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YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT APPROVES YUGOSLAV DELEGATION'S UN ACTIVITIES
A federal government session, chaired by Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, on Thursday reviewed and adopted a report about the activities of the Yugoslav delegation, headed by federal Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic, in New York from Sept. 20 - 29 at the start of the 54th regular UN General Assembly session.
The Federal Information Secretariat said in a statement that the government assessed that the extensive contacts and talks with more than 50 foreign ministers and heads of state and government from all continents, with top UN representatives and prominent U.S. political figures, represent an exceptional contribution to Yugoslavia's foreign policy activities.
This served to strengthen Yugoslavia's reputation and its international position and dispersed the illusion about this country's foreign policy isolation since, clearly, NATO is not the international community.
The New York talks underscored a high degree of solidarity with Yugoslavia, which was the victim of the NATO aggression, and expressed support for its opposition to the policy of dictate and pressures.
The majority of those who participated in these talks said that the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia represented the grossest violation of the UN Charter and the other principles of international law.
They all expressed dissatisfaction over the concerning situation in Kosovo and Metohija resulting from the non-implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
During the numerous talks conducted by the Yugoslav delegation at the United Nations, everyone expressed support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and Yugoslavia and rejected as unacceptable all attempts for the secession of Kosovo and Metohija. Yugoslavia expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the special representative of the UN General Assembly and UNMIK head, Bernard Kouchner, who is violating his mandate determined by Resolution 1244.
All who met with the Yugoslav delegation strongly condemned the ethnic cleansing campaign by the terrorist so-called KLA agreeing that its transformation into the so-called Kosovo Protection Corps is a farce and a weapon for the destabilisation of the region.
The federal government concluded that the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia was in the focus of this year's General Assembly session and that the majority of speakers underscored that this flagrant precedent of the violation of the UN Charter and the international law represents a serious danger to all peace-loving countries.
Regarding certain charges by the Council of the European Union expressed in the Oct. 4 E.U. decision on the sale of oil only to "certain parts of Yugoslavia," the federal government said that in question is an unprecedented attempt to manipulate the truth about the situation in Kosovo and Metohija following the adoption of Resolution 1244 and the arrival of the international mission.
Claims that Yugoslavia is to blame for the alleged violations of Resolution 1244 and the tragic developments over the past few months in Kosovo and Metohija, are a totally hypocritical attempt to transfer one's own responsibility to someone else and a futile search for an excuse for EU's incorrect policy towards Yugoslavia and the countries of southeastern Europe, the federal government said.
YUGOSLAVIA INSISTS ON CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOLUTION 1244
The head of the permanent Yugoslav mission at the United Nations, Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, sent a letter on Thursday to Security Council President Sergei Lavrov underscoring the need for the return of a part of Yugoslav Army and police troops to Kosovo and Metohija in keeping with Security Council Resolution 1244.
In a separate protest letter to the Security Council President, Yugoslavia demanded this body's reaction to the illegal action of the U.S. contingent within the UN peacekeeping mission which, contrary to the decisions and determined policy of the resolution, started building a base in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.
In the two letters, Yugoslavia recalled that a political solution to all issues linked to Serbia's southern Kosovo and Metohija province must be sought solely with the respect of the decisions contained in Resolution 1244, the Ahtisaari-Chernomyrdin Agreement, the Military-Technical Agreement and other relevant documents.
YUGOSLAV OFFICIALS MEET OSCE CHAIRMAN
President and Vice-President of the Yugoslav government committee for cooperation with the UN mission in Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province Stanimir Vukicevic and Zoran Andjelkovic met Thursday in Pristina the Chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Knut Vollebaek, the Kosovo-Metohija Interim Executive Council said in a statement.
Vollebaek expressed concern over the large number of refugees from Kosovo-Metohija, and Vukicevic and Andjelkovic criticised the non-compliance with the Security Council Resolution 1244 and the policy of double standards towards Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the province, the statement says.
The security situation in Kosovo-Metohija is bad, despite the presence of 50,000 KFOR peacekeepers and members of the UN civilian mission, Vollebaek was told.
Daily acts of terrorism have forced 250,000 Serbs and other non-ethnic Albanians to leave the province, where conditions have not been ensured for education or business activities, the officials told Vollebaek, the statement says.
BRITISH JACKSON LEAVES AS KFOR CHIEF, MAKES WAY FOR GERMAN REINHARDT
British General Michael Jackson leaves Kosovo-Metohija and his command of the international KFOR force in that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia on Friday, to make way for German General Klaus Reinhardt.
Gen. Jackson will probably be remembered for endearing himself to Kosovo-Metohija's Albanians and for a large number of Serbs getting not even a minimum of protection from his troops and being forced to leave their homes before ethnic Albanian terrorists.
