Moscow, March 25, 1999

Statement of Nikolaj Khramov, secretary of ARA and Russian coordinator of Radical Party:

``NATO's military action on peace-enforcement in Kosovo is a forced measure in conditions of Milosevic refusal from signing peace agreement, in conditions of an open ignoring by him of all international community.

Appeals to NATO to not begin war on Balkans look as a cynical hypocrisy, nothing else. The war at the center of Europe, in former Yugoslavia, continues already during last eight years, since 1991. Hundred of thousands killed civilians persons, destroyed Vukovar, Osijek, Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, horrors of Srebrenica, this Yugoslavian Khatyn... The originator of tragedy of former Yugoslavia, all these murders, destructions, violence, ethnic cleanings is known: it is president of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic and its national-communist regime, which has proclaimed at the end of '80s - beginning of '90s years the idea of "Great Serbia" and which has launched the whole series of aggressive wars: at first in Slovenia and Croatia, then in Bosnia, today - in Kosovo. During eight years the West silently tolerated aggression of Serbian regime, repeating in details the logic of Munich: those who in 1939 did not want to die for Danzig, were forced very soon to die for Paris and London, for Calais and El Alamein. If yet in 1991

Milosevic would get resolute and unambiguous response to his policy of aggression and hatred - it would be no reason to establish the Hague tribunal on crimes in former Yugoslavia.

This policy proceeds even now. The military action of NATO is a compelled and necessary measure in the given conditions. However for some reason the West prefers force of the weapon (used, alas, rather late) instead of applying a much more powerful weapon of the Law and Right too: to issue official indictment in military crimes and crimes against humanity from the Hague tribunal to the Serbian dictator. Milosevic's place is not at negotiating table, where they hope to return him by means of Tomahawks, but on the bench of defendants in Hague.

As for our country, last hours we witness a real chauvinist, antiwestern, militarist hysteria. Look at kiddy happy faces of our generals, who finally have an opportunity to prepare on Arbat square their "adequate measures against NATO aggressors": this is the most evident display of this hysteria.

Regrettably, that a significant part of Russian citizens stupefied by Goebbels TV is torn to protect the Serbs, "the orthodox Slavic brothers", completely forgetting about the Slavic brothers Chechs and Poles who have joined NATO, and about orthodox Greeks and Bulgarians. The nationalist, antiwestern and militarist rhetorics of all Russian politicians presented on TV (except Javlinsky and Kozyrev) is abominable.

But another thing is much more dangerous: today's foreign policy of Primakov's government (in fact, the same national-communist government, as Belgrade regime), nothing other as a frank treachery of Russia's national interests. Interests which consist not in return to "cold war", not in protection at any cost all criminal regimes on our planet from Saddam to Milosevic, not in withstanding to the whole international community, but in the prompt economic, political, national revival of Russia as a free, democratic, responsible country within united family of civilized nations.''