Informazione
* 1985-2000. E' MORTO UN SIMBOLO DELL'AGONIA DEL KOSOVO JUGOSLAVO
* ETHNIC ALBANIANS FIRE AT FRENCH KFOR POINT
* LORD ROBINSON: "IN KOSOVO LA SITUAZIONE E' MOLTO POSITIVA, I TRENI
VIAGGIANO, I CONTADINI RACCOLGONO LE MESSI..."
NATO's New Agenda: More Progress than Meets the Eye
Remarks by The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen
Secretary General of NATO
6 Sept. 2000, The SACLANT Symposium Reykjavik, Iceland
* COLONY KOSOVO, WHERE COPS DO-GOODERS AND PRIVATEERS
RUN THE SHOW
By Christian Parenti (8-29-00)
* The lies of war crimes mass graves (by Kevin Ovenden)
* KLA commanders trained in Albania (By LULZIM COTA)
ALTRI DOCUMENTI SEGNALATI:
> http://www.rockfordinstitute.org/NewsST092200.htm
Friday, September 22, 2000
GREATER ALBANIA IN THE MAKING?
Srdja Trifkovic
> http://www.suc.org/news/ilustrovana_politika/2.html
2134, 19 Dec 1999
Siptarska veza i mafijaski rat
Borba klanova u Zagrebu
La guerra dei clan a Zagabria
Mafia albanese e la guerra delle mafie in Croazia !
> http://www.repubblica.it/online/mondo/fossa/soldato/soldato.html
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_927000/927323.stm
BBC News
Saturday, 16 September, 2000, 08:29 GMT 09:29 UK
US servicemen 'beat Kosovo civilians'
---
1985-2000. E' MORTO UN SIMBOLO DELL'AGONIA DEL KOSOVO JUGOSLAVO
Djordje Martinovic, metafora dell'agonia dei serbi del
Kosovo, e' morto il 6 settembre scorso nel villaggio di
Citluk, presso Krusevac. Era diventato noto all'opinione
pubblica il 4 maggio del 1985, quando fu diffusa la
notizia che l'impiegato della Casa dell'Esercito Djordje
Martinovic di Gnjilane (in Kosmet) era stato impalato il
primo maggio sul suo terreno in localita' Jaruga, a 2
chilometri da Gnjilane.
Il crimine era stato compiuto da terroristi schipetari.
In cima al palo era stata posta una bottiglia che e'
rimasta conficcata nel ventre della vittima. Martinovic
e' stato operato all'Ospedale di Pristina, poi e' stato
trasferito all'Ospedale militare di Belgrado, e dopo a
Londra, dove e' stato operato due volte, con un dispaccio
clinico secondo il quale "non e' possibile che abbia
infierito su se stesso da solo", come era stato insinuato
da certi mezzi di informazione.
(da "OKO", settimanale belgradese, 15/9/2000. La vicenda,
mai riportata nelle cronache ne' nelle retrospettive sul
problema kosovaro in Italia, che fanno sempre iniziare
la storia del Kosmet con il discorso di Milosevic del
1989, era stata tuttavia menzionata sul nostro "Dossier
Kosovo" apparso sul mensile Nuova Unita' nel 1998)
Djordje Martinovic, metafora stradanja Srba na Kosmetu,
preminuo je 6. septembra u selu Citluk kod Krusevca.
Postao je poznat svetskoj javnosti 4. maja 1985. kad je
objavljena informacija da je sluzbenik Doma JNA u Gnjilanu
Djordje Martinovic nabijen na kolac 1. maja na svojoj
njivi Jaruga, dva kilometra od Gnjilana. Ovo zlodelo
su izvrsili siptarski teroristi. Na vrhu kolca bila
je flasa, koja je ostala u otrobi zrtve. Operisan je
u pristinskoj bolnici, potom je prebacen na VMA, pa u
London, gde je dva puta operisan, uz saopstenje da
"samopovredjivanje nije moguce", o cemu je bilo
insinuacija u javnosti.
---
ETHNIC ALBANIANS FIRE AT FRENCH KFOR POINT
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, September 30 (Tanjug) Ethnic Albanian
terrorists opened fire on Thursday evening at the French KFOR point in
the
village of Banje inhabited mostly by Serbs, Serbian sources confirmed to
Tanjug in Mitrovica.
Two grenades were fired at the French from the direction of the
Albanian village of Rudnik in the vicinity of Banje.
