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Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-08-19Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Yugoslav Daily SurveyCONTENTS
[01] YUGOSLAV AND CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS END TALKS IN ZAGREBTanjug, 1998-08-18Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said that his talks on T uesday in Zagreb with his Croatian counterpart Mate Granic were very successful and useful. The talks were held within the framework of the regular politica l dialogue on the progress of implementation of the bilateral Agreement on the normalization of relations and on activities and measures for their futur e development. Jovanovic said he had exchanged views with Granic on a wide range of issues of interest for the future development of bilateral relations, and added that their meeting was held in an open and constructive atmosphere. Progress has been achieved, especially as regards dialogue on an increasi ngly wide range of issues and the growing number of participants, Jovanovic sa id. This has resulted in the signing of two important agreements - the Agreem ent on trade and the Agreement on mutual encouragement and protection of investm ents, Jovanovic said. A definite agreement has also been reached on the ope ning of a Yugoslav Consulate in Vukovar and a Croatian Consulate in Subotica to facilitate proceedings regarding the interests and rights of the two coun tries' citizens, Jovanovic said. Yugoslavia has reiterated its proposal for con cluding an agreement on lifting the visa regime, which would facilitate travel of both countries' citizens and constitute an important confidence-building measu re. It would also be in line with contemporary trends in Europe and remove administrative and other obstacles to the free movement of people, goods and information, Jovanovic said. Progress has also been achieved in the talk s between the two ministries of transport, and road and railway traffic has been normalized, Jovanovic said. The talks also focused on some outstanding i ssues of interest to the two countries, such as the issue of the Prevlaka promo ntory regarding which the two delegations exchanged draft agreements and agreed to coordinate them as soon as possible, Jovanovic said. The results of the Tuesday meeting will pave the way for a new stage in the normalization process and in regulating bilateral relations, especially a s regards the economy, Jovanovic said. Yugoslavia has reiterated its stanc e that the repatriation of refugees should be accelerated and their property and other rights protected, and that the property of Yugoslav nationals and legal p ersons in Croatia should also be protected, Jovanovic said. Yugoslavia believes that the conclusion of an agreement on compensation for destroyed or damaged p roperty would also make a significant contribution to accelerating repatriation. Humanitarian issues should also be resolved more speedily and information should be exchanged on missing persons as soon as possible, Jovanovic said. Yug oslavia remains committed to the consistent implementation of the Erdut Agreement and attaches a great importance to the Croatian Government's Letter of Intent and other agreements as essential pre-conditions for the equality and the ret urn of Serbs to the Eastern Slavonia region, Jovanovic said. In discussing the situation in the region, both sides advocated the full implementation of the Dayton Agreement and pointed to the importance of the forthcoming electio ns in Bosnia-Herzegovina and of the consolidation of democratic processes there , Jovanovic said. Yugoslavia will continue endeavouring for the full implementation of the peace agreement in order to ensure the functioning of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a union of two equal entities and three equal const ituent peoples, Jovanovic said. Yugoslavia will not accept any revision of the Dayton Agreement, he added. In the two years since the Agreement on normalization was signed, im portant and positive results have been achieved and bases have been laid for seek ing solutions to all remaining pending issues with the due respect of mutual interests, Jovanovic said. This will also contribute to the stabilizatio n of the overall situation in the region, Jovanovic said and pointed to Serbia's a nd Yugoslavia's endeavours for resolving the issue of Serbia's southern prov ince of Kosovo and Metohija in a peaceful manner through dialogue. Croatian Mini ster Granic also said that the Kosovo and Metohija issue must be resolved with out violence and through dialogue, and added that his talks with Jovanovic we re open and useful, in line with the Agreement on normalization. [02] SERBIAN POLICE SMASHES AN INTERNATIONAL CRIME GANGTanjug, 1998-08-18A joint operation of the police forces of the Yugoslav republic of S erbia and of its Kosovo and Metohija province has smashed an international gang of ethnic Albanian