> >BELGRADE,17 August 2000 C O N T E N T S : YUGOSLAVIA - RUSSIA - RUSSIAN CHURCH >LEADER SENDS BIRTHDAY MESSAGE TO YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT > >YUGOSLAVIA - INDONESIA - SINGAPORE - YUGOSLAV MINISTER SENDS MESSAGES TO >INDONESIA AND SINGAPORE > >YUGOSLAVIA - UKRAINE - YUGOSLAVIA AND UKRAINE BLAST KFOR AND UNMIK MISTAKES >FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA - SERBIAN PREMIER SAYS CONSTRUCTION >PROJECTS TO BE BUILT ON SCHEDULE - YUGOSLAVIA INCREASES INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION >BY ONE-FIFTH - YUGOSLAV ELECTION SUPERVISORY BOARD SETS RULES FOR CONTESTING >POLLS > >YUGOSLAVIA - EU - YUGOSLAVIA PROTESTS WITH E.U. OVER KFOR'S TREPCA TAKEOVER > >SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - ENVIRONMENT CANNOT BE PROTECTED AT >ARMS - SERBIAN TRADE UNIONS CONDEMN KFOR'S STORMING OF TREPCA - TREPCA >MANAGEMENT URGES WORKERS TO IGNORE KFOR AND UNMIK PROVOCATIONS - KFOR'S >SEIZURE OF TREPCA LEAVES 6,000 WORKERS JOBLESS - TREPCA WORKERS AND PEOPLE IN >KOSOVSKA MITROVICA PROTEST - KOSOVO-METOHIJA'S TREPCA WORKERS UNITED IN >OPPOSING KFOR TAKEOVER - FISH FLOAT BELLY UP IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA RIVER NEAR >U.N.-SEIZED PLANT > >* * * YUGOSLAVIA - RUSSIA RUSSIAN CHURCH LEADER SENDS BIRTHDAY MESSAGE TO >YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MOSCOW, Aug 17 (Tanjug) - Russian Church leader Alexy II >has sent a message to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on the latter's >birthday, Russian media said on Thursday. The text of the message was made >available to all key media houses. According to Interfax news agency, the >message was sent on Wednesday and expresses Patriarch Alexy II's best wishes >for President Milosevic's good health, strength, courage and success in his >efforts for the wellbeing of the much suffering Yugoslav people. > >YUGOSLAVIA - INDONESIA - SINGAPORE YUGOSLAV MINISTER SENDS MESSAGES TO >INDONESIA AND SINGAPORE BELGRADE, Aug 16 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia's Foreign >Minister Zivadin Jovanovic has sent messages to his colleagues in Indonesia >and Singapore, and the messages have been delivered at the Indonesian and >Singaporean ministries by Ambassador Milena Vlahovic. According to a Yugoslav >foreign ministry statement, extensive exchanges of views were held on these >occasions on promoting bilateral political, economic and other relations and >cooperation. The sides reviewed also questions that will be on the agenda of >the upcoming Millennium summit and 55th regular session of the U.N. General >Assembly, and the efforts of the non-aligned movement towards promoting >democratic relations based on state equality. The talks brought to light full >accord on the need for democratising international relations, specifically the >decision-making process in the system of the United Nations. In Jakarta, >Vlahovic was received by presidential foreign policy advisor Ali Alatas and >Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Virayuda. The two sides reached a high level of >accord on and demonstrated full readiness for further promotion of bilateral >cooperation in all fields on an equal footing with respect for mutual >interests. They noted that traditional friendship and bilateral ties are based >on the fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter, protection of global peace, >non-interference in the internal affairs of others, respect for the >sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, and adherence to the >principles and policy of non-alignment, the statement said. > >YUGOSLAVIA - UKRAINE YUGOSLAVIA AND UKRAINE BLAST KFOR AND UNMIK MISTAKES >BELGRADE, Aug 17 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav and Ukrainian foreign ministries have >ended consultations in Kiev, at which they blasted the international force >KFor and the U.N. mission UNMIK for their mistakes in Kosovo-Metohija, >according to a statement on Thursday. The consultations were held at the level >of directors and concerned multilateral cooperation, the Yugoslav government's >statement said. The officials reviewed questions of importance to the two >countries, specifically the upcoming Millennium summit and 55th session of the >U.N. General Assembly. They paid special attention to the situation in >U.N.