Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-04-03

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

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SESSION STATEMENT

[02] EUROPEAN COMMISSION CONCERNED ABOUT SITUATION IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

[03] KRAJISNIK RECEIVES BRITISH SHADOW PRIME MINISTER

[04] R.S. PRESIDENT RECEIVED BRCKO ACTING SUPERVISOR

[05] JOINT STATEMENT OF YUGOSLAV-CROAT COMMITTEE

[06] FRENCH PARLIAMENTARIANS URGE DIALOGUE FOR SERBIA'S KOSOVO-METOHIJA

[07] GERMAN OFFICIAL: SERBIA'S ETHNIC ALBANIANS MUST RENOUNCE VIOLENCE

[08] SERBS FROM ALL OVER WORLD SOON TO ORGANISE LARGE-SCALE RALLIES

[09] SERBIAN VICE PREMIERS SESELJ, MARKOVIC ON PROPOSED REFERENDUM

[10] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT TO MEET MONDAY

[11] ECONOMIC COOPERATION TO DATE BETWEEN GUINEA, YUGOSLAVIA SUCCESSFUL

[12] VICO RECEIVES E.U. DELEGATION

[13] FOREIGN MINISTER Z.JOVANOVIC RECEIVED W.ISCHINGER

[01] FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SESSION STATEMENT

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

At a session held on Thursday and chaired by Federal Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, the Federal Government said that the Program of operative measures for the establishement of the macro-economic balance and stability of the market, determined on March 31, received the support of the majority of citizens and economists. The corresponding federal bodies, in concordance with republican bodies and the National Bank of Yugoslavia, are already applying the priority measures for the efficient realization of the program for the establishment of a macroeconomic balance and stability. The Government adopted the Ninth Report on instances of the violation of internatinal war and humanitarian law in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, which was prepared by the Yugoslav Committee for gathering data on crimes committed against humanity and the international law. The Report has five parts: preparations of Muslims and Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina for violent secession from the former Yugoslavia and the organized character of the genocide against the Serbs in Sarajevo, genocide against the Serb people in the Konjic district, genocid against the Serbs in the Bosnian part of the Sava river valley, mujahedin camps in the Zavidovici district and the mining of the church of St. Nikolai in Vukovar on night of Sept. 18, 1991. Adopting the Ninth Report, the Federal Government said that the International Tribunal in the Hague is marginalizing the reports of the Yugoslav Committee and that, apart from the proof of genocide against the Serbs and the violation of the international humanitarian law, it is failing to instigate proceedings against individuals. The Federal Government supported the decision of the Budva city council and the Yugoslav Olympic Committee for Budva to be nominated to host the 2005 Mediterranean Games.

[02] EUROPEAN COMMISSION CONCERNED ABOUT SITUATION IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

Per Vinter of the European Commission said on Thursday that the Commission was greatly concerned about the status of Serbs in Eastern Slavonia and the rest of Croatia. After meeting with leader of the Serb Independent Democratic Party (SSDS) Vojislav Stanimirovic in Vukovar, Vinter said the Commission was not only concerned about what was happening to the Serb people in the region but also throughout Croatia. He voiced the Commission's discontent with Zagreb's failure to comply with numerous obligations it had assumed and pledges it had made. He said the Commission would do all it could to exert additional pressure on the Croatian Government to act in line with all its pledges, saying the Commission's stand was that progress was still possible. Commenting on the European Commission's support for a project of setting up an independent television network in Croatia, Vinter said the project would receive considerable assistance by the end of the year. In this connection, he said the Commission was working on the setting up of funds that would enable the creating of a network of independent television stations in Croatia.

[03] KRAJISNIK RECEIVES BRITISH SHADOW PRIME MINISTER

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency member from Republika Srpska (RS), Momcilo Krajisnik, received here on Thursday British Shadow Prime Minister Michael Howard. Krajisnik and Howard discussed the implementation of the Dayton Agreement which, Howard said, should be fully applied as all British Parliamentary parties believe.

"The British Parliament believes that only the consistent implementation of the agreement can result in a peaceful life for all peoples in Bosnia- Herzegovina," Howard said. Krajisnik told journalists that he warned Howard about the danger of changing the text and spirit of Dayton, which certain international mediators have been trying to do over the past few months in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "Only the authentic interpretation of Dayton and its consistent implementation can finally stabilize the situation in the region, " Krajisnik said.

[04] R.S. PRESIDENT RECEIVED BRCKO ACTING SUPERVISOR

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

President of the Republika Srpska Biljana Plavsic received in Banja Luka on Thursday Ian Macleod, acting Supervisor for Brcko. Plavsic and Macleod discussed the implementation of an additional arbitration decision on the town's status. After the talks, Macleod said he had been informed by Plavsic that the R.S. Government would set up a commission that would be in charge of the implementation of the decision and the Dayton Peace Agreement, saying the Republika Srpska should play an active role in carrying out the decision and the agreement.

