Friday, September 22, 2000, updated at 13:50(GMT+8) World State Sovereignty Admits of No Bully In the past year and more since they stopped bombing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, US-led NATO have continued to wantonly interfere in the internal affairs of this sovereign State of Yugoslavia under the signboard of "human rights standing above sovereignty". For this end, they have further intensified their efforts to isolate Yugoslavia in the international arena in an attempt to strangle the country in the political, economic and other fields, spurring its political situation to develop in the direction favorable to the West. To achieve this aim, the United States and other Western countries have spared no effort to directly interfere in Yugoslavia's internal affairs and support the opposition faction in an attempt to subvert the legal government. According to news reports from Yugoslavia, the special envoys and ranking officials of the US government have, on many occasions, met with leaders of the opposition factions of the republic of Montenegro and Serbia inside and outside Yugoslavia and discussed with them about what actions should be taken to overthrow the current president and government of Yugoslavia. Incited by the United States and certain European countries, the opposition faction of the Republic of Serbia of the Federal Republic of Yugolavia has constantly staged demonstrations since September last year, demanding that President Slobodan Milosevic step down from his position. Since the beginning of this year, Serbian opposition faction has stepped up their alliance, calling for general election ahead of time in the hope of bringing about an early change in the regime. Recently, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia revised its Constitution, deciding to conduct presidential and parliamentary elections on September 24, the United States and other Western countries immediately indicated that they would further increase their support to the leaders of the Montenegrin Republic and the Serbian opposition faction, striving for the replacement of the regime they dislike. Reports say that the United States has planned to establish a special office in the capital of Hungary, a neighboring country of Yugoslavia, to take charge of aid to the opposition factions of Yugoslavia. Moreover, according to news reports from Yugoslavia, the United States and some NATO countries are stepping up espionage in Yugoslavia. Over the past year and more, Yugoslavia has repeatedly declared that it has ferreted out a spy group controlled by these countries, accusing them of plotting and organizing assassination of the heads of State and government of Yugoslavia. In August this year, Yugoslavia arrested eight foreign personnel, four of them of Dutch origin were members of the spy group under the control of the United States and NATO, the other four were well-trained dynamiters. Over the past year and more, the United States and EU countries have imposed various sanction measures, including prohibited flying and oil embargo, against Yugoslavia, while providing various kinds of aid to important cities and towns where pro-West opposition factions are in power, by which they try to split the Yugoslavian government organizations. In the face of the enormous pressure of the West and the challenges of the opposition factions, the Yugoslavian government has waged tit-for-tat struggles. First, they have overcome various difficulties and, on the land devastated by NATO bombings, have carried out tenacious rehabilitation and reconstruction. Since June last year, more than half of Yugoslavia's several hundred construction projects have been completed, a series of important enterprises, including automobile manufacturers, refineries and manufacturers of aircraft for agricultural use, have again been put into operation within a short space of time. Trunk lines of major highways within Yugoslavia have been put through by and large, a number of damaged bridges have also been repaired or rebuilt. According to figures provided by Yugoslavia's statistics bureau this past August, industrial production in the first seven months of this year increased by 20 percent over last year's same period. Total import and export value was close to US$3.19 billion, up by 26.1 percent over the corresponding period of last year. While industrial production was rapidly brought back to the pre-war level, agriculture also reaped rich harvests. The reconstruction achievements and the economic measures, such as price-control and tax-cut, have not only guaranteed the basic living condition of the people, but are also conducive to the stability of the State and society. To counter the various acts taken by Western countries to interfere in Yugoslavia's internal affairs and carve out its territory, the Yugoslavian government has waged multi-faceted diplomatic struggles The Yugoslavian government has repeatedly stressed that the UN Security Council is duty-bound to guarantee the strict implementation of the 1224 Resolution on the Kosovo issue, thereby protecting the territorial integrity and State sovereignty of Yugoslavia from invasion. Over the past year and more, Yugoslavian leaders have successively visited many countries in European, Asian and the Middle East regions, at the same time, they have received many foreign leaders in Belgrade, extensively seeking international sympathy and support, striving for international aid and cooperation and improving relations with neighboring countries. Meanwhile, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has also actively carried out non-governmental diplomacy, trying to win the understanding and support of the international media. In November last year, at the Communist Party conference of the Balkan region held in Belgrade, representatives of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania also denounced US-led NATO for their crimes committed against the Yugoslavian people. On the occasion of the anniversary of NATO bombings of Yugoslavia, the public and organizations in quite a few countries have staged parades, protesting the aggression committed and sanctions imposed by the United States and NATO countries. Thanks to the efforts of Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy openly indicated in January that the sanction imposed on Yugoslavia should be lifted; in February, the EU terminated the prohibited business flights to Yugoslavia; in August, the Russian and Yugoslavian governments signed a governmental free trade agreement. Quite a few neighboring countries have indicated their desire to cooperate with Yugoslavia to dredge the Danube. Russia and Macedonian and other Balkan countries have also indicated that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia be returned to the international community.
