"Milosevic's plan this year is to avoid elections which he has to schedule, either by failing to call them or by creating conditions in which the majority of his opponents will not participate in the elections. We believe that all the repression to which he has now resorted is really in preparation for the elections...It is certain that we will not improve the election conditions with any kind of negotiations, regulations and declarations. We can improve them only with action. Since there are evidently no radical actions now - radical actions would be a blockade of Belgrade, some kind of general strike across Serbia, a blockade of the whole of Serbia - we are therefore only left with peaceful and moderate actions. This would be an election campaign in thousands of small places, with 10 to 100 people, visiting voters door to door. There is no other scenario. This means that we either use this radical or moderate action, or we do nothing at all. I think that the strategy we, as the opposition, have chosen now

will little by little yield greater results, and lead to greater pressure on the regime, than short-term radical efforts such as the big rallies." Zoran Djindjic, president, Democratic Party Quoted by Radio B2-92, June 3 -- Belgrade

"Many said they were for 'radical moves'. When the SPO asked that they write down what these 'radical moves' were, it turned out that they did not know or that they were for the Belgrade city authorities...to block the city maintenance company, to block traffic with the city transporters' buses, to switch off the Belgraders' electricity and water. The SPO rejected this, since Studio B must not be defended through the punishment of the citizens. Thus, we have been proclaimed 'non-radical'...The SPO is for a peaceful popular resistance to the terror and dictatorship, for civil courage and the disobedience of every individual who is against terror and lawlessness, and that is this insurrection. If there are enough people who are for thismethod of resistance, we will succeed, but if there is not enough of such courage among the people, if everyone is to cover up his fear and non-readiness for this form of resistance by criticizing the SPO and Vuk Draskovic of not being radical enough, then this is their choice a

nd their responsibility. I consider that there does not exist condition for any elections." Vuk Draskovic, president, Serbian Renewal Movement Quoted by Blic daily, June 3 - Belgrade

"We had a choice. If we really wanted to intensify pressure on the regime, we could have used forresources that are at the opposition dispatched. We could have, for instance, shut off the water and electricity to some buildings, stopped bus service all over the city. All we had to do was make the decision...But, if you think there is a danger in this kind of direct confrontation, then say that, and cancel these protests...Say the situation is very complex, people are being beaten up, call off the rally. Instead, we have decided on no real activity. The rallies have died. We have achieved nothing." Unnamed official, Civic Alliance of Serbia Quoted by Salon.com, June 3 -- Belgrade "This opposition is incompetent, corrupted, immoral and nationalistic...This opposition has no moral energy. So the people wonder: If Draskovic doesn't care if the police closed Studio B, why should we go on the streets? In a way, the only truly dynamic actor on the Serbian political scene is Milosevic." Sonja Biserko, chair of the

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Quoted by Salon.com, June 3 -- Belgrade "We have a great problem with those opposition guys...People are supporting us, and we have given the opposition part of our legitimacy. We are being attacked violently by the ruling party with all the mechanisms at the state's disposal. And we are losing so much energy on the opposition, trying to get them to understand the obvious: Milosevic is turning this place into a total dictatorship." Srdja Popovic, OTPOR activist Quoted by IWPR Balkan Crisis Report, June 2 -- Belgrade "[Vuk Draskovic] is increasingly far from the opposition and increasingly close to the interests of the regime. The greatest energy of the democratic opposition is the truth. The truth is that Draskovic has taken an unreasonable road and is increasingly far from the opposition...the healthy opposition forces will no longer stumble on the same stone." Dejan Rajcic, president, New Serbia (Nis branch) Quoted by V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6 - Belgrade

IN THIS SERBIA WATCH: -- Single local election list agreed; SPO refuses -- SPO drops out of opposition meetings -- Djindjic: "Abandoning elections means giving up." -- Non-SPO opposition: begin election campaign soon -- Ex-SPO official: SPO collaborating with regime -- Regime takes over Belgrade public transport -- Terrorism law for "violent movements" not parties -- Milosevic to decorate himself as "national hero" -- Supreme court revokes Brovina sentence -- 50 OTPOR arrested including 11-year-old -- Lawyer on trial for linking MUP to Bosnia war crimes -- NGO laws foreshadow "purge" -- Interior ministry targets Helsinki Committee -- TV Pancevo at risk -- Russia halts gas supplies over unpaid debt -- Putin: "problems with Milosevic" but lift sanctions -- $48 million Chinese credit expected -- Belgrade lobbies S. Africa, Vietnam for UN reinstatement -- Electricity prices raised nearly 10% -- Central bank: regime needs $300 million -- 20% drop in harvest means higher imports

POLITICAL PARTIES, MOVEMENTS, LEADERS: Opposition DA - Democratic Alternative (Nebojsa Covic, president) DAN - Coalition of DA, DC, ND DC - Democratic Center (Dragoijub Micunovic, president) DHSS - Christian Democratic Party of Serbia (Vladan Batic, president) DS - Democratic Party (Zoran Djindjic, president) DSS - Democratic Party of Serbia (Vojislav Kostunica, president) G-17 - Group of independent economists (Mladjan Dinkic, coordinator) GSS - Civic Alliance of Serbia (Goran Svilanovic, president) League of Vojvodina Hungarians (Joszef Kasza, chairman) LSV - League of Vojvodina Social Democrats (Nenad Canak, chairman) ND - New Democracy (Dusan Mihajlovic, president) NS - New Serbia (Milan Protic, Velimir Ilic, co-presidents) OTPOR - Youth movement "Resistance" PDS - Movement for Democratic Serbia (Momcilo Perisic, president) Reform Democratic Party of Vojvodina (Mile Isakov, chairman) Sandzak Coalition (Rasim Ljajic, chairman) SD - Social Democracy (Vuk Obradovic, president) SDA- Party of Democratic Acti

on of Sandzak (Sulejman Ugljanin) SDU - Social Democratic Union (Zarko Korac, president) SPO - Serbian Renewal Party (Vuk Draskovic, president) SZP - Alliance for Change (Zoran Djindjic, coordinator) Vojvodina Coalition (Dragan Veselinov, president) SNV - Serb National Council of Kosovo (Momcilo Trajkovic, chairman) Ruling Coalition SPS - Serbian Socialist Party (Slobodan Milosevic, FRY President) SRS - Serbian Radical Party (Vojislav Seselj, Serbia's Deputy PM) JUL - Yugoslav United Left (Mira Markovic, president) OPPOSITION SINGLE LOCAL ELECTION LIST AGREED; SPO REFUSES ***"Major Serbian opposition parties except the Serbian Renewal Movementhave decided to take part in future elections. At a meeting in Belgrade on Friday leaders of 12 parties agreed to compile a single list of candidatesfor local elections due this year...They also agreed to continue insistingon elections for Serbian president and the federal parliament to be heldbefore the end of this year. The leaders did not set any specific terms t

