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JOVANOVIC MEETS WITH MINISTERS OF ITALY, TURKEY AND MACEDONIA
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic met with foreign ministers Lamberto Dini of Italy, Ismail Cem of Turkey, and Aleksandar Dimitrov of Macedonia at the UN headquarters in New York late Wednesday.
In the talks with Dini, Jovanovic pointed out that NATO countries, including Italy, were responsible for the losses of human lives and vast material damages inflicted during the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia.
These countries are obliged to compensate to Yugoslavia for these war damages, said Jovanovic.
He pointed out that sanctions are unacceptable and present gross interference in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia, while political conditioning of humanitarian aid is incompatible with the very nature and principles of such aid.
No-one has the right to interfere in any way, and especially not with economic or other pressure, in Yugoslavia's internal affairs and in resolving any issue which strictly depends on the democratic will of citizens of that country, Jovanovic said.
Jovanovic also spoke about violations of Security Council Resolution 1244 in Serbia's southern Kosovo and Metohija province, in particular the farce concerning the alleged demilitarisation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian terrorist organisation. This is a deception not only of the Security Council, but even of the entire international public, he said.
Jovanovic pointed out the terrorist KLA would not be disbanded or demilitarised, but transformed into an alleged corps. He said Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, the permanent representative of Yugoslavia to the United Nations, had sent a letter of protest to the Security Council, demanding an annulment of the decision on the legalisation of these terrorists.
Minister Dini said the Italian government condemned separatism and ethnic cleansing of non-Albanians, and that it absolutely rejects any attempts at changing borders.
Dini said Italy urges the easing of E.U. sanctions toward Yugoslavia and said it would continue efforts in that direction. He admitted he was aware the relevant resolution was not being implemented, and said he was displeased with this.
Minister Cem said he would urge the realisation of Resolution 1244 and condemned the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and Metohija, not only of ethnic Turks, but all provincial citizens.
Cem said Turkey believes Yugoslavia is of vital importance for co-operation in the Balkans and that there can be no positive development of relations in the region without it.
During Jovanovic's talks with the Macedonian foreign minister, the two sides reaffirmed the mutual determination to stimulate and develop contacts in the areas of the economy, traffic, trade and production.
The ministers underscored the importance of the long-term close ties and unity between the economic structures, infrastructure, power industry, and other areas of the two countries.
It was also underscored that regional co-operation in south-eastern Europe can develop only with the equal participation of all countries and that all other stands are contrary to the interests of the region and its countries and result strictly from outside pressures.
Dimitrov said Macedonia sees the future of the Balkans exclusively in respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. He said Macedonia is against separatism and any idea to create a so-called Greater Albania, which he said, posed a threat to a large number of regional countries.
Jovanovic said the agreement on the disarming of terrorists was not being realised, that weapons were being hidden in Kosovo and Metohija province and neighbouring areas, which he said terrorists can do easily as the border is not secured.
Jovanovic said it was a stain on neighbouring countries that their governments had given support to the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia. This behaviour is contrary to the authentic interests of the regional countries and cannot bring any good to the area.
Minister Jovanovic participated in the working meeting of the regional group of eastern European countries at the United Nations late Wednesday, which was attended by 15 ministers.
JOVANOVIC MEETS WITH MINISTERS OF IRAQ, PERU, SWITZERLAND, MIANMAR
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic, who is attending the UN General Assembly session in New York, on Wednesday conferred with foreign ministers Mohammed Said Al-Sahaf of Iraq, Fernandez Trazegnies of Peru, Franco von Daniken of Switzerland, and U Vin Aung of Mianmar.
Talks with the Iraqi minister proceeded in solidarity and common condemnations of the use of force in international relations and violations of the UN Charter and international laws.
The two ministers condemned the practice of eroding principles established in the Charter, and the trends to weaken the world organisation and its role.
Denouncing strongly the use of force by power-wielders for realising their own interests, the ministers also most strongly condemned the imposing of sanctions and embargoes as a means of achieving political objectives.
They especially condemned the use of inhumane arms such as cluster and graphite bombs, or ammunition with depleted uranium filling, which inflict vast harm on the entire population and affect even future generations.
Regarding bilateral relations between Yugoslavia and Iraq, both sides expressed interest in their promotion in all areas, especially in the economy.
The Peruvian foreign minister expressed deep sympathies with the Yugoslav people in his talks with Jovanovic.
Trazegnies pointed out that Peru, headed by its President Alberto Fujimori, had condemned the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia as a gross violation of the UN Charter and the international legal order.
Trazegnies said all of Latin America had followed the dramatic situation with great concern and was single against the use of alleged humanitarian issues as a pretext for interventions.