There were no killed or wounded in the incident, and the French
conducted a search in the village of Rudnik and found a large quantity
of
arms that belonged to the "KLA," which was transformed by Kouchner into
the
socalled Kosovo protection corps.
French KFOR members arrested on the spot a number of ethnic
Albanians and because they refuse to release them, ethnic Albanians have
blocked the regional road Kosovska MitrovicaPec near the village of
Rudnik,
making impossible the passage of KFOR vehicles.
---
>Below are excerpts from the official text of a speech by George Robertson
>in Iceland.
>
>Subjects are:
>Kosovo
>Partnership for Peace
>NATO Enlargement
>EU-NATO co-operation
>UN and NATO
>Increasing military spending
>
>
>
>NATO's New Agenda:
>More Progress than Meets the Eye
>Remarks by The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen
>Secretary General of NATO
>6 Sept. 2000
>The SACLANT Symposium Reykjavik, Iceland
>
>
>[KOSOVO]
>Let us go through the current NATO agenda, starting with Kosovo. If we
>stand back for a moment to look at the overall picture, it is actually very
>positive
>Just two years ago, most people in Kosovo feared for their lives and their
>property. At the height of the crisis, 80 percent of the population had
>fled their homes to avoid wanton ethnic violence.
>Today, the vast majority live in peace, and have renewed hope for the
>future. Today, for the first time in at least a decade, there are
>administrative structures in place that include all ethnic groups, not one.
>And in just a few weeks, there will be truly free elections in Kosovo for
>the first time in collective memory.
>Refugees have gone back and rebuilt their homes. Schools - even those
>flattened by Serb paramilitaries - have come back to life. Trains are
>running. Farmers are bringing in the harvest. Imagine what the situation
>could have become, and look at what it is today.
>Of course, there is much work to be done, and it will not be easy. There
>will be more violence, more accusations of discrimination, more boycotts
>and more standoffs.
>But the real news story is not the protest outside a mine, or the tragic
>and regrettable killing of an ethnic Serb. The news story is that in
>Kosovo, NATO, the other KFOR contributors, and the UN Administration are
>building hope and the rule of law out of what had been the rule of terror.
>Our goal is still to build a Kosovo that allows all of its people to share
>in the peace, freedom and democracy that we, and they, consider to be their
>right. And we are making progress. It is an opportunity we don't intend to
>miss.
>Just as we are making visible progress in Kosovo, we can already look back
>on considerable achievement in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As we approach the 11
>November elections there, we're truly turning a corner.
>Already in the robustly contested local elections earlier this year, more
>moderate politicians were elected to office than ever before - and the
>trend is set to continue this autumn.
>Refugees are returning in record numbers, and several municipalities -
>previously hostile to such returns - are now working with the international
>community to accept the returnees.
>Defence budgets and the Entity Armed Forces are being cut, as they should
>be. Bosnia-Herzegovina is even sending a multi-ethnic Olympic team to the
>Games in Sydney.
>The headlines of five years ago in Bosnia-Herzegovina were surely not
these. (...)
---
The San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 23, 2000
(reprinted in http://www.tenc.net
COLONY KOSOVO, WHERE COPS DO-GOODERS AND PRIVATEERS
RUN THE SHOW
By Christian Parenti (8-29-00)
CLOGGED WITH ALMOST 800,000 souls, Pristina, Kosovo, a city of tower
blocks rising from a parched valley floor, now holds twice the
population for which it was built. The air reeks of exhaust and burning
garbage. Ceaseless hot winds blow litter and clouds of gritty dust from
the huge mountain of mine tailings that lies a dozen miles due west. At
night one still hears the snap of gunfire and, the next day, rumors of
another unsolved murder.
Despite the city's modernist aesthetic (the place was rebuilt from
scratch after an earthquake in 1963), Pristina has no public
transportation or refuse collection. All the most impressive modernist
buildings downtown have been reduced to bombed-out relics. Throngs of
cell phone-wielding crowds and streams of new Mercedes and Audis choke
the streets below the charred towers. Water and electrical services are
intermittent, yet several cybercafés and brothels operate around the
clock.
Welcome to ground zero of NATO's reincarnation as what Secretary of
State Madeline Albright has called "a force for peace from the Middle
East to Central Africa." Billed as the greatest humanitarian
intervention since WWII, the U.N.-NATO occupation of Kosovo doesn't look
so noble up close. Rather than a multiethnic democracy, Kosovo is
shaping up to be a violent, corrupt, free-market colony.
