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Greetings one and all,
I am forwarding this post below which details
the artificial injection of capital into a country.
My question is what effect does this injection
have - note that this is not in the form of
an exchange of goods - does it in fact act
as a welcome present and boost the economy
or does it serve to undermine that countries
economy and have disasterous effects? [Bill]
----- Original Message -----
From: Darko Nadic
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2000 9:56 PM
Subject: [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] With the little help of NATO
friends....
Norway offers incentive for Milosevic ouster
By Paul Taylor UNITED NATIONS, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Norway dangled a golden carrot before Serbian voters on Wednesday, vowing immediately to release 35 million German marks ($15.5 million) in aid if the democratic opposition defeats Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at the polls later this month. ``The aim is to support the democratic opposition and the transition to a democratic system in Yugoslavia hopefully after the election. We have to give hope to the people that democracy is better than the system they now have,'' Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland told Reuters in an interview. It was the first specific pledge of Western funding if Yugoslavia votes for change, although the European Union has promised a radical review of its sanctions on Belgrade if democratic forces prevail, telling Serbs a place awaits them in democratic Europe. Norway said the funds would go toward social, economic and political reconstruction and called for an international donor conference for Serbia if the democratic opposition took power. Asked whether the offer might not fuel government charges of interference and accusations that the opposition is in the pay of the West, Jagland said: ``That is not true. We are trying to help the Yugoslav people and if the present government wants to prevent the outside world from helping their own people, then they are on wrong road.'' The Norwegian pledge followed a series of statements from the West designed to encourage reform through the ballot box. Presidential and parliamentary elections are to be held on Sept. 24 in federal Yugoslavia -- Serbia, the dominant republic now under leftist-nationalist rule, and small pro-reform Montenegro. Serbia also will hold municipal polls that day. Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini told reporters: ``The EU (European Union) has already set aside several billion dollars of its own budget for the Balkans, especially Serbia ... if the Yugoslav people kick out Milosevic.'' According to Belgrade media reports, the United States has promised not to push for Yugoslavia's ouster from the United Nations until after the ballot. BROAD EUROPEAN STAKE IN REFORM REQUIRED Jagland said Norway was consulting with the rest of Europe on ways to support long-awaited reform in this patch of the Balkans. Serbia, isolated by the West since 1992 for its role in a series of Balkan wars over the past decade and bombed by NATO in 1999 for its armed repression of majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, has been starved of foreign aid. It has been denied reconstruction assistance as long as it is ruled by Milosevic, indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal last year for alleged atrocities by his forces against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Foreign capital is needed to revive an exhausted, neglected and mismanaged state-run economy that for decades relied on close ties, including big loans, with the West. Independent economists have estimated damage caused by NATO bombing at around $4 billion, a figure that would include investment needed to repair infrastructure. The leftist-nationalist authorities have repaired about 10 percent of the damage in the 15 months since the war. Repairs to major road and rail transport links mainly have been financed by trimming payments of wages for state workers and printing money. The result has been a renewed surge of inflation only days before the vote. Jagland said Serbia's decrepit infrastructure required a significant commitment by many countries. ``I believe that an initiative should be taken to convene an international donor conference for a democratic Serbia and Yugoslavia. Norway stands ready to participate actively and is willing to make a significant contribution,'' he said. ($1-2.260 German Mark) To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb |
