Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-07-17

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES NEWLY APPOINTED YUGOSLAV AMBASSADORS

[02] CITY ADMINISTRATION STILL NOT FUNCTIONING IN VUKOVAR

[03] POSITION OF SERB REFUGEES IN EAST SLAVONIA DETERIORATES

[04] PLAVSIC CRITICIZES SCHUMACHER

[05] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS LAUNCH NEW ATTACKS

[06] RUSSIA: NOT ALL POSSIBILITIES FOR PEACEFUL SOLUTION IN KOSMET HAVE BEEN E XHAUSTED

[07] MONTENEGRO GETS NEW GOVERNMENT

[08] SERBIAN MINISTER INFORMS OSCE DELEGATION ABOUT MINORITY RIGHTS

[09] YUGOSLAVIA REACHES AGREEMENT WITH LONDON CLUB

[10] GANG OF ARMED ETHNIC ALBANIANS ATTACK POLICE PATROL NEAR UROSEVAC

[11] SERBIAN POLICE THWART ATTEMPT TO SET UP ILLEGAL KOSOVO REPUBLIC PARLIAMENT

[01] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES NEWLY APPOINTED YUGOSLAV AMBASSADORS

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Thursday received the newly appointed Yugoslav Ambassadors to Venezuela Slavko Sukovic, Angola Mirosl av Petrovic, Denmark Ljubisa Igic, Norway Janko Radulovic, Argentina Gojko C elebic, Mexico Janko Radulovic and Ghana Milena Lukovic. President Milosevic sai d he was convinced that the traditionally good relations between Yugoslavi a and the respective countries would continue successfully to develop.

Yugoslavia attaches special importance to the development and intensification of economic cooperation with the respective countries, to which the Ambassadors are to contribute by representing the values of the socia l, economic and cultural life of Yugoslavia and its peoples, and especially Yugoslavia's efforts for peace, stability and equality among states and p eoples. President Milosevic wished the newly appointed Yugoslav Ambassadors succ ess in the discharging of their responsible duties. The reception was attended also by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic.

[02] CITY ADMINISTRATION STILL NOT FUNCTIONING IN VUKOVAR

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) President Vojislav Stanimir ovic told a press conference late Wednesday that the number of incidents with a national background continued to increase and that 400 families had moved from this eastern Croatian region to Yugoslavia in the past two months. The S DSS Main Board held a session in Vukovar prior to the conference. The party discu ssed the plan for the return of refugees adopted by Croatian Parliament. Stanimiro vic said the plan was assessed as a "positive step for the better" and that its ma in fault was that it did not cover the issue of tenancy rights. The failure of th e town administration to function is still a major problem in Vukovar. Nothing h as changed in the field in spite of a top-level agreement between the SDSS a nd the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), reached in Zagreb in May. Stanimirovi c also spoke about the possibility of dissolving the town administration and ap pointing a Government envoy for Vukovar. "We reject any responsibility for the non- functioning of the town administration," Stanimirovic said. The Croa tian Government must deal with the HDZ majority which is leading Vukovar, he said. The Serb side does not wish to be responsible for a possible Government d ecision to dissolve the local self-administration and appoint its envoy for the town, he said. Such a move would not be welcomed by the international communi ty, since it would annul the results of the elections which were held under international patronage, he said. Stanimirovic said the situation was not good for calling new town electi ons because there were no figures on how many Croats have returned, or how m any Serbs have left.

[03] POSITION OF SERB REFUGEES IN EAST SLAVONIA DETERIORATES

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

The Human Rights Committeee of the Joint Council of Municipalities (ZVO) on Thursday sent a letter to the Croatian Government warning of the stead ily deteriorating position of Serb refugees in East Slavonia. The ZVO said i n the letter that the Croatian Government's new programme for refugees and dis placed persons had not effected any positive changes regarding Serbs and that t he eviction of Serb refugees had only been stepped up. It said that the pos ition of Serb refugees had drastically deteriorated and offered a list of concr ete examples. The Joint Council of Municipalities warned that the existing s ituation threatened everything that the international community and the U.N. Trans itional Administration (UNTAES) had tried to do. The ZVO underscored that the re turn of refugees of one nationality must not be to the detriment of refugees of t he other nationalities. It said that the Croatian government was not doing anythi ng to resolve the problem of Serbs who could not get back their property in Cr oatia because local Croats and not refugees had moved in. The Joint Council of Municipalities said that Serbs whose property had been destroyed in the w ar were forced to leave Croat homes and were sent by the Croatian state to collec tion centres. It asked in conclusion what could be in store for Serb refugees in Yugoslaviaa and Republika Srpska who were waiting to return home, when t he problems of the small refugee population in East Slavonia were not being resolved.

