."We must recognize that at the core of the problems in Kosovo is the lack
of accountable, democratic leadership in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. And I hope that every nation represented here will find an
appropriate way to support the democratic aspirations of the Serb people.
They have been silenced and shackled for far too long."
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in speech to North Atlantic
Council - Brussels, December 8, 1998
"The Serbian opposition just got the support [from Washington] it had been
counting on for so long... now [it]...would seem that there are no more
concessions for Milosevic and that no one like Holbrooke will come here
any more. It appears that that negotiator, who got famous when eating from
Milosevic's hand, somehow gained disfavor in Washington. Finally someone
realized that Milosevic's concessions are always temporary or imminent, or
both...Holbrooke's achievements are more TV spectacle than realistic."
Stojan Cerovic, columnist, writing in independent weekly Vreme - Belgrade,
December 5, 1998
"With Milosevic pressing Montenegro... The international community should
not underestimate the possibility of a new conflict. This is the moment to
warn him."
Montenegro Foreign Minister Branko Cerovic, quoted in Financial Times -
Podgorica, December 5, 1998
PART I
A) News Summary (Compiled from news and wire reports): Political and
economic developments in Serbia; Serbia and Montenegro; Vojvodina and
Sandzak; media; universities; regional issues; international scene;
Belgrade vs. The Hague.
PART II (sent in following e-mail)
REPORTS FROM REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
B) Media repression in Serbia
1. MINISTER VUCIC, STUDIO B HEAD DEBATE INFORMATION LAW
2. OSCE REPRESENTATIVE FREIMUT DUVE ON FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA
C) Growing tension with Montenegro
3. DJUKANOVIC SEEKS PROTECTION
4. MONTENEGRO PUSHED TO THE BRINK BY MILOSEVIC
D) Dinar diplomacy: Belgrade-Banja Luka relations
5. THE MEANDERING DRINA IS STEADILY GROWING WIDER
6. REPORT VIEWS PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN THE SERB REPUBLIC
E) Opposition in Serbia gathering strength?
7. FRY POLITICAL SCENE THE WEAKENING OF MILOSEVIC
8. THE NEXT BALKANS HOT SPOT?
9. WHAT IS "OTPOR"?
F. US policy on Belgrade viewed
10. MADE IN USA
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN SERBIA
Associated Press reported Monday that Yugoslavia's President Slobodan
Milosevic's "supporters and even some critics at home say he is as strong
as ever.... Military and police purges have been common to Milosevic before
major actions against his opponents, and his opponents say the latest
ousters were a clear sign of his strength rather than his weakness.... The
democratic changes in our country depend less on America than on the local
population, which I'm not sure is fed up with Milosevic,' said Dejan
Anastasjevic, an analyst for the independent Belgrade weekly Vreme."
Die Presse (Vienna) reported Monday that "the [opposition] alliance once
again wants to use its tested method: mass demonstrations... According to
[Democratic Party leader Zoran] Djindjic the opposition has good prospects
of holding its own against the [state] media...because [the Alliance]
spreads a simple message: 'we say that things simply cannot proceed as they
are. No people deserve such a bad government.' "
Agence France Presse Monday reported that when Serbia's former Prime
Minister Milan Panic was "asked to guess how long Milosevic would stay in
power, Panic...replied 'I think we can speak of a couple of months, if
things go on like this. We expect change very soon. The international
community does not support the system any more." Panic is the head of
Alliance for Change, a coalition of Serbian opposition political parties
created in mid-June, including the Democratic Party, the Civic Alliance,
the Social Democracy Party, Democratic Alternative, and the Democratic
Christian Party.
Reuters reported that a law passed Monday night by the Serbian parliament
"more than triples the salaries of many top government officials...the
draft law....had envisioned payments for life for all government officials,
members of parliament and judges. But the final bill...kept that privilege
only for the president of Serbia, the speaker of parliament and the prime
minister with one year of payments after leaving their posts."