'HUMANITARIAN' IMPERIALISM
Kosovar Albanians may talk about "their country," but the foreign-aid
workers in official white SUVs make the real decisions. After NATO's
78-day bombing, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo(UNMIK) was created
as an "interim administration." The U.N., in turn, has opened Kosovo to
a kaleidoscopic jumble of governmental and nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) ranging from Oxfam to obscure evangelical ministries.
At the apex of it all sits Bernard Krouchner, the Secretary General's
Special Representative in Kosovo. Founder of Médecins Sans Frontières
and a former socialist, Krouchner took a sharp right turn in the 1980s
when he championed the use of Western (particularly American) military
intervention as the path to human rights. Krouchner's left-wing critics
who argue that American and European corporate power and military aid
are the main causes of human rights violations internationally see
Krouchner as a Clinton-Blair "third way" hypocrite. Meanwhile, many
mainstream right-wing commentators see the short, thin Frenchman as a
publicity-seeking autocrat.
In Kosovo, Krouchner's responsibilities range from censoring the local
press when it offends him to appointing all local government personnel
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/unandthe.htm to schmoozing
with international donors.
Adding muscle to Krouchner's administrative decisions such as
unilaterally ditching the Yugoslavian dinar for the mark are about 4,000
so called UNMIK police, many of whom are transplanted American cops. For
the heavy lifting, Krouchner can count on the 40,000 international
soldiers that make up KFOR, the Kosovo Implementation Force.
Along with putting down the occasional ethnic riot, protecting convoys
of refugees, and guarding the few small Serb enclaves remaining in
Kosovo, http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/simca.htm KFOR and the
UNMIK police occasionally uncover caches of weapons belonging to the
officially disarmed Kosovo Liberation Army.
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/u.htm#disarm
Such operations are usually followed up with robust KFOR statements
reaffirming their commitment to "building a multiethnic society."
Yet, strangely, the ethnic cleansing this time Albanian against Serb
and Roma (Gypsy) never stops.
VIOLENCE STILL
"This place is a shit hole. All the young people I meet, I tell 'em: get
out! Go to another country," booms Doc Giles, a tanned, muscled American
cop who speaks in a thick, south-Jersey accent. A longtime narc-officer
from hyperviolent Camden, N.J., Giles has spent the last year working
homicide in Pristina with UNMIK. The pack on his bike sports a "Daniel
Faulkner: fallen not forgotten" button. (Faulkner was the cop whom death
row inmate and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal may or may not have murdered
18 years ago in Philadelphia.)
Giles's maggot's-eye view of interethnic relations is sobering: "Look,
all the perps are oo-che-kaa," Giles says, using the Albanian form for
the Kosovo Liberation Army's acronym. "They're fucking gangsters. I
don't care what anyone says they're an organized crime structure. And
all the judges are either scared or pro-KLA. They're like: you shot a
89-year-old Serb grandmother? Good for you. Get out of jail."
Of the province's 276 judges, only two are Serb, so Albanian hit squads
operate with near total impunity. Among their favorite targets during
the last year have been Orthodox churches and monasteries, more than 85
of which have been burned, looted, or demolished, according to both the
U.N. and a detailed report by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
After hearing one of Giles's rants about KLA death squads and
15-year-old Maldovan girls "turned out" as prostitutes
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/susan.htm, you'd almost agree
with his prescription: "What they should've done was put this place
under martial law, get a bunch of American cops from cities like Philly,
Dallas, and Denver to come in here and just kick the shit out of
everyone
for a few months. Then turn it over to your NGOs, or whatever."
Terrified merchants also tell stories of KLA thuggery.
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/reporter.htm "Ten percent. They take
10 percent of everything you make. And you pay or it's kaput," says a
nervous restaurateur in Prizren, an ancient town near the Albanian
border. He's a Kosovar Turk whose great-grandparents probably moved here
during the twilight of the Ottoman Empire, but he says that when he gets
enough money, he's taking his two children to Canada.
PRIVATIZATION
While Giles and his comrades recycle Albanian "perps" through a
nonworking judicial system, the U.N.'s paper pushers and its partner
organizations are hard at work trying to turn Kosovo into a free-market
paradise.
"We must privatize so as to secure investment and new technology. There
is no alternative," says Dianna Stefanova,
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/opening.htm director of the
European Agency for Reconstruction's office on privatization, which is
working under the auspices of UNMIK and Krouchner.