[04] PLAVSIC CRITICIZES SCHUMACHER

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic on Thursday described as unacceptable and shocking a statement by Deputy High representative of th e international community for Bosnia-Herzegovina Hans Schumacher, who annou nced sanctions against Banja Luka and Republika Srpska for failing to implemen t the conclusions of the Banja Luka conference on the return of refugees. In reaction to Schumacher's interview to the Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz, Plavsic espe cially criticized the part of the text in which Schumacher said that many necks should be broken in Republika Srpska, Srpska media said. "Let not anyone come to this territory and announce throat-slitting, because if Schumacher's statemen t is correct, it is outrageous, and I do not know how we can have any contact with him any further," Plavsic concluded.

[05] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS LAUNCH NEW ATTACKS

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

The Pristina-based Media Centre said on Thursday that groups of armed ethnic Albanians had launched two attacks at the Trepca mine in Stari Trg about midnight. The security responded to the fire and repelled the attack. It is believed that some of the attackers were wounded or killed. The Media Ce ntre also said that a strong group of armed ethnic Albanians had attacked wit h automatic weapons a police patrol in Prizren at about 1.30 p.m. (1130 GMT).

Police responded to fire and after two hours of fighting, the attac kers withdrew towards the villages of Bjelusa and Zagradska Hoca. Municipal authorities in Prizren believe that some of the attackers were wounded or killed. None of the policemen were hurt.

[06] RUSSIA: NOT ALL POSSIBILITIES FOR PEACEFUL SOLUTION IN KOSMET HAVE BEEN E XHAUSTED

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

Russia maintains that possibilities for a solution to the Kosovo and Metohija crisis are far from having been exhausted, Russian Foreign Minis try spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin said on Thursday. Now, the main thing is to stop armed actions immediately and to resume the interrupted negotiating proce ss, Rakhmanin told a regular news conference.

He drew attention to a tendency of the radicalization of the situati on in Kosovo and Metohija of late and said the tendency had thoroughly been dis cussed by the Russian and German foreign ministers last Saturday. "At the same time, we would like to note that this tendency towards radicalization primarily concerns the Albanian side," the spokesman said. The Russian Foreign Min istry spokesman set out that the Russian side disagreed that the possibility fo r a peaceful solution to the crisis was negligible. elgrade is fully impleme nting the obligations assumed during Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's vi sit to Moscow, spokesman Rakhmanin said, and set out that it was now up to the e thnic Albanians to suspend military operations and offer ceasefire guarantees. The spokesman stressed that ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija must clea rly renounce the use of force as a means for attaining political goals, conde mn terrorism and separatism and return to the negotiating table without pre- set conditions. Rakhmanin said that would create the necessary prerequisites for unblocking the situation and open the way for a peaceful resolution of th e Kosovo and Metohija problem.

The Russian diplomat said Ambassador Vladimir Shustov was Russia's representative in the OSCE delegation which had arrived in Belgrade under an agreement reached between Yugoslav and OSCE representatives. Rakhmanin sa id that Russia viewed the arrival of the OSCE delegation as an important step tow ards the practical implementation of the Moscow agreements on the simultaneous ren ewal of the Yugoslav membership in the OSCE amd the return of the OSCE mission to Yugoslavia.

[07] MONTENEGRO GETS NEW GOVERNMENT

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

The Montenegrin parliament on Thursday elected a new Government at a session which was not attended by the Deputies of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) and at which the government of Premier Filip Vujanovic did not get the support of the Liberal Alliance. The Democratic Party of Socialist's (DPS) partners in the new coalition government of Montenegro are the National Party (NS) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The Deputy Premiers are Asim Telacevic, Novak Kilibarda, Dragisa Burzan, Predrag Goranovic and Miluti n Lalic. Following is the list of cabinet ministers: Minister of Industry, Power Industry and Mining: Vojin Djukanovic, Minister of Tourism: Vlado Mitrovic, Minist er of Finance: Miroslav Ivanisevic, Minister of Health: Miomir Mugosa, Minister of Justice: Dragan Soc,Minister of Culture: Budimir Dubak (re-elected), Mini ster of Trade: Ramo Bralic (re-elected), Minister of Maritime Trade: Jusuf Kalomp erovic (re-elected), Minister of the Interior: Vukasin Maras (re- elected), Minis ter of Foreign Affairs: Branko Perovic (re-elected), Minister of Agriculture: Milutin Simovic (re-elected), Minister of Educat ion: Dragan Kujovic (re-elected), Minister of Urban and Regional Planning: Rad ovan Bakic (re-elected), Minister of Faiths: Slobodan Tomovic (re- elected), Mi nister of Environment: Miladin Vukotic, Minister of Sport: Slavoljub Stijepovic, Minister without Portfolio: Predrag Drecun, Minister in charge of minori ty issues: Ljujidj Juncaj. The Montenegrin Parliament concluded that the republican law on appointment of deputies to the Yugoslav Parlaiment Upp er House, adopted a month ago, was in keeping with the constitution. This w as the republican Parliament's response to the Yugoslav Constitutional Court.