Independent news service BETA (Belgrade) reported yesterday that the bill
"gives the president of Serbia the right to special protection from attacks
against his honor and dignity, the right to personal security, a residence,
use of a fleet of limousines, and free transportation in all types of
vehicles. After his term expires, the president will have the right to an
administrative assistant, an official car with chauffeur, and a household
staff of at least three people."
Reuters also noted "the law also covers former top officials who have held
their posts since September 28, 1990. This includes Milosevic, elected
president of Serbia in December 1990."
Independent Radio B-92 (Belgrade) quoted Democratic Party leader Zoran
Djindjic saying "this society is divided into two classes - the class of
the political aristocracy and the class of the people... if you make it to
the class of the oligarchy, you shall receive life-long privileges... such
a feudal system cannot function in today's world."
Radio B-92 also noted that the Serbian assembly "adopted a law on changes
to the criminal code, which increases fines 10 to 15 times, depending on
the crime."
Radio B-92 reported today that "the Yugoslav new dinar has fallen to a new
low. The black market exchange rate this morning reached eight dinars to
the German mark for the first time. Serbian Finance Minister Borislav
Milacic told media today that no new money had been printed and that state
bodies would continue to use the official rate of six dinars to the mark.
Milacic implied that the fall of the dinar was the result of money market
speculators taking profits. He also acknowledged that Yugoslavia's low
trading volume had contributed to the dinar's weakening. The man
responsible for dragging Yugoslavia from hyperinflation with the new dinar
in 1994, former National Bank Governor Dragoslav Avramovic, yesterday told
media that the economy was entering a bleak period. Avramovic said that
government claims of stability were patently false and that there was
absolutely no economic basis for such claims."
The Economist Intelligence Unit noted November 30 that "a continuation of
sanctions, which include a ban on new foreign investments and a freeze of
the country's assets abroad, will exacerbate the country's massive
financing and deficit problems... The Yugoslav government has resorted to a
variety of fire-fighting measures designed to restrict the flow of imports
and to oblige exporters to deposit hard-currency income with the state. But
such policies won't be enough to stop the dinar from depreciating further,
or to prevent wage arrears from building. Rather, they are likely to
bolster the size of the grey economy and worsen the liquidity problems
which are beginning to throttle many large firms in the economy."
Local and international media reported that Yugoslavia's Prime Minister
Momir Bulatovic Thursday presented to the Federal Parliament a budget for
1999. Radio B-92 reported "the budget of 15.8 billion dinars [$1.6 billion]
was 63.5 percent higher than for this year." BETA noted "the major part of
the [1999] budget, 69.65 percent [11.04 billion dinars, $1.1 billion], was
set aside for Yugoslav defense." Reuters noted "the 1998 budget saw defense
spending at 6.5 billion dinars [$650 million] and quoted Bulatovic saying
Thursday the increase resulted "from the need to secure necessary funds for
the functioning of the federal state, above all in the sphere of defense
and state security."
Reuters noted that "Serbia said on Monday it planned no major police
operation in its Kosovo province next year. But it will direct more money
to the combat readiness of the Yugoslav army... 'Serbia has agreed to
allocate a larger portion of funds towards the federal budget and that will
result in 2.4 billion dinars [$240 million] primarily to secure more money
and strengthen the combat readiness of the Yugoslav army,' Finance Minister
Borislav Milacic told the parliament... The shift in security forces
financing in favor of the Yugoslav army comes a year and a half after
Slobodan Milosevic became Yugoslav President and slowly transferred the
previous powers he had held as Serbian president to the federal post... [an
independent political analyst who asked not to be named said] 'There is a
view that the police have completed their mission in Kosovo and that now it
is the army's turn to tackle problems across Yugoslavia.' "
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Montenenegro's Foreign Minister Branko Perovic was quoted in the Financial
Times December 5: "On a long-term basis, Milosevic wants Montenegro dead or
kaput...this will bring about an easier and earlier secession which is not
our choice but our response to his extremely devastating policies towards
Yugoslavia... The international community should not underestimate the
possibility of a new conflict. This is the moment to warn him [Milosevic]."