-run Kosovo- Metohija, saying that U.N. Resolution 1244 is being >systematically violated and that KFor and UNMIK, specifically UNMIK chief >Bernard Kouchner, have not done the job given them by the Security Council. As >the latest example of the flagrant violation of Resolution 1244, the officials >quoted the storming at arms of the Trepca lead smelter at Zvecan by KFor and >UNMIK. The purpose of the operation, it was said at the meeting, was to >ethnically cleanse the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province >of its Serbs and other non-Albanians. Ukraine, as a non-permanent member of >the U.N. Security Council, gives principled support to Yugoslavia's >sovereignty and territorial integrity, and expresses deep concern at the >violation of Resolution 1244 and the violent takeover of Trepca. A decision >that would deny Yugoslavia's U.N. membership would set a grave precedent with >serious consequences, primarily for the United Nations itself, according to >Ukraine, which has moved in the Security Council for reviewing the negative >consequences of anti-Yugoslav sanctions, the statement said. > >FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA SERBIAN PREMIER SAYS CONSTRUCTION >PROJECTS TO BE BUILT ON SCHEDULE VRBAS, Aug 17 (Tanjug) - Serbia's premier >said in this Yugoslav republic's northern town of Vrbas that all development >projects, started or adopted by the government for this part of the country, >would be built on schedule. "Since Novi Sad is the biggest investment centre, >where most of the republic's funds have been invested, all projects should be >built within the given deadline", said Mirko Marjanovic, who is also vice >president of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). Marjanovic was meeting with >SPS and Yugoslav Left JUL leaders in the South Backa district of Serbia's >northern Vojvodina province. He stressed a need for immediately starting work >on a 7-km stretch of the Novi Sad-Futog road, along which live 40,000 people. >"Construction work must be of good quality, to conform to all standards, the >way bridges, homes for young people, medical facilities, schools and other >facilities are built", he added. > >YUGOSLAVIA INCREASES INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION BY ONE-FIFTH BELGRADE, Aug 17 >(Tanjug) - Yugoslav industrial production rose since January 2000 by 20 >percent over the same period of 1999, despite adverse effects of last year's >NATO air strikes, an official said on Thursday. The increase since the air >strikes stopped in June 1999 has been 82.2 percent, Yugoslav Statistical >Office Assistant Director Mirjana Rankovic told a news conference in Belgrade. >According to Rankovic, by end-July 2000, all sectors had recorded growth of >between 8.7 percent (foodstuffs, tobacco) and 55.3 percent (non-metals, >construction materials). Twenty-nine industries recorded growth, and the >biggest increase was in ferrous metallurgy. Food and electricity production, >which account for the brunt of the country's industrial production, have been >stable for a lengthy period. In July 2000 over July 1999, production in >Yugoslavia was up 24.3 percent, with the Yugoslav republic of Serbia recording >a 25.4-percent increase, and the other Yugoslav republic, Montenegro, 14.6 >percent. Production growth and an accompanying rise in the imports of raw >materials and semi-manufactures have resulted in a gradual stabilisation and >increase of export. Foreign trade in the January-to-July period was worth 3.2 >billion dollars, or 26.1 percent more than in the same 1999 period. Raw >materials and semi manufactures-dominated imports were 31.4 percent higher, >and exports, 15.6 percent higher. Yugoslavia's chief foreign partners are >Germany, Italy, Russia, (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska, Bulgaria, >Switzerland, Greece and Hungary. > >YUGOSLAV ELECTION SUPERVISORY BOARD SETS RULES FOR CONTESTING POLLS BELGRADE, >Aug 16 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Election Supervisory Board on Wednesday defined >the rules the candidates