o the authorities under which elections would be acceptable beyond saying that they must be democratic. Vuk Draskovic did not attend but sent his political adviser, Ognjen Pribicevic, who arrived an hour after the start of the meeting. Pribicevic told the party leaders that his party would not take part in any polls 'under the (present) unfair and undemocratic conditions even if all other parties do participate.' He described the others' decision to participate in local and federal elections as wrong and playing into the hands of Milosevic...who he said would no longer have any considerations for the opposition once they said they would go to the polls even under these conditions. The 12 leaders who included Zoran Djindjic...agreed to make immediate contacts with Montenegro's 'democratic parties' in order to start coordinating participation in possible federal elections...Vladimir Pavlov was invited to the Belgrade meeting as a representative of...OTPOR...students. He expressed satisfaction that the oppositi

on leaders had accepted Otpor's proposal to form a 'network of civil self-defense' against the regime's repression. This will involve a system of compiling information on repressive measures and providing legal aid, physical protection and other forms of solidarity and support." (United Press International, June 3) "Pribicevic stressed that SPO remained part of the joint opposition and advocated solidarity in the fight against repression." (V.I.P. Daily News Report-Belgrade, June 5) "Democratic Alternative leader Nebojsa Covic said on June 6 that the opposition's unity and the unified list of candidates 'are essential conditions for the opposition's victory in the upcoming elections. A united opposition and the unified list of candidates are a must. Those who think differently, must explain why,' said Covic at a press conference." (BETA independent news agency-Belgrade, June 7) SPO DROPS OUT OF OPPOSITION MEETINGS "Ivan Kovacevic, spokesman for the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), told a press conference on T

uesday that the SPO would no longer take part in meetings of opposition representatives, but he did not rule out other forms of cooperation...'The SPO will no longer take part in the meetings of the united opposition because the agreement reached on January 10 has been violated. We wish lots of success to the parties of the democratic opposition which have decided to contest the as yet uncalled elections with a single list of candidates despite the unfair election conditions, and we say that we will not be conducting any anti-election campaign...When election conditions are undemocratic, there is a lot of room for mass electoral fraud and the falsifying of the will of the citizens...the SPO, unlike the rest of the opposition, has not given up on its demands for early elections at all levels and for an end to repression.' The pro-Government daily Politika on Wednesday reported from an SPO press conference and said that the SPO had announced a boycott of the elections. Politika does not otherwise report on the

activity of opposition parties. On January 10 theopposition parties agreed to jointly demand the calling of early elections at all levels and to make a joint decision on their participation in those elections, depending on the conditions in who they are to be held." (V.I.P Daily News Report, June 7) DJINDJIC: "ABANDONING ELECTIONS" MEANS "GIVING UP" ***[Democratic Party President Zoran Djindjic said:] "Abandoning the preparations for the elections, which will probably be held, would mean completely throwing in the towel, giving up any kind of effort to exert pressure on the political life and isolating oneself from this political process...[Milosevic's] fear is completely justified. I do not know why we should belittle the problem by saying in advance that he will win these elections easily and that he has no reason to worry because we won't be taking part in them." (independent Radio B2-92-Belgrade, June 3) NON-SPO OPPOSITION: BEGIN ELECTION CAMPAIGN SOON ***"The refusal of the Serbian Renewal Movement to

unite with the rest of the Serbian opposition in preparing a common list of candidates for election this year did not mean the end of the united opposition, the president of Social Democracy, Vuk Obradovic, said today. Obradovic told Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti that there was still time for the Renewal Movement to change this opinion. He added that everyone in the united opposition accepted that the election conditions would not be fair but that a boycott of the elections would not change anything. 'We no longer have any media, but we still have shoes,' [Obradovic said adding that] the opposition must start campaigning as soon as possible, visiting every Serbian citizen in every house in every village and city. Other opposition voices backed Obradovic today. The president of the Democratic Alternative, Nebojsa Covic, told media that a change of strategy was essential so that the opposition could seize the initiative. A lot of time had been lost since the original united opposition agreement in January, sai

d Covic...By taking the decision to field a joint list of candidates for this year's local elections, the opposition had gained a tactical advantage over the Serbian authorities, the president of the Social Democratic Union, Zarko Korac, said today. Korac told media that the decision was sound, adding that the opposition, together with trade unions and the Otpor movement should soon begin an election campaign throughout Serbia." (Radio B2-92, June 6) EX-SPO OFFICIAL: SPO COLLABORATING WITH REGIME ***"Srdjan Djordjevic, who was replaced by Vuk Draskovic as chairman of the municipal Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) committee in Kraljevo, has accused the party of cooperation with the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left...Djordjevic said he would like to believe that this personnel change would not mean a change in SPO's political orientation in Belgrade and Kraljevo. 'Some SPO deputies in the Kraljevo municipal assembly led by Radoslav Jovic launched an initiative to dismiss me from the managing board

of the Ibarske Novosti public company, with an explanation that I have introduced censorship, which is a lie. I only demanded that Radoslav Jovic be expelled from the SPO with an explanation that he has entered into secret negotiations with the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left, said Djordjevic. 'To this initiative the party leadership responded by sacking me as chairman of the Kraljevo municipal committee', he concluded." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6)

VUK'S POLICIES SERVING REGIME INTERESTS? ***"Dejan Rajcic, who is an opposition leader in Nis, noted that Draskovic has often been the stumbling block to opposition unity. Draskovic previously served in a Yugoslav coalition government with Milosevic's backers. Draskovic and his party represent a nationalistic, anti-Western line that is virtually indistinguishable from that of the regime. Persistent but unconfirmed reports suggest that Milosevic has blackmailed Draskovic with evidence of the latter's corrupt activities while holding a post in the Yugoslav government or in control of the city administration of Belgrade." (RFE/RL Newsline, June 6) "[Dejan Racic, head of the Nis branch of New Serbia] said the Serbian opposition lost six months in hiding its internal differences. Rajcic said New Serbia is disappointed with Draskovic's latest steps...New Serbia called politicians in Nis not to be 'hostages of the Belgrade leaders'." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6) "Close advisors say [SPO president Vuk] Draskov

ic is extremely depressed and afraid for his life. Last fall, Draskovic's brother-in-law and three close aides were killed in a suspicious car accident on the way back from a rally...He was even recently quoted in the local media saying he wishes he had died in the wreck. A top advisor, Ognjen Pribicevic, says Draskovic and his wife Danica, who have no children, treated the aides like sons. But fellow opposition politicians offer a less generous assessment for Draskovic's newfound passivity. They say the SPO leader may be restraining further protests because he has delusions that Milosevic will appoint him as his successor, a kind of Vladimir Putin to Milosevic's Boris Yeltsin. In addition, they point out that Draskovic's control of Belgrade is extremely lucrative, with or without Studio B. 'Draskovic dreams of being deputized as a Putin,' professor [Zarko] Korac said. 'But Milosevic tried to kill Draskovic. Milosevic would never give up political power, even without The Hague indictment. Everything is profo

undly different.' Another opposition leader, a member of the pro-West Civic Alliance of Serbia (GSS), who asked not to be named, also points to Draskovic as the main obstacle to the opposition undertaking a campaign of civil disobedience to protest Milosevic's recent assault on the media. 'We had a choice. If we really wanted to intensify pressure on the regime, we should use the resources that are at the opposition's disposal,' the Civic Alliance official explained in an interview, pointing out that Draskovic's party controls Belgrade's city hall and municipal services." (Salon.com, June 3) DRASKOVIC "MOST UNPOPULAR POLITICIAN" ***"The greatest casualty of the unsuccessful resistance to the regime in this stage is the Serbian opposition which has shown, yet again, that it is weak and has no clear strategic goal and that it does not have enough moral and political credibility among ordinary Serbs. SPO leader Vuk Draskovic has especially lost popularity and is probably the most unpopular of Serbia's politicia