In a statement issued yesterday, Montenegro's governing Democratic Party
of Socialists (DPS) replied to a recent announcement of January 14
demonstrations by the Belgrade-allied opposition Socialist People's Party
(SNP): "The SNP announces the celebration of the...Serbian new year as the
dates when the civil war in Montenegro should start. By doing this, they
would carry out the order issued by their leader. It is only in Montenegro
that he [Milosevic] has not succeeded in creating cemeteries such as those
in Krajina, Bosnia and Kosovo."
Associated Press Monday quoted Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic
saying the recent purges in the Milosevic regime "'seem to me like a
reorganization of his ranks before a new offensive against Montenegro."
BETA reported December 3 that Miodrag Ilickovic, a parliamentary deputy of
Montenegro's Social Democratic Party, said "something is looming over
Montenegro... This can also be seen in the behavior of the Belgrade
regime's Podgorica branch, the Socialist People's Party, which announced a
celebration of the anniversary of January 14," the date of last year's
protests against the election of Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic.
BETA also noted that Ilickovic called for the "extension of the OSCE
[Kosovo] monitoring mission to Montenegro [as] 'a preventive activity...it
is obvious that Montenegro has virtually no constitutional protection
within the federation so it will try to ensure all possible guarantees by
the international community with a view to preventing any attempt by the
Belgrade regime to solve relations.' "
Agence France Presse reported December 4 that the Montenegrin branch of
the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights "said...it would propose the
deployment of the OSCE mission [in Kosovo] to Montenegro. 'We estimate that
an observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe will help us prevent a scenario aimed to destabilize Montenegro,'
Slobodan Franovic, head of the committee, said."
BETA December 3 cited sources close to Djukanovic saying "it is obvious
that the Montenegrin authorities will soon ask for the OSCE mission in
Kosovo to spawn [as received] in Montenegro... The sources said that
establishing the mission could be considered a 'fait accompli'.... Sources
close to the Montenegrin authorities claim that establishing an OSCE
mission in Montenegro was proposed by Djukanovic during his visit to
Brussels in November. Montenegrin officials, however, have avoided
speaking publicly about the topic, while the state media leave little room
to speculate about an OSCE mission."
The BETA report, noting "interpretations that could be heard in
Podgorica," suggested that "Stanisic and Perisic [recently dismissed
Yugoslav security and military chiefs] did not want to give their direct
support to Milosevic in an attempt to oust Djukanovic. The Montenegrin
premier has a relatively strong and well organized police and state
security apparatus, so that without military and/or police support, there
can be no major internal conflicts in that republic. Installing an OSCE
mission is the best way to prevent Milosevic from giving that support to
his followers in Montenegro, BETA was told by a source close to the
Montenegrin authorities."
The Financial Times reported December 5 that "Montenegro has taken over
customs and foreign trade previously run by federal bodies. It issues its
own visas and plans to set up representative delegations in Washington and
Brussels."
Yugoslavia's Federal Parliament convened December 3 without
representatives from Montenegro's ruling "For a Better Life" coalition;
Reuters noted December 3 the coalition "has been barred from parliament
since May in favor of deputies loyal to [Milosevic ally Momir]
Bulatovic...[Radomir Sekulovic, an advisor to the Montenegrin Information
Ministry, said] 'Today's session will further deepen the crisis between
Serbia and Montenegro. The Montenegrin government will not give up its
intention of creating its own economic policy and taking measures to
counteract any moves by the illegal federal government that could damage
its economy.' "
Independent Serbian-language daily Vesti (published in Bad Vilbel,
Germany) quoted Montenegro's Trade Minister saying December 2 "this year
we [Serbia and Montenegro] had a joint economic policy at the federal
level, but nothing came of it, since all the preconditions for such a
policy were wrong. The federal administration has based the economic policy
for next year on unrealistic premises."
