Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-12-16

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Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] ITALY'S FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN BELGRADE ON MONDAY

[02] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT SPEAKER BOZOVIC CONFERS WITH BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

[03] YUGOSLAVIA, BOSNIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

[04] MILUTINOVIC: DUAL CITIZENSHIP DEAL VITAL FOR CLOSER TIES WITH BOSNIA

[05] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA WELCOMES BELGRADE AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

[06] YUGOSLAVIA OPENS ITS CONSULAR OFFICE IN VUKOVAR

[07] YUGOSLAVIA-CROATIA SMALL BORDER TRADE AGREEMENT TAKES FORCE

[08] YUGOSLAVIA'S 1997 GNP TO REACH 8 PERCENT - STATISTICS

[09] BILDT SPEAKS ABOUT MISTAKES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA

[10] PRIME MINSITER KONTIC RECEIVES AMBASSADOR OF DPR OF KOREA

[11] U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES: YUGOSLAVIA IS A SOVEREIGN STATE

[12] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARIANS 1998.

[13] PRESIDENT PLAVSIC SAYS BONN CONFERENCE SMACKED OF INTERFERENCE

[14] OSCE MISSION MANDATE IN BOSNIA EXTENDED UNTIL END OF 1998

[15] FULL SUPPORT TO ACTIVITIES AND POSITIONS OF THE FRY DELEGATION IN

[16] OSTOJIC: THERE IS A MINIMUM OF JOINT SERB INTERESTS

[17] MILUTINOVIC: YUGOSLAVIA WILL NOT TOLERATE OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE

[18] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AVIATION OPENS IN BELGRADE

[19] MISSING PERSONS COMMISSIONS TO MEET BY THE END OF THE YEAR

[20] KRAJISNIK: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA DELEGATION DEFENDED RS INTERESTS IN

[21] TALKS ON SUCCESSION CONTINUE

[01] ITALY'S FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN BELGRADE ON MONDAY

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Italy's Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini will pay a one-day working visit to Yugoslavia on Monday, at the invitation of his Yugoslav counterpart Milan Milutinovic.

[02] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT SPEAKER BOZOVIC CONFERS WITH BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Speaker of the Assembly of Yugoslavia Chamber of Republics Srdja Bozovic discussed on Friday with Bulgarian Ambassador in Belgrade Ivail Trifonov the strengthening of parliamentary cooperation between the two countries. It was established in the talk that cooperation between the two Parliaments should be intensified, as a good basis for the resolution of major issues of interest to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

Relations between the two countries are an example of good-neighbourly cooperation, but can be even better, more substantive and comprehensive, it was set out in the talk.

Bozovic and Trifonov pointed up the need for an all-round development of the bilateral relations, especially economic and cultural.

[03] YUGOSLAVIA, BOSNIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic and Republika Srpska member in Bosnia's three-man Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik signed here on Saturday an Agreement on dual citizenship. A statement released by the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had agreed that Bosnia's citizens be enabled to apply also for the Yugoslav citizenship, in keeping with the European Human Rights Charter and the General Peace Agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The dual citizenship deal reflects Yugoslavia's contribution and support to the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the strengthening of the peace process, stability and goodneighbourly relations in the region as well as to stepping up overall relations and cooperation with Bosnia- Herzegovina and the protection of interests and rights of the Serb and Montenegrin peoples in Bosnia.

[04] MILUTINOVIC: DUAL CITIZENSHIP DEAL VITAL FOR CLOSER TIES WITH BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic said on Saturday that Republika Srpska member in Bosnia's three-man Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik and himself had signed an Agreement on Dual Citizenship earlier in the day. Milutinovic said the Agreement entitled all citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina and in particular Serbs and Montenegrins in the Republika Srpska to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship. "This is a major contribution to establishing closer relations between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Bosnia- Herzegovina and goodneighbourly relations in general," he said.

He said the Agreement would help all the interested citizens to feel safer and communicate more easily with their mother country.

Krajisnik said Bosnia officials were reviewing the draft law on citizenship, passports and travel papers at this point, saying the law was to be adopted early next week. He said preliminary agreement on the draft law had been reached at a recent conference of the Peace Implementation Council in Bonn.