must obey in contesting Sept. 24 presidential and >parliamentary polls. The rules bind the media to honour the country's >constitution and laws and professional ethics, and provide timely, true and >objective information on pre-election activities by the parties and candidates >and on all factors of importance to the implementation of the polls. The rules >further bind the candidates and the media to refrain from all kinds of overt >or covert media manipulation and abuse. The Board made it incumbent on all >participants in the election process to allow journalists to do their job >unhampered. > >YUGOSLAVIA - EU YUGOSLAVIA PROTESTS WITH E.U. OVER KFOR'S TREPCA TAKEOVER >BRUSSELS, Aug 16 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia on Wednesday protested with the >European Union over the flagrant violation of U.N. Resolution 1244 committed >when the international force KFor seized Kosovo-Metohija's Serb-operated >Trepca lead smelter. In another in a series of Yugoslav protests over the >outrage which has put the smelter and local mines out of commission, charge >d'affaires in Brussels Nikola Lukic drew the European Council's attention to >the grave consequences of the brutal operation. The latest "intervention" by >the international "peacekeepers" is an unprecedented act in flagrant violation >of the U.N. Charter, and constitutes another abuse of the U.N. Security >Council, the Yugoslav official said in his protest letter. He hoped the >European Union would condemn in the strongest terms the unlawful and brutal >operation, and support Yugoslavia's request for an urgent convention of the >Security Council. KFor and the U.N. mission UNMIK were clearly not motivated >by environmental concerns, promotion of production or human safety, as they >would like to make it appear, but by driving the remaining non-Albanians out >of that Serbian (Yugoslav) province, he said. The military operation was >nothing short of open support for ethnic Albanian separatism and terrorism, >and lays the groundwork for creating a Greater Albania. The storming of the >Trepca mining complex and its facilities in ethnically divided Kosovska >Mitrovica was another flagrant violation of both the U.N. Charter and the >sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia and of its republic of >Serbia. The letter stressed that the Yugoslav government will not condone any >effects that might be produced by the peacekeepers' assault, or the state of >affairs created by the unlawful and unjustified operation. > >SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA ENVIRONMENT CANNOT BE PROTECTED AT >ARMS BELGRADE, Aug 16 (Tanjug) - Environmental concerns alleged as the reason >for the international force KFor's storming of the Trepca lead smelter in >Kosovo-Metohija on Monday boggle the mind, according to a Yugoslav minister on >Wednesday. One cannot but wonder how such a reason could prompt a brutal armed >operation, Minister of development, science and the environment Nada Sljapic >said in a statement. The statement was prompted by the violent takeover by >KFor and the U.N. mission UNMIK of the Trepca lead smelter at Zvecan, in the >Yugoslav republic of Serbia's U.N.-run Kosovo-Metohija province. According to >Sljapic, UNMIK chief Bernard Kouchner's allegation of toxic fumes spewed into >the atmosphere by the plant would be funny if it were not cynical, pathetic, >unscrupulous and tragic. It is perfectly clear that the operation was >undertaken in order to complete the takeover of all industrial facilities in >Kosovo-Metohija, said the statement, submitted to TANJUG. The use of armed >force for environmental reasons raises many questions which should be answered >by Kouchner and by those who had the arrogance to undertake such an operation >against Trepca, Sljapic said. She wondered why the UNMIK chief does not >publish radiation and toxic contamination levels resulting from last year's >NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia, when civilian targets were shelled with >depleted uranium bombs and damage to industrial facilities caused huge leaks >of harmful and toxic chemicals. Kouchner should also say why he is not telling >the U.N. army and police troops what kind of