But the industries located in Kosovo are not UNMIK's to privatize. Nor
does the wording of Security Council resolution 1244 the document
defining the U.N.'s role in Kosovo give UNMIK the power to sell off
local industries. And when Krouchner made his pitch for mass
privatization to the Security Council in late June, he met with stiff
opposition from the Russians.
Oddly, despite the U.N.-NATO occupation, resolution 1244 recognizes
Kosovo as an integral province of Yugoslavia and does not empower the
U.N. to privatize. To get around this, Krouchner has devised a creative
bit of legerdemain: the U.N. isn't actually selling off assets; it's
just offering 10- and 15-year leases to foreign transnationals. The
first industry to go was the huge Sharr Cement factory, leased to the
Swiss firm Holderbank. "Sharr could produce all the cement for
reconstruction, and even export," says Roy Dickinson, a privatization
specialist with the European Agency for Reconstruction.
The next assets on the block are a series of vineyards and wine
cooperatives, but the ultimate prize is the gargantuan Trepca mining and
metallurgical complex that sprawls across northern Kosovo and into the
mountains of southern Serbia.
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/inthewee.htm
Since Roman times, foreign armies have targeted these massive mineral
deposits. Hitler took Trepca in 1941, and thereafter the mines some of
the richest in the world supplied German munitions factories with 40
percent of their lead inputs.
Trepca contains all of Yugoslavia's nickel deposits and three-quarters
of its other mineral wealth; during the 1990s the 42 mines and attendant
factories were one of Yugoslavia's leading export industries.
The Belgrade government and a private Greek bank that has also invested
in the mines insist that Trepca shall not change hands. The U.N. isn't
so sure. "The question of who gets what will be settled by a panel of
judges that UNMIK is still setting up," says a coy Stefanova. In the
meantime UNMIK is drawing up plans to downsize local industries and
streamline enterprise to appeal to foreign investors. But there's
another piece in the equation: who controls the land above the mines?
That, of course, brings us back to the issue of ethnic cleansing.
BALKAN BELFAST
The swift and shallow river Ibar, bisecting the town of Mitrovic, is the
front line in an unfinished war that pits Albanians against Serbs and
Roma. All non-Albanians have been expelled from south of the Ibar and
all Albanians driven from its northern bank.
[Emperor's Clothes note: Regarding the area North of the Ib,
the statement is incorrect, according to Oliver Ivanovic, a key leader
on the North shore. He insists that a large Albanian community remains,
and though relations are cold the Serbs have no desire to drive these
people out; quite the contrary.]
http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/avictory.htm
Thus crossing into north Mitrovic is much like entering Serbia: the
language, the music, and the beer are all Serbian, and people use the
dinar. This is also the heart of the Trepca complex.
Here, despite occupation by French troops
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/whyisthe.htm the Belgrade
government still pays salaries and pensions and still provides health
care.
And if even a fraction of U.N. and KFOR accusations are true, then some
of the hard men with mobile phones who lounge at the Dolce Vita Cafe on
the banks of the Ibar are probably undercover cops from Serbia (some of
whom, you will recall, have been indicted by the International Tribunal
on War Crimes at the Hague and could be arrested by KFOR).
"We're in a prison, and under attack," a young Serb named Branislav
says. "If I cross that bridge, I'll be killed."
This, it seems, is the future: an ethnically "pure" and therefore
"stable" Albanian Kosovo in the south, hosting huge NATO installations
like the sprawling 775-acre American base Bondsteel, with its 4000 G.I.s
on the plains of southeast Kosovo. In the north, on the other hand,
astride some small part of the Trepca mines and in a few other spots,
Serb and Roma ghettos will remain, possibly as parts of Serbia. And in
the places where these communities overlap there will be trouble and,
therefore, a plausible reason for the West to maintain a long-term
military presence.
[Reprinted from the The San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 23, 2000]
---
The lies of war crimes mass graves
by Kevin Ovenden
KOSOVO. THREE men in a car hurl a grenade at a group of children playing
basketball and then
speed off.
Nine children are left injured. All are lucky to be alive. This gruesome
scene is not from early last
year. It happened last week in the village of Crkvena Vodica, and the
victims were Serb, not
Albanian. The Guardian gave just two paragraphs to the story on
Saturday.