[05] JOINT STATEMENT OF YUGOSLAV-CROAT COMMITTEE

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

Members of the Yugoslav-Croat Committee for the Implementation of Article 7 of the Agreement on the Normalization of Relations between the two countries, adopted at a session held here on Thursday two protocols which determine the conditions for the implementation of a part of the inter- state Agreement, a joint statement said. The Federal Information Secretariat said in a statement that the protocol on the procedure of organized return, which determines all forms of return and the mechanisms and procedure of their implementation, underscored the unequivocal importance of the free and safe return, without any conditions outside the determined procedure, of refugees and exhiled persons. Also expressed is a readiness for all persons who decide to return, to be guarranteed the basic conditions for a free, normal and safe life, including the availability of one's property, the guarrantee of personal safety and that of one's property, equal treatment to the other citizens, and the consistent implementation of the general anmesty, with the exeption of the most severe violations of the humanitarian law which have the character of crimes. The Protocol on Cooperation of the Service for the Protection of Property and the Agency for Mediation in the Sale of Certain Real Estate, will provide the most efficient way for helping people with their property and protect their interests. The meeting also discussed property issues of legal persons, and this has to be debated further. The next meeting has been scheduled for May in Zagreb, the joint statement said.

[06] FRENCH PARLIAMENTARIANS URGE DIALOGUE FOR SERBIA'S KOSOVO-METOHIJA

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

A French Parliamentary delegation visited on Thursday the Kosovo District in the Yugoslav Republic of Serbia's Province of Kosovo-Metohija and had talks with local officials. The delegation, which is on a several-day visit to Yugoslavia, met with Kosovo District Deputy Administrator Veljko Odalovic and Kosovo-Metohija's Information Secretary Bosko Drobnjak, the Province's Information Secretariat said in a statement. Odalovic said that the only way to a peaceful settlement of the problem of Kosovo-Metohija was through dialogue, which ethnic Albanian political leaders must accept as soon as possible and without making any prior conditions. He added that since the beginning of the year in Kosovo-Metohija, there had been 98 terrorist attacks on police, facilities, Serbs and Montenegrins, as well as on ethnic Albanians loyal to the country they live in, the statement said. He said that terrorists felt encouraged by ethnic Albanian political leaders, who had not to this day condemned the outrages, and that police had acted in all cases only because they had been provoked and attacked. Speaking on implementation of the education normalisation accord, Odalovic said that Serbia would honour all provisions of the accord. He added that returning students to schools was a humane gesture by the Serbian Government, designed to make it possible for ethnic Albanian children to be educated in proper facilities and to reduce scope for further manipulations, it added.

[07] GERMAN OFFICIAL: SERBIA'S ETHNIC ALBANIANS MUST RENOUNCE VIOLENCE

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

A ranking German Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday he had urged ethnic Albanian leaders in Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija Province to renounce violence clearly and openly and support a peaceful settlement of the Province's problem. The Ministry's Political Director Wolfgang Ischinger told a news conference in the German Embassy in Belgrade that dialogue between ethnic Albanian leaders and the Government of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia should begin immediately and without prior conditions. Ischinger met with Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic earlier on Thursday, after meeting with ethnic Albanian political leaders in Kosovo-Metohija's chief city of Pristina on Wednesday.

Ischinger stressed that Germany fully supports the position of the "Contact Group" that there is no reason for delaying opening dialogue. He noted that positive steps had been taken in the effort to deal with the problem of Kosovo-Metohija, adding that presence of international mediators was not a condition for opening dialogue, which was a view shared by the "Contact Group." He said that political directors of the "Contact Group" states would be meeting in London on Monday.

[08] SERBS FROM ALL OVER WORLD SOON TO ORGANISE LARGE-SCALE RALLIES

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

President of the Pan-Serb Community Misa Milosevic said on Thursday that the Community had called on Serbs from all over the world to hold large- scale rallies on April 4-5. Mlosevic said that he expected numerous Serb and Yugoslav associations to respond to the Community's call and to offer support to Serbs in Serbia. He said Serbs throughout the world shared the mother state's stand that the Kosovo and Metohija issue is Serbia's internal affair, saying the rallies, to be held under the 'Kosovo is Serbia' slogan, were aimed at drawing the world public's attention to the fact. He said he was suprised by the attitude of a part of the international community towards the issue, especially in the light of the fact that ethnic Albanians had invariably refused to attend talks that Serbian Government officials had opened with representatives of minorities living in the Province. Milosevic also said that 1,200 Serb and Yugoslav associations were active throughout the world.