criminals, according to a statement of the Serbian Interi or Ministry. During 1997 and 1998, the ethnic Albanian criminals had carried out a number of murders and other serious crimes, solely against other ethnic A lbanians in Kosovo and Metohija, Ministry officials told a news conference in Belg rade. The officials said that the criminals had worn discarded Serbian pol ice uniforms and spoken Serbian among themselves in order to create the impre ssion that the crimes were being committed by Serbian police. The idea was to p rovoke dissatisfaction with and distrust of the police among the ethnic Albanian community, thus indirectly serving the purpose of ethnic Albanian separat ists and terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija, the officials said. According to the police sources, they chose their victims from among ethnic Albanians returning f or holidays from their jobs in western Europe, passengers travelling to Turk ey and jewellers in Kosovo and Metohija. The gang generally operated together, though lesser felonies were carried out by two or more of the gang. Searches of the gang members' homes revealed firearms, forged Hungarian travel papers, an d most of the stolen jewellery and other valuables, which have been returned to their rightful owners. A Ministry official commended the competent bodies in M acedonia for their cooperation in the arrest of the gang, adding that four of the gang members had convictions abroad for armed robbery. According to the offic ial, the gang operated also in Hungary, Macedonia and Switzerland. [03] SERBIAN REFUGEE COMMISSIONER RECEIVES UNHCR ENVOYTanjug, 1998-08-18Serbian Refugee Commissioner Bratislava Morina met in Belgrade on Tu esday with a delegation of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), hea ded by Assistant Commissioner Soren Jensen Petersen. According to the Serbian Commissioner's office, the two sides expressed pleasure with the active r ole played by the UNHCR in organising the repatriation of refugees to Croatia 2E They deplored, however, that there was no return of refugees to Bosnia-Herzego vina, which was one of the basic provisions of the Dayton Accords, the statemen t said. Morina welcomed the open city concept, stressing that among the open citi es should also be Bosnia-Herzegovina's major cities, such as Sarajevo, Mosta r and Tuzla. She said that all aspects of the refugee question were being tack led with a view to a lasting solution, and that modalities were being sought for h elping with the limited funds as many of those wishing to remain in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as possible. She agreed with Petersen that the return of r efugees and displaced persons in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's province of Ko sovo and Metohija must be preceded by the establishment of mutual trust. She went on to say that the Serbian Government and people were aware that the displaced persons in Kosovo and Metohija needed to be reassured and encouraged to return t o their homes. She said that all relevant factors had, through a series of appea ls and concrete actions, offered assurances that life together was possible in t hese lands. The return of displaced persons would be made possible by resuming t he interrupted dialogue between the Serbian Government and Kosovo and Metohi ja's ethnic Albanian negotiators, and by putting an end to ethnic Albanian separatists' terrorist operations, she said. [04] RUSSIAN DEPUTY TRANSPORT MINISTER VISITS BELGRADETanjug, 1998-08-18Yugoslav Deputy Transport Minister Miodrag Zivkovic, along with Yugo slav transport exports, on Tuesday met his Russian counterpart Yevgeny Kazants ev, who arrived on a several-day working visits to Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Infor mation Secretariat said in a statement. Kazantsev was received also by Yugoslav Transport Minister Dejan Drobnjakovic. Drobnjakovic wished him success in cooperation with Yugoslav colleagues in working out issues and documents that are to be settled and finalized in October, when Russian Transport Minister i s due in Belgrade. The issues and documents relate to the promotion of all fo rms of transport as a basis for the implementation of dynamic economic relati ons between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Russian Federation. Bo th sides deem vital issues pertaining to transport on land, on the water and in th e air. Zivkovic and Kazantsev coordinated stands on removing obstacles to a more dynamic overland passenger and goods transport. [05] TERRORISTS ATTACK SERB VILLAGES AND POLICE POSITIONS CATHOLIC ETHNIC ALBANIANS HAND OVER ARMS TO THE POLICETanjug, 1998-08-18Catholic ethnic Albanians from the village of Zlokucane, Serbia's so uthern province of Kosovo and Metohija, handed over arms in their possession to the police station in Klina, the Klina municipal authorities told Tanjug on T uesday. The arms included 63 automatic and semi-automatic fire arms and two machi