Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-12-04

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Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED FELICITATIONS FOR REPUBLIC DAY

[02] REDUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL FORCES IN BOSNIA IS EXPECTED

[03] YUGOSLAV COMMISSION ON SUCCESSION EXAMINES DRAFT MEMORANDUM

[04] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MET PARTY OFFICIALS

[05] JAPAN APPOINTS AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA

[06] YUGOSLAV PREMIER ARRIVES IN MOSCOW

[07] YUGOSLAV PREMIER: THE VISIT TO RUSSIA WILL STRENGTHEN COOPERATION

[08] YUGOSLAV AND AUSTRIAN BUSINESSMEN HOLD TALKS

[09] HAGUE TRIBUNAL INTERESTED IN THE DEATHS OF SERBS IN SARAJEVO

[10] HUNGARY URGES INCLUSION OF YUGOSLAVIA INTO CEI

[11] TRIBUNAL SEEKS DOCUMENTATION ABOUT SUFFERINGS OF SARAJEVO SERBS

[12] GERMANY PREPARES CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA

[13] GENERAL COLIC: "TRAIN AND EQUIP" PROGRAMME IS A MENACE TO PEACE

[14] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA FINDS IRREGULARITIES IN OSCE ELECTION PROCESS

[15] YUGOSLAVIA URGES RESTORATION OF CONFISCATED JEWISH PROPERTY

[16] PREMIER KONTIC: RUSSIA REMAINS YUGOSLAVIA'S PRINCIPAL TRADE PARTNER

[17] PREMIER KONTIC RECEIVED THE NEWLY-APPOINTED BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

[18] YUGOSLAV AMBASSADOR HANDED OVER HIS CREDENTIALS IN CANBERRA

[19] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED MESSAGES OF FELICITATION

[20] BALKAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS MINISTERS REACH ACCORD ON COOPERATION

[21] YUGOSLAV PRIME MINISTER KONTIC LEAVES FOR MOSCOW ON TUESDAY

[22] ETHNIC-ALBANIAN SOCIALIST PARTY OF SERBIA ACTIVIST ASSASSINATED

[23] DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVED TANZANIAN DELEGATION

[24] CYPRIOT AND SERBIAN OFFICIALS DISCUSS FUTURE COOPERATION

[25] FOREIGN MINISTER MILUTINOVIC SAYS OUTSIDE PRESSURE FANS NATIONALISM

[26] AUSTRIA WILL BACK YUGOSLAVIA'S INTEGRATION INTO EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

[27] BRITISH PREMIER INSISTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DAYTON AGREEMENT

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED FELICITATIONS FOR REPUBLIC DAY

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has received felicitations for Republic Day from Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, French President Jacques Chirac and Syrian President Hafez el-Assad, among others, the Presidential Office said.

[02] REDUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL FORCES IN BOSNIA IS EXPECTED

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

Europeans will have to play a bigger part in the next mission in Bosnia, German Defense Minister Volker Ruehe said on leaving for NATO's fall session in Brussels on Tuesday. He said this referred also to the Bundeswehr, which currently has 3,000 troops in the Stabilization Force in Bosnia.

Ruehe said SFOR, which numbered 34,000 troops, would be reduced from 30 to 50 percent. He agreed with the U.S. stand for a new mission for Bosnia in which Europeans would predominate. This paved the way for a stronger German military influence in the Balkans.

A new mandate is required if Germany is to send a fresh contingent to Bosnia, which indicates that the future Deterrent Forces would be assigned more difficult tasks than SFOR.

The ministerial session in Brussels was preceded on Monday by a preparatory meeting of the NATO Military Committee, chaired by German General Klaus Naumann. The chiefs of General Staffs of 16 member-states of the alliance examined the current situation in SFOR and expressed the conviction that international forces would be engaged for a new mandate at the expiry of the current mission in June 1998.

Plans for a new mission would have to be completed by March next year, so that troops from 36 NATO-led countries would have a clear situation ahead of the replacement, it was heard at the session in Brussels.

[03] YUGOSLAV COMMISSION ON SUCCESSION EXAMINES DRAFT MEMORANDUM

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

A Commission for relations between Yugoslavia and the Council for enforcing peace and international financial and trade organizations examined a draft Memorandum on succession issues in a meeting on Tuesday. The session was chaired by Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, said a statement issued by the Yugoslav Information Ministry.

This is the fourth draft Memorandum attempting to resolve issues pertaining to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the new states created from the former Yugoslav Federation.