He said all three members of Bosnia's Presidency had signed at the conference a statement enabling Serbs and all other citizens of Bosnia- Herzegovina to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship.

"The Dayton Peace Agreement contains a provision providing for dual citizenship of Bosnia's citizens," he said explaining that the signing of an Agreement to this effect with a mother country was a condition for it.

Krajisnik welcomed the Agreement, saying it enabled all citizens of Bosnia- Herzegovina to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship. "The agreement does not only enable Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina to apply for the Yugoslav citizenship but also entitles them to the same rights granted to the Bosnian Croats in Croatia," he said.

[05] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA WELCOMES BELGRADE AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

Republika Srpska received with approval news that Bosnian Serb member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic signed an Agreement on Dual Citizenship between Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Belgrade Saturday. Local media and people welcomed the news, saying this was something that was expected.

[06] YUGOSLAVIA OPENS ITS CONSULAR OFFICE IN VUKOVAR

Tanjug, 1997-12-13

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on Saturday opened its Consular Office in Vukovar, Serbian Radio-TV reported. Such an office will work in Beli Manastir on Sunday.

Since the Yugoslav-Croatian Agreement on local border traffic will take force on Sunday and since a large number of eastern Slavonia's citizens are interested in Yugoslav visas, the Office will work in Vukovar on Saturdays and in Beli Manastir on Sundays.

[07] YUGOSLAVIA-CROATIA SMALL BORDER TRADE AGREEMENT TAKES FORCE

Tanjug, 1997-12-14

As of Sunday, those wishing to cross the border between the Srem-Baranya region and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are using either small border passes or visas. An Agreement on small border trade, signed between Yugoslavia and Croatia in September, took effect at midnight local time.

Under the Agreement, people living in most parts of the Srem-Baranya region on the Croatian side and in Apatin, Bac, Backa Palanka, Beocin, Novi Sad, Odzaci, Ruma, Sombor, Sremska Mitrovica, Sid, Beska, Golubinci, Stari Slankamen and Novi Slankamen on the Yugoslav side of the border are entitled to small border passes.

The passes may be obtained at local police precincts.

Yugoslav Ambassador to Croatia Veljko Knezevic was present at the opening of the Consulate.

The Yugoslav visa is valid for six months. Also entitled to the visa are the region's students attending schools and universities in Yugoslavia.

[08] YUGOSLAVIA'S 1997 GNP TO REACH 8 PERCENT - STATISTICS

Tanjug, 1997-12-14

Yugoslavia's GNP will be between 7.5 and 8 percent this year, Tanjug was told by Yugoslav Statistics Bureau Director Milovan Zivkovic. The assessment was based on expectations that the industrial production would grow by 9.6 percent, agricultural production by 3 percent and production in other sectors by more than 10 percent, Zivkovic said.

He said that these results were satisfactory, in view of the fact that Yugoslavia had not regulated its membership in international financial and trade organisations.

Speaking about prices, Zivkovic said that they were not expected to grow in December and that in view of their 8.3-increase in the past 11 months, the inflation rate would be between 8 and 8.5 percent. The stability of prices was certainly the main feature this year, he said.

The prices of some Yugoslav products are higher than those in Europe, which means that they can be reduced, Zivkovic said.

He said that Yugoslavia was expected to increase its exports by more than one-third in comparison with 1996 and deliver goods worth a total of 2.370 billion dollars.

Zivkovic said that Yugoslavia had taken advantage of just a small part of E.U. trade preferentials because of a complicated procedure.

On the other hand, exports will grow by 15 percent this year and Yugoslavia's foreign trade deficit would amount to more than two billion dollars, like last year, Zivkovic said.

He said that the import of raw materials and intermediates accounted to 65 percent of the deficit.

Yugoslavia's GNP in 1998 should grow by about 10 percent, industrial production by 10.5 percent, agricultural production by 3 percent and production in other sectors by 13.5 percent, he said.