neguns, as well as a considerable quantity of ammunition. The villagers said the arms had been forced on them by ethnic Albanian terrorists, but that they did not wish to fight against the state of Serbia. Zlokucane has the largest Catholic ethnic Albanian population in the Klina municipality. [06] YUGOSLAV AND GERMAN RED CROSS REPRESENTATIVES MEETTanjug, 1998-08-18Representative of the German Red Cross Hans Heinrich Schaefer visite d the Yugoslav Red Cross on Tuesday and discussed with its officials the curren humanitarian situation in Yugoslavia and the ways in which the German Red Cross can provide aid, the Yugoslav Red Cross Press Service said. The German R ed Cross has so far delivered to the Yugoslav Red Cross aid to the value of 30 mil lion German marks. Schaefer said that another shipment of aid from the German Red Cross would arrive in Yugoslavia next October, the statement says. [07] YUGOSLAV BORDER GUARDS PREVENT ANOTHER ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGTanjug, 1998-08-18The Yugoslav Army border guards prevented on Monday night an attempt of a group of about 20 terrorists to enter Yugoslavia's territory from Albania in the Gorozup border post area west of Prizren, the Pristina Corps said. The group was detected about one kilometre inside Yugoslavia's terri tory. After border guards warned them to halt, the terrorists opened fire from automatic weapons. Five terrorists were killed in the ensuing clash and t he rest fled back to Albania. The border guards did not sustain any losses. The border guards seized ten machineguns, one recoilless cannon and a large quantity of ammunition and other military equipment. Fire was opened from automatic weapons from Albania's territory on Tuesday at 9 a.m. on Yugoslav border guards patrolling the Kosare border post area north-west of Djakovica. Several s hells were also fired on the patrol. The border guards, who did not sustain an y losses, did not return fire. The incident was immediately reported to a l ocal Yugoslav-Albanian border commission. [08] SERBS ARE VICTIMS OF THE WEST'S WRONG POLICYTanjug, 1998-08-18Subash Chopra, a retired Indian Vice-Admiral, has said that ethnic A lbanian separatists and terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija are backed by NATO and oil-rich Islamic countries because of which the Kosovo and Metohija issue much res embles events in Bosnia-Herzegovina of a few years ago. Chopra, a renown milita ry theorist, told Tanjug that this time again, the West was trying through m edia to blame it all on Serbs although, he said, it was evident that Serbia and Yugoslavia were only defending their territorial integrity in keeping wit h International Law and were trying to put an end to terrorism, the greates t evil of modern times. Chopra pointed out striking impudence of ethnic Albania n terrorists in Serbia's southern province, saying they were trying to impo se terms of negotiations on Serbia. Well-armed members of the ethnic Albanian ter rorist organisation calling itself Liberation Army of Kosovo (LAK) should know t hat their requests are unacceptable but still they hope that NATO and the E uropean Union will continue exerting pressure on Serbia fanning bloodshed in Koso vo and Metohija, said Chopra who has been monitoring developments in the former Yugoslavia since the outbreak of hostilities. Most of the Western media like CNN and BBC give priority to reports on ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo and Metohija but none of these "great" correspondents were a bit that efficie nt in reporting on the exodus of 600,000 Serbs from Croatia. Also, they are har dly concerned about Turkey's routine killing of Kurds with planes and tanks, he said. Chopra said those who wanted to understand media manipulation of the civi l war in Bosnia-Herzegovina should read a book about it by General Lewis McKenz ie who had been in the field. Serbs were blamed for everything while it was qui te different in reality, he said adding that some media were greatly helping ethnic Albanian extremists dream about a greater Albania. He said non-aligned c ountries and the international community as a whole should defend the principle of non-interference in sovereign states' internal affairs because the princi ple of selective right to self-determination was a dangerous discovery. He sai d Russia's behaviour and opposition to military action against Serbia over developments in Kosovo and Metohija was understandable, because war-thirs ty NATO commanders uncritically supported ethnic Albanians. Chopra said Serbia w as an extremely sensitive part of Europe and its stomach so that it was very da ngerous if that stomach started bleeding again. As regards Kosovo and Metohija, Serbs only want the world to act in line with relevant principles of internatio nal relations concerning states' sovereignty and terrorism, he said adding th at once this was the case, the issue of the province would be soon resolved. [09] RUSSIA