1. Serbia Approves Deal to Bury Yugoslavia (People's Daily, China)
2. Yugoslavia: New Year, Old Problems (I. Baskakov, PRAVDA.Ru)


=== 1 ===


http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200301/28/print20030128_110878.html

Serbia Approves Deal to Bury Yugoslavia

Serbia's parliament adopted a Western-backed accord on Monday to ditch
the bloodied Yugoslav federation in favor of a loose union with the
coastal republic of Montenegro.
Serbia and Montenegro -- which would also be the name of the new union
-- are the only two republics remaining in Yugoslavia after the old
six-member socialist federation collapsed in bloodshed during the rule
of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.
If the Montenegrin and the federal parliaments follow suit and approve
the agreement, the name Yugoslavia will be consigned to history after
almost 75 years' existence in various forms.
The 250-seat assembly voted with 166 deputies for and 47 against the
deal reshaping the federation into a union of Serbia and Montenegro.
After also backing implementing legislation, the assembly hall erupted
in loud applause.
Montenegro is expected to pass the new union's constitutional charter
when its parliament meets on Tuesday. It will formally become a
reality once it is approved by the federal parliament at a session
which has yet to be called.
Serbian and Montenegrin leaders agreed under European Union pressure
last year to stay together for now in a union leaving most powers in
the hands of the republics, but it took them almost a year of
wrangling to finalize the deal.
Montenegro reluctantly bowed to Western pressure and shelved plans for
breaking away from dominant Serbia for at least three years, when both
sides have the right to go it alone.
Serbia and Montenegro would have a president, to be elected by a
126-strong parliament, as well as a council of ministers including
ministers for the defense and foreign affairs.

Source: Agencies

=== 2 ===

http://english.pravda.ru/main/2003/01/14/42009.html

Read the original in Russian:
http://world.pravda.ru/world/2003/5/14/37/5482_Kosovo.html
2003.01.14/17:36

Ilya Baskakov
Special for PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Maria Gousseva

Yugoslavia: New Year, Old Problems

Newspaper Glas Janvosti informs, participants of a
conference dedicated to ?a new stage of the Kosovo
retreat? that was held in Belgrade?s media-center,
reached a not comforting conclusion: ?The government has
no strategy for solution of the Kosovo problem.?
Vice-president of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and
Metohija, the author of the project ?Kosovo Facing
Judgement of History?,

Branislav Krstic said that Albanians had a plan of
actions of their own. They have their plan, like the USA
and the EU countries wishing to reform the Balkans and
to give independence to Kosovo and Metohija on the sly.

Jovan Teokarevic, an analyst from the Institute for
European Studies, mentions that solution of the Kosovo
problem ?is directly connected with reforming of
Yugoslavia and the Balkans on the whole?; he also
emphasized at that there was no immediate solution of
the problem and it couldn?t be expected in the nearest
future either. The analyst is sure that only general
westernization of the region may do away with the
controversy there.

Teokarevic says that while Yugoslav politicians are
beating about the bush, only 60 Serb families got back
to Kosovo and Metohija in 2001 and 72 families in 2002.
If we take the total number of Serb families wishing to
get back home (6 thousand families) and the present-day
rate of the Serbs? return home, we may suppose that the
process will drag on for 60 years at best.

Besides Kosovo, Yugoslavia still has enough pressing
problems in the domestic policy. Belgrade?s radio B-92
recently held an interesting poll on its official
website. Guests of the site were offered to pick out the
most lying promise made by politicians last year. Tanjug
informs that main supporters of westernization, Zoran
Djindjic and Voislav Kostunica were mentioned oftener
than other politicians.

The Serbia prime minister with the hit statement of
March 15 is the leader of the poll: ?by the end of the
year, we will have an effective federal state;
authorities of the state will cost cheap enough and
powers of the leading departments will be clearly
defined.?

How is it possible to save on the governmental spending?
One of the ways out is to sell out former Serb President
Milutinovic, the same way it was done with Slobodan
Milosevic. But in fact no money is asked for the former
Serb president; there is only once condition that the
man must stay free until a trial in the Hague. (By the
way, Americans promise to make next payments to Serbia
for the selling out in March already). The authorities
are being distributed between Serbia and Montenegro so
actively, that the newly appointed foreign minister of
Montenegro declares: within the next three years he will
train diplomats of the republic for ?work under
conditions of an independent state? (he also reported
that this independent state would be undoubtedly
founded).

Yugoslavia President Voislav Kostunica with his
statement of June 15 was rated second: ?running for the
post of Serbian president is essential for me first of
all for the sake of adoption of the Constitutional
Charter.? But the things are right where they started.

So, Yugoslavia entered the new year with the following
results: with Kostunica at head, who may share the fate
of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, the president
without his state; with Zoran Djindjic kow-towing to
Europe; still without Kosovo and without any promising
prospects at all. No new president of Serbia was
elected. According to the recent information, the former
Serb president may be delivered to the Hague on
Wednesday already.