ns right now. Draskovic is continuing his policies and causing more rifts in the opposition, refusing to run in elections on a joint opposition list. That violates the agreement reached by opposition parties on January 10. However, considering Draskovic's ratings, this might be better for the rest of the opposition. In this weakened form, the SPO leader could cause more harm than good at the elections. Draskovic carries the burden of numerous corruption scandals and there have been a lot of rumors of personal and marital problems recently. Skilful manipulation enabled the Milosevic regime to focus popular attention on the domestic political scene and turn dissatisfaction from the authorities towards the opposition and now the main topic is the ineptness of the opposition, not the regime repression and corruption which has become deeply rooted in Serbia. The average Serb today usually says: 'I know Milosevic does not want to leave power and will fight to the end, I don't understand why the opposition isn't do

ing anything to topple the regime. This regime can only fall by force'." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6) OPPOSITION TRIES AGAIN FOR SANCTIONS LIFT IN THESALONIKI "Representatives of the Serbian opposition parties, in Thesaloniki on June 7, asked the lifting of international sanctions against Yugoslavia during a meeting with E.U. foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana and Stability Pact special coordinator Bodo Hombach. Serbian Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic's adviser Predrag Simic told BETA that 'for now there is only one thing which is useful for discussion during such meetings, and that is - to be rid of the sanctions,' because it is 'the only thing which helps the opposition and where no one can accuse it of any kind of national high treason.'...After the talks Solana said that 'no decisions were made but ideas were exchanged,' and that three groups of themes were discussed - political and economic aspects of the situation, as well as mid-term economic projects and possible reforms 'whe

n changes in Serbia occur, whenever they happen. We discussed how they see the evolution in Serbia, and how we see it, and what we would want to see from the opposition,' said Solana." (BETA news agency, June 8) "Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) president Vuk Draskovic will not attend a regional meeting of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe in Thessaloniki on Thursday...Democratic Party (DS) leader Zoran Djindjic has confirmed he will be attending the Thessaloniki meeting. Those invited to the meeting also include Zarko Korac, coordinator of the Alliance of Democratic Parties (SDP); the mayors of Nis, Novi Sad and Cacak, Zoran Zivkovic, Stevan Vrbaski and Velimir Ilic; the leaders of the G17 group of independent economists, Mladjan Dinkic and Miroljub Labus; Dragoljub Zarkovic, director of the Belgrade weekly Vreme; Radomir Diklic, director of the Beta news agency; and Veran Matic, president of the Association of Independent Media." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 7) SPO: ON SECOND THOUGHT - TAKE STUD

IO B " 'What they take by force we cannot get back by force,' Miladin Kovacevic, an adviser to Vuk Draskovic, leader of the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement, told a news conference. 'The alternative is to let them take whatever they are taking by force. We are not a party of force.' His words contrasted sharply with previous threats by the fiery Draskovic to bring all of Belgrade's residents onto the streets if the government touched Studio B." (Reuters, June 2) EX-MILITARY TV COMMENTATOR FORMS PARTY **"The former military commentator of Radio-TV Serbia, and former member of the Socialist Party of Serbia, Milovan Drecun, has set up the political party called Regeneration of Serbia. Drecun promoted his party at a news conference and said that it would be opposition to both the government and the current opposition. Explaining the reasons for the establishment of the party, Drecun said: 'We believe the time has come for the new, patriotic, tolerant and visionary forces to appear on the political scene, but

not to fight for power, as their predecessors, but to organize the people to achieve a fundamental transformation and comprehensive regeneration of society. This is why the Regeneration of Serbia has been set up.' " (Radio B2-92, June 3)

II. REGIME

REGIME TAKES OVER BELGRADE PUBLIC TRANSPORT ***"The Serbian government on Thursday suspended the managerial bodies of the 'Beograd' (GSB) city transport company, with the explanation that the city authorities in Belgrade 'have blocked all of the city's vital functions and created total chaos in the functioning of public municipal companies, especially of GSB', NTV Studio B reported on Thursday. High-ranking Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) official, Nikola Sainovic, who was the first on Thursday to present the information to the press, did not rule out the possibility of the GSB's takeover being the first step towards the imposition of receivership in Belgrade, writes Friday's Danas. Asked directly by the press whether this was the beginning of the takeover of Belgrade, Sainovic said 'This move by the government is a measure aimed at protecting the citizens, and it means precisely that'. Private transporters started working on Thursday afternoon again after having been on strike for four days. The Serbian gov

ernment's statement says the city administration had been racketeering private transporters, which had led to their several-day strike... The president of the GSB drivers' trade union, Dragoljub Stosic, has assessed that the takeover of GSB means that elections are very near, writes Friday's Glas Javnosti. He said the GSB had 90 new buses, which only needed tires, and that the new authorities would soon publicize this as its success. He said the situation in GSB could not be improved without major investments." (V.I.P Daily News Report, June 2) "Encouraged by mild public response to recent seizure of main Belgrade nongovernment media, President Slobodan Milosevic's administration Thursday delivered opponents another blow by taking over an opposition-run public transport company in the capital. The decision to take away the Belgrade City Transport company from the hands of the opposition-run municipal authorities followed a four-day strike by private carriers which brought public transport in the capital to a

virtual halt...The takeover is part of an ongoing campaign by Milosevic's government aimed at discrediting the opposition ahead of municipal elections due by the end of the year...For four days Belgrade residents hitchhiked or competed for available taxis to get to work or return home. Shortly after the government session on Thursday, the private carriers were back in the streets. Also Thursday, an inspection team was dispatched to the offices of the Belgrade's own transport company which has been brought to the verge of bankruptcy after years of Serbia's economic decline and the lack of funds to maintain vehicles or import spare parts from abroad." (Associated press, June 1) "Zoran Milosevic, an official of the Socialist Party of Serbia and former city government chairman, has been appointed the new general director of the Belgrade City Transport Company (GSB)." (BETA news agency, June 2)

TAKEOVER OF "ALL VITAL FUNCTIONS" NEXT? ***"The Belgrade Waterworks and Sewers public municipal company on Wednesday stated that it had started to introduce occasional water restrictions due to excessive consumption...'the water pressure will be partly lower with occasional cuts' in a number of Belgrade districts, mostly suburban ones. The Belgrade Waterworks and Sewers company has appealed to all consumers 'to refrain from the non-purposeful use of drinking water'. 'Otherwise, we will be compelled to leave certain parts of the city without water in the future again, in order to maintain the function of the unified city water supply system'." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 8) "According to V.I.P.'s sources, the Serbian government has no intention of introducing receivership in Belgrade, but it plans gradually, until the end of summer, to take over all the vital functions in the city. According to these sources, the regime's next move will be to take over the Belgrade waterworks. Serbian Environmental Prote

ction Minister Branislav Blazic said on Friday at a press conference that 'due to the inadequate city water supply policy, Belgraders are faced with the danger of severe water restrictions during the warmest days', writes Politika. He added that the time had come for 'establishing a general national policy with concrete water supply programs.' " (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 5)

