Fonte: Yugoslav Daily Survey 20 July 2000 No.3114
http://www1.mfa.gov.yu/
http://www.smip.sv.gov.yu/
http://www.mfa.gov.yu/
INTERVIEW
OF THE FEDERAL MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE FR OF YUGOSLAVIA, MR. ZIVADIN JOVANOVIC,
TO "AL ARAB AL YAWM" DAILY
In an interview to Jordanian "Al Arab Al Yawm" daily, the
Yugoslav
Foreign Minister Mr. Zivadin Jovanovic said that his country maintained
close relations with the majority of Arab countries, particularly
stressing
that the biased claim that Serbs had killed Muslims was the biggest lie
of
the twentieth century.
Q: What is your assessment of Yugoslav relations with Arab
countries on the whole?
A: We have very deep and strong friendship and ties with all
Arab
countries. Allow me to briefly reflect on Jordanian-Yugoslav relations.
Long-standing relations of cooperation and friendship, fruitful
political, economic, scientific, cultural and all other forms of
cooperation have linked us with Arab countries. The scope of our
friendly
relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with Arab countries
extends
from Gibraltar to Oman and we remain interested in the development of
Arab
countries. For example, our cooperation with North African Arab
countries
(Maghreb) is increasing. One of our companies has recently won a
contract
for a project in Libya worth 180 million US dollars. We have companies
working in the fields of infrastructure in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and
Algeria, as well as in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE etc.
Q: Please tell us something about the present situation in
Yugoslavia.
A: We are now fully engaged in the reconstruction of what NATO
has
destroyed by bombing - bridges, factories, houses, radio and television
facilities, electricity and energy stations, schools, hospitals,
kindergartens. Recently, we have started our third phase of
reconstruction,
i.e. development. We are trying hard to find balance between
reconstruction
and technology modernization in order to enhance our economy and remain
competitive at international markets.
Automobile factory "Zastava", as well as our tractor factory for example
has renewed their export to Arab and neighboring countries. We have
recently opened the Bridge in Novi Sad over Danube River on European
corridor 10. Eighty-four trains to and from various European countries
daily pass over this bridge. In our view, this is of utmost geopolitical
importance in European transport, communication and links to the Middle
East and Asia.
We are working on the modernization of our economy and its
privatization. We promote small and medium projects and strongly
encourage
foreign investments. Greek and Italian investments, for example, are
estimated at one billion US dollars. Also, there are considerable
investments of Yugoslav expatriates amounting to millions, which are all
tax-free.
We have started the realization of a huge highway project linking the
city
of Novi Sad with our capital Belgrade. The construction of highway
Nis-Macedonian border is also underway. All of these projects are to be
completed before the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, to facilitate the
access
of Europeans to Greece through Yugoslavia. We assess that the transit
revenues amount now over 200 million US dollars.
Q: What is your assessment of the situation in Kosovo?
A: As you are aware, we have reached an agreement in June last
year ending the NATO aggression against our country. Based on this, the
UN
Security Council adopted its Resolution 1244 (1999), guaranteeing
security
to all citizens, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of
Yugoslavia,
ending terrorism, establishing the security of international borders,
guaranteeing a safe environment for free and safe return of all refugees
and displaced persons. However, none of this has been accomplished so
far.
Despite the fact that more than one year had elapsed since the adoption
of
the Resolution, all the conditions are continuously worsening. The drugs
and arms smuggling, women trafficking have spread, security has
deteriorated, killings and rapes has drastically increased.
In 12 months we have registered 1.100 murders and over 1000
kidnappings, mainly Serbs, Moslems, Romas, Goranci, Turks ? all
nonalbanians. This means that every day seven people are killed or
abducted. And no one was indicted or imprisoned for these crimes. About
350.000 Serbs, Muslims, Roma, Goranci, Turks and Egyptians were forced
to
leave Kosovo. During the same period, around 300.000 Albanians from
Albania
have illegally entered our southern province, which was tolerated by
UNMIK
and KFOR. This clearly shows the dramatic deterioration of the situation
in
the province, and systematic violation of the Resolution 1244 (1999).
