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MILOSEVIC RECEIVES KARAICI
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic received Tuesday a party-deputy delegation of the Movement for Democratic Slovakia headed by Vice-president Gustav Karaici. The guests conveyed to President Milosevic that it is the interest of the Slovak people to develop party relations and co-operation with the people of Yugoslavia, on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and understanding. They expressed profound opposition to the policy of dictate, notably the policy of force of NATO countries, who by their aggression on FR Yugoslavia had trampled all the norms of international order and law. President Milosevic emphasised the close ties of friendship between the peoples of Yugoslavia and Slovakia. Tens of thousands of Slovaks are citizens of FR Yugoslavia. Their successful joint life in multiethnic Vojvodina, the fostering and developing of specific national and cultural features constitute an expression of authentic national equality and a solid basis for inter-ethnic confidence. Assessing that economic links between the partners of the two countries, and in the entire European territory was of huge importance for the successful development of Yugoslav-Slovak relations, President Milosevic pointed to prospect of further development of Yugoslav-Slovak relations and conveyed his greetings to President Meciar.
E.U. MINISTERS FOR DUE IMPLEMENTATION OF KOSOVO RESOLUTION
The European Union Council of Ministers on Monday demanded the due implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution on Kosovo and Metohija and most strongly condemned all forms of violence against non-Albanian civilians, demanding that punitive measures be taken against perpetrators of criminal acts. In their conclusions on this southern Serbian province, the ministers said certain progress had been made, but expressed deep concern over the predominant climate of violence and illegality, as well as the wide-spread discrimination, chicanery and pressures aimed at the non-Albanian population. The ministers asked all political forces in Kosovo and Metohija to open dialogue, and sharply condemned the current practice of chicanery and threats aimed at political opponents, which they said would no longer be tolerated. In spite of demands by a large number of E.U. members, the council did not adopt any decisions regarding a request for easing the sanctions against Yugoslavia because of opposition from Great Britain and The Netherlands. The council dealt strictly with political issues, which present internal affairs of each country. After a lengthy debate during a closed afternoon session, the council adopted conclusions on the western Balkans in which it said it would continue to deal with the issue of sanctions in keeping with considerations so far of the situation in Serbia and Yugoslavia. The E.U. council reiterated its readiness to provide humanitarian aid to Serbia, and asked its member-states to continue with such activities. Total aid to be sent through the E.U. humanitarian organisation ECHO will be increased from 40 to about 63 million euros, but no specific timetable for aid shipments was given.
YUGOSLAV INFORMATION MINISTER MATIC'S RESPONSE TO JOEL SIMON
Yugoslav Information Secretary Goran Matic has sent a letter to the deputy director of the U.S.-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists, Joel Simon, in response to his recent letter. Following is the unofficial translation of parts of Matic's letter: I keep regularly abreast, through the corresponding bodies and institutions, about the progress of cases concerning the freedom of the press in Yugoslavia. I insist, in keeping with Yugoslav laws and international norms, on the respect of legality, the speedy resolution of cases and that journalists are not denied their constitutional and legal right to the freedom of thought and expression. Efforts for achieving the freedom of the media imply the denunciation of the denial of the possibility for work. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia the Serbian Radio-Television (RTS) was on May 26 excluded from the in-advance-paid Eutel Sat satellite channel to prevent original sources from being heard and seen about what is really happening in Kosovo and Metohija in Yugoslavia. The basic principles of democracy are contained in the free flow of people, ideas, goods and capital. Yugoslavia, however, has been subjected to repressive, rather than democratic measures. Special lists are even being complied with names of persons, including journalists, who are banned from travelling to the United States and the European Union. Over the past dozen years, a genuine expansion of privately owned media has been recorded in Yugoslavia - founded have been about 120 TV stations, 450 radio-programs and more than 20 daily papers. At present there are about 2,500 dailies, weeklies and other periodicals and magazines. Parallel to this, laws are being introduced for the protection of privacy, the regulation of the freedom of the media but also their responsibility for the truthfulness of information published. The freedom of opinions and expressions not questioned but slander and insults in the media are punishable under the law. Unfortunately, you have still not reacted regarding the protection of the rights of Serb journalists in Kosovo and Metohija. The reporters of Jedinstvo, the sole Serb daily in Serbia's southern province, are out of work. Serb employees of Pristina Radio and Television, all non-Albanians and even ethnic Albanians loyal to Yugoslavia, met a similar fate. Your Committee for the Protection of Journalists also failed to react to the jamming from abroad of radio and TV signals in Yugoslavia, and to the U.S. refusal to allow the operation of the www.beograd.com web site on Internet.