Minister Jovanovic spoke about the situation in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija - violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the tolerant stand of the international forces (KFOR) and UN civilian mission UNMIK) toward terrorists of the ethnic Albanian organisation, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), whose violence triggered an exodus of the Serbian and other non-Albanian peoples, and the overall consequences of the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia.
Talks with the Swiss foreign ministers focused on the development of bilateral relations, which were assessed as positive. Switzerland within the Focus group, which provides humanitarian aid to Yugoslavia, voiced support to further activities. The group also includes Russia, Austria and Greece.
In the meeting with Jovanovic, the Mianmar foreign minister said his government had already at the beginning of the brutal NATO attack on Yugoslavia strongly condemned this aggression and pointed it out as a dangerous precedent, as it had been taken outside the Security Council and presented a violation of all existing norms and laws.
Mianmar followed all these acts of brutal aggression with deep concern. They are assaults on the principle of sovereignty and acts of abusing alleged humanitarian crises to attack a sovereign country, he said.
The minister said Mianmar also considered itself in danger of being the victim of such arbitrary actions and the use of double standards by the big powers, especially in the area of human rights.
Invitations for ministerial visits were exchanged in the talks.
ANDJELKOVIC: TRANSFORMATION OF KLA - MARKETING MOVE
The president of the Temporary Executive Council of Kosovo and Metohija, Zoran Andjelkovic, received on Wednesday in Pristina the representatives of the UN Civilian Mission (UNMIK), Jay Carter and Enrico Agilari.
Andjelkovic protested strongly over the transformation of the KLA into the Kosovo Protection Corps.
"This is not in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244," Andjelkovic set out adding that the real situation in the field does not show that KLA has been disarmed and demilitarised and that it no longer exists. It has only changed its name," Andjelkovic stated.
He said that in question is more a marketing move aimed at winning political points for the people in UNMIK, rather than a real goal stemming from Resolution 1244. Andjelkovic demanded that UNMIK and KFOR do their job and really disarm and demilitarise the ethnic Albanian terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija.
Carter and Agilari promised to convey Andjelkovic's stand to the UNMIK leaders.
ODALOVIC: WE ARE WORRIED BY KOFR'S SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS
The president of the Serbian National Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija, Veljko Odalovic, on Wednesday described the transformation of the terrorist so-called KLA into the Kosovo Protection Corps as "support to the terrorists to ethnically clean Kosovo and Metohija, to break it away from Serbia and to create in this territory a long-wanted imaginary republic of Kosovo." All, who fail to see this at this moment, are politically blind, Odalovic said.
"Never have more powerful forces joined in this part of the country with the aim of seizing it and, unfortunately, in question are not only KFOR, UNMIK and the ethnic Albanian terrorists," Odalovic said.
He underscored that at this moment of the greatest importance are the defence of the sovereignty and integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. Odalovic added that this is the obligation of all citizens of Serbia and Yugoslavia wherever they may be.
"No one of us has neither the right, nor the mandate to give up any part of our country," Odalovic said pointing out that the Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo and Metohija are resolved to persevere in this.
UN MUST PROTECT PROPERTY IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA BY WORLD STANDARDS
The United Nations must give priority to guarantees of safety for the people of all nationalities and property, including industrial facilities, in Kosovo-Metohija, the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce said on Wednesday.
The United Nations must act through its institutions in that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia - the international force (KFor) and the civilian mission (UNMIK), it was noted.
Branislav Vujinovic, who heads the Chamber's team for rebuilding Kosovo-Metohija, said that the protection of the property of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and other non-Albanians, and of public and private industrial facilities must be according to international standards.
Kosovo-Metohija Chamber of Commerce President Obrad Jankovic said that the necessary conditions for reviving the province's economy will not be created unless displaced Serbs and other non-Albanians return.
Ethnic Albanians alone cannot supply all the necessary professions to restart the industrial capacities, despite the local population's great demand for all kinds of consumer goods, from foodstuffs to building materials and raw materials, Jankovic said.
ETHNIC ALBANIANS KIDNAP A SERB
Ethnic Albanians have kidnapped Miodrag Obradovic, a Serb from the village of Srpski Babus, in Kosovo and Metohija, and taken him towards Urosevac. They also beat up several Serbs in this village, the Centre for Peace and Tolerance in Pristina said on Wednesday.
Ethnic Albanians first threatened a Serb in Pristina, afterwards looted his apartment and moved into it by force.
Two more Serbs from Pristina have also reported break-ins, looting and moving in by force.
Two ethnic Albanians were arrested when they tried to break into the apartment of a Serb woman in Pristina, the Centre said.