The Washington Post reported December 8 that "between 25,000 and 35,000
ethnic Albanians, including at least 6,000 children younger than 7, are
said by the International Red Cross and the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to remain in Montenegro down from a
summertime peak of 45,000 to 50,000 but still more than anywhere else
outside Kosovo... Philipp Reber, the head of the Red Cross office in
Podgorica, said nearly 40 percent of the refugees may still be living in
unheated shepherds' huts in mountainous areas near the Kosovo border, now
covered with snow. 'The international community abandoned this area,' said
Pierfrancesco Maria Natta, head of the local UNHCR office. Montenegrin
President Milo Djukanovic is defensive about his government's response to
the refugee crisis, which he contends was orchestrated by the Yugoslav and
Serbian governments to provoke tensions in the republic and topple its
reformminded leadership. 'The international help amounted to crumbs
compared to what we did,' Djukanovic said."
VOJVODINA AND SANDZAK
Radio B-92 reported Monday that "the Serbian Parliament began its session
today by revoking the mandates of three former members of the Vojvodina
Coalition. The parliament resolved that as the three MPs had been dumped by
the coalition on whose ticket they had won their seats, those seats were
now vacant. One of the dumped MPs, Branislav Pomoricki, lashed out at both
the parliament and the Vojvodina coalition in a statement later today.
Pomoricki accused the leader of the coalition, Dragan Veselinov, of working
against Vojvodina. He added that it was now clear who worked for Vojvodina
and who had entered the red-black coalition, referring to the ruling
alliance of the Socialist Party, the neo-Communist Yugoslav Left and the
Serbian Radical Party. Pomoricki also told media that the parliament was
finally in the grip of one party and had become single-minded."
BETA Monday quoted the chairman of the League of Social Democrats of
Vojvodina, Nenad Canak, whose mandate was also revoked: "From today there
is no more opposition in the Serbian assembly; from today, a single-party
system has been reintroduced in Serbia; from today, complete darkness rules
over Serbia."
Kossuth Radio (Budapest) reported December 2 a statement by the Alliance
of Vojvodina Hungarians [SVM] which "says that in the northern province of
Serbia Hungarians have been offended more frequently. They have to face
intimidation, atrocities and the deprivation of their rights. Systematic
ethnic cleansing is taking place in state offices and institutions." SVM
called November 23 for "the peace plan of US diplomat Christopher Hill [to]
be applied not only to Kosovo but to [Vojvodina] as well... In accordance
with the document, the protection of the rights of minorities living here
should also be guaranteed.
The Christian Science Monitor noted December 1 that "international
observers fear that Vojvodina could gain inspiration from...Kosovo... 'We
are keeping our eyes on Vojvodina, especially this autonomous strain,' says
a Western diplomat in Belgrade. 'It may have a polarizing effect. Something
radical in Vojvodina could destabilize the region'... Although Vojvodina is
far from being another Kosovo, opinion polls taken over the past four years
indicate that the...movement has great potential to grow."
BETA reported December 2 that the "Muslim List for Sandzak" coalition
accused the Yugoslav authorities of "suppressing Bosniaks and their legally
elected representatives in a systematic and planned way by introducing
emergency measures in the Novi Pazar assembly committees and bodies."
MEDIA
Associated Press reported that Serbia's Minister of Information Goran
Matic yesterday "said [British] embassy diplomats had overstepped their
diplomatic mission by cooperating with non-government media in
Yugoslavia...[and] accused the British Embassy of 'performing jobs that are
not in the domain of diplomacy'... Matic cited an invitation to six
journalists from Kosovo to attend a journalism seminar in Great Britain.
Organization of the trip has been coordinated through an independent media
association in Serbia [ANEM -- the Organization of Independent Electronic
Media]. Matic called the move 'meddling in Yugoslavia's internal political
affairs'... Matic accused the media association...of working under
instructions from the British embassy."
Radio B-92 reported yesterday: "Matic told state media that his department
had intercepted a fax from the embassy telling ANEM to send a proposal for
the training of six journalists from Kosovo, five Albanians and a Serb. The
fax said that the journalists were to be trained by the BBC to work at
Radio 21 and Contact Radio, which Matic said did not exist... He also
claimed that equipment for the rebroadcast of BBC programs in Yugoslavia
had been brought into the country under cover of diplomatic mail."
