> Yugoslav Daily Survey > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > BELGRADE, 9 August 2000 > > a.. AMBASSADOR SPADIJER: TRAGIC SITUATION IN KOSOVO AND >METOHIJA > F.R. YUGOSLAVIA - EU > > a.. ILLEGAL EURO-SLOVENIAN "EXPERT" IN MONTENEGRO > b.. YUGOSLAV BUSINESSMEN APPEAL AGAINST E.U. SANCTIONS > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - UNMIK > > a.. UNMIK TARGETS ZVECAN SMELTING WORKS > b.. GNJILANE COURT DROPS CHARGES AGAINST SERBS > FROM FOREIGN PRESS > > a.. RUSSIA'S PATRIARCH: CONCERN OVER THE DEMOLITION OF >CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX HOLY PLACES > > > * * * > > > ACTIVITIES OF YUGOSLAV DIPLOMATS > > AMBASSADOR SPADIJER: TRAGIC SITUATION IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA > > BUDAPEST, August 9 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Ambassador in Budapest >Balsa Spadijer has said in an interview to the Hungarian paper Szabadsag >(Freedom) that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija province - more than a >year after the end of the NATO air strikes and the arrival of the >international missions KFOR and UNMIK - has dramatically deteriorated. > > "There is an escalation of terrorism, violence and organized crime >in the province, and ethnic cleansing is being practised against Serbs and >other non-Albanians in plain view and with the approval of KFOR and UNMIK, >with these forces thus acting directly contrary to U.N. Security Council >Resolution 1244," Spadijer said in the latest edition of the organ of the >Hungarian Workers' Party. > > Speaking about the results of reconstruction in Yugoslavia, >Spadijer said it was proceeding at a stepped-up pace and presented the best >answer to the aggressive policy of NATO, actually of the United States. > > Spadijer said, among other things, that Yugoslavia has done much >also to restore free navigation on the Danube. > > "If everything goes according to plan, the Danube will again be >navigable also in its southern part early next summer," he said, indicating >that, contrary to such activities, there was no reconstruction at all in >Kosovo and Metohija, but in fact the destruction and damaging of cultural >monuments, Christian Orthodox churches and monasteries. > > "The Yugoslav government believes that Kosovo and Metohija should >get wide autonomy within Serbia, that the return of Serbs and other >non-Albanians should be secured and a multi-ethnic character of the province >created, like the one that had existed before the NATO aggression," Spadijer >said. > > "The situation is completely different in the other Serbian >province, Vojvodina, where members of over 20 nations live in harmony, and the >Hungarian minority is renowned and respected, loyal to the state to which they >belong, which they had demonstrated also during the 78 days of air strikes," >the ambassador said. > > Spadijer said he believed the current standstill in >Yugoslav-Hungarian relations was a consequence of the participation of >official Budapest in the attack on Yugoslavia. > > "The Hungarian government was very engaged in the so-called Szeged >process in the name of a democratization of the region, which we consider >direct interference in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia. This is definitely >not conducive to the promotion of mutual ties and good-neighbor relations, >but, in spite of this, there is cooperation in a series of areas, and I am >convinced that it will become more and more important," Spadijer said. > > F.R. YUGOSLAVIA - EU > > ILLEGAL EURO-SLOVENIAN "EXPERT" IN MONTENEGRO > > PODGORICA, August 9 (Tanjug) - Illegally, without any legal basis >or approval of the Yugoslav government, the Council of Europe has appointed >its "expert" in Podgorica, the capital of the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, >which is, among other things, proof of attempts by certain western countries >to treat a Yugoslav republic as a separate state. > > Slovenian diplomat Eva Tomic has been appointed special >representative of the Council of Europe in Podgorica. In the status of expert, >she will work within the representative office of the Organization for >Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and be in charge of "providing >assistance to the Montenegrin authorities in reforming education, local >self-administration, the judicial system, and drafting laws." > > In appointing an "expert" within the OSCE, the Council of Europe >gave up its original plan to open its office in Podgorica, which implies that >there are inside conflicts and divisions regarding Yugoslavia's stand that the >opening of a Council representative office must imply the previous regulation >of Yugoslavia's status within the Council of Europe, and that the opening of a >representative office is possible only following approval of the Yugoslav >government. > > The appointment of an official at "expert" level also confirms >that most members of the Council of Europe refuse to accept a stand which more >seriously denies Yugoslavia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, since an >"expert" acting within an OSCE office has neither the status nor prerogatives >of a representative office, which is for certain countries an alibi and a way >to "ease their conscience." > > However, regardless of the fact that its presence has been reduced >to the slightest possible form, such a decision by the Council of Europe is in >violation of its own Statute, presents an attempt at direct interference in >the internal affairs of Yugoslavia as a unique and sovereign state, as well as >an attempt at stoking activities by secessionist forces in Montenegro. > > Such an action by the Council of Europe also runs contrary to the >usual practice of international organizations that their representatives in >federal states are appointed in agreement with that state's central organs, >and not with the approval of only one of the members of the federal state. > > This is why Yugoslavia has lodged a protest in the strongest terms >to Council Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer, critically pointing out that >the Council had opted, in spite of Yugoslavia's expressed readiness for >cooperation, to send an expert without approval of the Belgrade government, >thus violating the usual forms of cooperation, its own Statute, and the very >procedure