Shootings, bombings, kidnappings, murders and intimidation have forced
most of Kosovo's
pre-war Serb and Roma Gypsy populations to flee. The Guardian and the
rest of the press
justified NATO's intervention as the only way to stop "ethnic cleansing"
against Albanians. Well,
NATO now occupies Kosovo and ethnic cleansing is continuing, this time
against non-Albanians
and those who defend them. On Friday a bomb damaged a building which
houses the offices of
Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo, and of the authority
representing Serbs in
Kosovo. But, say the Guardian, foreign secretary Robin Cook, and NATO
chief George Robertson,
such killings are as nothing compared with the atrocities committed by
Serb forces in Kosovo.
Remember the claims by NATO governments during the war about obscene
atrocities and
"genocide" by Serbs in Kosovo? US defence secretary William Cohen said
as the bombing
intensified in March that 100,000 Albanian men of military age were
missing, adding, "They may
have been murdered."
The media dutifully repeated the wartime propaganda. Even the left of
Labour paper Action for
Solidarity ["Shachtmanist entryists" in Blair's party] quoted "100,000
Young Men Slaughtered".
Opponents of the war faced vilification, particularly at the hands of
allegedly liberal journalists
who backed the bombing. John Sweeney, journalist on the Guardian's
sister paper, the Observer,
accused anti-war campaigner John Pilger of being an apologist for mass
murder.
Remit
Sweeney predicted that those against the war would hang their heads in
shame when the war
ended and "tens of thousands of bodies are discovered in mass graves".
Investigators for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia reported last week.
After a year of examining hundreds of sites they discovered less than
3,000 bodies of civilians in
the whole of Kosovo.
That figure fits the estimate by the International Committee of the Red
Cross earlier this year of
about 2,400 Albanian dead. The tribunal's findings are significant.
It is a pro-Western body. Its remit excludes investigating NATO war
crimes. It is allowed to retry
someone found innocent until it gets a conviction. Its rules of evidence
favour the prosecution.
And much of its $93 million budget comes from private sources, notably
US billionaire George
Soros.
Yet its investigators say they have not found mass graves. Rather,
according to Benedicte
Giaever of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
"What we have are
consistent small numbers-two here, five there, ten here, seven there."
Shot
The tribunal refuses to say how many of those people were shot at close
range - executed - and
how many were killed by long range fire or explosions, what NATO refers
to as "collateral
damage" when its bombs kill civilians.
"Those of us who opposed the war are absolutely vindicated. We were
right to challenge NATO's
claims because this will happen again," said Phillip Knightley, author
and anti-war campaigner.
Serbian forces did commit atrocities in Kosovo but on nothing like the
scale NATO and the media
claimed-and mainly after NATO started bombing.
Audrey Gillan was one of the few journalists to say this at the time.
She described again in the
Guardian on Monday how journalists were under instructions from their
editors at the time to
come up with the most grotesque atrocity stories.
Basic procedures, such as checking facts or taking account of the
distressed state of Albanian
refugees, went out the window. The Guardian now blames NATO governments
for misleading the
public over the scale of the horror and the success of the bombing,
conveniently whitewashing the
media's role.
It still backs the bombing "in spite of the lies". It gives no apology
for spreading those lies or for
refusing space to anti-war campaigners. "Liberal bombers" such as
Sweeney and Jonathan
Freedland have yet to admit they were wrong. They are quite prepared to
churn out the same stuff
the next time the West goes to war.
Who exactly should be hanging their heads in shame?
from:
Socialist Worker [London weekly], No. 1711, 26 August 2000
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/
---
> From Antiwar.com (25. 8. 2000)
>
>
>
> KLA commanders trained in Albania
>
> Wednesday, 23 August 2000 12:45 (ET)
>
>
> KLA commanders trained in Albania
> By LULZIM COTA
>
> TIRANA, Albania, Aug. 23 (UPI) - Senior Kosovo Liberation Army
commanders
> trained in Albania starting in 1991, KLA deputy chief of staff Colonel
> Dilaver Goxhaj, said in interview published here on Wednesday "The
organized
> military training of Kosovo men continued until 1993 when Albania's police
> arrested Adem Jashari for illegal possession of weapons," Goxhaj said in
the
> interview with the daily Shekulli.
>
> Jashari, the first KLA commander, was killed together with 56 relatives,
> including children, when the Yugoslav army shelled his home in Prekaz, in
> March 1998. The incident inspired a rapid rise in the size of the KLA
which,
> according to Goxhaj, numbered 19,800 fighters before NATO air strikes
on
> Yugoslavia began on March 24, 1999.