Independent daily Glas Javnosti (Belgrade) reported December 7 that the
Belgrade chapter of the Democratic Party "filed yesterday 181 new charges
against Politika, Serbia Radio and TV, Borba and Ekspres Politika. This
brings to 539 charges that have still not been decided upon by the Belgrade
misdemeanor court." To date only two fines -- incurred in the same case --
totaling 150,000 dinars [$15,000, the minimum allowed under the information
law] have been assessed against state media since Democratic Party chief
Zoran Djindjic announced the party would launch lawsuits against state-run
media following the passage of the media law. The Institute for War and
Peace Reporting (London) noted that "in Argument Vise (Nov. 13),
commentator Dragisa Petrovic pointed to the Democratic Party's lawsuit
against Politika for defamation as evidence of the party's recognition of
the law. Argument Vise went on to quote Serbian Information Minister
Aleksandar Vucic stating that he was pleased because even Zoran Djindjic,
the leader of the Democratic Party (DS), had begun to understand the
importance of the law and to avail himself of its advantages."
Radio B-92 reported November 25 that "leader of the Civil Alliance of
Serbia, Vesna Pesic said...'I don't think that the DS made a good move [in
bringing the suits], because by invoking the Law it effectively recognised
its existence.' "
Radio B-92 yesterday reported that "all charges brought against the Nis
television station TV5 for violating Serbia's new Information Act have been
dropped [as of December 5]. Station representative Goran Draganic told
Radio B92 that his legal team had managed to prove that the word 'publish'
did not apply to a 180-minute-long live show." BETA noted the charges had
stated that TV5 violated the Information Law by allowing their guests...
Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic, Serbian Civic Alliance leader Vesna
Pesic, and Democratic Alternative President Nobojsa Covic 'to insult and
use language which isulted the interests, dignity and integrity' of the
Serbian authorities."
Radio B-92 reported yesterday: "The President of the international
Reporters sans Frontieres, Robert Menar, told a news conference in Belgrade
yesterday that members of his organisation had waited more than a month for
entry visas to Yugoslavia, in order to be able to participate in the Media
for a Democratic Europe conference. Menar added that the media situation in
Yugoslavia was the worst in Europe and that his members had been strictly
forbidden to go out of Belgrade or to visit Kosovo. He also said that, with
the adoption of the Public Information Act, President Slobodan Milosevic
and his party had left the international community and that Serbia would
remain isolated as long as the authorities behaved in such a manner. Menar
added that the Belgrade authorities had ignored more than fifty letters of
protest from all over the world, but that international organisations would
continue their support for endangered media in Yugoslavia by influencing
the European Union and the Contact Group."
Radio B-92 reported Monday "all copies of the new issue of the Montenegrin
weekly Monitor intended for the Serbian market were confiscated again on
Saturday. This is the third seizure since the magazine was fined roughly
$280,000 for violating Serbia's new Public Information Act."
OSCE special envoy for media issues Freimut Duve said in Oslo December 2:
"I would like to stress that the attitude of the Belgrade authorities
towards media is offensive to the OSCE, an organization the FRY government
strives to rejoin as a full member. Only in October, the Serbian parliament
adopted a Law on Public Information that is draconian and in violation of
all relevant international commitments of that country. At my request the
Council of Europe has provided an expert legal opinion of the Law once
again underlining that it is in contravention with the European Convention
on Human Rights. An open public debate to ensure the basic elements of a
democratic society is impossible without freedom of the media. This is
especially imperative concerning Kosovo. One can hardly envisage a
peaceful solution to this conflict without an open and pluralistic debate.
Freedom of the media should be one of the top priorities during discussions
with the FRY and Serbian authorities."
Duve also urged the FRY adopt a clear set of laws on protecting the media
from censorship, eliminate from state media programs "instigating hatred,"
discuss important media policy decisions with the independent media and
lift all bans on re-broadcasting foreign programs.
UNIVERSITIES
Radio B-92 reported yesterday: "More than a thousand students of two
faculties of Belgrade University today staged a protest march through
central Belgrade. The students, from the faculties of Philology and
Electrical Engineering, are demanding that the situation in their faculties
be returned to normal, following staff sackings and the government's
appointment of new deans since the adoption of Serbia's Universities Act in
the spring of this year."
