third markets. For instance, he said construction companies from the two countries could realize projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Cimoszewicz also pointed to the need for accelerating the establishment of direct railway and air traffic between Poland and Yugoslavia, which would facilitate economic cooperation and tourism.

Asked why Warsaw-Belgrade flights have not yet been restored, Cimoszewicz said that the Polish Government saw no obstacles to this and that the issue was the responsibility of the two national airlines.

Yugoslav Prime Minister Kontic said that the two delegations held open, friendly and very constructive talks.

The two delegations discussed fundamental problems and agreed on measures to resolve them, Kontic said and added that agreement had been reached on trade liberalization which should lead to the establishment of free trade between the two countries once the necessary conditions are ensured.

Yugoslavia has asked the Polish Government to adopt preferential measures for the import of Yugoslav goods, similar to those recently adopted by the European Union, Kontic said.

The talks have also focused on cooperation in banking and agreement has been reached on the establishment of direct payments operations between Yugoslav and Polish banks, Kontic added.

Referring to other concrete issues, Kontic underlined that Poland had promised to support the linking of Yugoslav roads and railways with pan- European traffic networks.

Poland has also recommended the coordination of the agreement on readmission and the Yugoslav delegation advocated the full lifting of the visa regime and expressed readiness to sign both agreements simultaneously.

Kontic expressed conviction that the talks held in Warsaw and the agreements signed Thursday would introduce a new stage of bilateral relations.

The two Governments signed Thursday an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, and relevant ministries signed agreements on cooperation in health care, medical, veterinarian and pharmaceutical sciences, agriculture, food processing industry, and crop protection.

Yugoslav ministers of transports, agriculture, finance and labour, health and social policy held separate talks with their Polish counterparts.

Kontic is accompanied by 36 directors of renowned Yugoslav companies who met at the Polish Chamber of Commerce with the representatives of Polish companies interested in cooperating with Yugoslav partners.

[02] FASTER INTEGRATION IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IS A PRIORITY

Tanjug, 1997-06-12

President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zoran Lilic said Thursday that peace and stability, faster integration in international political and financial institutions, good economic reform programs and progress in democratization were yugoslavia's priority goals and conditions.

Lilic, who also presides the Supreme Defense Council, inspected the First Army Command headquarters and the special units corps and addressed students of the Yugoslav Army military schools center and said that by giving priority to these goals, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would be able to fully prove and achieve its rich economic and cultural potentials.

However, Yugoslavia is still frequently being subjected to both internal and external pressures aimed at hindering and slowing down the realization of these vital plans, Lilic said.

One of the most obvious examples of such instruments of political pressure on Yugoslavia is the constant abuse of the issue of human and minority rights in Yugoslavia, especially as regards ethnic Albanians in Kosovo- Metohija, Lilic said and added that these issues were being used depending on the political situation and the needs and intentions of some foreign and internal factors.

Lilic reiterated that ethnic Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija and other minorities in Yugoslavia, 24 in all, enjoyed in line with the Serbian and Yugoslav constitutions the same rights as the majority Serbs and Montenegrins.

Everyone, including the Albanians, is aware that the problem does not lie in the scope of autonomy, but in the refusal of the political leadership of a part of the Albanian inhabitants of Kosovo-Metohija to recognize the constitutional order of Yugoslavia and Serbia and in their insistence on creating and independent 'republic of Kosovo' that they wish to unite later with another state, Lilic said.

They are using all means to have the Kosovo issue internationalized and are trying to obtain the establishment of a transitional international protectorate for Kosovo-Metohija. They are demanding a mediation by a third side for talks with Serbian and Yugoslav authorities and a 'demilitarization' of the inexistent militarization of the Province, the President said.

President Lilic underlined that, unlike the majority of countries which guarantee only individual rights, only the Yugoslav Constitution provides also collective rights to national minorities, meaning a wide territorial and cultural autonomy. The President added he would be happy if Yugoslav minorities in the former Yugoslav republics and other European countries could enjoy such rights.

Members of the Albanian minority can enjoy all these rights if they wish. However, under the pressure of their separatist leadership, which includes many persons who are not even citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, they refuse to exercise their rights guaranteed by the Constitution, let alone honour their duties towards their own country as should be the case in any well-organized and democratic state, Lilic said.