KOSOVO-METOHIJA BIRTH, DEATH, LAND REGISTERS SAVED - SERBIA MINISTER
Serbia's justice minister said in Svilajnac, central Serbia (Yugoslavia), on Monday that there are practically no human or any other rights in Serbia's province of Kosovo-Metohija since the international KFOR deployment. Minister Dragoljub Jankovic was speaking at a convention of the local branch of the Yugoslav Left (JUL) party, of which he is a member. Jankovic said that "birth, death, marriage and land registers for Kosovo-Metohija municipalities have been saved and people displaced from the province can obtain the necessary documents in towns in Serbia outside Kosovo-Metohija. "The Justice Ministry will announce later this week where the registers for individual municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija are to be found," Jankovic said. He went on to say that UN civilian mission (UNMIK) chief in Kosovo-Metohija Bernard Kouchner was doing everything to detach Kosovo-Metohija from Serbia and Yugoslavia, and was behaving as though the province was his personal property. Commenting on current relations with the other Yugoslav republic, Montenegro, Jankovic said that "what is happening now is part of foreign involvement and interference, but the people will have their say if it comes to deciding whether or not to stay together."
KFOR PREVENTS SERBIAN FACTORY, MINE EMPLOYEES FROM GETTING TO WORK
KFOR members Monday prevented over 200 Serbian employees of two Trepca complex factories and the Stari Trg mine from getting to work, acting in keeping with the Sunday UNMIK decision to bar Serbs from the three working collectives. Kosovska Mitrovica regional administrator Martin Garrod explained late Sunday said that the decision was due to the inability of the international forces to guarantee the security of the Serbian workers in the three working collectives located in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. Despite the decision, over 200 Serbian workers took off Monday morning for the car-battery factory, the zinc metallurgical plant and the Stari Trg mine, but were stopped by strong KFOR troops and barbed wire on the bridge which links the northern and southern sections of the town. After much persuasion, the Serbian workers returned home.
FAMILIES PROTEST OVER LACK OF PROGRESS IN CASE OF ABDUCTED SERBS
The police command of Orahovac, Serbia's southern Kosovo and Metohija province, on Monday met with relatives of five Serbs abducted by ethnic Albanian terrorists in Djakovica more than two weeks ago, radio amateurs said late Monday. The meeting came after the families had lodged a written protest with the international force KFOR command on Monday morning. The letter of protest clearly stated that the families were very displeased and disappointed with the results of the investigation so far. The abductions were reported over a fortnight ago, and yet the UN civilian mission has not given any information about what has been done, so that it is quite obvious the investigation is not going anywhere, the protest letter said. In closing, the families asked KFOR to provide an escort so that they can go to Djakovica for talks with the local police command and the command of the Italian sector about this investigation. The Orahovac police chief admitted he did not know much about this case, but promised he would try and found out as much as possible until their next meeting, which he proposed, take place on Thursday. The families agreed to wait until Thursday. If no news is received by that time, they will go to Djakovica, they said. Also, they will send a petition signed by all Orahovac Serbs to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, urging him to re-examine the responsibility of the KFOR German and Dutch contingents.
LAVROV WARNS AGAINST GROWING SECURITY THREAT IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
Russia's UN ambassador Sergei Lavrov has warned the UN Security Council that a threat to the security of the population of Kosovo and Metohija is constantly growing. Speaking at a session of the Security Council late Monday upon returning from a several-day visit to Yugoslavia, Lavrov said that there was growing evidence that incidents occurring in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's southern province were the result of organised activity aimed at expelling all non-Albanians, not only Serbs, from the province. The session dealt with the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Russian media quoted Lavrov as saying that the main cause of such a state of affairs in Kosovo and Metohija was a failure by the UN peacekeeping force KFOR and the UN civilian mission to Kosovo and Metohija (UNMIK) to put an end to provocative actions and activity aimed at undermining Security Council Resolution 1244 and to provide the necessary level of security to all, although they were taking all vital measures. He said that uncontrolled activity by those referred to locally as elements of what was until recently ethnic Albanian terrorist organisation calling itself Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), including attacks on villages with heavy weaponry, the torching of churches and other acts of intimidation, continued. He said the leadership of the international military and civilian presence must fully use their power to prevent developments threatening the authority of all-powerful international structures governing Kosovo and Metohija at this point. Lavrov voiced disagreement with attempts to link the resolution of issues in the province with questions that were not related to them, explaining that these attempts could be interpreted as interference in Yugoslavia's internal affairs.