Radio B-92 reported December 6 "the student resistance movement OTPOR
[Resistance] today established a wall of news...surrounding a construction
site at the Belgrade University Faculty of Philosophy. At the opening of
their news site, christened The Wall of Truth, members of OTPOR distributed
free of charge hundreds of copies of the Montenegrin weekly Monitor. Copies
of the magazine bound for Serbia were confiscated over the weekend. OTPOR
leaders said that the Wall of Truth will be joined on Friday by a Wall of
Lies."
Radio B-92 also noted December 4 "students of Belgrade University's
Philology Faculty announced today that Dean Radmilo Marojevic was preparing
to punish them for their protest against Serbia's new University Law" by
expelling them. The students reported that the dean had said that all
students who organized or participated in the protests would be expelled
from the university next week.
Associated Press reported December 6 that "the atmosphere at the
university is similar to late 1996 when students spearheaded months-long
anti-Milosevic protests that nearly toppled the government. Boycotting
classes now, the students gather to listen to fiery speeches by protest
leaders. They are getting increasing support from remaining professors who
appear suddenly emboldened by the students' resolve not to give in. 'The
regime wants to introduce full dictatorship,' a student leader, Boris
Karajicic, said. 'They are replacing eminent professors with some mediocre,
pro-government teachers. It's the limitless desire for power that brings
such laws.' "
The Christian Science Monitor reported Monday that "more than 100
outspoken colleagues from [Serbia's] preeminent university have...spawned a
movement to create an 'unofficial system of postgraduate studies... The new
education network would bind together the handful of independent
educational institutions in Serbia and foster ties with universities in
Europe and North America. It would offer postgraduate - albeit unaccredited
- courses taught by the cream of Serbian scholars."
Local independent sources reported today that "users of the Yugoslav
academic Internet network have informed us that access to all OpenNet [an
independent internet provider in Belgrade used by several independent media
in Serbia, including Radio B-92] sites is censored across Serbian academic
Internet centers. Filters were installed last week in order to disable
access to OpenNet sites. The number of users affected by this measure is
huge and consists of students, professors who have not yet been fired, and
researchers of all universities and institutes in Serbia. This measure was
performed overnight without warning. The Dean of Belgrade University was
personally informed upon the completion of this blitzkrieg operation."
REGIONAL ISSUES
BETA noted that at a December 1 session of the Republika Srpska (RS)
parliament, RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik "yielded to intense pressure
from Belgrade [including an official halt to payments traffic between
Serbia and Republika Srpska], whose stand was strongly backed by the Serb
Democratic Party and the Radicals, and withdrew his decision made in
mid-November to establish parity between the Bosnian convertible mark and
the Yugoslav dinar at a ratio of 1:7.5 [from the previous ratio of 1:6]...
the withdrawal has damaged Dodik's reputation in both economic and
political terms...[but] since salaries of civil servants and pension
benefits are paid in dinars, popular discontent, coming when least needed
by the premier [had] started to grow."
Following the decision to revise the exchange rate, BETA reported December
3 that "Yugoslav officials hinted...that payment traffic between FRY and
RS...will remain inactive until the dispute is fully resolved. Analysts see
this as an attempt to oust Dodik's pro-reform cabinet... if...Belgrade
drags out re-establishing payment traffic, and starts setting new
conditions, it will become crystal clear that the underlying political
motive was to topple [RS Premier Milorad] Dodik's government and create
conditions for the forced nomination of [RS hard-liner Dragan] Kalinic."
BETA also reported December 3 that "having embarked on creating viable
conditions for restoration of the payment traffic with Yugoslavia, the RS
assembly formed a group for talks with Belgrade, comprising [Republika
Srpska Radical Party chief and Republika Srpska President Nikola Poplasen,
[Republika Srpska Socialist Party head] Zivko Radisic, Dodik and RS
parliamentary speaker Petar Djokic. The group's major tasks are to work on
normalizing relations with Belgrade and try to revive the 1997 agreement on
special ties between the RS and Yugoslavia."