We do not expect an increase of the inflation rate, the Yugoslav Statistics Bureau director said and added that prices should be lowered by 4 to 4.5 percent next year.

In the foreign trade sector, Yugoslavia plans to increase exports by 32 percent and reduce its imports, he said.

[09] BILDT SPEAKS ABOUT MISTAKES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Swedish politician Carl Bildt, former High Representative of the international community in Bosnia said that peace could have been in place much earlier in Bosnia if a higher level of cohesion had been present earlier in the international community, which, he said, has made many mistakes in the region.

Bildt made this assessment in a statement to the Milanese daily Corriere della Sera, adding that the region now depended on the policy of the United States.

The Milanese daily writes about Bildt on the occasion of the publishing of his book Peace Mission, about what was really happening in and around Bosnia.

Bildt said his book was a history of mistakes, conspiracies and treachery, intended to undermine the mission, starting from the precipitated recognition of the former Yugoslav republics, arduous agreements about military initiatives and interventions, until peace was finally restored, and peace-keeping established or the initiative and agreement for lasting peace, Bildt told the Milanese daily.

Corriere said that Bildt was full of bitterness because of the incredible things that happened in Bosnia, and which are still happening.

The international community is investing millions of dollars in the reconstruction of Bosnia. But Muslims and Croats in Bosnia are using over half of the money for purchasing arms, Bildt said.

In a statement to the Milanese daily, Bildt said in conclusion that the international community and NATO will have to deal with Bosnia for years, as peace in Bosnia is maintained by the multinational forces.

[10] PRIME MINSITER KONTIC RECEIVES AMBASSADOR OF DPR OF KOREA

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic received on Friday the Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Von Ho, who is has ended his diplomatic mission in Belgrade, the Federal Information Secretariat has said.

In a long and open talk about current issues of bilateral cooperation and international relations, expressed was full agreement about the existence of conditions and joint interest for the promotion of cooperation in all spheres.

Underscoring that Ambassador Kim Von Ho's diplomatic mission in Belgrade resulted in the promotion of friendly relations betewen the two countries and their peoples, Kontic set out that the constructive position of DPR of Korea towards the Yugoslav crisis and efforts for its political and peaceful resolution, are of importance for the development of cooperation in the coming period.

Both sides said that it was necessary to complete the institutional framework for economic cooperation. First of all, it is necessary to coordinate interstate agreements on the protection of investments and the avoiding of dual taxation. Also expressed was the readiness for the intensification of interstate contacts at the highest level and revival of work of the Mixed Committee in order to speed up the resolution of practical issues and promote economic cooperation.

Ambassador Kim Von Ho expressed gratitute for the cooperation and help during his time as Ambassador and underscored the importance of the humanitarian aid which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia sent to DPR of Korea. He also thanked Yugoslavia for its support to the constructive unification efforts of the Korean people.

Both sides expressed belief that the unification issue without outside interference, could best be solved by the people themselves. It was said that this would be in the interest of Korea, but also of the entire region, the statement said.

[11] U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES: YUGOSLAVIA IS A SOVEREIGN STATE

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

The U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Yugoslavia said in the southern city of Nis on Friday that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a sovereign state and that the Province of Kosovo-Metohija was its internal affair. Speaking about international interest in this Province of Yugoslavia's Republic of Serbia, Richard Miles said that international norms should be applied in dealing with the problem of Kosovo-Metohija.

Miles said that actions speak louder than words and that the Yugoslav authorities needed to take but a small step to reach a global political solution to the problem. He did not elaborate, but did not miss the opportunity, either, to say that the reaching or otherwise of a global settlement would determine future bilateral economic cooperation and the return of Yugoslav exporters, those in Nis included, to the U.S. market.

He described his closed-door talks at the regional Chamber of Commerce as a high-level exchange of views on economic issues, saying they would be resumed.

There was no comment from the local officials, whose victory in last year's local elections Miles described as the result of their own efforts and a little help from their friends.

[12] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENTARIANS 1998.

Tanjug, 1997-12-12

Moldovan President Petru Luchinski has received a Yugoslav parliamentary delegation headed by Miodrag Koprivica, member of the Lower House Foreign Relations Committee, which is attending for the first time a session of the parliamentary assembly of the Black Sea Organization for Economic Cooperation.