for sending representatives to European countries. In the protest, >Yugoslavia also demanded the recalling of Eva Tomic. > > YUGOSLAV BUSINESSMEN APPEAL AGAINST E.U. SANCTIONS > > BELGRADE, August 9 (Tanjug) - Through the Yugoslav Chamber of >Commerce, Yugoslav businessmen appealed on Wednesday against the E.U. >sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia. > > In the three-language appeal submitted to more than a hundred >institutions, including chambers of commerce and associations of European >Union (E.U.) countries, the European Chamber of Commerce, and major companies, >Yugoslav businessmen expressed justified protest against the sanctions which >are incompatible with the idea of a market economy. > > Yugoslav businessmen urged greater support for freedom of work and >commerce, recommending that their European colleagues exert pressure on their >respective governments in order to annul the E.U. decisions on diverse >economic sanctions against Yugoslavia. > > The businessmen believe that E.U. business circles do not approve >of the imposed restrictions on cooperation with Yugoslav companies, and the >senseless division of Yugoslav companies into two groups - those on the "white >list" and those on the "black list". > > Such unprecedented discrimination is in no way associated with >free commerce and the high standards of civilization today, said the appeal, >urging long-term partners to continue and develop business relations with >Yugoslavia, based on mutual economic interest and under fair market >conditions. > > The appeal said that cooperation with E.U. countries accounts for >half of Yugoslavia's foreign trade, and that Yugoslav imports from these >countries are twice the value of exports to the Union. > > KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - UNMIK > > UNMIK TARGETS ZVECAN SMELTING WORKS > > KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, August 9 (Tanjug) - The United Nations Interim >Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) on Tuesday issued pamphlets warning >citizens of Kosovska Mitrovica against an alleged threat of an increased level >of lead in the atmosphere and an "epidemiological crisis." > > Director General Novak Bijelic of the Trepca mining complex, which >includes a smelting works, reacted with a statement saying this was an attempt >to prepare public opinion in favor of closing down the Zvecan smelting works >near Pristina which employs Serbs. This action would jeopardize the survival >of the remaining Serb workers in this area, Bijelic said. > > UNMIK can close down the smelting works "by force only," Bijelic >said, underscoring that air pollution is checked on a daily basis and that >there are no indications of any contamination. Trepca invested over 10 million >D-marks in the most up-to-date filters for a safe environment in 1991, he >said. > > "The workers will not sit idle while someone tries to push them >out of their ancestral homes and jobs," Bijelic said. > > GNJILANE COURT DROPS CHARGES AGAINST SERBS > > GNJILANE, August 9 (Tanjug) - The municipal court of Gnjilane, >eastern Kosovo and Metohija province, on Tuesday afternoon dropped charges >against members of the Serb family Momcilovic of Gnjilane, who had been >falsely accused of murdering an ethnic Albanian and spent one year in prison. > > The father, Miroljub Momcilovic, and his sons Jugoslav and Boban, >left their native Gnjilane and Kosovo and Metohija province for Serbia proper >with a strong KFOR and UNMIK police escort. > > In spite of the existence of an original video recording which >showed that the victim had been killed by shots fired by KFOR U.S. troops, >only a recent direct confession by the killer enabled the Momcilovices to >prove their innocence before the biased ethnic Albanian prosecutors and >judges. > > The Kosovo Albanian was killed in July 1999, in riots which >followed a KFOR action to stop demonstrations by ethnic Albanian extremists. > > After a report from the reconstructed crime scene and when the >Momcilovices' innocence was definitely established, the prosecutor tried to >change the charges into drug trafficking, claiming narcotics had allegedly >been found in their house, a building repeatedly set on fire and plundered >while they were in prison at the Bondsteel military base near Urosevac. > > An ethnic Albanian court expert, however, confirmed that the >discovered powder was hand-washing detergent which Miroljub Momcilovic had in >good supply in his metal milling workshop. > > FROM FOREIGN PRESS > > RUSSIA'S PATRIARCH: CONCERN OVER THE DEMOLITION OF CHRISTIAN >ORTHODOX HOLY PLACES > > MOSCOW, July 28, (Tanjug) - Moscow's and All Russia's Patriarch >Alexy II expressed his utmost concern over the demolition of "Christian >Orthodox holy places in Kosovo and Metohija" and called on Russian Minister of >the Interior Vladimir Rushailo to pay attention to this barbarian activity on >the part of Albanian separatists. > > Minister Rushailo attended the mass by the Patriarch in the Chapel >of Kazan's Icon Virgin in Moscow in the wake of the destruction of the temple >of St. Ilija in Kosovo and Metohija. > > Patriarch Alexy II, in a conversation with journalists after the >mass, emphasised that as many as 90 Serbian shrines and monasteries had been >demolished in Kosovo and Metohija, and that this process continued out the eye >of the public. In this context, the Patriarch recalled that a temple helping >the Russian soldiers "in their difficult mission" was active in the territory >of Kosovo and Metohija and that several clergymen belonging to the Russian >Orthodox Church performed services in the southern Serbian province. > > As reported by newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta", the Patriarch drew >the attention of Minister Rushailo in this respect that the security >authorities "are bound to put a stop, by using all their leverage outside the >borders of the Russian Federation, to the continuing process of desecration of >Orthodox holy places and relics in Kosovo and Metohija. > > "It is the duty of our priests to support Russian soldiers and >associates of the Ministry of the Interior morally and spiritually wherever >they may be and to share in both their happiness and grief", said the Head of >the Russian Orthodox Church. __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