The report continued: "The Federal customs service imposed an additional
tax on Dec 1, on Slovenian goods in transit, requiring that 60,000 dinars
($6,000) be paid for each truck and 40,000 dinars ($4,000) for each van.
After a similar tax was allegedly imposed on goods bound from Macedonia for
Slovenia, the Macedonian Traffic Ministry made an official protest on
December 2...Another protest came from Macedonia's Truck Drivers Union,
which said that a truck owned by the Maktrans transport firm had to pay
DM500 at the Yugoslavia-Macedonia border for a police escort on its journey
through Yugoslavia."
BETA also reported Montenegro's December 4 announcement that it would not
charge the transit fee.
INTERNATIONAL SCENE
Continuing a recent series of statements by US officials criticizing
Belgrade, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during a December 8
speech to the North Atlantic Council in Brussels said: "We must recognize
that at the core of the problems in Kosovo is the lack of accountable,
democratic leadership in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). And I
hope that every nation represented here will find an appropriate way to
support the democratic aspirations of the Serb people. They have been
silenced and shackled for far too long."
Albright also said in a December 3 speech: "Leaders of nations such as
North Korea, Libya, Iraq, Cuba, Burma and Serbia try to grab the truth and
leash it like a dog, ration it like bread, or mold it like clay. Their goal
is to create their own myths, conceal their own blunders, direct
resentments elsewhere and instill in their people a dread of change... we
vigorously oppose efforts to suppress independent voices such as Serb
President Milosevic's recent, inexcusable crackdown on journalists in his
country."
BETA December 3 quoted Serbia's Vice-Premier and Serbian Radical Party
leader Vojislav Seselj saying that "people who enjoy US support have no
chance in the elections in Serbia."
In a December 3 letter sent to the US Congress, President Bill Clinton
reported his decision to extend the "outer wall" of sanctions on the FRY
for another six months. The letter noted "the importance of maintaining
these sanctions is further reinforced by the unacceptable actions and
policies of Belgrade authorities in Kosovo and in the areas of human
rights, democratization and war crimes investigations. These developments
threaten to disrupt progress in implementation of Dayton and security in
the region generally." The outer wall blocks membership for Belgrade in
international institutions, including the United Nations, International
Monetary Fund, World Bank and the OSCE.
BETA reported Monday a statement by the Serbian Radical Party "appealing
to international institutions and organizations to raise their voices
against the 'arrogant and overbearing behavior and totalitarian" policy of
the United States... We appeal to you to thwart their intentions to
continue the practice of punishing the Serbian people and the state with
uncivilized and extremely inhumane methods."
Yugoslavia's Federal Parliament adopted a declaration December 3
condemning US "interference" in Yugoslavia's "internal affairs," and
noting: "If the United States truly desires a democratic Serbia and FRY, it
will help most by lifting economic sanctions and suspending pressure
against Serbia and the FRY... the constitutional bodies of Serbia and
Yugoslavia cannot be replaced and appointed to suit the tastes of any one
foreign factor."
Agence France Presse reported that Serbia's former Prime Minster Milan
Panic yesterday "said he would be pressing for an end to sanctions when he
goes to Washington this week. 'These sanctions affect the people, not the
regime,' Panic said. 'The regime is stronger and stronger because
(sanctions) created this propaganda atmosphere in the world against Serbs.' "
The Guardian (London) reported December 5 that "in America, the argument
that there can be no fundamental improvement in either Bosnia or Kosovo
until the regime in Belgrade changes is gaining more supporters... as for
Russia, while the government remains opposed to the use of military force
in most circumstances, it is well known that Yevgeny Primakov has no liking
for Milosevic and no confidence in his future. Milosevic has to an extent
brought this increased hostility on himself by his recent actions...as well
as what looks like preparations for a confrontation with Montenegro."