The Commission examined a draft basis for the participation of the Yugoslav delegation in a plenary session of the Working Group for succession of the Council for enforcing peace, to be held in Brussels from December 9 to 11, said the statement.

[04] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MET PARTY OFFICIALS

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

Serbian Parliament Speaker Dragan Tomic met on Tuesday with officials of parties that are entitled to form Party Clubs in the new Parliament. It was agreed that Parliament would verify mandates at its constituent session on Wednesday and would elect its Speaker, Deputy Speakers and its Secretary, said a statement issued by the Serbian Parliament Press Section.

Dragan Tomic of Serbia's Socialist Party (SPS) was nominated for the post of Parliament Speaker, while Dragan Todorovic of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), Vojislav Mihajlovic of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and Vladimir Stambuk of the Yugoslav Left (JUL) were nominated for the posts of Deputy Speakers. It was also agreed that the Alliance of Vojvodina's Hungarians would appoint a Deputy Speaker.

The New Democracy (ND) party nominated Predrag Trajkovic, a lawyer, for the post of Parliament Secretary, the statement said.

[05] JAPAN APPOINTS AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

The Japanese Government appointed on Tuesday a ranking Imperial Court official Noriyaki Ovada, Ambassador to Yugoslavia. The appointment followed the agreement on the full normalization of diplomatic relations reached by the two governments on May 20 this year.

Relations between Japan and Yugoslavia have not been broken off since the outbreak of the crisis in the territory of the former Yugoslav Federation. Throughout the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the only Japanese Embassy in the territory of the former Yugoslavia was that in Belgrade.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata of Japan has helped make the Japanese Government and non-governmental organizations the leading donors of aid for refugees in Yugoslavia.

The drive of aiding refugees has of late been joined by some Japanese towns and regions, which have shown interest in establishing direct ties with Yugoslav towns and regions.

The Japanese economy has also shown interest in renewing ties with Yugoslavia.

Sony and Toyota have reopened their offices in Belgrade, and the Kanematsu Goshyo corporation will soon send its representatives to Yugoslavia.

A delegation of the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce is to visit Tokyo early next year and arrange the holding a large Yugoslav economic exposition.

[06] YUGOSLAV PREMIER ARRIVES IN MOSCOW

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic arrived Tuesday evening in Moscow for a two-day official visit to Russia at the invitation of his counterpart Viktor Chernomyrdin.

Kontic was welcomed at the airport by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Hlistun.

Kontic said he was happy to be in Russia again after a long time and expressed hope that his visit would be successful.

On Wednesday morning, Kontic will meet Chernomyrdin and other Government members to discuss the intensification of political relations and economic cooperation. Several agreements are expected to be signed during the visit, regarding the liberalization of bilateral trade, a state commodity credit to the value of 150 million dollars, military cooperation and a three-year cultural and educational cooperation program.

Kontic is accompanied by 40 leading Yugoslav businessmen who will discuss future cooperation with Russian partners and sign several export agreements.

[07] YUGOSLAV PREMIER: THE VISIT TO RUSSIA WILL STRENGTHEN COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic said on Tuesday that a Yugoslav Government delegation's visit to Russia would pave the way for intensifying bilateral cooperation, especially in the field of economy.

Speaking to reporters at the Belgrade Airport before he left for Moscow, Kontic said that Russia had become Yugoslavia's most important foreign trade partner after the lifting of the sanctions against Yugoslavia in 1996. That year, the value of trade reached the amount of 800 million dollars and this year, the two countries expect to step up cooperation to the value of one billion dollars, said Kontic.

Kontic said that Yugoslavia and Russia had to observe modern international tendencies in the promotion of their economic ties and take into account the fact that their economic systems and policies had underwent radical changes, because they had focused on the construction of the open market economy based on private ownership.

Kontic quoted four basic preconditions for the promotion of bilateral cooperation. The first is connected to the liberalisation of trade, he said and added that a Memorandum to this effect, which would be signed during the visit, would express mutual wish for setting up a free trade zone between Yugoslavia and Russia.

Another precondition refers to the strengthening of the financial and banking cooperation and free circulation of capital between the two countries, Kontic said and added that first steps in that direction would be made during the visit, including the signing of a 150-million-dollar credit for the sales of Russian goods on the Yugoslav market.

Kontic said that the most important impetus to the promotion of economic cooperation would be the settling of the clearing-system debts between the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia.

