From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Transferring Milosevic to The Hague in fact means that NATO has at last received a cover for its aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999." "They got what they wanted. The blackmail worked in full. This will inevitably lead to a crisis in Yugoslavia." Thursday June 28 5:03 PM ET Russia Deputy Says Milosevic Handover Serves NATO MOSCOW (Reuters) - A leading Russian member of parliament said on Thursday that the transfer of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal provided NATO with a cover for its 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia. ``Transferring Milosevic to The Hague in fact means that NATO has at last received a cover for its aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999,?? Dmitry Rogozin told RTR state television. Rogozin, head of the State Duma lower house's International Affairs Committee, also predicted Yugoslavia would plunge into crisis. He made his comments after a tribunal spokesman said Milosevic was on his way to The Hague to face war crimes charges. Russian authorities have issued no statement on the action. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov refused to comment on the issue this week, saying it was a matter for Yugoslavs to decide. The Duma had earlier passed a resolution urging authorities in Belgrade not to hand over Milosevic, saying such a move would undermine European security and split Yugoslav society. Russia backed Milosevic in 1999 against NATO's air campaign. It later played a key role in ensuring a smooth transfer of power after Milosevic gave up his bid to cling to power and acknowledged losing a presidential election last year to Vojislav Kostunica. Rogozin, who was attending a Council of Europe meeting in the French city of Strasbourg, told Russia's state RTR television that Milosevic's transfer indicated that the international committee mistrusted the Yugoslav legal system. He said it also meant Belgrade authorities had given in to demands to turn over the ex-president in return for U.S. pledges to take part in a donor's conference to back Yugoslav reforms. ``They got want they wanted. The blackmail worked in full,?? he said. ``This will inevitably lead to a crisis in Yugoslavia.?? Russia's parliament was much more vocal than the Kremlin in backing Milosevic throughout the 11-week 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in response to Belgrade's crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Serbia's Kosovo province. The parliaments in Russia and neighboring Belarus even voted to agree to the Yugoslav parliament's request to join their ''union state.'' The Russian-Belarus union was first approved in 1996 but remains vague in its powers and authority. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