BELGRADE MAYOR: REGIME "SMEARING" US ***"Vojislav Mihailovic, the Belgrade Mayor and high-ranking Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) official said in an interview with the latest issue of NIN: 'No one is any longer that naive to think that you can pay a bus fare three dinars in Belgrade and that private transport companies want to make money on that kind of fare. It is a well-known fact that transports are manifolding more expensive in other cities in Serbia than in the capital. This is all aimed at hindering the functioning of our utility service, the Public Transport Company, and transportation in Belgrade in general. It seems to me that the republican authorities have a wicked intention of preparing for the upcoming elections by smearing the reputation of the incumbent city authorities. Instead of offering something better, they are bent on destroying what little exists, believing that they will be the future exclusive administrators of this city.' " (V.I.P Daily News Report, June 2)

BELGRADE CITY ASSEMBLY CONDEMNS "CRUDE VIOLATION" ***"The executive committee of the Belgrade City assembly has condemned in strongest terms the decision of the Serbian government to take over the city's Public Transport Company (GSB), a statement by the committee said. The city government says that GSB was brought into this situation 'only because of the three-year blockade and sanctions imposed by the Serbian government against the Belgrade residents, the city assembly and communal services'. The government is also protesting because it was never told about the decision, but learnt about it from SPS and SRS press conferences, saying this is 'yet further proof that a one-party state exists and that legal norms are crudely violated.' " (SRNA news agency-Bijeljina, June 1)

TERRORISM LAW FOR "VIOLENT MOVEMENTS" -- NOT PARTIES ***"Yugoslav Information Minister Goran...Matic, asked by a FoNet reporter whether the announced law [on terrorism] would have anything to do with the work of political parties, said 'What parties? What do parties have to do with it? Those parties that want to overthrow the system violently are not parties but terrorist movements. Those that want to engage in politics should get onto the political stage, talk to the people and criticize the government. No one is stopping them from doing so.' He said that the anti-terrorism law does not draw on laws 'from the Turkish period' but on experiences from the developed countries that are faced with the same problem. The anti-terrorism bill, drafted by the Yugoslav Left (JUL), has not yet arrived in the Serbian Parliament, Glas Javnosti reports on Wednesday." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 7)

SPS "PROPAGANDA COUNCIL" FORMED TO EXPOSE "TREASON" ***"The main board of the Socialist Party of Serbia on Wednesday founded an Information and Propaganda Council...Appointed as the council chairman was high-ranking SPS official and FRY Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic. The goal of the SPS Council will reportedly be 'to present to the domestic and foreign media the truth' about the situation in the country 'in the proper manner...In an extended aggression, its bearers are unscrupulously admitting that they are investing substantial funds in subversive activities whose goal is to undermine the psychological, political and every other stability of the population in the country...In the course of the week, and especially on Wednesday, members of the newly-formed SPS Council criticized the independent media, accusing them of treason, reports Radio B2-92 on its web site." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 8)

DRASKOVIC'S BODYGUARDS ARRESTED FOR ARMS ***"Vuk Draskovic, president of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), has said that the police arrested all his bodyguards at Belgrade airport the moment he returned from Moscow. Draskovic told Beta that his bodyguards Sakoje Stanisic, Dragan Jankovic, Gojko Femic and Drazen Grkinic had been arrested when they arrived at the airport to meet him upon his return from Russia. 'The bodyguards are evidently an obstacle to my liquidation. We live in a country in which people armed with 'hecklers' can storm the Belgrade Assembly session and the police do not intervene despite being called by the mayor,' Draskovic said. He said he believed today's arrest of the bodyguards came as 'a direct consequence of his visit to Moscow'. Draskovic, together with Zoran Djindjic and Vojislav Kostunica, leaders of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia respectively, held talks with Russian officials' two days ago. 'Officials, even ordinary ones from the ruling parties, have n

umerous bodyguards whom nobody arrests,' Draskovic said. The SPO leader has demanded the immediate release of his bodyguards, adding that to his knowledge, they had only been armed with pistols for which they held permits." (BETA news agency, May 31) "During a routine traffic check today in front of the Belgrade airport building, the employees of the Belgrade SUP [Secretariat of Internal Affairs] found two pistols and two revolvers being illegally carried...Grkinic, Stanisic, Femic and Jankovic have been detained for committing the criminal offence of unauthorized possession and carrying of arms, according to Article 33 of the Law of Arms and Ammunition, and will be handed over to the relevant judicial bodies together with appropriate charges, the statement reads." (Tanjug state news agency-Belgrade, May 31)

MILOSEVIC TO DECORATE HIMSELF AS "NATIONAL HERO" ***"The Yugoslav Army (VJ) General Staff proposed Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic be presented with a National Hero decoration, says Tuesday's Politika. Politika brings an extensive article on the initiative on its front page...In line with the FRY Constitution, the president of the federal state is the one who presents decorations. Seeing that the president himself has been proposed for the decoration in this case, it is presumed that the FRY Parliament will be deciding on this initiative. In the explanation of the initiative for presenting Milosevic with the National Hero decoration, the General Staff says that 'the Yugoslav president did not bow before the ultimatums aimed at the occupation of our country and placing it in the service of the interests of the most powerful world forces...President Milosevic...demonstrated personal courage, determination and daring in making decisions for the defence and security of the country, for which he is admired

by entire mankind'." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6) " 'Under the FRY Constitution, as well as the Law on Decorations, it is the president of the Republic who awards the National Hero Decoration by decree. The decoration is ceremonially presented by the FRY president or his personal envoy. It is interesting that, under the Constitution and Law, the National Hero Decoration is awarded exclusively by the president of the Republic, so that, in the event that the general staff's initiative is accepted, the FRY president will have to award the decoration to himself." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 8)

MILOSEVIC COUNTING ON NEXT U.S. PRESIDENT? ***"International isolation as well as the lack of a long-term solution to the economic and social situation in the country are Milosevic's greatest problems...Milosevic wishes to wait for a new US administration, counting on it leaving him in peace and at the same time expecting that some West European countries will loosen their firm stand with time. In this way, he hopes to continue his rule in Serbia and FRY as a communist enclave, which will, as Albania once did, wait for a change of the balance of forces in the world...The Yugoslav president will most likely try to rule the country by introducing a military junta. Milosevic is now tight with the loyal military top and relies much less than earlier on the police, except when the latter is supposed to beat up demonstrators." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6)

III. REPRESSION & RESISTANCE

SUPREME COURT REVOKES BROVINA SENTENCE "Serbia's supreme court has revoked a 12-year jail sentence issued to prominent Kosovo Albanian activist Flora Brovina for 'terrorism,' sending the case back to a local court for a new trial, her lawyer told AFP Wednesday. Brovina's lawyer Milan Stanic told AFP that the defense was not yet officially informed of the court's decision, but said that it would mean another trial by the court in the southern Serbian town of Nis. However, Stanic said the decision would not immediately lead to Brovina's release from prison...The defense lodged an appeal to the Serbian supreme court on May 16, arguing that there were no basis and evidence for such a sentence, widely condemned by international human rights groups. Another of Brovina's lawyers, Rajko Danilovic, told the Beta news agency that the supreme court's decision 'suggested a possibility of a bail. Thus the conditions are made for a right decision -- her release from prison,' Danilovic told the agency." (Agence France Pre

sse, June 7)

