------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 10 May 1999 17:44:29 -0700 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: EUROPEAN NATO MEMBERS SAY, "ENOUGH" http://www.stratfor.com/crisis/kosovo/commentary/c9905101554.htm Stratford 1554 GMT, 990510 EUROPEAN NATO MEMBERS SAY, "ENOUGH" Germany and Italy, whose simmering opposition to the U.S. led NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia has been kept in check through the intense efforts of Washington, have finally said "Enough." The bombing campaign has not succeeded in stemming the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. It has not brought Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the negotiating table. And it is now plagued with an increasing number of incidents of collateral damage, including the bombing of the Chinese embassy. Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro said that NATO should cease its bombing campaign, "because we are very worried to see that the raids are apparently moving away from military targets and are being directed towards civilian targets." Germany, meanwhile, has called NATO Secretary General Javier Solana to Bonn to meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Schroeder wishes to discuss with Solana the aftermath of the bombing of the Chinese embassy, and its impact on the air campaign and the diplomatic process. Another indication that Germany and Italy are ready for an end to the crisis in Yugoslavia came from Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin, who said Sunday that Milosevic was responding positively to "new circumstances." Chernomyrdin left Bonn for Moscow on Sunday, postponing a visit to Belgrade, because he had to discuss "very serious circumstances" related to the Yugoslav settlement with Russian leaders. According to Agence France Presse, Chernomyrdin returned to Moscow to allow NATO more time to formulate a formal proposal to Milosevic. It is apparent that the "circumstances" to which Chernomyrdin was referring regarded the split in NATO following the Chinese embassy bombing, and the formal proposal he is awaiting is the one to be drawn up by Bonn and Rome and forced, not on Milosevic, but on Washington. Germany and Italy are tired of U.S. leadership in this crisis, and of U.S. mistakes.
[PEN-L:6654] (Fwd) EUROPEAN NATO MEMBERS SAY, "ENOUGH"
ts99u-2.cc.umanitoba.ca [130.179.154.225] Tue, 11 May 1999 11:45:50 -0500