BELGRADE, 26 July 2001 No.3473
C O N T E N T S :
FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
- YUGOSLAV DEPUTY PREMIER CONFERS WITH LUXEMBOURG OFFICIAL
- YUGOSLAV STATISTICS OFFICE TO COOPERATE WITH EUROSTAT
- SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES HILDESHEIM BISHOP
- SERBIAN PREMIER SAYS FOREIGN DONATIONS LATE
- DJINDJIC SAYS NO CORRUPTION WITHIN GOVERNMENT
- SERBIAN JUSTICE MINISTER VISITS U.S. STATE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
- THREE LOCAL PARTIES URGE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF "VOJVODINA ISSUE"
KOSOVO METOHIJA-SOUTHERN SERBIA
- YUGOSLAVIA DISAPPROVES OF HAEKKERUP'S INSTRUCTION
- HAEKKERUP ANNOUNCES IDENTIFICATION OF CORPSES FROM KOSOVO
- NATO BACKS STATE MEASURES IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGRO
- DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF SOCIALISTS OFFICIAL DENIES MONTENEGRO TO SCRAP=20
REFERENDUM
- WHAT NEW GOVERNMENT? ASKS DJUKANOVIC'S PARTY
- MONTENEGRINS ANNOUNCE WORKING GROUP FOR DRAFTING REFERENDUM LAW
- BULATOVIC SLAMS DOS DISRESPECT
FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
YUGOSLAV DEPUTY PREMIER CONFERS WITH LUXEMBOURG OFFICIAL
BELGRADE, July 25 (Tanjug) Yugoslav Deputy Premier and
Foreign=20 Trade Minister Miroljub Labus and Secretary General of the
Luxembourg=20 foreign ministry Alfons Berns discussed Wednesday the
planned 5.56 million= =20 dollar aid Luxembourg is to provide to
Yugoslavia, and the future=20 development of bilateral political and
economic relations.
Luxembourg supports the continued endeavors of the Yugoslav=20
authorities for implementing democratic reforms and restoring ties
with=20 European partners, Berns said quoted by a government statement.
Labus and Berns agreed to start preparations for signing=20
interstate agreements on investment protection and avoidance of
double=20 taxation, to pave the way for bilateral business cooperation,
the statement= =20 says.
YUGOSLAV STATISTICS OFFICE TO COOPERATE WITH EUROSTAT
BELGRADE, July 25 (Tanjug) The Federal Statistics Bureau
said=20 twoday consultations with Claudia Junker, an Eurostat expert
on=20 professionaltechnical assistance to EUaccession countries, ended
Wednesday.
The talks were attended by Yugoslav Deputy Premier Miroljub
Labus,= =20 who said statistics were of exceptional importance in the
process of=20 comprehensive reform and democratization in the country.
The meeting was held within a Consultative Working Group of=20
Yugoslavia and the European Union. Junker presented the program for=20
cooperation between Eurostat and Yugoslavia's statistics body, and
Bureau=20 representatives presented results for the period when the
country had been= =20 isolated and pointed out the professional problems
facing statisticians.
SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES HILDESHEIM BISHOP
BELGRADE, July 25 (Tanjug) Serbian Prime Minister Zoran
Djindjic= =20 Wednesday received Hildesheim Bishop Joseph Homeier, the
Serbian government= =20 PR office said.
The statement said Homeier and Djindjic considered pathways
for=20 including Serbia and Yugoslavia in the European Union. The
bishop=20 congratulated Djindjic on the introduction of religious
classes in school=20 curriculums, and expressed respect for the model
which will be used.
Bishop Homeier pledged support and help to the Serbian
Orthodox=20 Church (SPC) for protecting church objects in Kosovo and
Metohija province.
The meeting was attended by Religions Minister Vojislav=20
Milovanovic and Episcope Irinej of Backa on behalf of the SPC which is
the= =20 host to the German bishop.
SERBIAN PREMIER SAYS FOREIGN DONATIONS LATE
BELGRADE, July 25 (Tanjug) Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic
said=20 on Tuesday in an interview to Reuters that the disbursement of
foreign=20 donations to Yugoslavia was too slow and urged the West to
act quickly.
"When we in Serbia say now, we mean immediately, not in six
or=20 twelve months", he said.
Meanwhile, bilateral aid is helping the government finance
the=20 most urgent needs, he added.
"The German government set aside 100 million German marks in=20
donations plus 100 million marks in a long term credit. This money is
at=20 our disposal and it will finance the energy sector and railways,"
Djindjic= =20 said.
But along with the aid, Serbia has to implement serious and=20
painful reforms to reshape and boost its economy, he said. "Capacity=20
utilisation in an average Serbian firm is now 25 percent. With a change
of= =20 management, it can immediately double to 50 percent...Fresh
money, better=20 management and new markets are the conditions for
higher industrial=20 production," he said.
DJINDJIC SAYS NO CORRUPTION WITHIN GOVERNMENT
BELGRADE, July 26 ( Beta) - Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic=20
strongly denied allegations claiming that his government was corrupt.