50 OTPOR ARRESTED INCLUDING 11-YEAR-OLD ***"Seven activists of Otpor (Resistance) Movement were arrested by police in Kragujevac, Uzice and Velika Plana on June 7, BETA was told at the movement's information office. Uzice police arrested an activist who was held at the police station for three hours where his finger prints were taken and a police file opened. Three activists were arrested in Kragujevac. They were released two hours later after they had been questioned about the way the Otpor Movement's activities are financed." (BETA news agency, June 8) "Democratic Party (DS) branch head in Aleksinac Sasa Ristic was released from police custody on Monday after a nine-hour 'informative talk' in the local police station, the crisis headquarters of the Otpor movement in Nis said...The Otpor activist was arrested on Sunday while he was putting up posters and taken to the police station, the Otpor statement said. The police in Subotica arrested three Otpor activists on Monday and released them after an informati

ve talk, the movement's Belgrade office said. Lawyer Ruzica Lekic, defender of arrested Otpor members Momcilo Veljkovic and Radojko Lukovic in Pozarevac on Monday filed an appeal on the Pozarevac district court ruling to extend their detention up to July 2. The appeal was accompanied by the signatures of 2,000 'upset' people who called for the release of Lukovic and Veljkovic in a petition titled 'Victims to be Released - Guilty in Jail', statements by public figures, party and union statements, press reports and the fact that resignations were tendered by the district public prosecutor and the first investigating judge." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6) "The Subotica police apprehended three Resistance movement activists today and released them after interrogation, the Beta agency learned from the organization's office in Belgrade. According to Resistance's information, Technical College student Andrej Vereski and two underage high school students were arrested. Vereski has been apprehended several times

before." (BETA news agency, June 6)

***"Serbian police detained 40 opposition activists, including an 11-year-old, in raids focusing on [OTPOR]; a court refused bail for two other supporters of the Otpor student group, who last month were arrested after a brawl with associates of Milosevic's son and charged with attempted murder. The arrests took place in several towns across Serbia on Friday, including 20 Otpor activists who were detained and questioned in Smederevska Palanka, 35 miles southeast of Belgrade." (Associated Press, June 3)

OPPOSITION/OTPOR CRISIS CENTER LAUNCHED IN SABAC ***"Opposition forces in Sabac on Tuesday decided to form a crisis center because of a large number of opposition activists and OTPOR members taken in for questioning in May...Democratic Party Presidency member Dusan Petrovic said the Crisis Center would be available to citizens round the clock, and he added that the Center includes a group for legal for legal aid and a group for political. According to Petrovic, duty rota has been introduced on DS and SPO premises. If the Sabac police put opposition party or OTPOR activists into custody, lawyers and citizens will be 'alarmed'...all citizens 'whose rights have been violated by the regime' can seek legal protection from the DS and SPO."

LAWYER ON TRIAL FOR LINKING MUP TO BOSNIA WAR CRIMES ***"The trial of lawyer Tatomir Lekovic, who is charged with slander and dissemination of false reports on the involvement of the State Security Service (SDB) in the murder of his client Slobodan 'Lugar' Miljkovic, opened before the Municipal Court in Kragujevac on 2 June. Slobodan Miljkovic was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes committed in the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Lekovic is on trial for statements to the media concerning the murder of his client in which he said that 'the SDB doctored its report and in actuality organized the murder of Slobodan Miljkovic,' that 'the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs is the biggest paramilitary, parapolice and terrorist organization,' and that 'the SDB on several occasions summoned Miljkovic to its offices in order to dispatch him to Kosovo.' Lekovic told the court that, a few days before his death, his client had handed him a sealed envelope, s

aying it contained documents proving the implication of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs in events in Bosnia during 1992... The trial is scheduled to continue on 4 October 2000." (statement, Humanitarian Law Center-Belgrade, June 5)

JOURNALIST SENTENCED FOR URGING INDICTEE TO HAGUE ***"A court in the eastern Serbian town of Zajecar has sentenced a journalist to three months in jail for insulting a top aide of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, a radio station reported on Friday. The independent station B2-92 said Dusica Radulovic, the director of Borske Novine, a local paper from the nearby town of Bor, had written that Nikola Sainovic, a Yugoslav deputy prime minister, should go before a U.N. war crimes tribunal. Sainovic, also a senior official of Milosevic's Socialist Party, is wanted by the tribunal in connection with atrocities that Yugoslav security forces allegedly committed during a clampdown on ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo in 1998/99." (Reuters, June 2)

MONTENEGRIN CORRESPONDENT ARRESTED ***"Krusevac police today apprehended Miroljub Arsic, correspondent for the Montenegrin daily Vijesti and of Montenegrin Radio and Television. While Arsic was in custody police searched his apartment and representatives of the opposition and non-governmental organizations gathered at the local police station to request his release. He was released after two hours' interrogation, telling Beta that police claimed they had solid evidence of him being the ideological founder of Otpor in Krusevac and that he had been planning and organizing the student movement's activities. 'I denied that because it simply wasn't true,' said Arsic." (Association of Independent Electronic Media/ANEM Weekly Report-Belgrade, May 30)NIS DAILY UNABLE TO PRINT ***"Nis daily Narodne novine yesterday failed to appear at news-stands. Printing house Prosveta in Nis did not print yesterday's edition, giving the explanation that it did had no paper the Nis daily should settle a debt of 300,000 dinars. Bel

grade daily Danas in today's edition informed readers it had been forced to make two unpopular moves: to increase the price of the paper, and to reduce the number of pages. The decision was explained by the drastic fines imposed under the Public Information Act and a lack of paper. Danas also reported unofficial information that Yugoslavia's only newsprint manufacturer, the Sremska Mitrovica firm Matroz had suspended paper production yesterday, 'because of problems with paper production machinery'. It was expected that production would resume during the day. The unofficial information about the halt of production in Matroz was reported by Glas Javnosti as well but gave as the reason a shortage of gas." (ANEM Weekly Report, May 31)

TV PANCEVO AT RISK ***"The contract between TV Pancevo and the federal Ministry of Telecommunications for using channel 37 expired on Thursday evening. The Ministry had not yet responded to requests from the broadcaster to renew the contract, the station's editor-in-chief, Ofelija Backovic, said as cited by the Belgrade media on Friday. Backovic told the media that TV Pancevo had applied to the Ministry in March, asking for the contract to be renewed, and had written again last week, but had still received no reply. TV Pancevo is the last remaining non-regime television station whose signal can be received in Belgrade. It is expected that in the meantime the station will continue to operate despite not having a current frequency license." (V.I.P Daily News Report, June 2) "The Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) municipal board in Pancevo said on Monday that the local RTV Pancevo is calling for a toppling of the legally elected authorities, Politika says on Tuesday. 'The RTV Pancevo editorial policy is made to dir

ectly and openly call for the toppling of the legally elected authorities and social order,' a statement said...The station's founder is the municipality of Pancevo." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6)