KFOR WITHDRAWS FROM SERB MARKET PLACE IN KOSOVSKA MITROVICA
After a daylong blockade of a market place in the northern, Serb, part of Kosovska Mitrovica, 150 French KFOR troops withdrew in 20 armoured transports Wednesday about 4 p.m.
After local Serbs prevented Tuesday the French peacekeepers from transferring about 50 market stalls from the Serb to the southern, ethnic Albanian, part of the town, KFOR Wednesday morning blocked all streets leading to the market.
The issue has not been definitely resolved yet, but KFOR agreed to the Serb proposal to move the market to a new location about 50 meters away.
Representatives of the Kosovska Mitrovica district Serb National Council and the district's chief administrator Martin Garrod will discuss the issue Wednesday evening.
Local Serbs need to have a market for farming produce in their own part of the town as they do not dare cross the bridge to the ethnic Albanian section in fear of ethnic Albanian terrorists and extremists.
A much larger market already exists in the ethnic Albanian part of the town.
LEFT-OVER MINES KILL 40 IN U.N.-SECURED KOSOVO-METOHIJA SINCE JUNE
The international mine affairs co-ordination centre (MACC) said in Pristina on Wednesday that 40 people have been killed in Kosovo-Metohija by left-over mines since the UN force was deployed on June 12.
The MACC, which operates as part of the UN civilian mission (UNMIK) to that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia, said that another 192 people have been injured in the 232 mine blasts registered since that date.
So far, 16 minesweeping organisations have been accredited to Kosovo-Metohija, 13 of which are already in the field, the MACC said in its statement.
SERBIA'S SOCIALISTS SAY KLA DEMILITARIZATION A FARCE
The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) said Wednesday that the farce around the demilitarisation of the terrorist self-styled Kosovo Liberation Army orchestrated by its foreign patrons constituted another proof of glaring violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, aimed at creating an ethnically pure Kosovo-Metohija and expelling all Serbs and non-ethnic Albanians from Serbia's southern province.
The SPS main board executive committee chaired by SPS secretary-general Gorica Gajevic insists on the due respect and implementation of the Resolution 1244, on safety for all inhabitants of Kosovo-Metohija, on the return of all displaced persons and on all other rights of ethnic communities living in the province, and warns that the Security Council and the countries taking part in KFOR and UNMIK must be held accountable for the violations of the said principles and for their irresponsible attitude towards their own tasks, which will further complicate the situation in the province, a SPS statement says.
Failed politicians and generals, and deserters and traitors in the service of NATO aggressors gathered within the "alliance against Serbia" are also contributing to this situation, the SPS said.
The attitude of Serbia's people towards the alliance was demonstrated by the failure of the rallies held Tuesday with the aim of causing unrest, preventing reconstruction endeavours and encouraging pressures and aggression on Serbia, the SPS said.
The people of Serbia are united in their devotion to reconstruction, reforms and improving living conditions. This is the best guarantee that all plans to this effect will be carried out successfully and within set deadlines, the SPS said.
YUGOSLAV LEFT OFFICIAL SAYS TRAITORS TRYING TO JUSTIFY NATO STRIKES
A ranking Yugoslav Left JUL official said in Belgrade on Wednesday that collaborators of the aggressors on Yugoslavia are demonstrating in the streets of Serbian towns, trying to justify the (March 24-June 10 NATO) aggression.
Speaking for local Radio B92, JUL Secretary General Ratko Krsmanovic said that NATO's partners and lackeys in Belgrade, Pristina and Podgorica all serve the same purpose - the economic and political interests of the architects of new global relations.
Krsmanovic strongly refuted the allegation by a part of the Serbian opposition that (Serbia's province of) Kosovo-Metohija has been lost and detached from Yugoslavia (federation of Serbia and Montenegro).
He explained that if this were so and if NATO had won, it would not have the need now to recruit servants locally in an effort to achieve its unattained war targets.
He believes that the peace force in Kosovo-Metohija, KFor, has given in to NATO's blackmail and made a concession to ethnic Albanian terrorists, allowing them to keep their organisation and structure, but under a different name - the Kosovo Protection Corps.
"This shows that there is a yawning gap between the declared principles (protection of a multiethnic Kosovo-Metohija and the sovereignty of Yugoslavia, as defined under the relevant UN resolution) and the actual situation," he said.
He went on to say that this situation is not the result of the NATO proteges - ethnic Albanians - refusing to toe the line and allow themselves to be disarmed, but part and parcel of a deliberate strategy.
Speaking about the Montenegrin regime, he said that it has for a long time been trying the patience of the Montenegrin people, especially when Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic flaunted his quisling role during the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia.
Commenting on the Montenegrin government's platform for redefining relations within the Yugoslav federation, Krsmanovic said this is an underhand move, which clashes with legal and moral norms and procedures.