Leaving Kosovo-Metohija, Gen. Jackson said he had seen little sign of tolerance, and admitted that no amount of troops or police can prevent anybody from killing anybody else, if they have a mind to it.
Gen. Reinhardt, in turn, who has spent the last 18 months as NATO land forces commander central Europe, has given indication of a different approach to ethnic Albanian terrorists, saying he is prepared to use force to bring peace to Kosovo-Metohija.
This might mean that KFOR would finally have to come to grips with the ethnic Albanian terrorists, who are the biggest threat to peace and security in the troubled Serbian province.
Gen. Jackson, who has undisputed military qualities, has failed in this, and this will be remembered as one of the biggest failures of the UN mission to Kosovo-Metohija.
GENERAL REINHARDT PROMISES PROTECTION OF SERBS AND SERBIAN CULTURAL LANDMARKS
German General Klaus Reinhardt promised in Pristina Friday, before taking over the duties of KFOR commander, that under his leadership, the international peacekeeping forces will be absolutely neutral and that they will provide effective protection to all residents of Kosovo-Metohija, without regard to ethnic identity.
"KFOR is in Kosovo, among other things, also to protect priceless Serbian cultural sites and prevent the destruction of the magnificent, for the Serbs very important, religious shrines," the 58-year-old general told the German news agency DPA.
Reinhardt also stressed that it was important that people in Kosovo view him as a general who, for the first time since WW II, is not coming to the Balkans as an occupier, but to render assistance to the people.
Before his appointment as KFOR commander, Gen. Reinhardt was commander of the NATO allied troops in Koblenz.
BRUSSELS - SECURITY SITUATION IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA NEVER WORSE
Albanian terrorists do not back off from shooting at members of the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo-Metohija, said Thursday the media in Brussels quoting UN Civilian Mission chief Bernard Kouchner as saying that the "security situation in Kosovo was never more difficult."
By not citing Albanian terrorism as the basic reason for the deterioration of the situation and the attempt of leading men from the peacekeeping forces to explain every murder and persecution of non-Albanian populations as "ethnic hatred," only prolongs the agony of Kosovo-Metohija, analysts said.
Kouchner, following the attack of "KLA" members on Serbs and KFOR members in Kosovska Mitrovica, when one person was killed and 32 were wounded, admitted that it was a "terrible incident," while KFOR commander Gen. Michael Jackson called it a "great shame" and that it was unacceptable.
Both of them agreed that the situation remained "exceptionally difficult," as they consider, "despite all the efforts" of KFOR and the UN Civilian Mission in Kosovo.
OSCE OFFICIAL CRITICISES LANGUAGE OF HATE IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) envoy for the media Freimut Duve criticised Thursday the press agency of the separatist KLA Kosova-press for its commentary of October 2, which described the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Pristina daily Koha Ditore Veton Surroi and Baton Haxhiu as pro-Serbian vampires.
There is no room for men such as Surroi and Haxhiu in the liberated Kosovo, the commentary had said.
Such extremist language is being used to destroy democracy, Duve said, adding that proclaiming people holding different views as enemies and traitors was unacceptable.
Politicians in (Serbia's province of) Kosovo-Metohija should apologise to Surroi and Haxhiu, and the international community must react to the language of hate, Duve said, expressing hope that the UN mission in the province would take the necessary measures.
FRENCH LAWYER WILL DEFEND KOSOVO-METOHIJA'S ORAHOVAC SERBS
Eminent French lawyer Eric Dupond-Moretti of Lille has decided to defend pro bono three Serbs from Orahovac, Kosovo-Metohija, on charges of war crimes.
Ethnic Albanian authorities in Prizren, Kosovo-Metohija, employed since the deployment of the international KFOR force to that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia, have accused the Serbs of war crimes allegedly committed between August 1998 and June 1999.
Dupond-Moretti is due later on Friday in Prizren, where his clients Andjelko Kolasinac, aged 47, Stanislav Levic, 50, and Vekoslav Simic, 35, are held, to take over their defence.
Dupond-Moretti has noted that lawyer Kolasinac, tradesman Levic and doctor Simic were given no right of appeal to the court order placing them in custody, and that while in custody they have not been allowed contact with a lawyer.
KFOR arrested former Orahovac Mayor Kolasinac, Levic and Simic in August and they are being held in Prizren under a Prizren District Court order.
The Hague-based war crimes court for former Yugoslavia has said meanwhile that it is not interested in having them tried in the Hague, obviously because investigation has revealed no evidence for a conviction.
Dupond-Moretti said to the press in Lille on Thursday that he is neither pro-Serbian nor pro-Albanian, but is pro-justice and wishes to see equal human rights for all.
DINI - THERE CAN BE NO RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BALKANS WITHOUT SERBIA'S PARTICIPATION
There can be no real and comprehensive reconstruction of the Balkans without the inclusion of Serbia in the job, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini told Tanjug Friday.