SUPPORTS RENEWAL OF DIALOGUE IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJATanjug, 1998-08-18Russia welcomed Belgrade authorities' decision to restore dialogue w ith the newly set up delegation of ethnic Albanian political parties in the Yugos lav republic of Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province as soon as possible. Moscow supports Belgrade's intention to renew political talks with ethnic Albani an representatives that was expressed in its invitation to the head of the n ew ethnic Albanian delegation Fehmi Agani to start dialogue as early as this week, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Valery Nyesterushkin told a regular pr ess briefing on Tuesday. Nyesterushkin said that Russia welcomed also the setting up of the new ethnic Albanian negotiating team, named by ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova, but did not comment on the team's refusal to respond to t he invitation and their resorting to conditions for the renewal of dialogue once again. Referring to a NATO exercise currently underway in Albania, Nyest erushkin said that they were a positive component of overall international efforts to resolve the Kosovo and Metohija problem. Nyesterushkin described the NAT O manoeuvres as an exercise of mechanisms for possible humanitarian operati ons. He added that the purpose of the exercise was also to train for providing as sistance in establishing border control with a view to cutting off conduits for fu nnelling arms and terrorists to Kosovo and Metohija. He said that now it was neces sary to display maximum reservations and to prevent possible hostile operations f rom jeopardizing the restoration of dialogue. It is extremely important in t he current situation that the international community, primarily the Contact Group, should coordinate its activities so as to help the renewal of the negotia ting process on Kosovo and Metohija, said Nyesterushkin. [10] SERBIAN OFFICIAL URGES UNHCR TO HELP RESOLVE THE PROBLEM OF ABDUCTED PERSONSTanjug, 1998-08-18Coordinator of the activities of state institutions in Serbia's sout hern province of Kosovo and Metohija Andreja Milosavljevic met on Tuesday in P ristina the head of the UNHCR office in Pristina Thomas Vargas and UNHCR represen tative in Belgrade Eduardo Arboledu. The cooperation between state institutions and humanitarian organizations in improving the overall humanitarian situatio n in the province was described as good, especially as regards the problem of dis placed persons, the provincial Information Secretariat said in a statement. Milosavljevic once again pointed to the outstanding problem of persons ab ducted by ethnic Albanian terrorists and of their families who know nothing of t heir fate. As this problem remains unresolved, it is imperative to undertake t he necessary measures immediately, it was agreed during the meeting. Vargas thanked Milosavljevic for the open cooperation and support provided by the Serbia n Government in resolving humanitarian problems in Kosovo and Metohija. Milosavljevic thanked Vargas for his endeavours which had benefitted all citizens, the statement says. [11] AMBASSADOR HILL: KOSMET PROBLEM MUST BE SOLVED THROUGH TALKSTanjug, 1998-08-18U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia Christopher Hill said in Pristina on Tu esday that the problem of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province must be settled at the conference table, through political dialo gue. Hill was speaking in the province's chief city of Pristina, where he had separate talks earlier in the day with the province's ethnic Albanian Democratic L eague (DSK) leader Ibrahim Rugova and Parliamentary Party leader Adem Demaqi. Speaking at a news conference at the U.S. Information Centre in Pris tina after the meetings, Hill expressed confidence that the problem of Kosovo and Metohija would be settled through talks, as no side could settle the prob lem with armament. He said that this would be a long and painstaking process, that there were fundamental differences between the two sides, but that every effort would be made to produce results. Hill said he had conveyed some ideas from Be lgrade to Pristina, and was now returning to Belgrade to pass on what he had hea rd in Pristina. He said Rugova was willing to take responsibility for promotin g the process. Speaking about his meeting with Demaqi, Hill said that it had b een one of similar meetings held with all interested parties in an effort to info rm others about the process. He explained that Rugova, when announcing his t eam for talks with the government in Belgrade, had left the door open to all tho se willing to join in the process. [12] ETHNIC ALBANIAN REPRESENTATIVE REJECTS TALKS WITH SERBIAN STATE DELEGATIONTanjug, 1998-08-18Head of the political delegation representing the ethnic Albanian mi nority of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija Fehmi Agani did not come to the scheduled meeting with