NGO LAWS FORESHADOW "PURGE" ***" 'The new laws [on non-governmental organizations] will be an opportunity to conduct a purge, because they envisage the re-registration of all the existing political parties, citizens' associations and workers' unions, at a federal level,' Dr Dragor Hiber from the Alternative Academic Education Network and the Centre for Promoting Law Study, said to 'Blic' in connection with the two draft federal government laws controlling the work of political parties, civic associations and workers' unions, as well as the work of foreign NGOs. The regime will take advantage of this opportunity to conduct purges principally as a form of threat... Financing, according to the bill, would be extremely restrictive, in other words, foreign financing would be completely banned and even Yugoslav emigrants would not be able to donate a single dinar. The new law bans political activity of NGOs, which gives the regime a free hand for all sorts of interpretations, so if some human rights organization s

ays that human rights are being violated in this country, that could be interpreted as political activity and a reason for shutting down such an organization,' Hiber pointed out." (Blic independent daily-Belgrade, June 1)

INTERIOR MINISTRY TARGETS HELSINKI COMMITTEE ***"The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia informs the local and international public that on May 31, 2000 five people, claiming to be officials of different departments of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia, came to the Committee's office. The group was led by Ms. Ljiljana Obradovic and Mr. Goran Radosavljevic, who presented themselves as employees of the Ministry of the Interior for the city of Belgrade, Department of Administrative Control. On this occasion, the above mentioned persons, on their own demand, talked to the chairperson of the Committee, Ms. Sonja Biserko, saying among other things that they would be visiting the Committee's office on Friday, June 2, 2000. On June 2, the Committee was visited again by an employee of the Agency for Accounts and Payments (the state body which regulates incoming and outgoing financial payments), as well as by two persons presenting themselves as Bora Kostic and Dejan Popovic of the Minis

try of the Interior, Belgrade City Secretariat, Department of Economic Crimes. The Helsinki Committee has received no explanation of why the Ministry s Department of Economic Crimes is conducting an investigation of the Committee. There are indications, however, that the investigation will last for a longer period. During the control , the officials of Ministry of Interior made a list of the donors of the Committee. Therefore, there is a possibility of pressure and intimidation of donors by the state authorities, with the aim of discouraging private individuals and organizations from continuing their financial support of human rights organizations. In this way, the regular work and the activities of the Committee are greatly impaired. We therefore believe that this sudden control is but the pressure of the state authorities not only on the Committee, but also on other NGOs, especially those which deal with human rights. This is even more significant as it is occurring at the same time as a new law on citizen

s associations is expected to be adopted. As there has been no control since its foundation so far, the Committee believes that this control is being conducted in the context of the current growing repression in Serbia. In the situation where many state and social institutions are falling apart, losing their legitimacy day after day, this control of the work of third sector is difficult to interpret as the regular performance of official duties." (statement, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia-Belgrade, June 2)

IV. INTERNATIONAL

RUSSIA HALTS GAS SUPPLIES OVER UNPAID DEBT ***"Russian gas giant Gazprom has suspended supplies to Serbia because its contract has expired and Belgrade owes Moscow $400 million in unpaid gas bills, the export group Gazexport said Wednesday. The press service of Gazexport, a subsidiary of Gazprom, said supplies had been stopped last week. 'We will resume deliveries of gas when the debts are paid,' an official told AFP. Most of Serbia's power stations are fuelled by gas from Russia, according to the Moscow newspaper Kommersant...The decision to cut the gas to Belgrade 'corresponds entirely to the new conception of Russian foreign policy which now gives priority to Russia's national interests,' Kommersant quoted a government official as saying anonymously." (Agence France Presse, June 7) "Russia has halted natural gas supplies to Serbia due to the republic's $240 million debt for the fuel supplied earlier, a spokesman for the Serbian Oil Industry enterprise told reporters on Friday 2nd June. A delegation of the

enterprise is currently in Moscow to negotiate with Gazprom, Russia's oil and gas giant, over the terms of future co-operation, the spokesman said. Serbian Oil Industry only matches 30 per cent of the country's needs in natural gas." (Itar-Tass news agency-Moscow, June 2) "Nis said the 70,000 cubic meters per hour available from domestic sources were going to the petrochemical plant in Pancevo near Belgrade and other priority consumers. The source added that Serbia's debt for Russian gas stood at $200 million. 'Quite simply, there is no gas. We have turned off all users, while Petrohemija is being supplied with only a third of the required amount and is therefore operating with diminished capacities,' Glas cited a Nis source as saying." (Reuters, June 2)

***"The Russian state-owned company Gasprom will soon once again start delivering gas to the FRY since agreement is about to be reached on the payment mode for this power source, said an unnamed Yugoslav official to Saturday's Glas Javnosti. The Yugoslav delegation left for Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the use of the recently granted credit worth 50 million dollars as assistance to the Serbian power industry. Around 18 million dollars of this credit would be used to pay the debt to the Hungarian Mol Company for the transfer and storage of gas, while 32 million dollars would be used for oil imports." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 5)

PUTIN: "PROBLEMS WITH MILOSEVIC" BUT LIFT SANCTIONS ***"The West is not alone in having problems with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, but urged the lifting of sanctions imposed on Belgrade. 'We, too, have problems with Milosevic, but we should not forget that he was elected by the people, and that there is therefore a psychological problem,' the ANSA [Italian state] news agency cited him as saying at a meeting with media leaders in Rome. Putin, who arrived in Milan Tuesday afternoon for talks with business and local leaders, said a lifting of sanctions and an end to Yugoslavia's international isolation would stabilize the Balkans region." (Agence France Presse, June 6)

CLINTON TO DUMA: RUSSIA, U.S. SHOULD SIDE WITH DEMOCRACY ***"We may still disagree about Kosovo, but now that the war is over, let me say one other thing about Yugoslavia. I believe the people of Serbia deserve to live in a normal country with the same freedoms the people of Russia and America enjoy, with relationships with their neighbors including Russia that will not constantly be interrupted by vast flows of innocent people being forced out of their country or threatened with their very lives. The struggle in Belgrade now is not between Serbia and NATO, it is between the Serbian people and their leaders. The Serbian people are asking the world to back democracy and freedom. Our response to their request does not have to be identical, but Russia and America should both be on the side of the people of Serbia." (U.S. President Bill Clinton, speech to Russian Duma, Moscow, June 5)

RUSSIAN DUMA PRESIDENT SLAMS OPPOSITION AS "PRO-AMERICAN" ***"The united opposition has been dealt a blow by the leader of the Russian Duma's lower chamber, Genady Seleznev, who today described the Serbian opposition as pro-American. Seleznev, who is a senior official of the Russian Communist Party, told media that Russians could not understand an opposition which survived on foreign funding and justified foreign aggression. He was speaking after meeting a delegation from the Yugoslav Parliament's lower house. The statement was in apparent contradiction to opposition claims of having gathered moral support from Russia during the recent visit of opposition leaders to Moscow." (Radio B2-92, June 6)