"These are unsubstantiated accusations. Those who make such=20
statements should clearly say whom they have in mind, otherwise we
are=20 dealing with slander," Djindjic said in a statement, which was
published on= =20 the Serbian government's official web site.
Criticism of the government came from the Democratic Party
of=20 Serbia,which calls for the Serbian government's immediate
reconstruction.
Commenting on the possibility of reconstructing the Serbian=20
government, Djindjic pointed out his complete readiness to analyze the
work= =20 of the whole government and some of its ministries, but also
underlined=20 that "there are some who express general dissatisfaction
with the=20 government, without being able to explain what exactly they
are unhappy=20 with," adding that this was "pure demagogy."
SERBIAN JUSTICE MINISTER VISITS U.S. STATE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON, July 26 ( Beta) - Serbian Justice Minister
Vladan=20 Batic visited the State Department and the Justice Ministry in
Washington=20 on July 24 for talks with local officials on judicial
reforms in Serbia, an= =20 announcement from the Serbian Justice
Ministry said.
In the talks, Batic stressed that "donors must fulfil their=20
obligations" accepted at the donors conference, thus helping reform
the=20 Serbian judiciary.
During his official visit to the U.S., the justice minister
also=20 spoke with representatives of the National Safety Committee, the
U.S.=20 Agency for International Development (USAID), and the KEITO
Institute.
THREE LOCAL PARTIES URGE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF "VOJVODINA ISSUE"
NOVI SAD, July 25 (Tanjug) Three regional parties in
Vojvodina=20 Wednesday expressed readiness to seek the
internationalization of the=20 socalled Vojvodina issue if the ruling
Democratic Opposition of Serbia=20
(DOS) kept on postponing the process of granting bigger autonomous
rights=20 to the northern Serbian province.
League of Vojvodina Hungarians President Jozef Kasa said
today=20 after a meeting in Novi Sad with leaders Nenad Canak of the=20
Socialdemocratic League and Miodrag Isakov of the Vojvodina
Reformists,=20 that by internationalization he meant "seeking help from
the international= =20 community to realize our demands using all means
except military."
The leaders of the three leading, socalled authentic
Vojvodina=20 parties, which are within the DOS coalition, agreed to ask
the DOS=20 Presidency immediately to meet in session and open a debate
on the status=20 of Vojvodina.
Moreover, the DOS Presidency is asked to secure in the
republican= =20 parliament the adoption of a law amending and abolishing
legislature which= =20 prevents the Constitutionally guaranteed autonomy
of Vojvodina before a new= =20 Serbian Constitution is adopted.
The three party leaders underscored that these demands did
not=20 imply their exit from DOS.
Today's meeting was marked as the beginning of creating a
wide=20 political front for fighting for the realization of Vojvodina's
autonomy.=20 All authentic Vojvodina parties will join this front,
Isakov said, "but=20 also some Belgradebased parties which have
provincial boards and support=20 the demands for resolving the problem
of Vojvodina."
KOSOVO METOHIJA-SOUTHERN SERBIA
YUGOSLAVIA DISAPPROVES OF HAEKKERUP'S INSTRUCTION
BELGRADE, July 26 ( Beta) - Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran=20
Svilanovic on July 25 expressed Yugoslavia's dissatisfaction with the
rules= =20 set by UNMIK chief Hans Haekkerup for Yugoslav officials on
their visits to= =20 Kosovo.
According to an announcement from the Yugoslav Foreign
Ministry,=20 Svilanovic said that these rules "make the visits of
Yugoslav officials to= =20 Kosovo and Metohija significantly more
difficult, almost impossible."
In his letter to Haekkerup, Svilanovic said that the rules=20
prevented the continuation and intensification of cooperation between=20
Yugoslav official bodies and political parties and the representatives
of=20 the international community in the southern Serbian province and
"introduce= =20 serious restrictions, which are characteristic of
relations between=20 sovereign states. This is unacceptable because
Kosovo and Metohija are=20 still a part of Serbia and Yugoslavia."
Within the rules introduced by Haekkerup on July 24, officials
of= =20 the Belgrade authorities and political parties coming to Kosovo
must report= =20 their visit 96 hours in advance.
HAEKKERUP ANNOUNCES IDENTIFICATION OF CORPSES FROM KOSOVO
PRISTINA, July 26 ( Beta) - UNMIK chief Hans Haekkerup said
on=20 July 25 that he has signed a memorandum with the International
Commitee for= =20 Missing Persons, enabling the beginning of DNA tests
on unidentified bodies= =20 found in Kosovo.
At a session of the Transitional Administrative Council of
Kosovo,= =20 he said that the International Committee had the technical
and financial=20 means for the process. The UNMIK chief said that it
would be possible to=20 compare DNA of members of the families of
missing people in Kosovo with DNA= =20 of unidentified corpses.
Haekkerup denied reports on the existence of a mass grave in
Suva= =20 Reka. Asked to comment on demonstrations of families of the
Serbs missing=20 in Kosovo, he said that UNMIK and the international
community were engaged= =20 in searching for the truth about all missing
people.