Free communication, i.e. the abolishment of the visa regime, is the third precondition. This would be an important stimulus for the promotion of the tourist industry, Kontic said and added that the fourth precondition envisaged the establishing of complex forms of economic cooperation, such as the long-term production cooperation, joint companies, joint investments and long-term business arrangements.

"We are especially interested in realising these forms of cooperation in the field of power industry because Yugoslavia has a long-term deficit of natural gas and crude oil and because it is permanently oriented to obtaining these fuels from Russia," Kontic said.

He said that it was realistic to expect the realisation of all these preconditions, in which case, the value of trade might reach between 2 and 2.5 billion dollars at the end of the century.

The Yugoslav Prime Minister said that other topics of mutual interest, primarily the peace process and the Dayton Accords, would also be discussed during the talks.

"This will be an opportunity to confirm again that only a consistent implementation of the accords guarantees peace and stability in the region, but also to warn Russia, as a 'Contact Group' member, about the risks in the implementation of the Dayton Accords. I primarily refer to the resolution of the question of refugees, displaced persons, equal treatment of both Bosnian entities, where the economic recovery is concerned, and a possible premature withdrawal of the peace force from the territory of the former Yugoslavia," Kontic said.

The Moscow talks will also be an opportunity to call for Russia's unequivocal support to our demands for the return to the international community and international financial, trade and other organisations, Kontic said and added that this would be the biggest contribution to lasting peace and stability in this region.

[08] YUGOSLAV AND AUSTRIAN BUSINESSMEN HOLD TALKS

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

Yugoslav and Austrian businessmen held a plenary session at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday and agreed that possibilities and interest existed for the restoration and promotion of economic ties and balancing of foreign trade.

Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce President Mihajlo Milojevic told Austrian businessmen that Yugoslav economy was open and market-oriented and that foreign investors' interests were protected. He said that foreign partners were interested mostly in investing in railways, the power industry and the electric power industry and that primarily foreign capital should be invested in small and medium-sized companies.

Milojevic said that concession-motivated investments were a very interesting form of cooperation and that Yugoslavia gave preferential treatment to foreigners who invested money, technology and programmes in the Yugoslav economy and set up joint stock companies rather than those interested only in trade and sales on the Yugoslav market.

Milojevic said that Austria had been Yugoslavia's important business partner and that the immediate goal was to reach the former value of trade of about half a billion dollars.

The Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce President said that Yugoslavia counted on the understanding and support of Austria, as the future E.U. President, in the process of Yugoslavia's integration into European business processes.

Head of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce's Sector for trade with central and eastern Europe Bruno Kreytag said that Yugoslavia was an important business partner and that Austria's exports to Yugoslavia had doubled, resulting in a 1.2-billion-Austrian schilling sufficit in January-October.

It is in mutual interest that trade should be balanced, he said and added that Austria was interested not only in establishing conventional trade relations, but also in investing in the Yugoslav economy and a more significant inclusion in the privatisation process, in which it has positive experiences with neighbouring countries.

[09] HAGUE TRIBUNAL INTERESTED IN THE DEATHS OF SERBS IN SARAJEVO

Tanjug, 1997-12-02

It is known here that the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague is interested in the atrocious deaths of Serb civilians in Sarajevo. Most interest has been shown for the Kazani pit, in which up to 1500 Serbs are believed to have been killed. The 10th Muslim Mountain Brigade, commanded by Musan Topalovic Caco, is alleged to have been the most brutal in killing Serb civilians.

According to the figures of the Serb Civil Council in Sarajevo, between two and three thousand Serbs are believed to have been killed. Between 300 and 1,500 Serbs were allegedly killed at the command of Caco, and most were dumped in the Kazani pit.

Twenty eight bodies were exhumed during the trial, held in late 1993. The trial was closed unexpectedly. When the trial began, the defendants were accused of committing war crimes. The charge was subsequently altered into failure to report a crime. The sentences were minor - five years imprisonment for some, and psychiatric observation for others. The trial was a travesty of justice, said defense council Zarko Bulic. "Many members of the 10th brigade admitted committing crimes, while the indictment was for failing to report a crime, or for regular manslaughter," said Bulic.

He said the indictments had been altered out of political reasons, to conceal crimes committed by Muslims and retain the image of Serbs as the bad guys.