The
UN Security Council has done nothing to ensure compliance and would not
let
us guard our borders, in spite of the fact that we are authorized to do
so
by Resolution 1244 (1999). On our part, we only insist on the full
implementation of the UN SC Resolution 1244. No more, no less. We insist
on
the respect of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and the
protection
of all our citizens, regardless of their religion or nationality. We
have
many citizens in Kosovo, both Muslims and Serbs, who are threatened by
terrorist "KLA" and are even without food, water, education or jobs.
Q: You talk about Muslims and of their suffering, while at the
same time your country is accused of expelling Muslims. What is your
view
of that?
A: That is obviously just a big lie and biased propaganda from
those who pretend to be the protectors of Muslims and who pose as their
apparent friends. At the same time, we have witnessed that they were
indiscriminately killing Albanians, Muslims, Serbs ? all citizens in
Kosovo, during the NATO aggression. They are trying to gain control over
Muslims throughout the Muslim world. This is because of the wealth of
Muslim countries, oil reserves and their consuming capacity. Therefore,
such claims represent the biggest lies of the 20th century. Such claims
are
aimed at destroying trust between the Muslim world and us. They want to
divide us, to seed mistrust and confrontation in order to gain control
over
both. However, fortunately, everyone is becoming aware of that devious
tactics. Serbs and Muslims in Yugoslavia have lived as brothers for
centuries. The have lived without problems for they have the same Slavic
origin, they are of the same race and blood; they share the same destiny
and goals of peace and prosperity. What do the superpowers want and what
are they planning? Their strategy is to create a religious conflict in
order to destroy and weaken all religions, thus dominating over our
wealth
and our destiny. But we in Yugoslavia do not allow anybody to interfere
between us, between Muslims and Serbs. Some people are perhaps unaware
that
indeed more Muslims live in Yugoslavia than in Bosnia. Both Muslims and
Christians are now working together on the reconstruction and
modernization of Yugoslavia. They are brothers and they cherish
Yugoslavia
as their only home.
Q: What is the story of the opposition and who is behind it?
A: After NATO's failure in achieving their goals by force, they
resorted to sanctions and interference in our internal affairs in the
attempt to destabilize the country and impose leaders of their own
choice,
those who would amnesty NATO of its crimes against peace and humanity.
One
has to remember that they have destroyed our economy during the
aggression
inflicting damage estimated at around 100 billion US dollars. This is in
addition to 150 billion US dollars damage caused by illegal sanctions.
They
have killed thousands of civilians, children, refugees and many innocent
people, among them 16 journalists of Belgrade television. Out of 19 TV
transmitters, they have destroyed 17, leaving only two in operation. At
the
same time they have established NATO radio and television stations in
some
of our neighboring countries in order to change the public opinion
against
our Government and its leaders. They are paying many to the opposition
hoping for destabilization. Our opposition parties call for holding
extraordinary elections only a couple of months before the regular
elections, scheduled to be held later this year. There are no reasons
for
this. A vast majority, if not all people are engaged in the
reconstruction
and expect elections to be held in regular terms. They do not trust NATO
or
their exponents in our country.
Last April the opposition organized a demonstration offended by
some 30.000 people. Having in mind that only Belgrade has 2 million
residents, that is very low support. Last May they tried with another
demonstration offended by not more than 15.000 people. Last June they
organized the third demonstration attended by only a couple of thousand
people. And just for comparison: the inauguration of the newly
constructed
bridge over the Danube in Novi Sad by President Milosevic in June was
attended by hundreds of thousands of people. You need to judge these
facts
by yourself ? whom and what kind of policy the people support and whom
and
what they do not support.
Q: We have heard that some countries are advocating the
alleviation of sanctions against Yugoslavia. What is your opinion of
that?
A: Yes, indeed. More or less everyone now recognizes that
sanctions do not solve but rather cause many problems, that they
represent
the most massive violation of human rights and that they are
counterproductive. At this time, out of 15 members of the EU, only one ?
Britain ? is still in favor of sanctions. All the others are against.
Hopefully those responsible in London may also soon accept the will of
the
majority in the EU.
We highly appreciate calls for removal of sanctions from many
European countries. Just to mention the actions of the Russian Duma,
that
of 30 Swedish MPs and a big group of Italian MPs, including the Chairman
of
the Italian Parliament. The British parliamentary group has collected
10.000 signatures to urge the British Government to lift the sanctions.