Luchinski said Moldova supported Yugoslavia's endeavors for reintegration in all international institutions and wished to develop bilateral relations in all fields.

The Yugoslav delegation thanked the Moldovan President for the invitation to attend the session and for Moldova's support to Yugoslavia.

The delegation held a separate meeting with Moldovan Deputy Minister of the Economy and Reform Dumitru Bragish, which focused on the need for accelerating the conclusion of bilateral agreements on trade, economic cooperation, investments, avoidance of double taxation, education, culture and transports, possibly in the first months of 1998.

The Yugoslav delegation also had several informal meetings on the sidelines of the session with representatives of Moldova, Russia, Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Armenia, Romania, Albania, Egypt, Israel, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The session endorsed a draft charter of the Black Sea Organization for Economic Cooperation and urged national parliaments to ratify it as soon as it is signed in the beginnng of

The session ended by handing over the chairmanship of the organization to Romanian Senate Speaker Petre Romanu for the next six month period.

The next session of the Black Sea cooperation Parliamentary Assembly will be held next June in Bucharest.

[13] PRESIDENT PLAVSIC SAYS BONN CONFERENCE SMACKED OF INTERFERENCE

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic said on her return to Banja Luka from Bonn that it was not a good thing that the Bonn international conference on Bosnia had raised the question of Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province. Plavsic is quoted by Srpska Television * Banja Luka Studio as saying that the Bonn conference had been convened to discuss the implementation of the Dayton accord in Bosnia-Herzegovina's Republika Srpska and Muslim-Croat Federation. Kosovo-Metohija is part of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia and as such, any discussion of it smacked of interference in the internal affairs of Serbia and the FR of Yugoslavia, she added. She went on to say that conclusions adopted at the Bonn conference "should not worry the people in the Republika Srpska."

[14] OSCE MISSION MANDATE IN BOSNIA EXTENDED UNTIL END OF 1998

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council decided on Thursday to extend the mandate of its mission in Bosnia- Herzegovina until the end of 1998, the OSCE headquarters in Vienna has disclosed. The statement does not provide details on the number of OSCE officials who will remain in Bosnia, but notes only that the mission will be able to continue implementing the provisions of the Dayton agreement. The principal tasks of the mission are the implementation of the results of the local elections held last September, human rights activities, assistance to democratization and media development and regional stabilization in cooperation with other organizations.

[15] FULL SUPPORT TO ACTIVITIES AND POSITIONS OF THE FRY DELEGATION IN

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

The Federal Government at its session on Thursday, presided over by Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, reviewed and approved the report about the international conference of the Peace Implementation Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina, held on December 9-10 in Bonn, made by the head of the Yugoslav delegation, Political Director of the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dragomir Vucicevic. The Government lent full support to the activities and positions of the Yugoslav delegation and its decision to leave, in sign of protest, the Bonn conference because of direct interference in the internal affairs of Serbia and FR Yugoslavia, and inclusion of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija into the final document of the conference which was devoted to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said. The Government reiterated that only the consistent and full implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, without its revision, can secure lasting peace and security in the region, and confirmed its principled support to the peace process and enduring commitment of FRY to the policy of peace, stability, good*neighbourliness and multiform cooperation. It was pointed out that the further progress of the peace process was jeopardized by the continued arming of one of the entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the unequal treatment of Republika Srpska in reconstruction and recovery programs, and the still unresolved issue of return of refugees and displaced persons. The Government underlined that for Yugoslavia were unacceptable attempts to internationalize the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, both from the point of view of the national interests of Serbia and the FRY, and from the point of view of universal principles of relations between sovereign countries. The readiness of FRY was reiterated to resolve through dialogue all pending issues concerning the position of members of the ethnic Albanian minority in Kosovo and Metohija within the Constitution and institutions of the system, while observing the highest European and world standards about the rights and positions of national minorities.