[10] HUNGARY URGES INCLUSION OF YUGOSLAVIA INTO CEI

Tanjug, 1997-11-30

Hungarian Foreign Minister Laslo Kovacs called on Saturday for Yugoslavia's full inclusion in the work of the Central European Initiative (CEI).

Minister Kovacs, who headed the Hungarian delegation to the CEI Summit which ended in Sarajevo on Saturday, told the Hungarian news agency MTI that Yugoslavia's presence in the forum, which comprises 16 central European and Balkan countries, was essential for the consolidation of peace.

Minister Kovacs said the military aspects of the Dayton Agreement had practically been implemented, but much was left to be done with the agreement's civilian provisions.

"That requires time, and the presence of multinational troops will be needed until all problems are solved," the Hungarian Foreign Minister set out.

"Hungary is ready to continue participating in that, and maintains that it is indispensable that Yugoslavia be included in all forms of CEI's work," Minister Kovacs said.

[11] TRIBUNAL SEEKS DOCUMENTATION ABOUT SUFFERINGS OF SARAJEVO SERBS

Tanjug, 1997-11-29

The International War-Crimes Tribunal has requested of Sarajevo judicial authorities documentation about a war-time trial of soldiers of the Muslim Tenth Mountain Brigade who had received very light sentences for killing large numbers of Sarajevo Serbs at the infamous Kazani pit, according to a Sarajevo court official.

Sarajevo Municipal Court President Senad Kreso has told the Sarajevo "Vecernje Novine" that he knows that "the Hague Tribunal has asked for the documentation about the case."

He said that the Hague Tribunal could reopen the case against soldiers of the Tenth Mountain Brigade who are believed to have killed in most horrendous ways, mostly by throat slitting, between 300 and 1,500 Serbs.

The Tenth Mountain Brigade commander at the time was infamous Musan Topalovic-Caco.

President of the Serb Civil Council Mirko Pejanovic has told the Sarajevo weekly "Dani" that "between 2,000-3,000 Serbs were killed in Sarajevo during the war."

Most of them perished at the Kazani pit on Mount Trebevic overlooking Sarajevo, and others in numerous privately-held prisons.

Sarajevo jurists say that the "Kazan slaughterhouse" and the private prisons are more than enough for the Hague Tribunal to take up the matter, especially since the indictment at the war-time trial was changed and the defendants were not tried for crimes against civilians.

Independent Sarajevo newspapers have for days devoted attention to sufferings of Sarajevo Serbs and warned that the Hague Tribunal could say what authorities in Sarajevo are keeping silent about.

Independent newspapers are especially critical of the excuses given by official circles that they allegedly did not known anything, totally disregarding the fact that then Muslim Army commander Jovan Divjak had informed Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic about what was going on and had resigned because of it.

[12] GERMANY PREPARES CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-12-01

Germany is accelerating preparations for an International Conference of the Peace Implementation Council for Bosnia (PIC) scheduled for December 9 and 10, to be attended by foreign ministers of 51 countries and representatives of 21 international organizations.

German and French Foreign Ministers Klaus Kinkel and Hubert Vedrine will visit Sarajevo on December 4, to meet the three members of Bosnian Presidency, Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic, High Representative of the international community Carlos Westendorp and commanders of German and French troops within the Stabilization Force (SFOR).

German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said on Monday that two years after Dayton, a peaceful future remained a distant goal. He urged all involved politicians to intensify endeavours for cooperation among different ethnic groups, for refugee repatriation and for bringing war crimes suspects to trial.

Only when progress is achieved regarding these issues can the European Union aid for recovery be effective, Kohl said at a reception for diplomats from 160 countries.

The Bonn Conference is expected to sum up the implementation of the Paris Peace Agreement and Germany will insist on more decisive measures of the international community to convince Bosnian parties that only those who cooperate can expect aid.

[13] GENERAL COLIC: "TRAIN AND EQUIP" PROGRAMME IS A MENACE TO PEACE

Tanjug, 1997-12-01

Chief of Staff of the (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska (RS) Army Gen. Pero Colic received in Pale on Monday the new Commander of the land forces of the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Gen. Sue Pike.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Gen. Colic said he had warned Gen. Pike that the U.S.-led "Train and Equip" programme for the Army of the Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation was jeopardising peace in Bosnia- Herzegovina.

Stressing that the Federation Army was under no threat, Gen. Colic added that the arming of the Federation Army must stop if there was a true desire for peace in the region.

He said that he had also informed Gen. Pike about the presence of foreign mercenaries (Mujaheddin) in the Bosnian Muslim Army, insisting that they must be weeded out.