Even children as being used as instruments for realizing secessionist goals, and human rights of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija are being sacrificed, and those are precisely the rights they claim they are being denied, Lilic underlined.

Ethnic Albanians should accept the Yugoslav constitutional order, respect the territorial integrity of the state in which they live, and take part in the Serbian and Yugoslav political institutions system. They would thus demonstrate their civic loyalty towards Serbia and Yugoslavia in line with international norms, and thus lay better living conditions for themselves, the President said, pointing to the wish and the endeavors of state bodies to ensure the best possible living conditions for all inhabitants of the Province.

It is obvious that problems exist in Kosovo-Metohija, caused above all by the refusal of the ethnic Albanians to accept the proposed autonomy and by their unrealistic and unreatizable wish for the secession of a part of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Serbia. This is certainly impossible, as Kosovo-Metohija is a part of Serbia. Kosovo-Metohija is Serbia and will remain so. This is why a problem of Kosovo-Metohija does not exist, there is only the problem of unrealisable aspirations of ethnic Albanian secessionists, Lilic said.

A solution can and must be sought only through the possibilities provided by the Constitutions of the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Autonomy can certainly be obtained and such autonomy exists in Vojvodina. Autonomy for Kosovo-Metohija - yes, independent state - no, that is crystal clear, President Lilic stressed.

The stability of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is important, even decisive, for the developments in the Balkans, the President said.

This is why it is essential not to fan troubles in Kosovo-Metohija through statements by some Albanian nationalists and not to give false hopes to the Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija as some opposition leaders in Yugoslavia and a part of the international community is doing, Lilic said.

Referring to the geo-strategic position of the Balkans, President Lilic said that the region had always been an important element in the European and global strategy of the big powers and above all an important land link between western Europe and the Middle East. The region is also rich in ores and raw materials and in ecological resources which is very important today, he added.

Yugoslavia has opted to turn towards European values and aspirations. It certainly does not see its future in some form of narrow national or regional isolation. This is why it is very important and necessary to overcome as soon as possible the effects of the former Yugoslav crisis on the basis of principled and just relations and to pave the way for greater mutual trust, links and cooperation among all Balkan countries, President Lilic said, noting that this was the right way for the establishment of all forms of cooperation as was set out during last year's Balkan conference in Greece.

There is no reason why the Balkan states should not develop their relations in a modern, all-round and European manner as Europe expects from those states as their contribution and duty in relation to its, already well- advanced, integration processes, Lilic said.

The Balkan region as a whole and its states individually must re-establish their dignity in Europe and their interests must be taken into account to a greater extent in the continent. Balkan problems cannot be resolved by divisions, but only by an all-round, development and prosperity, above all in the economic sphere. Only a developed Balkan region can be an equal partner of the developed Europe, President Lilic said.

These foreign policy views are the basis for Yugoslavia's priorities: peace, cooperation with neighbours, economic and cultural ties in the region. Through this policy, Yugoslavia is laying the conditions for a modern economic, technological, scientific, technical and cultural development and for dynamic cooperation with the world, the President said.

[03] MEASURES FOR INCREASING EXPORTS TO EUROPEAN UNION

Tanjug, 1997-06-12

The Yugoslav Government met Thursday to discuss measures for exporting goods to the European Union market on the basis of conditions contained in the EU autonomous trade measures, the Federal Information Secretariat said.

The session, chaired by Vice-Prime Minister Danko Djunic, determined two draft agreements between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Italy on the lifting of visas for those who have diplomatic and special official passports, and on the re-admittance of persons who fail to meet requirements for entry or residence in the territory of other countries.

The Government adopted a collective report on the implementation of conventions on the banning of all forms of racial discrimination (from 1990- 1996) which will be sent to the Commission for the elimination of racial discrimination in Geneva in time for its August session. The report underscores that FRY regulations contain generally-accepted international standards from the sphere of the protection of human rights and the rights of national minorities.

The Federal Government also discussed and adopted the basis for conducting talks and concluding agreements between FRY and Croatia on the determining of their mutual border crossings as well as the border traffic of persons. Adopted were the bases for negotiations and agreements between FRY and Macedonia on social security and banking cooperation, it was said.

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