[09] SERBIAN VICE PREMIERS SESELJ, MARKOVIC ON PROPOSED REFERENDUM

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

Serbia's Vice Premiers Vojislav Seselj and Ratko Markovic supported on Thursday a planned referendum on foreign mediation in dealing with the Kosovo-Metohija problem as justified and as the most democratic expression of public will. The initiative to call a referendum was made earlier on Thursday by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in writing to the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's President Milan Milutinovic, Premier Mirko Marjanovic and Parliament Speaker Dragan Tomic. "Personally, I am sure that a vast majority of people in Serbia will reject in a plebiscite any foreign interference in the process of dealing with our internal problems," Seselj said at Serbia's Government session, as quoted by Serbian state Radio and Television. He said that, "since our country is again under great outside pressure and since, probably, this outside pressure and those exerting it hope to be able to confuse the people and make it appear to the world public that it is the Government that is intractable in the matter of foreign interference, that the people would perhaps accept foreign emissaries, foreign mediators, foreign contrivers, the best thing to do therefore is for all people in Serbia to state their will in a referendum." Markovic, for his part, said that this was certainly "a question that concerns constitutional matters. "The question of status of (Serbia's Province of) Kosovo-Metohija, questions of human, civic and national rights are all constitutional questions and we are making the most democratic appeal to the people, on whom sovereignty rests under our Constitution, to decide what to do about these questions. "Of course, those who negotiate about this will never hold the final decision in their hands. The final decision will again rest with the people. "Therefore, I think that any criticism that might be addressed to us from outside on the score of democracy will be invalidated by this. "We shall hear what the people think about how we should deal with the question of Kosovo-Metohija.

"For this reason I am sure that this is the most democratic procedure there is and that in this way alone can we prove to the world that we truly want democracy," Markovic said.

[10] SERBIAN PARLIAMENT TO MEET MONDAY

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

Serbian Parliament Speaker Dragan Tomic called the second meeting of the Parliament's first regular session in 1998 for 10 a.m. local time on Monday, April 6. The meeting will discuss a motion put before parliament to call a referendum for Serbian citizens to decide whether they accept a participation of foreign representatives in resolving problems in Kosovo- Metohija, the Parliament's Press Office said in a statement. Under the relevant law, a referendum must be held within no less than 30 days and no more than 90 days of being called. This was one of the main reasons why the Parliament Speaker, pursuant to the Government motion, called the meeting for the first work day of the next week, the statement said.

[11] ECONOMIC COOPERATION TO DATE BETWEEN GUINEA, YUGOSLAVIA SUCCESSFUL

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

Director General of the Conakry-based intenational centre for trade and export promotion Abdourahmane Sano said on Thursday that economic cooperation to date between Guinea and Yugoslavia had been successful. Sano said that his visit to Belgrade was aimed at finding ways of how to promote still further economic cooperation between the two countries which he said was on a far lower level than the political. The international centre for trade and export promotion is a Government-backed private institution that has carried out major deals. Referring to projects that Belgrade's Energoprojekt firm had successfully carried out or was still engaged on in Guinea, Sano said he would meet also with Belgrade Fair officials to discuss cooperation within an agreement recently signed in Conakry. Sano said the two countries should give priority to cooperation in the field of agriculture, health care and mining, saying Yugoslav technology could be in high demand on the Guinean market. He said the two countries could also cooperate in the sphere of education, saying about 200 highly-qualified Guineans had been trained in Yugoslavia. Sano also said that the best way to invest in Guinea's economy was through the Investors' Forum, adding that the Forum's next session would take place in Conakry on May 26-29. He said Yugoslav representatives were also expected at the session. Commenting on his visit to this year's international car show in Belgrade, Sano said he was impressed by it as well as by the work by the Belgrade Fair that organised more than 40 expositions annually.

[12] VICO RECEIVES E.U. DELEGATION

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

The Chairman of the Foreign Policy Board of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ratomir Vico, received on Thursday a delegation of the European Union's European Commission. The information service of the National Assembly of Serbia issued a statement saying that it was said that the application of the temporary measures in the implementation of the Agreement on Education in Kosovo and Metohija and the opening of the Institute for Albanian Studies to its previous users, were proof that this Agreement would be fully implemented.

[13] FOREIGN MINISTER Z.JOVANOVIC RECEIVED W.ISCHINGER

Tanjug, 1998-04-02

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic received on Thursday Political Director at the German Foreign Ministry Wolfgang Ischinger who is visiting Yugoslavia within consultations between top officials of the two countries' Foreign Ministries. The two countries' dialogue were positively assessed on bilateral relations, developments in the region, Yugoslavia's relations with the European Union and the country's status in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organisations.

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