environment they are living in >and which areas are contaminated with depleted uranium and other toxic >chemicals with delayed action, she added. Environmental protection requires >that serious steps be taken in Kosovo-Metohija and other parts of Yugoslavia >and the world, but these steps should not be taken with armed force and >environmental concerns should not be a pretext for occupying and plundering >property and expelling people, she stressed. > >SERBIAN TRADE UNIONS CONDEMN KFOR'S STORMING OF TREPCA BELGRADE, Aug 16 >(Tanjug) - Monday's storming by the international force Kfor of the Trepca >smelting plant at Zvecan, Kosovo-Metohija, its seizure, expulsion and >manhandling of its Serb employees violated all democratic principles and many >conventions, as well as the constitutions and laws of the countries whose >troops took part in the operation, a Serbian trade union official said on >Wednesday. Trade Union Council President Tomislav Banovic was speaking at a >news conference in Belgrade. Trepca's employees, exposed as they are to >persecution at the hands of ethnic Albanian extremists, are now being denied >by the European Union states at arms the right to work, to life and all other >rights guaranteed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), all designed >in the final analysis to detach Kosovo-Metohija from its parent Yugoslav >republic of Serbia, Banovic averred. The Serbian Metal Workers' Union has >appealed to the International Federation of Metal Workers' Unions for >protection against discrimination and E.U. sanctions, and for being allowed to >prove their professional capacities. > >TREPCA MANAGEMENT URGES WORKERS TO IGNORE KFOR AND UNMIK PROVOCATIONS KOSOVSKA >MITROVICA, Aug 17 (Tanjug) - The management and the trade union of the Trepca >industrial complex in U.N.-ruled Kosovo-Metohija on Thursday urged their >workers not to rise to provocations hurled by the U.N. force KFor and mission >UNMIK. Management and trade union representatives were meeting at Zvecan, near >this Serbian (Yugoslav) province's chief city of Pristina. The meeting was not >attended by Trepca General Manager Novak Bijelic, whom UNMIK chief Bernard >Kouchner has ordered out of the province. The meeting discussed the situation >created in the wake of Monday's brutal seizure of Trepca's facilities at >Zvecan and nearby Leposavic by KFor, a statement from the meeting said. >According to the statement, Trepca's deputy general manager, executives, and >trade union leaders have been instructed to be outside the Zvecan plant gates >with the workers at 7 every morning, to help direct the workers' efforts to >regain their rights, primarily the right to work. Only Trepca's general >manager has the right to take actions to rectify the newly created situation, >it was decided at the meeting. Pending his decision, all actions and decisions >taken by anybody other than the legitimate management and executive bodies of >Trepca will be considered invalid and measures will be taken to block them, >the statement said. It urged the workers to ignore provocations by Kfor and >UNMIK, and to refuse to take the money offered them as a palliative, as that >would legalize the armed takeover of the facilities at Zvecan and Leposavic. >The statement was signed by Deputy General Manager Svetislav Milicevic and >Trade Union leader Strahimir Vasic. > >KFOR'S SEIZURE OF TREPCA LEAVES 6,000 WORKERS JOBLESS BELGRADE, Aug 16 >(Tanjug) - Monday's storming of the Trepca facility at Zvecan, >Kosovo-Metohija, by U.N. troops was an unprecedented crime that has left more >than 6,000 workers jobless, Kosovo-Metohija Chamber of Commerce officials said >on Wednesday. At a meeting in Belgrade, the Chamber's Board of Governors >condemned the outrage and decided to request the international force KFor and >the U.N. mission UNMIK to restore the facility to its rightful owners and let >the workers restart production. The Board requested the governments of >Yugoslavia and its republic of Serbia to make additional efforts in their >contacts with U.N. and other international organizations, as well as states, >for a speedy restoration of some 400 state-owned companies and over 1,000 >firms owned by Serbs, Montenegrins, and other non-Albanians, to their rightful >owners. The Board also encouraged the Serbian and Yugoslav Chambers of >Commerce to appeal to foreign partners to help Trepca shareholders regain >control of the seized facilities. The Zvecan lead smelter was seized in an >unprecedented operation by 3,000 ground troops with helicopter support, >completing the takeover of all industrial facilities in the Serbian >Kosovo-Metohija province, Chamber President Obrad Jankovic said. More than >50,000 Serbs, Montenegrins, and other non-Albanians have been left jobless in >that U.N.