Gen. Colic further said he had communicated the concern of the Bosnian Serb Army and people about the future status of the disputed town of Brcko. He stressed that Brcko was a Serb town without which there could be no survival for the Republika Srpska, and that the people in the RS must know by March 16 next year what the status of Brcko would be.

Gen. Pike, for his part, said they had discussed contacts between the armies of the Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation, and the setting up of such a structure in the RS Army as would conform to the Dayton Accord.

[14] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA FINDS IRREGULARITIES IN OSCE ELECTION PROCESS

Tanjug, 1997-11-29

A delegation of Republika Srpska (RS), on an official visit to the OSCE Headquarters, has sharply protested after establishing a series of irregularities which cast doubts on the balloting carried out abroad for the early parliamentary elections in the RS.

Republika Srpska Assistant Foreign Minister Gordan Milinic and Assistant Justice Minister Dragan Podinic told Yugoslav journalists on Saturday that a routine inspection of the rooms at the OSCE Headquarters, where the ballots cast outside the Serb entity were processed, had produced three open cardboard boxes with over 5,000 unmarked original ballots.

Of the 142.266 ballots sent to home addresses of voters registered outside the RS, about 80,000 were returned to the OSCE Headquarters in Vienna, but only 50,000 of them came together with original voters' certificates, as required under the election rules.

Before arriving in Vienna, the RS delegation requested of the OSCE detailed information about the number of printed ballots and where they were used. Deputy coordinator of the Vienna Centre for the election process outside the RS Antonios Tsarikis said that he did not know the precise number of the printed ballots, but that the OSCE in Vienna had sent out 142,266 of them and that not a single one had remained in Austria.

"All this casts doubts on the entire election process outside the RS," the RS delegation said in its official protest.

Delegation members claim that "many people enter the OSCE rooms where ballots which are ready for scanning are kept," and that "three persons have the keys to the doors of those rooms, a Croat woman, a Muslim woman, and a U.S. citizen Tanja Shuesler, whose exclusion from the election process we have earlier requested."

"How many ballots have at all been printed? Who could have come by the ballots and how? Were the ballots we get from Germany without the original certificates obtained legally by Muslim clubs, individuals or groups? How can we acknowledge a single ballot which does not come together with the original certificate?" are questions to which the RS delegation have not received answers yet.

[15] YUGOSLAVIA URGES RESTORATION OF CONFISCATED JEWISH PROPERTY

Tanjug, 1997-12-01

Yugoslavia's Information Secretary urged in London on Monday the restoration of Jewish property confiscated during the Second World War. Addressing the World Jewish Congress, Secretary Goran Matic said that this was the wish of the Yugoslav people and Government, recalling the suffering of Serbs and Jews during the War.

Matic expressed his Government's thanks for the chance to convey the Yugoslav people's concern for settling the human and moral question of the restoration of property and gold confiscated throughout Europe, and especially in Yugoslavia, during the War.

He recalled the cooperation and joint struggle of Serbs and Jews during the world wars, stressing that a large number of Jews had fought alongside Serbs and Yugoslav patriots in partisan detachments against the Nazis.

Nazi collaborators in Croatia - the Ustashas - as well as Muslims in Bosnia under the command of Mufti Haj Amin El Husseini of Jerusalem, were the common foe of the Jews and the Serbs in Yugoslavia, Matic said. During this difficult period, more than 600,000 Serbs and more than 40,000 Serbian Jews perished in the most atrocious manner in the Jasenovac death camp run by Croatian Nazis - Ustashas, he stressed.

He said that Jewish and Serbian property had been confiscated for the needs of the so-called Independent State of Croatia (NDH), which was a pro-Nazi puppet. He said there were numerous documents to prove this, and they proved also the transfer of the confiscated valuables to the Vatican and Germany, adding that the Roman Catholic Church had supported the looting, and not only ideologically.

He further said there was short documentary footage, discovered recently in the archives of old Yugoslavia, which documented events connected with the murder of Jews and Serbs and the plundering of their property by Croats during the war. The film was screened and watched with careful attention by the 45 delegations attending the Congress.

Matic further said that Slovenia and Croatia had closely collaborated with Nazi Germany during the war and had embraced and applied its racist laws.