the head of the state delegation, Serbian Depu ty Prime Minister Ratko Markovic, Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Pristina. After a 45-minut e wait, provincial Information Secretary Bosko Drobnjak told the press that altho ugh Agani did not come to the talks today, the official invitation to ethnic Albanian representatives would remain open. The state delegation remains ready for unconditional talks with ethnic Albanian representatives, Drobnjak said. Markovic had invited Agani on Monday evening to meet on Tuesday, but the invitation remained without response. Agani met on Tuesday morning the U S Ambassador Christopher Hill, but he said beforehand that he would not mee Markovic later in the day as the conditions he had requested had not been met. [13] YUGOSLAV AGRICULTURE MINISTER VISITS SLOVAKIATanjug, 1998-08-18Yugoslav Agriculture Minister Nedeljko Sipovac met in the Slovakian town of Nitra on Tuesday with Slovakian State Minister of Agriculture Norbert Benushko, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said in a statement. The two parties to the talk exchanged information on the development of agriculture, forestry and water resources management and also on this yea r's results in agricultural industries in Slovakia and Yugoslavia, respective ly. The talk focused also on agricultural cooperation to-date. It was noted t hat there were major prospects for expanding the existing forms of cooperatio n in this domain and also establishing new ones. The two parties to the talk agreed that the Yugoslav and Slovakian ministries of agriculture should exchange information on the performance of their respective agricultural industrie s so as to provide the basis for Yugoslav and Slovakian economic subjects to arra nge import and export deals. It was also suggested that this should be one o f the topics for discussion at the coming session of an Inter-Governmental Mixe d Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation. Sipovac and Benushko join tly noted that the agricultural fair currently held in Nitra showed direction s to cooperation between the Yugoslav and Slovakian agricultural complexes, wh ich was clearly illustrated by the Agrodetran combine harvester, manufactured as a joint venture by Belgrade's Zmaj and Slovakia's Detra farm machinery factories. The talk is expected to resume during a Slovakian state and business delegati on's return visit to Yugoslavia and its Ministry of Agriculture, when the agre ement on cooperation between the two countries' agricultural complexes is to be finalized. [14] AMBASSADOR JOVANOVIC REJECTS ANNAN'S REPORT ON KOSOVO AND METOHIJATanjug, 1998-08-19Yugoslavia's U.N. Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic has rejected U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's report on Kosovo and Metohija in which he criticised allegedly inadequately tough measures against ethnic Albanian terrorists. In a letter to Annan, Jovanovic said the report, released last week, teem ed with incomplete data and arbitrary estimates and was contrary to the situation in the field, adding that, consequently, the report led to wrong conclusions. The main cause of the current state of affairs in Serbia's southern provi nce are actions by the ethnic Albanian terrorist organisation calling itself Libe ration Army of Kosovo which is responsible for more than 650 acts of terrorism a nd abduction of 150 civilians, he said. The terrorists killed a large num ber of civilians, half of whom were ethnic Albanians, he said. [15] YUGOSLAVIA AND CROATIA AGREE TO DEVELOP ECONOMIC RELATIONSTanjug, 1998-08-18The Agreement on mutual encouragement and protection of investments signed on Tuesday in Zagreb by Yugoslav and Croatian Foreign Ministers Zivadin J ovanovic and Mate Granic will make a significant contribution to the strengthening of bilateral economic ties. The Agreement will provide additional guarantees to investors from the two countries on a reciprocal basis. The Agreement on trade that was also signed on Tuesday will provide an institutional framework f or bilateral economic cooperation and will help intensify trade as regards both volume and variety, as the value of bilateral trade in 1997 was only 85 m illion dollars. The Agreement also envisages the mutual granting of the most fa voured nation and payments in hard currency, as well as other forms of trade. A joint commission will be created to monitor the implementation of the Agreement s. The two countries also signed on Tuesday a Consular Convention to regulate co nsular services on a reciprocal basis. The Convention will contribute to a full normalization of bilateral relations and lay a legal framework for the un hindered functioning of diplomatic representations of the two countries. The Conv ention also paves the way for opening Yugoslav and Croatian consulates on a reci procal basis. Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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