-Caveat Lector- Europe Skeptical Over Balkans Pact By AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON .c The Associated Press SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Europeans reacted largely with skepticism to the Sarajevo summit on Balkan stability with commentators suggesting Saturday that little was accomplished at the one-day conference. World leaders at the meeting Friday pledged to push economic and democratic reforms in the hopes of ending the cycle of violence in the region. But most European countries shied away from pledging funds for the peace reforms before another conference is held later in the year. ``Yesterday's launch of the Balkan stability pact was above all an exercise in the politics of illusion,'' wrote The Guardian of London in a lead editorial. Referring to a punishing 78-day NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia to force it from Kosovo, the paper wrote, ``Just as NATO was barely in control of events during its war with the Serbs, so the West is failing now to create the conditions and momentum for a lasting postwar settlement that can attain its ambitious objectives.'' Germany's Die Welt sounded a similar tone, contending that despite all its experience with trauma in the region, ``the West has over and over again underestimated that, right up to today, there is no master plan for the civilization of the Balkans.'' The Frankfurter Rundschau asserted, however, that ``the fact that Slobodan Milosevic was not sitting at the conference table with state and government leaders was already a step forward.'' The Yugoslav president was deliberately excluded from the Sarajevo gathering. In Yugoslavia, reaction to the summit was swift and damning. In Belgrade, the state-run Tanjug news agency said the summit was merely ``a stage from which already-expressed blackmail was expressed again'' and was an attempt ``to dictate developments on the political scene of a sovereign country.'' Balkan states, which stand to gain economically if they convince rich nations they are committed to democracy, were more positive. Bulgarian President Peter Stoyanov said upon his return to Sofia that he was ``fully satisfied.'' ``None of us expected that concrete, financial commitments would be pledged,'' he said, but added that ``our expectations were exceeded'' because the presence of world financial institutions sent a strong message of hope. In Moscow, where the government often has been at odds with the West over the handling of Balkan crises, commentators were doubtful much was achieved. In Sarajevo, newspapers were full of self-congratulation at staging a major summit that put the city on the map again after years of war and destruction. The daily Oslobodjenje carried an effusive message from the Interior Ministry expressing its ``gratitude to the citizens of Sarajevo ... whose help ensured that the Stability Pact meeting was held without obstruction.'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