Ahead of the first round table on economic reconstruction of the Balkan region in Bari, Dini said that Serbia was not only an integral part but also the most important parts of the Balkans.
Bearing in mind the current situation in the Balkans, the Italian foreign minister specified that the basic task of the round table on the reconstruction of the Balkans will be to determine the most urgent investments.
No doubt they will be infrastructure projects, primarily those that include a number of countries of the Balkan region, Lamberto Dini said.
Italian government representative Marko Miniti said that Italy will allocate 280 billion liras (280 million D marks) over a three-year period for the reconstruction of the Balkans, and according to the coordinator of the special economic council for the reconstruction of the Balkan region, Franco Barnabe, at least 2,000 billion liras, or two billion D marks will be needed for the reconstruction of Kosovo-Metohija.
SERBIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES SEVERAL TAX BILLS
The Serbian government held a session Thursday chaired by Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic and approved several tax bills, which it forwarded to the Serbian parliament for discussion and adoption, the information ministry said in a statement.
The five tax bills are aimed at easing the tax burden on the economy and the population, and envisage tax relief on the basis of war damages caused by the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia last spring.
A precise definition of fiscal instruments will help legalise the grey economy, the statement says.
The bills will help in implementing the fiscal reform underway, paving the way for accelerating economic growth and for more efficient financing of social activities, the statement says.
SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES LABOUR UNION DELEGATION
Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic received Thursday a delegation of public sector labor unions headed by the President of the Serbian Labor Union Federation Council Tomislav Banovic, the information ministry said in a statement.
They discussed the social and financial situation of employees of the health, education, culture, science, state administration and judiciary sectors, and noted that regular payment of wages was making a significant contribution to improving their situation.
Marjanovic and union officials endorsed the commitment on pursuing accelerated reconstruction endeavours and economic growth through maintaining price stability and implementing reforms.
A real growth of wages, better standard of living and increased public spending can be achieved only through a growth of production and the GNP, the statement says.
GENERAL OJDANIC VISITS WOUNDED IN BELGRADE MILITARY HOSPITAL
Yugoslav Army Chief of General Staff Dragoljub Ojdanic, with aides, visited Friday in Belgrade military hospital Yugoslav servicemen who are treated and recovering from wounds sustained in NATO's aggression and in fighting Albanian terrorist forces, the Yugoslav Army information service said.
General Ojdanic wanted to know what was the state of the health of the wounded solders and officers and said he was confident that the doctors and the medical staff of the military hospital would continue to do their utmost for their successful recovery.
General Ojdanic gave credit to the military hospital for its treatment so far of the wounded.
Talking with the wounded fighters, the chief of general staff once again stressed their heroism and credited them for their personal contribution to the defense of the homeland.
ITALY URGES FOR ALLEVIATION OF ANTI-YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS
Italy urges for an immediate alleviation of anti-Yugoslav sanctions and for providing aid to its population in the coming winter in order to avert a possible humanitarian disaster.
A resolution to that effect adopted by the Italian parliament urges the government of Prime Minister Massimo d'Alema to advocate the alleviation of anti-Yugoslav sanctions to its European Union partners.
At the approach of winter, it is impossible to provide to the people of Yugoslavia the aid they need, such as construction materials for their damaged homes or equipment for heating plants, as the sanctions ban such aid, the resolution says.
The Italian parliamentarians rejected the view of some countries that are making aid to Yugoslavia conditional on democratic changes.
This is a long process and an entire people must not be allowed to suffer in the name of democratic principles, the Italian parliamentarians said.
ANOTHER ALBANIAN MAFIA NARCOTICS ROUTE CUT OFF
Ethnic Albanian Iso Balak, 30, from Pristina, who has a Yugoslav passport, is refusing to reveal to the Bulgarian official organs the destination of the 102 kg of pure heroine, worth ten million German marks, which were uncovered in his van by the Bulgarian customs on Oct. 2 at the Kapetan Andreevo border crossing with Turkey.
Thursday's Bulgarian media carried the details of the successful customs action which resulted in this year's record seizure and the cutting off of yet another drug route of the Albanian mafia from Pristina, Tetovo and Tirana leading towards the West and the United States.
It is believed that over the past weeks the Albanian narco mafia has been smuggling narcotics across the borders with Macedonia and Albania, which remained open after the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and police.
Bulgarian government paper Demokratija said that Balak was travelling alone from Aksaraj, Turkey, for Pristina, Kosovo and Metohija, via Sofia and Macedonia. At the Kapetan Andreevo border crossing he said he was transporting ten beds, ten suits and a Persian carpet, but the police and customs found three boxes with 200 bags of heroin hidden in the van.