[08] SERBIAN MINISTER INFORMS OSCE DELEGATION ABOUT MINORITY RIGHTS

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

Serbian Minister without Portfolio Ivan Sedlak, who is in charge of human and minority rights, received on Thursday a delegation of the Organisatio n for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) paying a several-day visit to Yugoslavia. The delegation, led by head of the OSCE mission Hans Jorg Ei ff, showed special interest in the social status and rights of national mino rities in Serbia, a statement issued by the Serbian Information Ministry said.

Sedlak informed the delegation in detail about the system of human and minority rights protection in Serbia and Yugoslavia. He made reference t o the status of Serbia's Autonomous Province of Vojvodina where 26 different e thnic groups and national minorities live and exercise their rights in line wit h the highest inernational standards through the system's institutions, preserv ing their national identity, culture, language and tradition. He also said t hat in Serbia's Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija most of the ethnic Albanians, who are the most numerous minority in the province, boycotted Serbia's political life under their separatist leaders' influence and pre ssure, exercising only those rights, guaranteed them under the law and constitut ion, that do not require the recognition of the status of Serbian or Yugoslav citizen. In doing so, ethnic Albanians make it impossible also for other minoriti es living in the province to exercise all their political and minority right s. Sedlak said the state bodies were firmly committed to resolving problems in Kosovo and Metohija through political means and dialogue with representa tives of ethnic Albanian political parties who must demonstrate their commitme nt to talks by condemning and renouncing terrorism.

[09] YUGOSLAVIA REACHES AGREEMENT WITH LONDON CLUB

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

The Yugoslav delegation headed by Mr Jovan Zebic, Deputy Federal Pri me Minister, has reached, after three*day talks, an agreement with the Inter national Coordinating Committee of commercial creditors (London club) on the restr ucturing of part of the debt of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the new F inancial Arrangement of 1988.

The London talks of 14*16 July 1998 resulted in an improved model of Yugoslav deb restructuring: through reduction of the proposed interest ov er the first seven years; by a 33% write*off of all interest payments due and in arrears; by extending the proposed period of repayment for funds used as trade and deposit relief; by not accruing and paying interest on interest, and on an understanding that the Chase Bank as the creditors' agent should have it s accounts audited to find out the exact amount of debt (considering that t he debt was subject to transactions on secondary financial markets). The said rev iew should be made by a Yugoslav group, comprising representatives from the Y ugoslav National Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance and Yugoslav commercial ba nks. Having incorporated into the proposed model the reliefs required and by w riting off part of the payments and through improved terms of repayment for the Yugoslav debt, the Memorandum of Understanding between the FRY and the Internation al Coordinating Committee of commercial banks on debt restructuring has been agreed and signed. The signing of an arrangement as a legal document which will include the principles and terms of Yugoslav debt restructuring, as set out in th e Memorandum of Understanding, will follow the fulfilment of conditions reg arding approval by the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; a two*third majority of ICC creditors; as well as completion of a reconcili ation to establish the exact amount of the debt through audit of the Chase Bank as the creditors' agent; and regulation of IMF membership.

It is assessed that from the point of view of the Yugoslav economy's balance*of*payments capacity to service the debt, very favourable terms h ave been achieved for debt restructuring (rescheduling for a period of 20 years wi th a 7*year grace period and a 33% write*off of all interest arrears; debt rep ayment by issue of equity bonds to repay, during that period, 75% of the princip al and the issue of the so*called indirect bonds to repay 25% of the principal a nd interest reduced by the amount of the 33% interest write*off after the ex piry of 10 years; or through other alternative terms relating to the country's cr edit rating and its credit worthiness of US$ 600 million on international cred it markets, and through other concessions agreed in favour of the Yugoslav contracting party).

[10] GANG OF ARMED ETHNIC ALBANIANS ATTACK POLICE PATROL NEAR UROSEVAC

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

A gang of armed ethnic Albanians opened fire with automatic weapons on a police patrol at the village of Seciste near Urosevac, Serbia's Province of Koso vo and Metohija, at around 1 a.m. local time on Thursday, the Pristina- based Med ia Centre reported. The police responded to the attack, killing Nazmi Ismai lji, one of the attackers, and routing the gang. Local authorities in Urosevac sa id the killed attacker, who was wearing fatigues with symbols of the terrorist organisation that calls itself the "Kosovo Liberation Army", had an autom atic rifle. The police reported no casualties in its ranks.

[11] SERBIAN POLICE THWART ATTEMPT TO SET UP ILLEGAL KOSOVO REPUBLIC PARLIAMENT

Tanjug, 1998-07-16

Serbian police thwarted on Thursday an attempt to set up parliament of the so-called Republic of Kosovo shortly after an illegal meeting at the Demo cratic League of Kosovo premises opened, the Serbian Interior Ministry said in a statement. The police filed charges against those involved in the attemp t with the Pristina-based public prosecutor, submitting material and documents i t had seized, said the statement delivered to the Pristina- based Media Centre.

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