SERGEI YUGOV: PUTIN �TRUSTS KOSTUNICA� Russia�s President Valdimir Putin has expressed his view on former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic�s extradition to the Hague Tribunal. Speaking at a news conference devoted to his meeting with France�s President Jaques Chirac, Mr. Putin said he �did not want to be neither procurator nor defence lawyer.� In Mr. Putin�s view, the Serbian government�s behaviour has, after all, has led to the destabilization in Yugoslavia, and �President Kostinica himself has been destabilized.� As a result, the country is facing a �new spiral of a breakup.� Mr. Putin went on to say that �evil must be punished� - without elaborating - and that one should act �carefully, attaining the goals which the international community sets�� As Mr. Putin has put it, the Kremlin �trusts Kostunica,� and is not aiming to �shake up this politician.� As early as in March this year, the Yugoslav authorities started an active campaign to discredit ex-President Milosevic aiming to prepare the public opinion for his subsequent handover to the Hague Tribunal. Western countries were hurrying them up, putting an unprecedented pressure on a sovereign state. The official Moscow was distancing itself from what was going on, reiterating that the question of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and a possible Milosevic handover was exclusively within the sovereign country�s competence.� While protecting �Yugoslavia�s sovereignty,� the official Moscow did not care to realize that having started to hand its citizens over to the Hague Tribunal (which is, in fact, very much politicized), the country was just going to lose what was left of its sovereignty. At that, Moscow ignored the fact that some Western countries, first of all the USA, acting from behind the scenes, actively interfered in Yugosolavia�s internal affairs. It is noteworthy that shortly before Mr. Milosevic�s extratdion, Russia�s president paid Yugoslavia a 2-day official visit and had a vis-a-vis talk with President Kostunica. Many experts say in this connection that Milosevic handover has been only made possible thanks to the Kremlin�s inaction and silence. We are still to assess what we have really lost as a result of a �flexible� policy in the Balkans pursued by our high-ranking officials. It is clear that Milosevic handover which has so persistently been pressed for by NATO countries, is very closely dovetailed with the US plan to eliminate Russia�s influence in the Balkans. SERGEI YUGOV PRAVDA.Ru Miroslav Antic, http://www.antic.org/ Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