The Sofia papers recalled that on July 3, 1999, Bulgarian customs inspecting a ferryboat travelling on the Danube towards Romania on the route linking Vidin and Kalafat, caught an ethnic Albanian from Tetovo, Macedonia, smuggling 50,5 kg of heroin destined for Western Europe.
EXPATRIATE SERBS FORM COUNCIL IN HUNGARY
Expatriate Serbs in Hungary founded their Council under the auspices of the Yugoslav Embassy in Budapest on Thursday, with the chief aim of consolidating ties with the homeland.
Ambassador Balsa Spadijer said on the occasion that the Council is a first step in implementing accords reached at the conference of expatriate Yugoslavs in Belgrade in early August.
One of the most successful Yugoslav businessmen in Hungary, Nebojsa Susa, was elected president of the Council.
Five commissions were appointed: for economic cooperation, culture, education and safeguarding of the national identity, for information, for sport and for humanitarian affairs.
SERBS IN CROATIA INSIST ON THE RESPECT OF THEIR RIGHTS
Serbs in Croatia will not agree to the election solutions which ignore their guaranteed right to representation in the Croatian parliament, Serbian National Council (SNV) president Milorad Pupovac said in Zagreb on Thursday.
Pupovac told a press conference that the forthcoming elections in Croatia must respect the solutions from the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities, and the principle of proportional representation.
Pupovac insisted that all Serb refugees who posses the document on Croatian citizenship, should be guaranteed voting rights. He said Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, the parliament speaker and the heads of the bloc made up of six opposition parties would be asked to give an answer about the number of Serb deputies.
Speaking at the same press conference, the president of the Independent Democratic Serbian Party, Vojislav Stanimirovic, demanded that Serb refugees are enabled to vote in several places, rather than just in Croatia's diplomatic representation offices in Yugoslavia and Republika Srpska.
"Otherwise, the electoral right is only a formality because the refugees would be unable to vote due to their numbers and because they live in different locations," Stanimirovic set out adding that the polling stations should be opened with the help of the UN High Commissariat for Refugees (UNHCR) and with the agreement of Croatia and Yugoslavia.
RECORD HARVEST OF CORN
This year's corn harvest in FR Yugoslavia will be 7-8 million tons, and the average crop will exceed 5.5 tons, director of the Corn Institute Lazar Jakovljevic said.
According to experts, from a total of one million 450,000 hectars under corn in the country a record yield and quality is expected.
For domestic needs will be spent, Jakovljevic said, some 5.6 million tons of corn, and the remaining two million tons are intended for export.
Experts also expect a very good crop of maize seed. From some 12,000 hectares the expected yield is from 2.7 to 3.5 tones per hectare. The harvest of maize seed will be completed in the second half of October.
Most surfaces under corn in FR Yugoslavia, over 670,000 hectares, expect also the highest yield - around 6 tons per hectare. So far have been harvested 25 to 50 percent of fields under corn, and its quality is very good, Jakovljevic said.
INFORMATION CENTRE "SERBIA-JAPAN" SET UP
Information Center "Serbia-Japan", was set up Belgrade, so that the citizens of FR Yugoslavia will be able to get all information concerning Japan, and Japanese will be able to learn more about our country.
Center was formed by the Serbian-Japanese society, in order to make the information about this faraway country more available, to help the communication between our citizens and Japanese, ordering the books, magazines, learning of languages and to get our citizens closer to all the elements of Japanese culture.
This information center will at the same time with the web site on Internet and special publication provide information to the Japanese on Serbia, its current situation, history and culture.
The center will especially work on connecting individuals from Japan and humanitarian organisations and institutions in our country and on informing Japanese on the needs of the refugees and towns and regions stricken by NATO aggression.
Information center will also organise lectures on Japan, projections of films and TV programs, and courses of Japanese language, origami and other aspects of their culture. The help for travelling arrangements of our students and pupils for Japan will also be provided, as well as their stay with Japanese families, and Japanese that wish to visit our country will be guests of the families in Serbia.
CHINESE PRESS: KOSOVO-METOHIJA ALBANIAN VIOLENCE MUST BE STOPPED
Ever since NATO halted its air strikes on Yugoslavia in early June, ethnic Albanian violence against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija has been running high, Chinese media say on Friday.
This has forced most Serbs to flee that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
Chinese media quote Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, president of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as saying in Pristina, Kosovo-Metohija, that ethnic Albanians should end their violence and threats against the Serbs.
Vollebaek urged the ethnic Albanian leaders to take concrete action to put a stop to the spreading of violence and massacres of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, according to Xinhua.
Chinese media have lately been reporting that the situation in Kosovo-Metohija is strained because of a policy of indulgence towards ethnic Albanian extremists.
In illustration of the double standards applied by international troops and the UN mission, the press says that roadblocks put up by Serbs at Kosovo Polje were dismantled, but those put up by ethnic Albanians against Russian troops were not.