BETA reported the December 4 acceptance of an initiative by the Yugoslav
parliament to be granted the status of permanent observer in the
parliamentary assembly of the Russia-Belarus alliance... Having obtained
the approval of both houses, the Yugoslav parliament will forward an
official request to the Russian-Belarus parliamentary assembly to be
granted the status of permanent observer."
The report quoted Vice Premier Seselj calling the act "the first step
towards Yugoslavia's full entry into alliance with Russia and Belarus. This
is our future, and there is a relevant Serbian Radical Party's official
initiative in that respect."
BELGRADE vs. THE HAGUE
Reuters yesterday reported that Yugoslavia has asked the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for the records of three
suspects accused of the 1991 massacre of civilians in Vukovar, Croatia. The
report noted the Tribunal's Chief Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald said in a
speech to the Security Council she "was flabbergasted that not only did
Belgrade refuse to extradite the three but had now asked the tribunal for
its records so it could conduct its own investigation. 'Thus not only is
[Yugoslavia] failing to abide by the explicit requirements of Security
Council resolutions, it is taking action in direct contravention.' "
Reuters today quoted UN prosecutors seeking a court ruling restating the
primacy of the tribibunal over domestic courts: "By putting these men
before a military court in Belgrade, Yugoslavia is making one further
attempt to circumvent the operation of this tribunal and frustrate
international law... We don't believe it would be a genuine exercise of
justice but a sham to put off the international community."
Reuters also noted that Russia had in UN Security Council deliberations
"prevented the UN on Tuesday from again rebuking Belgrade for its failure
to extradite [the] three suspects... Western diplomats said some council
members were considering stronger unspecified measures against Belgrade in
a possible resolution that would put Russia, a traditional ally of the
Serbs, in the awkward position of using its veto should it not attempt to
pressure Yugoslavia now."
BETA reported December 3: "Serbia's Vice Premier and Serbian Radical Party
leader Vojislav Seselj slammed the Republika Srpska government and the
United States over the December 2 arrest and extradition to The Hague of
indicted war criminal and Bosnian Serb Army General Krstic: 'The brutal
abduction of General Krstic is further proof that the RS is under
occupation by hostile powers. As long as Milorad Dodik is at the head of
the RS Government, the RS is a hunting ground in which the Americans are
brutally mistreating the Serbs,' Seselj told a news conference. He
added that [the December 2] arrest of General Krstic, who has been
indicted by the international war crimes tribunal, is 'another case of
humiliating the Serbian people.' "
The Financial Times reported December 3 that "in 1995, General Krstic was
acting under the command of General Ratko Mladic, the former chief of the
Bosnian Serb army, who is also wanted in The Hague. General Krstic would be
in a position to clarify what UN prosecutors believe was a chain of command
that led from the Serbian footsoldiers who conducted the massacres in
Srebrenica up to Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Serbia, in
Belgrade. NATO sources said the general was seized in the eastern sector of
Bosnia, an area under the control of US forces. The general's arrest also
follows a hardening of US policy towards Mr. Milosevic, now president of
Federal Yugoslavia."
Jane's Defense Weekly (London) reported today that the new chief of staff
of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), General Dragoljub Ojdanic, had under
his command during the Bosnian war "the paramilitary Serbian Volunteer
Guard...allegedly responsible for some of the heaviest ethnic cleansing and
killing of Moslems in Visegrad and Foca areas during the civil war in Bosnia."
International media reported last week that the US government is planning
to offer a bounty of up to
$5 million for the arrest of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects Radovan
Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, and smaller amounts for other indictees. The
Washington Post reported December 5 that "a State Department working group
is drafting a list of alleged war criminals whose detention would trigger a
reward, according to Clinton administration sources. The program...will be
run out of the office of Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard, whose job is to
supervise implementation of the Bosnian peace accord. It will be
administered separately from another State Department bounty program aimed
at catching terrorists and international drug traffickers." New York
Newsday reported December 2 that "the unprecedented action is part of a
concerted stepping up of US pressure on Serbian strongman Slobodan
Milosevic... At least four indictees, among them Ratko Mladic,...have found
sanctuary in Serbia, and officials plan to put a special public focus on
Milosevic's decision to protect them."