We
believe that the sanctions are a crime against humanity and we call for
the
immediate lifting of all sanctions anywhere in the world. They solve
nothing. They only cause suffering.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www1.mfa.gov.yu/
http://www.smip.sv.gov.yu/
http://www.mfa.gov.yu/
INTERVIEW
OF THE FEDERAL MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE FR OF YUGOSLAVIA, MR. ZIVADIN JOVANOVIC,
TO "AL ARAB AL YAWM" DAILY
In an interview to Jordanian "Al Arab Al Yawm" daily, the
Yugoslav
Foreign Minister Mr. Zivadin Jovanovic said that his country maintained
close relations with the majority of Arab countries, particularly
stressing
that the biased claim that Serbs had killed Muslims was the biggest lie
of
the twentieth century.
Q: What is your assessment of Yugoslav relations with Arab
countries on the whole?
A: We have very deep and strong friendship and ties with all
Arab
countries. Allow me to briefly reflect on Jordanian-Yugoslav relations.
Long-standing relations of cooperation and friendship, fruitful
political, economic, scientific, cultural and all other forms of
cooperation have linked us with Arab countries. The scope of our
friendly
relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with Arab countries
extends
from Gibraltar to Oman and we remain interested in the development of
Arab
countries. For example, our cooperation with North African Arab
countries
(Maghreb) is increasing. One of our companies has recently won a
contract
for a project in Libya worth 180 million US dollars. We have companies
working in the fields of infrastructure in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and
Algeria, as well as in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE etc.
Q: Please tell us something about the present situation in
Yugoslavia.
A: We are now fully engaged in the reconstruction of what NATO
has
destroyed by bombing - bridges, factories, houses, radio and television
facilities, electricity and energy stations, schools, hospitals,
kindergartens. Recently, we have started our third phase of
reconstruction,
i.e. development. We are trying hard to find balance between
reconstruction
and technology modernization in order to enhance our economy and remain
competitive at international markets.
Automobile factory "Zastava", as well as our tractor factory for example
has renewed their export to Arab and neighboring countries. We have
recently opened the Bridge in Novi Sad over Danube River on European
corridor 10. Eighty-four trains to and from various European countries
daily pass over this bridge. In our view, this is of utmost geopolitical
importance in European transport, communication and links to the Middle
East and Asia.
We are working on the modernization of our economy and its
privatization. We promote small and medium projects and strongly
encourage
foreign investments. Greek and Italian investments, for example, are
estimated at one billion US dollars. Also, there are considerable
investments of Yugoslav expatriates amounting to millions, which are all
tax-free.
We have started the realization of a huge highway project linking the
city
of Novi Sad with our capital Belgrade. The construction of highway
Nis-Macedonian border is also underway. All of these projects are to be
completed before the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, to facilitate the
access
of Europeans to Greece through Yugoslavia. We assess that the transit
revenues amount now over 200 million US dollars.
Q: What is your assessment of the situation in Kosovo?
A: As you are aware, we have reached an agreement in June last
year ending the NATO aggression against our country. Based on this, the
UN
Security Council adopted its Resolution 1244 (1999), guaranteeing
security
to all citizens, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of
Yugoslavia,
ending terrorism, establishing the security of international borders,
guaranteeing a safe environment for free and safe return of all refugees
and displaced persons. However, none of this has been accomplished so
far.
Despite the fact that more than one year had elapsed since the adoption
of
the Resolution, all the conditions are continuously worsening. The drugs
and arms smuggling, women trafficking have spread, security has
deteriorated, killings and rapes has drastically increased.
In 12 months we have registered 1.100 murders and over 1000
kidnappings, mainly Serbs, Moslems, Romas, Goranci, Turks ? all
nonalbanians. This means that every day seven people are killed or
abducted. And no one was indicted or imprisoned for these crimes. About
350.000 Serbs, Muslims, Roma, Goranci, Turks and Egyptians were forced
to
leave Kosovo. During the same period, around 300.000 Albanians from
Albania
have illegally entered our southern province, which was tolerated by
UNMIK
and KFOR. This clearly shows the dramatic deterioration of the situation
in
the province, and systematic violation of the Resolution 1244 (1999).
The
UN Security Council has done nothing to ensure compliance and would not
let
us guard our borders, in spite of the fact that we are authorized to do
so
by Resolution 1244 (1999). On our part, we only insist on the full
implementation of the UN SC Resolution 1244. No more, no less. We insist
on
the respect of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and the
protection
of all our citizens, regardless of their religion or nationality. We
have
many citizens in Kosovo, both Muslims and Serbs, who are threatened by
terrorist "KLA" and are even without food, water, education or jobs.