RUSSIAN FM FOR "DIALOGUE OF ALL INFLUENTIAL PLOITICAL FORCES" ***"Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov June 7 met with the president of the Chamber of Citizens of the Federal Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Milomir Minic, who is in Moscow on an official visit. The sides confirmed their mutual interest in developing Russian-Yugoslav cooperation in all areas, including between the parliaments. They stressed the need to stabilize the situation in Yugoslavia as soon as possible, primarily in the context of Kosovo settlement. On our part, we stressed the importance of consistently implementing UN Security Council resolution 1244 on Kosovo and preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the FRY...The Russian side called for solving problems facing the FRY by conducting a political dialogue between all influential political forces in the country and normalizing internal ties within the existing constitutional system in the country. It was noted that the multiethnic Yugoslav parliament co

uld play an important role in this process." (statement, Russian Foreign Ministry, June 7) "Minic said that he and Ivanov did not discuss the internal political situation in Yugoslavia, adding that 'the situation in Yugoslavia is very stable' and that 'the entire nation and our government, headed by President Slobodan Milosevic, are carrying out a project of reconstruction from the consequences of NATO pact's criminal aggression.' Ivanov did not appear before the reporters after the talks." (BETA news agency, June 8) " A delegation of the Yugoslav Parliament Lower House, headed by Lower House Speaker Milomir Minic, left on Monday for Moscow, where, at the invitation of the Russian Federation State Duma president Gennady Seleznov, he will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation, the Yugoslav Parliament information service said." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6)

TOP CHINESE OFFICIAL TO ADDRESS PARLIAMENT ***"Li Peng, president of the Chinese parliament, will make an official visit to Yugoslavia on June 11-13, state news agency Tanjug reported on Tuesday. Li will address an extraordinary joint session of the two houses of the federal Yugoslav parliament...on June 12, Tanjug said, quoting a parliament statement. It gave no further details about the visit by Li, who is number two in the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy." (Reuters, June 5)

$48 MILLION CHINESE CREDIT EXPECTED ***"A Yugoslav delegation including the director general of the Serbian Electric Power Company (EPS), Dragan Kostic, left for China...A contract on the realization of a Chinese commodity credit worth $48 million is expected to be signed during this visit...This credit is part of the overall Chinese credit granted to Yugoslavia at the end of last year, worth around $300 million...Blic writes that the signing of the contract for the realization of this Chinese commodity credit kept being postponed for a number of months because of China's caution regarding the FRY government's guarantees, the newspaper was told by a source close to the Chinese partner. The source specified that the Chinese side insisted that he contract be ratified by the federal parliament." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 8)

BELGRADE LOBBIES S. AFRICA, VIETNAM FOR UN REINSTATEMENT ***"Yugoslavia is seeking South Africa's help in having it fully reinstated to the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, a South African official said Thursday. Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic and South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad discussed the issue Wednesday during a brief courtesy visit by Jovanovic, said foreign ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa. Pahad listened to Jovanovic but made no commitment to help Yugoslavia in its bid, Mamoepa said. 'It was agreed that the Yugoslav and South African governments would continue to interact on these issues,' Mamoepa said in a statement... Jovanovic also briefed Pahad on Yugoslavia's reconstruction after the allied bombing campaign last year and the current situation in Kosovo, Mamoepa said. He declined to give details of the talks. Jovanovic was headed on Thursday to neighboring Namibia, where he was to meet with President Sam Nujoma in the evening, Yugoslav diplomatic source

s said. Jovanovic was to return to South Africa on Friday for a meeting the next day with parliamentarians." (Associated Press, June 1)

***"All necessary conditions exist for the further comprehensive development of Yugoslav-Vietnamese relations, it was said on Monday in Hanoi in the talks of Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic with his host Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien. Vietnam considers, Minister Dy Nien said, that Kosovo-Metohija is an integral part of Yugoslavia. He urged particularly for strict compliance with UN Resolution 1244, pointing out that Vietnam supports Yugoslavia in the preservation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Minister Jovanovic arrived Sunday evening on a four-day official and friendly visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The two ministers underlined in cordial talks that a mutual readiness exists for developing all forms of cooperation. Minister Dy Nien condemned NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia, pointing out that the military alliance was responsible not only for aggression on a sovereign country, but also obligated to rebuild what was destroyed in the bombing. The Vietnamese

minister lent full support to reactivating Yugoslavia's role in the U.N. and in the nonaligned movement. Stressing that Vietnam will always support Yugoslavia, Dy Nien considered that Yugoslavia in the struggle to overcome difficulties it is encountering, is fighting not only for itself but also for the entire world. Minister Jovanovic called for the intensification of relations between the two countries in all spheres and particularly in the economic sphere. The Yugoslav foreign minister pointed out that the Yugoslav people admires the courage of the Vietnamese people with whom exist links of traditional friendship and mutual confidence." (Tanjug state news agency, June 6)

GREECE SENDS CHARGE D'AFFAIRES TO BELGRADE ***"The new Greek ambassador in Belgrade, Michalis Spinelis, will soon take office, but will not deliver his credentials to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, stated a senior diplomatic source in Athens on June 6. Greece will thus follow the 'Italian precedent,' said the source, underlining that this was being done due to the stand of the EU. In such cases the ambassador has a lower rank -- charge d'affaires. (BETA news agency, June 7)

MILOSEVIC TO EUROPE: STOP "BLINDLY FOLLOWING" U.S. ***"President Slobodan Milosevic urged Europe on Friday to stop blindly following the United States and its 'insane ideas to rule the whole world.' At a meeting with former Greek Foreign Minister Carolos Papoulias, Milosevic also counseled European states that going along with the policies of the United States damages the whole continent, particularly the Balkans. The meeting with Papoulias, which was reported by Serbia's official television, was a rare opportunity for Milosevic to receive a foreign dignitary. The Yugoslav president and his government have been isolated from the West because of his indictment by the United Nations war crimes tribunal. 'The blind obedience which the governments of the European Union show toward the dictate of the American administration is causing great damage to the whole European continent, and particularly to the Balkans. It would be logical that the governments of the European states above all take care of the interests o

f their own nations rather than the interest of the American administration and its insane ideas to rule the whole world,' he said." (Associated Press, June 2)

GREEK ENVOY: INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE "TRAPS" REGIME ***"A senior Greek envoy who met Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic argued that international pressure on Belgrade was reinforcing its hard-line policies, local media said Sunday. 'As long as (international) sanctions remain in force and there is an arrested warrant against Milosevic himself and other Yugoslav officials, the Yugoslav President will remain trapped within the same policies that he has followed until now,' Carolos Papoulias told the Athens daily Exousia." (Associated Press, June 4)

BELGRADE: DISBAND "ILLEGAL, ILLEGITIMATE" TRIBUNAL ***"Yugoslavia called on the United Nations on Sunday to disband its war crimes tribunal, saying the body had become an accomplice of NATO by refusing to probe the alliance over its air campaign against Yugoslavia last year. Information Minister Goran Matic urged U.N. Security Council ambassadors to wind up what he called an 'illegal, illegitimate and biased body' and sack its prosecutor Carla del Ponte. 'I am astonished by Ms Del Ponte's statement that during last year's aggression against Yugoslavia NATO did not deliberately target civilian facilities and that it did not commit war crimes,' Matic said in a letter to the envoys carried by state news agency Tanjug." (Reuters, June 4)