He stressed that the Yugoslav Government was making efforts for the restoration of the confiscated property to the Jewish community as a whole, as well as to individuals. This was being done, he added, despite a very difficult situation in present Yugoslavia - Serbia and Montenegro - which had to receive nearly 700,000 Serb refugees and some Jews from Sarajevo who had fled their homes via Belgrade, forced by those same enemies.

He pointed out that Croatia had confiscated Serb property yet again, just as it had done during the Second World War.

[16] PREMIER KONTIC: RUSSIA REMAINS YUGOSLAVIA'S PRINCIPAL TRADE PARTNER

Tanjug, 1997-12-01

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, who starts on Tuesday a two-day official visit to Russia, gave an extensive interview to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass in which he said that Russia had been and remained Yugoslavia's principal trade partner.

Kontic was not referring only to the volume of bilateral trade but also to long-term stabilization-based cooperation between the two countries.

Following the lifting of the international community sanctions against Yugoslavia, bilateral cooperation was resumed and its positive results must not be underestimated. However, bilateral cooperation is not developing as fast as one might wish given the potentials and policies of the two countries, Kontic said.

Referring to the future cooperation prospects, Kontic underlined that Russia was among the leading priorities of Yugoslavia's foreign policy and had a strategic importance for Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia sees its future relations with Russia as based on the liberalization of bilateral trade, the free flow of capital and communications and on the creation of free trade zones, Kontic said.

This would confer a new quality to legal and institutional bases for bilateral relations, enabling the companies of the two countries to freely select and carry out projects of joint interest and thus achieve stronger economic ties and integration, Kontic said.

Referring to the program of his visit to Russia, Kontic said he would meet Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and other high officials to discuss the promotion of bilateral cooperation and various international issues, including the situation in the Balkans and the implementation of the Dayton Agreement.

Several inter-state agreements are expected to be signed during the visit aimed at promoting economic cooperation, including a Memorandum on liberalizing bilateral trade which should lead to the creation of free trade zones in line with the regulations of the World Trade Organization. In a first stage of implementing the Memorandum, both countries should reduce customs duties on specific goods next year, Kontic said.

An inter-state Agreement on a credit for financing Yugoslavia's imports of Russian equipment, goods and services is also expected to be signed by the two Prime Ministers. It should be accompanied by an Agreement on banking arrangements in order to operationalize the credit, which should contribute to Yugoslavia's economic recovery and modernization and consequently to the expansion of its economic cooperation with Russia, Kontic said.

Several other inter-state agreement have been drawn up and are expected to be signed, including agreements on military-technical cooperation, international overland traffic, cultural, educational and scientific cooperation, Kontic noted.

Asked about the export of Russian gas to Yugoslavia, Kontic said the long- term program of gas deliveries, the Agreement on building gas pipelines in Yugoslavia and the creation of joint companies for the realization of these projects constituted a lasting structural contribution to Yugoslavia's energy sector and to the development of bilateral cooperation.

The deliveries of Russian gas to Yugoslavia during the period under sanctions had helped meet the minimum of humanitarian needs. Deliveries were stepped up following the lifting of the sanctions, helping the recovery of natural gas based industries, Kontic said.

Referring to Yugoslavia's exports to Russia, Kontic said the exports of food and consumer goods were being normalized and the participation of Yugoslav construction and machine-building companies in pipeline investment projects in Russia was being negotiated. Russian and Yugoslav companies are completing the Yugoslav pipeline network and connecting it with the Bulgarian network thanks to such bilateral arrangements, Kontic said.

Yugoslavia will do all it can to meet the deadlines and complete the projects under way in the interest of the development of overall bilateral cooperation, Kontic said in his interview to Itar-Tass.

[17] PREMIER KONTIC RECEIVED THE NEWLY-APPOINTED BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

Tanjug, 1997-11-28

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic received on Friday the newly- appointed Bulgarian Ambassador to Yugoslavia Isail Trifunov, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said.

Full agreement was expressed at the talks about current bilateral issues and regional cooperation that conditions, joint interest and possibilities existed for promoting cooperation in all fields, especially on the economic level.

It was assessed that an institutional framework for cooperation should be worked out - modern state accords, which will enable the liberalization of foreign trade and the flow of capital and people, with the long-term goal of creating free trade zones and a no-visa regime.

Mutual readiness was expressed to intensify state contacts at the highest and inter-ministerial level and in the work of the Mixed Commission in order to resolve practical issues in certain economic fields, increase mutual cooperation and balance foreign trade.

It was stressed that both countries attach great importance to regional cooperation and that they should act together to use their geo-strategic position to their advantage.