[16] OSTOJIC: THERE IS A MINIMUM OF JOINT SERB INTERESTS

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

By walking out of the international conference in Bonn, the delegations of the FR Yugoslavia (FRY) and Republika Srpska (RS) have proven to the international community that there exists a minimum of joint Serb interests, RS Prime Minister Velibor Ostojic said on Thursday. Ostojic said that Kosmet is a national issue about which there can be no bargaining, and that the same applies to the consistent implementation of the Dayton agreement. According to him, RS will not agree to any agreements outside the Dayton agreement and "at our expense". Ostojic said that the conduct of the Bonn conference hosts and some other countries confirmed Serb fears that there would be deviations from the Dayton agreement. The rising of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija at the Bonn conference is the most obvious example of the international community's intentions to carry out a revision of the Dayton agreement, i.e. that the agreement serves as an excuse for the production of new papers which aim to realize the ambitions and strategic interests of some international factors in this region, Ostojic said.

[17] MILUTINOVIC: YUGOSLAVIA WILL NOT TOLERATE OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Milan Milutinovic said in the southwestern town of Novi Pazar on Thursday that Yugoslavia would not tolerate outside interference in its internal affairs. Meeting with local officials and businessmen, Milan Milutinovic, said that this was what some foreign factors had tried to do, prompting the Yugoslav delegation to walk out of the Bonn conference on Bosnia earlier this week. The Bonn ministerial conference, which had been convened to review specifically the implementation of the Dayton peace accord in Bosnia, had tried to sneak in the so-called issue of Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province, he said. According to Milutinovic, there is no need for any outside mediation in a dialogue between the Government and the people in Serbia. He said that the Dayton accord "makes no mention at all either of Kosovo-Metohija or the (ethnically mixed Serbian) Raska region." He stressed that everything in the accord was crystal clear and had to do only with Bosnia-Herzegovina, adding that Yugoslavia was a guarantor of the accord, which had been signed by authorised representatives of Bosnia-Herzegovina's two entities. Non- interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states is the main postulate of international politics, Milutinovic said, adding that any interference would create chaos in Europe and the world. He went on to say that there were forces in the world whose interests would best be served by a radicalisation in Serbia, which would allow them to finish the job of smashing up Yugoslavia. "They dismembered former Yugoslavia, but they will not be allowed to do the same with this one," he vowed.

[18] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AVIATION OPENS IN BELGRADE

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

A two-day International Conference on Civil Aviation, organized by the Yugoslav Aviation Association and the Aviation Department of the Belgrade University's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, opened in Belgrade on Thursday. Yugoslav Telecommunications Minister Dojcilo Radojevic welcomed eminent experts and guests from abroad on behalf of the Yugoslav Government and Prime Minister Radoje Kontic. Radojevic said that Yugoslavia had scientific, technical and intellectual potentials in its aviation institutions and companies, scientific, research and development project centres, universities and the army, which could contribute to the development and upgrading of Yugoslav aviation and secure its equal membership and partnership in the international aviation community. "The FR of Yugoslavia is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and supports all its initiatives and relevant recommendations contributing to the development of aviation, safety and efficiency in air transport," said Radojevic. He said that Yugoslavia supported also all initiatives vital to lasting peace, stability, good-neighbourly relations and cooperation in the Balkans, Europe and the world, which had been "especially underlined by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at the Summit of Heads of State or Government of Countries of Southeastern Europe, recently held in Crete." During the two-day Conference, Yugoslav, Russian, Romanian and Hungarian experts would present about 60 papers in the fields of aerodynamics, planning, new technologies, standards, norms, aviation regulation and transfers of knowledge and technology.