CONFERENCE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT ON BOSNIA
The two-day conference on the implementation of the Dayton Agreement on Bosnia signed four years ago was satisfactory, advisor to the Serb member of Bosnia-Herzegovina presidency Zeljko Mirjanic said Monday. Peace is being built in the region on the basis of the Agreement, Mirjanic said on his return from Dayton. There had been differences in views of representatives of Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation, as well as among international community representatives who favoured a revision of the Agreement, Mirjanic said. The conference focused on property issues, democracy, market economy and national and regional security, co-chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Council of Ministers Svetozar Mihajlovic said. Entity governments and the Council of Ministers received recommendations on future activities from the conference, Mihajlovic said, without further details. Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said that the Srpska delegation had successfully defended the idea of Bosnia as a state of two entities and three constituent nations, in line with the principles adopted in 1995. Some Federation representatives, supported by some international community representatives, attempted to advocate a revision of the Agreement, claiming that a new form of relations was needed at present, Dodik added.
HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER'S AMBITIONS TOWARDS SERBIA AND YUGOSLAVIA
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has in the past 24 hours, twice without any explanation or proof, charged the Yugoslav leadership with the alleged increasingly deteriorating position of the Vojvodina Hungarians, at the same time concealing greater-Hungarian ambitions and intentions to interfere in the internal affairs of its southern neighbour. Speaking on the Hirmondo program of the Danube Television on Sunday evening, Orban maliciously said that Hungary's membership in NATO would save the Vojvodina Hungarians from ethnic cleansing. "Our compatriots from the southern neighbouring country are no longer only a Hungarian minority, but a NATO national minority," Orban said. His government has wholeheartedly supported the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, even opening its air space to NATO bombers. This threatening statement came after the pan-Hungarian summit, which closed late last week in Budapest and was attended by the representatives of Hungarian national minority parties in Yugoslavia. Representatives of Hungarian parliamentary parties, the World Alliance of Hungarians and the leaders of the parties of the Hungarian minority in neighbouring countries authorised the Hungarian government to prepare a law on the special status of Hungarians from neighbouring countries in the mother country. The two-day meeting also supported the concept of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians on the tripartite autonomy of Serbia's southern province since its participants clearly believe that the Hungarian minority, which makes up only 16 percent of the population, is entitled to determine the fate of all inhabitants of Vojvodina. The final declaration, which also contained support to the autonomy of Vojvodina, was signed by the delegation of the extreme right-wing and nationalist Hungarian Party of Justice and Life (MIEP), although its leader Ishtvan Tsurka told the Hungarian Radio that "the Vojvodina Hungarians should be given the right to self-determination, i.e. secession." According to Tsurka, only the annexation of the northern part of Vojvodina can "save" the local Hungarians. During a visit to Croatia on Sunday, Orban said, without giving any proof, that "the position of the Vojvodina Hungarians has deteriorated over the past two months." Orban clearly forgot the bitter experiences from World War Two, and even earlier, when Hungarian pretensions and attempts for the forceful breaking up and seizing of the territory of its southern neighbour ended with tragic results both for the Serb and the Hungarian peoples.
GENERAL DRAGOLJUB OJDANIC CONGRATULATES THE YUGOSLAV ARMY INFANTRY
Followers of the heroes from glorious wars On the occasion of Yugoslav Army Infantry Day, November 16, the Army of Yugoslavia Chief of General Staff, General Dragoljub Ojdanic felicitated the members of this branch, among other things saying the following: "Members of the infantry have in the past period, especially during the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, under extremely difficult conditions, successfully carried out all their tasks. Defending the country against the enemy that comprised 19 most developed Western countries, headed by USA, you have, as the most numerous and toughest defence formation, showed high level of patriotism, courage, resourcefulness and capability. Together will other parts of the Army of Yugoslavia and other forces working in the defence, you have protected the territory of Federal republic of Yugoslavia and preserved men and combat means. By doing that, you have, in the best possible way, contributed to the successful defence of the country and confirmed that you are rightful successors of the heroes from the glorious liberation wars of our peoples. As a recognition for the high level of patriotism and heroism during the war, which I witnessed myself, f9our units of your branch have been decorated with the medals National hero. Congratulating you on your day, I commend you for the results you have accomplished and express my belief that you will use the experience from the war in the further combat development of your branch and the Army of Yugoslavia as a whole, in which I wish you every success".