It was assessed that for full cooperation and stability in the region all countries should be included, and that means the lifting of the outer wall of sanctions to Yugoslavia and its return into international institutions. Access to all international financial institutions will enable the working out and realization of joint and multilateral projects, and in that way only the Southeastern regional initiative can achieve real results, the statement said.

[18] YUGOSLAV AMBASSADOR HANDED OVER HIS CREDENTIALS IN CANBERRA

Tanjug, 1997-11-28

The newly-appointed Yugoslav Ambassador to Australia Dragan Dragojlovic handed over in Canberra on Thursday his credentials to the General Governor of Australia William Dean.

Mutual readiness and interest was expressed at the talks to further strengthen and expand bilateral relations and cooperation of the two countries and mutual satisfaction was expressed by the upgrading of relations to the ambassadorial level.

[19] YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED MESSAGES OF FELICITATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-28

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has received a large number of messages of felicitation from Yugoslavia and abroad on the occasion of November 29, Republic Day.

The messages include those from Presidents Thomas Klestil of Austria, Yasser Arafat of Palestine, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Suharto of Indonesia, Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, Carlos Menem of Argentina, Roman Herzog of Germany and King Albert of Belgium.

[20] BALKAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS MINISTERS REACH ACCORD ON COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-28

The second Conference of Balkan Post and Telecommunications ministers concluded here on Friday. The Yugoslav delegation was led by Telecommunications Minister Dojcilo Radojevic.

The participants reached accord on future cooperation in all spheres of telecommunications and adopted a communique, pledging to sign mutual accords to improve telecommunication links in the region.

Radojevic held separate talks with his counterparts during the Conference. He met on several occasions with Turkish Transportation and Communications Minister Necet Menzir, who accepted in principle an invitation to visit Yugoslavia.

A proposal by the host for holding the next Conference in Belgrade, next year, was accepted unanimously.

[21] YUGOSLAV PRIME MINISTER KONTIC LEAVES FOR MOSCOW ON TUESDAY

Tanjug, 1997-12-01

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic leaves on Tuesday on a two-day official visit to Russia, during which he will discuss with his Russian counterpart Viktor Chernomyrdin the promotion of political and economic relations between the two countries.

Kontic will have an exhaustive exchange of views with his host Chernomyrdin on the peace process on the territory of the former Yugoslavia and all major international topics of interest to the two countries.

The talks will be an opportunity to once again send a strong signal to the international community about the indispensability of Yugoslavia's return to all relevant international organizations.

Prime Ministers Kontic and Chernomyrdin will devote special attention to the promotion of bilateral economic relations, which are already at an enviable level.

A Yugoslav-Russian Agreement on a state credit, a Memorandum on the liberalization of the mutual trade, an Agreement on military-technical cooperation and a three-year Program of cultural- educational cooperation are to be signed during the visit.

The Kontic-Chernomyrdin talks are expected to step up the work on other important inter-state agreements.

The Yugoslav state delegation, headed by Kontic, will be accompanied on the visit to Russia by a group of 40 leading Yugoslav businessmen, whose companies are already cooperating with Russian partners or are about to conclude major deals with them.

The upcoming visit is the first visit of a Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Russia. Russia was among the few countries which maintained diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia at the ambassadorial level during the implementation of international sanctions against the latter and it took an active part in all efforts to end the civil war in Bosnia- Herzegovina and conflicts in other parts of the former Yugoslavia.

In the current situation, when no formal and no substantive obstacles stand in the way of the strengthening of relations between the two countries at the political, economic and other levels, it is only logical to expect that the visit to Russia of Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic will provide a genuine and strong incentive.

[22] ETHNIC-ALBANIAN SOCIALIST PARTY OF SERBIA ACTIVIST ASSASSINATED

Tanjug, 1997-11-29

Ethnic Albanian Dalib Dugoli, an activist of the Socialist Party of Serbia and member of voters' committees in the latest elections, was assassinated on Friday night in the village of Petrestica, near Stimalj, in Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija, according to Radio Pristina.

According to first reports, unidentified attackers fired from automatic weapons.

It was the fifth terrorist attack in Kosovo and Metohija in a week.

[23] DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVED TANZANIAN DELEGATION

Tanjug, 1997-11-28

Yugoslav Deputy Foreign Minister Radoslav Bulajic received a Tanzanian Foreign Ministry delegation, led by the head of the Directorate for Europe and America Ambassador Marua Matiko.