Q: You talk about Muslims and of their suffering, while at the
same time your country is accused of expelling Muslims. What is your
view
of that?
A: That is obviously just a big lie and biased propaganda from
those who pretend to be the protectors of Muslims and who pose as their
apparent friends. At the same time, we have witnessed that they were
indiscriminately killing Albanians, Muslims, Serbs ? all citizens in
Kosovo, during the NATO aggression. They are trying to gain control over
Muslims throughout the Muslim world. This is because of the wealth of
Muslim countries, oil reserves and their consuming capacity. Therefore,
such claims represent the biggest lies of the 20th century. Such claims
are
aimed at destroying trust between the Muslim world and us. They want to
divide us, to seed mistrust and confrontation in order to gain control
over
both. However, fortunately, everyone is becoming aware of that devious
tactics. Serbs and Muslims in Yugoslavia have lived as brothers for
centuries. The have lived without problems for they have the same Slavic
origin, they are of the same race and blood; they share the same destiny
and goals of peace and prosperity. What do the superpowers want and what
are they planning? Their strategy is to create a religious conflict in
order to destroy and weaken all religions, thus dominating over our
wealth
and our destiny. But we in Yugoslavia do not allow anybody to interfere
between us, between Muslims and Serbs. Some people are perhaps unaware
that
indeed more Muslims live in Yugoslavia than in Bosnia. Both Muslims and
Christians are now working together on the reconstruction and
modernization of Yugoslavia. They are brothers and they cherish
Yugoslavia
as their only home.
Q: What is the story of the opposition and who is behind it?
A: After NATO's failure in achieving their goals by force, they
resorted to sanctions and interference in our internal affairs in the
attempt to destabilize the country and impose leaders of their own
choice,
those who would amnesty NATO of its crimes against peace and humanity.
One
has to remember that they have destroyed our economy during the
aggression
inflicting damage estimated at around 100 billion US dollars. This is in
addition to 150 billion US dollars damage caused by illegal sanctions.
They
have killed thousands of civilians, children, refugees and many innocent
people, among them 16 journalists of Belgrade television. Out of 19 TV
transmitters, they have destroyed 17, leaving only two in operation. At
the
same time they have established NATO radio and television stations in
some
of our neighboring countries in order to change the public opinion
against
our Government and its leaders. They are paying many to the opposition
hoping for destabilization. Our opposition parties call for holding
extraordinary elections only a couple of months before the regular
elections, scheduled to be held later this year. There are no reasons
for
this. A vast majority, if not all people are engaged in the
reconstruction
and expect elections to be held in regular terms. They do not trust NATO
or
their exponents in our country.
Last April the opposition organized a demonstration offended by
some 30.000 people. Having in mind that only Belgrade has 2 million
residents, that is very low support. Last May they tried with another
demonstration offended by not more than 15.000 people. Last June they
organized the third demonstration attended by only a couple of thousand
people. And just for comparison: the inauguration of the newly
constructed
bridge over the Danube in Novi Sad by President Milosevic in June was
attended by hundreds of thousands of people. You need to judge these
facts
by yourself ? whom and what kind of policy the people support and whom
and
what they do not support.
Q: We have heard that some countries are advocating the
alleviation of sanctions against Yugoslavia. What is your opinion of
that?
A: Yes, indeed. More or less everyone now recognizes that
sanctions do not solve but rather cause many problems, that they
represent
the most massive violation of human rights and that they are
counterproductive. At this time, out of 15 members of the EU, only one ?
Britain ? is still in favor of sanctions. All the others are against.
Hopefully those responsible in London may also soon accept the will of
the
majority in the EU.
We highly appreciate calls for removal of sanctions from many
European countries. Just to mention the actions of the Russian Duma,
that
of 30 Swedish MPs and a big group of Italian MPs, including the Chairman
of
the Italian Parliament. The British parliamentary group has collected
10.000 signatures to urge the British Government to lift the sanctions.
We
believe that the sanctions are a crime against humanity and we call for
the
immediate lifting of all sanctions anywhere in the world. They solve
nothing. They only cause suffering.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------