LT.GEN SIMIC ON YUGOSLAVIA'S VICTORY OVER NATO
The Yugoslav Army Infantry Day was marked Monday in Pozarevac, eastern Serbia, by a celebration and the opening of an exhibition of photograaphs depicting the 78-day NAT aggression on Yugoslavia last spring, Traces of Inhumanity. Yugoslav Army Deputy Chief of Staff for the land army, Lt.Gen. Miodrag Simic said at the ceremony that the state leadership, headed by President Slobodan Milosevic, had followed a consistent policy of resolving all problems by peaceful means with the intention of averting the horrors of war. Yugoslavia could not accept the Rambouillet and Paris ultimatums, as this would have meant its capitulation and transformation into a servant of the New World order. Thanks to this policy of the state leadership on one hand and the wrong assessments of the aggressors on the other, NATO has not won, Simic said. Yugoslavia's victory is important from several aspects, as its freedom and (Serbia's province of) Kosovo-Metohija was saved, although the aggressors have lately been attempting to prevent the implementation of the relevant Security Council Resolution 1244. Yugoslavia has also demonstrated to progressive forces in the world and small countries that a people, who love its freedom and its homeland, can defend it from any enemy, Simic said. Yugoslavia has succeeded in returning the resolving of international disputes to legal UN channels and in eliminating the use of force and the imposition of interests with the power of weapons, Simic said. Yugoslavia has restored the UN role in resolving disputes among states and this makes its victory magnificent. Yugoslavia's victory is admired by all progressive and peace-loving forces on Earth and is envied by its opponents, Simic said.
TANJUG'S INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE ON THE RISE
Tanjug's International Press Centre (MPC), an institution which was for decades an integral part of Belgrade's image and a favourite gathering spot primarily of foreign an domestic journalists, as well as politicians, officials and artists, is rapidly restoring its previous glory. MPC rose to fame mainly owing to the efforts of ex-Yugoslav Assistant Information Minister Mirko Marinovic, in office from 1967 - 1987. Thanks to Marinovic, MPC was a must for all prominent public figures in Belgrade. Activities regarding the founding of Tanjug's press centre started in 1957 after the demise of Mosa Pijade - a senior party official, a well-known Belgrade pre-war reporter and the founder of Tanjug. The then government decided to set up a press centre. The construction of a building for this centre began in early 1963 and was completed that same year. Later, the federal government deliberated on several occasions the idea for founding an International Press Centre owing to the speedily growing number of foreign journalists, Marinovic said. In this respect it is necessary to keep in mind the huge role of the former Yugoslavia within the Non-aligned Movement. During the late 1960s, the number of foreign correspondents in Belgrade was between 80 and 100, mainly from western countries, much less from the eastern ones, and a scattering from the non-aligned. According to Marinovic, in 1974 the federal government formally passed a decision on the construction of the International Press Centre building. This was one of the more important actions of the Federal Commission for Information. "At that time, I was Assistant Information Minister," Marinovic set out. The federal government secured funds, via the Federal Information Commission, for the building of the MPC building, to be taken over by Tanjug upon completion. Introducing a telex hall, a hall for foreign correspondents, etc, extended construction. Finally, MPC was opened on April 4, 1977, Marinovic recalled. MPC was the gathering place of both journalists - domestic and foreign, and of numerous cultural and public figures, especially politicians and top party officials. At that time, Belgrade hosted many major events such as the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), conferences of UNESCO, Interpol, the World Bank, the Non-aligned, etc. Visits by world dignitaries, such as the presidents of the Soviet Union, China, Italy and two U.S. presidents all centred on MPC. Marinovic tells how the country's top leaders visited MPC regularly. Apart from regular press conferences, there were informal meetings between ministers and the press, with the famous bean meals being served on Friday when journalists were able to hear numerous tit bits from the current political life. Almost all-federal ministers held press conferences and informal contacts with reporters in MPC. MPC was in fact a basic information base for work and communication with the press and a kind of market of domestic and world information. One of the basic principles of the operation of this institution was that one was constantly making new friends in the information sphere and nurturing existing ones. In November 1997 MPC was shut down. Tanjug's new management, headed by Dusan Djordjevic, was in no doubt when it initiated and realised the reconstruction of MPC, introducing new contents, such as linking up with the Internet, setting up a travel agency for foreign correspondents, providing foreign newspapers and magazines and other details. MPC resumed work on June 28, 1999. Recently, the club-restaurant was re-opened and activities are underway for aiding journalists in their daily work.