The Tanzanian delegation had also held meetings at the Yugoslav Foreign Trade Ministry, the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce, the Institute for International Policy and Economy and other institutions.

The Tanzanian delegation also visited several Yugoslav companies, including Jugoimport-SDPR, Partizanski Put of Belgrade and Toza Markovic of Kikinda.

[24] CYPRIOT AND SERBIAN OFFICIALS DISCUSS FUTURE COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1997-12-01

A Cypriot parliamentary delegation headed by Andreas Mouskos on an official visit to Serbia's northern Province of Vojvodina discussed Monday with southern Backa District officials and businessmen the prospects of future political and economic cooperation within the framework of overall bilateral cooperation.

The talks focused on the intensification of economic cooperation in industry and agriculture.

Backa District Chief Obrad Milosevic said that companies from Vojvodina wished to develop cooperation with Cypriot partners in the sectors of health food production, manufacture of textiles and farming machinery and other industrial branches.

[25] FOREIGN MINISTER MILUTINOVIC SAYS OUTSIDE PRESSURE FANS NATIONALISM

Tanjug, 1997-11-30

Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, was quoted on Sunday as urging that the FR of Yugoslavia be reinstated in its rightful place in the international community.

In an interview with the British news agency Reuters, Minister Milutinovic insisted that Yugoslavia must be quickly readmitted into the international political and economic community.

"I am personally against Yugoslavia's isolation because we can't live without the world. The world needs us and we need the world," he said.

"We need to be back in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations - because if we are in the family we have to follow the rules of the family," he added.

Answer a reporters' question, he explained that the rise of nationalism in Serbia had been caused by unremitting international pressure on the country.

He rejected an idea, proposed by France and Germany, for international mediation in Kosovo- Metohija, stressing that this Serbian Province "is and will be our internal question. The involvement of outsiders in that is not so helpful, it is not acceptable."

He rejected also the possibility of Yugoslav citizens being handed over to the Hague-based War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. "We cannot extradite our citizens to The Hague because that is against our Constitution," he explained, adding that there was no undertaking to do so under the Dayton Accords.

[26] AUSTRIA WILL BACK YUGOSLAVIA'S INTEGRATION INTO EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

Tanjug, 1997-12-01

After it takes over the chairmanship of the European Union in the second half of 1998, Austria will back Yugoslavia's integration into European institutions and the development of its economy, Deputy Minister of the Economy Josef Meyer said at a meeting with the President of the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce Mihajlo Milojevic and Yugoslav businessmen.

Austria can offer to Yugoslavia its technology, cooperation and experience in management and privatization, Meyer said.

Meyer, who also heads the Department for foreign economic policy and European integration in the Ministry, said he expected the forthcoming direct talks between Austrian and Yugoslav businessmen to provide an incentive for investments in Serbian and Montenegrin economy.

The Austrian Government is creating a legal framework for economic cooperation, and it will be up to the two countries' businessmen to negotiate specific projects, Meyer said.

Milojevic expressed hope that the former bilateral trade volume of 500 million dollars would be reached and exceeded by exploiting the numerous cooperation potentials.

Underlining that Yugoslav regulations on foreign investments have been adapted to EU standards and that the privatization process has been initiated in Yugoslavia, Milojevic said that direct contacts among businessmen were the best way of promoting cooperation.

The meeting was attended also by the Yugoslav Ambassador in Vienna Dobrosav Vejzovic, the Austrian Trade Attache Franz Erhard and representatives of Serbian and Belgrade Chambers of Commerce.

The Yugoslav business delegation also met on Monday evening the Vice- President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce Elisabeth Gerstler Maltner.

[27] BRITISH PREMIER INSISTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DAYTON AGREEMENT

Tanjug, 1997-11-28

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday that his Government insisted on the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and on the concept of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a single and democratic state. Blair made Britain's stance clear during a meeting with the Bosnian Presidency members in Sarajevo, Republika Srpska member of the Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik told the press.

Krajisnik said that the three Presidency members had unanimously described Britain's role in the peace process as very important and its attitude towards the two Bosnian entities as balanced.

Presidency member Kresimir Zubak said after the meeting that both sides had expressed support to the implementation of the Dayton Agreement.

Blair subsequently met the Stabilization Force (SFOR) Commander General Eric Shinseki and High Representative of the international community for Bosnia Carlos Westendorp.

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