[19] MISSING PERSONS COMMISSIONS TO MEET BY THE END OF THE YEAR

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

The Yugoslav Government's Commission for humanitarian affairs and missing persons and the Croatian Government's Commission for captives and missing persons will meet in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, by the end of the year. The two Commissions reached agreement on the issue in a meeting in Belgrade on November 11-12. The meeting in Slavonski Brod will be attended also by the Commission for missing persons of the (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska and the Bosnian Croats' Commission for missing persons. A statement issued by the Yugoslav Government Commission said the Commission would yet again call on Croatia to solve immediately the cases of missing persons which Yugoslavia had listed as priorities. The cases in question concern the fate of pilots of the former Yugoslav People's Army, troops that disappeared at the Donje Kolibe locality near Bosanski Brod, reserve troops of the former Yugoslav People's Army (dubbed the Niksic and Savnik groups of missing persons), the statement said. Despite the fact that Yugoslavia has for more than five years been insisting on the resolution of the cases, Croatia has invariably found reasons for failing to do so offering grounds for postponing their resolution and alleging that the persons in question disappeared in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the statement said. Yugoslavia dismissed Croatia's allegations in all meetings to date, because it possesses evidence that the persons in question were captured by Croatian troops after which they disappeared without any trace, the statement said. In a meeting of the Yugoslav Commission held on Wednesday, the Commission voiced dissatisfaction with Yugoslav citizen Ivica Vuletic being sentenced without being indicted first to 20 years in prison allegedly for committing war crimes. Before that, Vuletic spent three and a half years in Croatian prisons, the statement said. Croatia agreed to set free Vuletic at meetings held in May 1995 and March 1996 but failed to do so, the statement said. In the light of this fact, it is evident that the trial of Vuletic, held in Osijek earlier this month, was of political nature and meant as a warning to Serbs that have remained in Croatia, especially those in the Srem and Baranya region, what to expect from the Croatian Government, the statement said.

[20] KRAJISNIK: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA DELEGATION DEFENDED RS INTERESTS IN

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

The Republika Srpska member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Momcilo Krajisnik said on Thursday in Pale that the Republika Srpska delegation at the Bonn conference had defended the interests of Republika Srpska and advocated full implementation of the Dayton agreement. Krajisnik said at a press conference that the RS delegation had opposed any revision of the Dayton agreement and the granting of greater powers to the High Representative of the international community for Bosnia. Krajisnik said he was astonished by the inclusion of the Kosovo-Metohija (Serbia's southern province) issue in the conference agenda and added that the RS delegation had to show solidarity with the delegation of the FR Yugoslavia in protest against the inclusion of the Kosovo issue in the final documents of the conference. Kosovo-Metohija is an issue of overall Serb interest and the RS delegation was bound to uphold the stance of the Yugoslav delegation, Krajisnik explained. The RS delegation had nothing against the host country and no objections to the way the conference was organized, but had to oppose the imposition of the Kosovo issue in the agenda of a conference which was to focus solely on the implementation of the Dayton agreement, he said. The RS representatives did not intend to obstruct the conference but insisted on the implementation of the Dayton agreement in its original form, Krajisnik said. RS representatives do not wish to undermine Bosnia- Herzegovina, but to preserve Republika Srpska and defend the interests of the Serb people, Krajisnik noted.

[21] TALKS ON SUCCESSION CONTINUE

Tanjug, 1997-12-11

The Succession Group on the division of assets and liabilities of the former Yugoslavia forged ahead with its conference on Thursday with chances of reaching any agreement still far off.

Chairman Sir Arthur Watts told Serbian Radio-TV that he was satisfied with the negotiations, though he was aware that agreement was not near, as there were difficult questions to be resolved.

Head of the Yugoslav delegation Academician Kosta Mihailovic said that Sir Watts had counted on the delegations reaching a framework agreement, though there are many questions that need to be clarified and accord is far off, he said. Mihailovic added that a solution had to be reached on the problem of dividing the assets of the former Yugoslavia. "I think we will be forced to agree on some kind of solution... We could solve some things in three days if we would sit down and show some good will". "For instance, if we could settle the question on what is state property? Does state property in the economy mean what was financed from the federal budget of central funds? Is it included in the inventory or not? If we could agree on relevant dates, that would pave the way enormously for accelerating the entire process," said Mihailovic. At the conclusion of the third day of the conference on succession, Sir Watts scheduled the next meeting and announced a debate on questions that were not included in the general text from Bonn. The Yugoslav delegation opposed the proposal on the ground that the document was not a subject of debate for the Succession Group, but for the governments of the countries it referred to. Watts accepted the explanation.

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