-administered province so far. Since there were no grounds under >either Yugoslav or international law for Trepca to be in the competence of the >international forces, Kfor and UNMIK eventually had to use force to seize the >company, the company's General Manager Novak Bijelic said. Bijelic went on to >say that UNMIK chief Bernard Kouchner's allegation of a high level of air >pollution was nothing but a lie, since recent analyses of the air, soil and >water in the locality have shown permissible pollution levels by European >standards. > >TREPCA WORKERS AND PEOPLE IN KOSOVSKA MITROVICA PROTEST ZVECAN, Aug 16 >(Tanjug) - Trepca industrial complex employees and thousands of citizens of >Kosovska Mitrovica and nearby Zvecan protested early on Wednesday against U.N. >troops' seizure on Monday of the Zvecan lead smelter in Kosovo-Metohija. The >Zvecan plant was stormed before dawn on Monday by troops of the international >force KFor and the U.N. mission UNMIK in this U.N.-run province of the >Yugoslav republic of Serbia, in an unprecedented armed operation mounted >against a civilian facility. Strong KFor and UNMIK police forces, most of them >wearing flak jackets, were concentrated outside the facility, and about 3,000 >armed troops were in Trepca's compounds in Kosovska Mitrovica and Zvecan for >the duration of the protest. Addressing the assembled protesters, Kosovska >Mitrovica hospital executive Milan Ivanovic said KFor's violent takeover of >Trepca was part of UNMIK chief Bernard Kouchner's strategy to drive Serbs out >of the north part of ethnically divided Kosovska Mitrovica. Ivanovic said that >UNMIK's allegation that Trepca was a threat to the environment and spewing >lead into the atmosphere was a lie, and quoted the hospital's logs to show >that "not a single case of lead poisoning has been recorded". > >KOSOVO-METOHIJA'S TREPCA WORKERS UNITED IN OPPOSING KFOR TAKEOVER ZVECAN, Aug >16 (Tanjug) - International force Kfor and U.N. mission UNMIK police troops in >Kosovo-Metohija on Wednesday blocked workers entering the Zvecan lead smelter >that was on Monday taken over by KFor at arms. According to Trepca Assistant >Director General Svetislav Pavlovic, speaking for TANJUG, the reason given was >that the workers had remained firm on their position that they would not allow >themselves to be classified as suitable or unsuitable by anybody. > >FISH FLOAT BELLY UP IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA RIVER NEAR U.N.-SEIZED PLANT LEPOSAVIC, >Aug 16 (Tanjug) - Dead fish is carried on the current in the River Ibar in >U.N.-run Kosovo-Metohija on Wednesday afternoon, according to a local anglers' >society. The society in Leposavic has told TANJUG that the fish is floating >belly up in the stretch of the river from Zvecan, near the U.N.-run Serbian >(Yugoslav) province's chief city of Pristina, to Leposavic. Local inspectors >have been notified of the incident, but have not sent a team to the scene. No >cause for the environmental disaster has been given, with U.N. mission UNMIK >officials silent about the matter. It is indicative, though, that the disaster >has occurred in the wake of Monday's storming of the Trepca lead smelter at >Zvecan, allegedly for environmental reasons, by U.N. troops that patrol the >seized plant and the banks of the Ibar daily, to keep Serbs away. There are >also views that the pollution may have been caused by sabotage by ethnic >Albanian extremists, or by an unskilled handling of the facility, which has >been placed in ethnic Albanian hands under international force KFor and UNMIK >supervision. __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