There is no reason not to consider also platforms for redefining relations within Montenegro itself, he said.
SERBIA RESISTED NATO'S CRIMINAL AGGRESSION - MINISTER
Serbia's information minister said late on Tuesday "part of Serbian territory is under NATO occupation, which leaves its mark on Serbian developments."
Speaking on local television in Vranje, south-east Serbia (Yugoslavia), Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the whole of Europe has been subjugated, with only Serbia still holding out.
This is why Serbia is a thorn in the flesh of the western powers, which are striving to subjugate and destroy it at all costs, according to Vucic.
"Serbia, as a country of proud, honourable and honest people, resisted the NATO criminals' aggression (from March 24 to June 10) as best it could without the powerful rocket systems and planes.
"However, we had something that they will never have - we had the heart and the courage, because we were defending our homeland," he said.
CHINESE GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH YUGOSLAVIA
The Yugoslav economy should increase its presence in China, and vice versa, it was heard in Wednesday's talks in Beijing between Chinese and Yugoslav economy officials.
On the Yugoslav side, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation Jou Kezhen attended by Chamber of Commerce President Mihajlo Milojevic, and on the Chinese, the talks.
Promotion of co-operation between the historical friends is a constant policy and wish of the Chinese government, according to Jou.
He went on to say that the Chinese government attaches great importance to economic ties with Yugoslavia and supports Chinese companies in developing co-operation with Yugoslav companies.
Milojevic, for his part, said that Yugoslav businessmen are interested in increasing trade and promoting joint ventures with Chinese partners.
The Yugoslav delegation, comprising executives from a score of companies, continued talks on Wednesday with executives of more than 60 Chinese companies.
UNICEF: INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT POSITION OF WOMEN IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES
Women living in eastern and central Europe and in the former Soviet republics, which are going through social and economic transition following the failure of communism, are facing increasing inequality in the social, economic and political spheres, says a UNICEF report titled "Women in Transition."
The position of women in post-communist countries, and especially in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was discussed on Wednesday at the International Press Centre in Belgrade by the representatives of the Belgrade UNICEF office and the chairman of the Yugoslav government committee for co-operation with UNICRF, Margit Savovic.
The new regimes give greater political and economic freedoms to women, but "numerous past achievements threaten to disappear due to growing poverty, mass unemployment and the reduction of social services," the UNICEF report said.
Speaking about the position of women in Yugoslavia, Savovic stated that studies by the Belgrade UNICEF office and the Yugoslav committee for improving the position of women underscored a concerning deterioration of the position of women, especially since 1995.
Despite their favourable constitutional position, women in Yugoslavia are being totally pushed aside in all spheres of the social and private life.
She warned that of the total of people unemployed in Yugoslavia, nearly 60 percent are women, with single mothers, divorced women and women pensioners in an especially difficult position. Women make up one half of the population of Yugoslavia and 70 percent of all poor persons, Savovic said.
AS THE DAYS PASS
"Little Paris", Faust, Belgrade and the New World Order
Dragoslav Markovic
It would be nice and encouraging if it wasn't funny-sad. Belgrade and Bucharest, through their mayors, signed in the capital of the neighboring, frinedly country a "Protocol on co-operation".
After the "generous" support of the neighboring country, to be exact only of its leadership, after the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia and the recent Post festum statement of the Romanian prime minister that this country shall co-operate only with those cities in Yugoslavia in which opposition is in power, there comes also - the "Protocol"…
Miserable are those who have sold their soles to the Devil, and the Devil of the end of this millenium is America, with its assault units for disciplining of the "heretics" - the NATO alliance. Exactly for selling its soul to the Devil Romania is becoming more wretched - primarily in the eyes and souls of its own citizens. And the elections are near…
The signatures in Bucharest can only be understood as an "outburst" of the contemporary Fausts who are, although pretending to be cherishing tradition of friendship between the two peoples, just carrying out the tasks given to them by the same Master.
Those who know a little about the reality of Romania, especially the statue and appearance of its capital, Bucharest, can but laugh at the intention of this city to help Belgrade. Can a capital that is truly "little Paris" by its architecture, but that at the end of the second millenium hasn't got sewerage system on more than 60 percent of its territory, seriously help Belgrade? Can a city that on 20 percent of its streets still has Turkish cobblestones really do anything good for Belgrade which is, in spite of all sanctions, harassment and bombs, still "the Big Paris" for it…?
So, there is left only "help" in the ideological sphere and joint struggle for the New World Order. Who is in this story really interested in better life of the two capitals? And the people of the ever friendly Romania will, judging by the current situation, soon send its Fausts to Hell.