NATO BACKS STATE MEASURES IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
BUJANOVAC, July 19 (Tanjug) State Coordinator for southern
Serbia= =20 and Serbian Deputy Premier Nebojsa Covic said Wednesday in
Bujanovac,=20 southern Serbia, that all activities in the Ground Safety
Zone are being=20 carried out according to plan and that NATO has
consequently given its=20 approval.
NATO Secretary General George Robertson has written to say
that=20 the Zone will be relaxed, and that the same will be done later
with the=20 airspace zone, Covic said.
The Yugoslav Army and the police will not pull out of the
area,=20
only the task forces will be relocated, Covic noted. Anyone making=20
claims to the contrary is working directly against the interests of
the=20 Serb people, Covic said, and underlined that the Serbian
government=20 guarantees safety and better living conditions to all in
the area.
REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGRO
DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF SOCIALISTS OFFICIAL DENIES MONTENEGRO TO SCRAP=
REFERENDUM
PRISTINA, July 26 ( Beta) - A senior official in the
Democratic=20 Party of Socialists of Montenegro, Miodrag Vukovic, on
July 25 denied=20 claims by Dragoljub Micunovic, lower house of
parliament speaker, who said,= =20 "we are negotiating with Montenegro
to scrap its referendum on= independence."
"Montenegro refuses to scrap its referendum on independence,
nor=20 are its officials secretly negotiating with Serbian
representatives,"=20 Vukovic told Radio Free Europe.
The Podgorica media quoted Micunovic as saying on July 24
that=20 there was no need to hold a referendum on independence in
Montenegro,=20 because "we are negotiating with them to scrap it."
Vukovic said he was surprised that Micunovic, as a=20
seasonedpolitician, could say something like this, but that, "it does
not=20 surprise me that this statement comes from those structures in
the DOS=20 which are the source of contradictory information and
unfounded views."
WHAT NEW GOVERNMENT? ASKS DJUKANOVIC'S PARTY
PODGORICA July 26 ( B92) =96 As congratulations poured in
this=20 morning for the new Federal Government led by Dragisa Pesic,
Montenegro's=20 authorities struck a sour note.
A senior official of the governing Democratic Party of
Socialists= =20 in the tiny southern republic said this morning that the
Montenegrin=20 Government did not recognise the new Federal Government
because the=20 majority of Montenegrins had not voted for it.
Miodrag Vukovic told Radio B92 that the Pesic cabinet had no=20
meaning for Podgorica.
Vukovic described the activities of the federal administration
as= =20 a farce. He ridiculed Pesic's platform of the redefinition of
federal=20 relations, saying that neither the legitimate Montenegrin
authorities nor=20 Serbs could accept what was happening.
"Montenegro is pursuing its own policy and doesn't recognise=20
federal institutions, including the new Federal Government which is
merely= =20 an expense for Serbia," said Vukovic, commenting that even
Montenegro's=20 opposition Socialist People's Party had nominated only
third-rank officials= =20 for government portfolios.
MONTENEGRINS ANNOUNCE WORKING GROUP FOR DRAFTING REFERENDUM LAW
BELGRADE, July 26 ( Beta) - Montenegrin legislature speaker
Vesna= =20 Perovic said on July 25 that a working group will soon begin
drafting a=20 referendum law, and announced the possibility of the
forming of commissions= =20 for monitoring the work of the media in the
pre-referendum period, and for= =20 sorting voters' lists.
These issues were discussed during talks with the head of the
OSCE= =20 mission in Montenegro Julian Yates and an expert for
referendum issues=20 Patrick Bradley, who is to convey his observing to
all political subjects=20 on this issue.
Bradley showed special interest in the possibility that the
losing= =20 side in the referendum would not recognize the results.
BULATOVIC SLAMS DOS DISRESPECT
PODGORICA, July 25 ( B92) =96 The Socialist People's Party
today= hit=20 out at the "contempt" felt towards Montenegro by certain
peripheral parties= =20 in the Democratic Opposition of Serbia.
Party leader Predrag Bulatovic declined to name the parties
that=20 had shown such disrespect, saying merely that his party had
decided to join= =20 DOS in federal government regardless.
In his written statement issued today, Bulatovic described
the=20 election of the new federal government yesterday as an important
day for=20 the Yugoslav federation. It had shown separatists in
Montenegro that Serbia= =20 was open to dialogue after all, he said.
However, B92's correspondent reports that details of the new=20
government were overshadowed in most Montenegrin media by the return of
the= =20 republic's foreign minister from diplomatic meetings in the
States.
Branko Lukovac said that US officials had made no mention of
the=20 concept of a democratic Montenegro within Yugoslavia, but had
instead told= =20 him that it was up to Belgrade and Podgorica to reach
an agreement.
Lukovac also declared that he had received official
confirmation=20 that the 155 million dollar US aid package to Yugoslavia
for 2002 included= =20 65 million dollars earmarked for Montenegro.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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