NEW FRY-HUNGARY BORDER CROSSING PLANNED ***"Yugoslavia and Hungary signed an agreement on Thursday to open a new border crossing, state news agency Tanjug reported. Yugoslav Customs Office heads Mihalj Kertes and Hungarian Customs and Excise Chief Mihaly Arnold signed the agreement. The border crossing, on the E-75 international highway, will be built between Horgos in Yugoslavia and Reske in Hungary, near the existing border crossing between the two countries. All infrastructures for passenger traffic will be ready by the end of 2003 and for cargo traffic at the latest in four years, the report said." (Reuters, June 1)

V. ECONOMY

ELECTRICITY PRICES RAISED NEARLY 10% ***"Serbia hiked electricity prices by 9.5 percent on Thursday to help rehabilitate the Serbian power company, state news agency Tanjug said. 'The measures are within the scope of the economic and financial consolidation of the public power company Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS),' it said. One kilowatt hour will cost 0.55 dinars ($0.01 on the black market) and 0.57 dinars in Belgrade where a three-percent city tax applies, Tanjug said." (Reuters, June 1)

BANK CHIEF: EXPECT HIGHER INFLATION ***"The governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia (NBJ) Dusan Vlatkovic has said that we will have to face inflation this year... The wholesale prices of industrial products in Yugoslavia were 6.7 percent higher in April than in March, reported Sunday's Blic, citing official information of the Federal Statistics Institute. Compared to last April, prices went up by 108.8 percent. Since the beginning of the year, prices registered a 31.7 percent growth. The increase in industrial production prices from March was transferred to the wholesale sphere in April. Retail prices felt this impact already in May, while higher inflation will especially be felt in June due to the application of the dinar's internal devaluation. Prices in May increased by 5.2 percent compared to April, reports Glas Javnosti on Saturday. Since the beginning of the year, retail prices went up by 14.7 percent. In Serbia, prices grew by 4.5 percent and in Montenegro by 11.6 percent. In May, the costs of li

ving increased by 5.7 percent 5.5 percent in Serbia and 10 percent in Montenegro." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 5)

CENTRAL BANK: REGIME NEEDS $300 MILLION ***"Yugoslavia's central bank governor said on Friday the sanctions-hit country needed at least $200 million to support the economy. Dusan Vlatkovic told bankers' meeting that he would keep a tight rein on the monetary system but 'we will have to have inflation above the (planned) level in the situation of sanctions. Because of the limiting outside factor, we have not and are not able to bring in the $700 million in investments we had planned,' he said. 'If we can, we have to work to bring in $200-$300 million of extra capital in various ways.' Vlatkovic said the funds would be necessary to stabilize the economy and finance some of the government's basic programs without resorting to inflationary monetary emissions. The government had planned zero inflation this year but independent economists estimate it will exceed 50 percent...'We will propose certain measures, but it cannot be counted upon that we will create new capital by monetary relaxation, we can only create f

avorable conditions through redistribution within banks and the central bank,' he said. He said the government did not have enough funds to kick-start industry and those only priority programs in agriculture, the energy sector, and the construction of apartments could be supported. Borka Vucic, the head of Beogradska Banka and federal minister for relations with international financial organizations, blasted the latest EU sanctions. 'This is an extreme pressure on our country and open interference in its legal and economic system,' Vucic said. Yugoslavia would seek new funds from countries which do not support the sanctions such as China, Russia, India, Libya, Kuwait, Iraq and others, she said." (Reuters, June 2)

20% DROP IN HARVEST MEANS HIGHER IMPORTS ***"Milorad Rajic, associate at the Novi Sad institute for farming said: "The harvest will drop the levels of the 1950s this year and will be at least 20% lower than last year...At best, even if every grain is bought from farmers by the state, we might have enough for bread but certainly not for seed for next season and we use an average 200,000 tons for that. That means that there won't be enough bread without imports but I don't have fully precise figures on the amounts we'll have to buy on the world market. Namely, since March this year, the state has been importing flour under the guise of humanitarian aid and has the obligation of paying for it with wheat grain. Those debts are new and will have to be paid but unfortunately they aren't the only ones." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 7)

POLICE "CRACKDOWN" ON CURRENCY BLACK MARKET ***"The Serbian police seized around 1.5 million deutschmarks from black market dealers in the first four months of the year, Blic says on Tuesday quoting a report in the May issue of the Policajac magazine. The police arrested 5,991 dealers for the illegal buying and selling of foreign currency and seized 9,324,620 dinars (around 400,000 deutschmarks) and foreign currency to the value of 1,187,590 deutschmarks. Belgrade's street dealers estimated that the value of the seized foreign currency is equal to the value of two days of transactions in Belgrade. They said each of them makes a profit of 30 deutschmarks a day from small transactions ranging from 10 to several hundred deutschmarks. The police raised 1,777 charges against 1,809 persons for the illegal buying and selling of foreign currency. In the first four months of the year, the Serbian police also seized 282,548 cartons (or six trailers) of imported cigarettes, mainly US, which did not have tax stamps and

were brought in mainly from Montenegro and Kosovo. Cigarette vendors estimated that between 60 and 70 trailer loads of cigarettes are sold on the black market in Serbia every month along with another 140 trailer loads in legal sales. In the same period, 280 charges were raised against 315 persons for illegal trade and 85 persons were arrested. In the last week of April alone, the police seized 19,302 cartons of cigarettes, filed charges against 13 people and arrested another four." (V.I.P. Daily News Report, June 6)

PROMISED REPAYMENT OF HARD CURRENCY SAVINGS... ***"The Yugoslav government said on Thursday it would start repaying frozen hard currency savings on July 1 as planned, state news agency Tanjug reported. 'All the necessary conditions have been created and preparations made for this law to be implemented as envisaged, from July 1 this year,' Tanjug quoted a Federal Information Ministry statement as saying. As of July 1, holders of old hard currency savings will be able to withdraw 150 German marks in hard currency from their accounts. Those who opt to withdraw the funds in dinars at a stimulate rate of 20 dinars to the mark, compared with the official exchange rate of six dinars to the mark, can begin doing so from June 5, the statement said. Yugoslav Finance Minister Dragisa Pesic had said last Friday repayment of savings in dinars would start on June 1. He said funds had been set aside in the federal budget to start servicing the debt to holders of old hard currency savings that have been frozen since the ear

ly 1990s. The savings repayment plan to service some $4 billion debt by state-run banks to some one and a half million Yugoslavs will be spread over 10 years. It will cost the government an estimated 130 million German marks ($62 million) in 2000. Repayments to depositors of hard currency savings in banks whose licenses have been revoked or against which bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated will begin after commercial courts establish the state of those savings." (Reuters, June 1)

...AN ELECTION PLOY? ***"Thousands of people stood in lines at banks on 5 June, which was the first day of a government program to pay out some of the money that has been blocked in hard-currency accounts for 10 years or so. Depositors may withdraw the dinar equivalent of $70 as of 5 June or wait until 1 July to obtain that amount in hard currency. Several people waiting in lines told Reuters that the move is a ploy designed to influence voters in the runup to elections widely expected in the fall. Several depositors added that they do not trust the government to make hard currency available in July and prefer to take dinars now." (RFE/RL Newsline, June 6)