>
> Goxhaj was born in Gjirokastra, south Albania, close to Greek border
and
> educated at a military school. Until 1993 Goxhaj was an instructor in the
> use of anti aircraft guns at the Albanian Military Academy. He joined the
> KLA in September 1998 and became deputy chief of staff. In Kosovo he was
> known as Commander Shpetim Golemi. Now back in Albania, he did not say
> whether he will return to Kosovo.
>
> The KLA set up a staff in December 1993, Goxhaj said, after "intensive
> preparation in Albania and a propaganda campaign in Kosovo and abroad."
> Another Albanian military expert, who had taught Jashari the use of
infantry
> weapons, confirmed Goxhaj story.
>
> According to Goxhaj's interview, there was close cooperation between the
> KLA, NATO and Albania's army in exchanging information about Yugoslav army
> movements, techniques and coordinates. Goxhaj confirms NATO had informed
> them when the air strikes were to begin. "We were in the KLA headquarters
in
> Kostrec village when Hashim Thaci, our chief commander, phoned from
Brussels
> and said 'today at 20 hours NATO will start air strikes."
>
> "NATO asked us to mark Serb army targets, their position, number,
> ammunition, the presence of anti-aircraft guns and their distance from
> civilians." NATO agreed to bomb only when civilian populations or KLA
forces
> were at least a kilometer from the Serb positions, Goxhaj said. All cases
of
> NATO hitting civilians or KLA forces, he said, followed from its aircraft
> finding targets for themselves and not as a result of information provided
> by the KLA.
>
> KLA forces doubled in size during the Kosovo fighting, Goxhai said. Some
> 10,000 Kosovo men and women joined after the Serbs began ethnic cleansing
> operations and another 11,000 volunteers came from the United States and
> Europe.
>
> Between November 28, 1997, when the KLA publicly announced its
existence,
> and June 20, 1999, when fighting ended, 2,000 members were killed and
4,800
> injured, he said. There were 12,000 civilian victims and 10,000 injured
> during the same period. Goxhaj's figures are lower than NATO reports on
the
> Kosovo conflict.
>
> Goxhaj thanked the military hospital in Tirana for saving many KLA lives
> and an Albanian helicopter brigade for transporting the injured to the
> hospital. Before and during the conflict, Albania denied Belgrade
> accusations that it allowed the KLA training camps on its territory. After
> the conflict, Fatos Nano, Albanian premier during the conflict, admitted
> Albania's help to the KLA and said there had been contacts between KLA
> leaders and American officials including Richard Holbrook, currently U.S.
> ambassador to the United Nations.
>
> --
> Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
> All rights reserved.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* ETHNIC ALBANIANS FIRE AT FRENCH KFOR POINT
* LORD ROBINSON: "IN KOSOVO LA SITUAZIONE E' MOLTO POSITIVA, I TRENI
VIAGGIANO, I CONTADINI RACCOLGONO LE MESSI..."
NATO's New Agenda: More Progress than Meets the Eye
Remarks by The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen
Secretary General of NATO
6 Sept. 2000, The SACLANT Symposium Reykjavik, Iceland
* COLONY KOSOVO, WHERE COPS DO-GOODERS AND PRIVATEERS
RUN THE SHOW
By Christian Parenti (8-29-00)
* The lies of war crimes mass graves (by Kevin Ovenden)
* KLA commanders trained in Albania (By LULZIM COTA)
ALTRI DOCUMENTI SEGNALATI:
> http://www.rockfordinstitute.org/NewsST092200.htm
Friday, September 22, 2000
GREATER ALBANIA IN THE MAKING?
Srdja Trifkovic
> http://www.suc.org/news/ilustrovana_politika/2.html
2134, 19 Dec 1999
Siptarska veza i mafijaski rat
Borba klanova u Zagrebu
La guerra dei clan a Zagabria
Mafia albanese e la guerra delle mafie in Croazia !
> http://www.repubblica.it/online/mondo/fossa/soldato/soldato.html
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_927000/927323.stm
BBC News
Saturday, 16 September, 2000, 08:29 GMT 09:29 UK
US servicemen 'beat Kosovo civilians'
---
1985-2000. E' MORTO UN SIMBOLO DELL'AGONIA DEL KOSOVO JUGOSLAVO
Djordje Martinovic, metafora dell'agonia dei serbi del
Kosovo, e' morto il 6 settembre scorso nel villaggio di
Citluk, presso Krusevac. Era diventato noto all'opinione
pubblica il 4 maggio del 1985, quando fu diffusa la
notizia che l'impiegato della Casa dell'Esercito Djordje
Martinovic di Gnjilane (in Kosmet) era stato impalato il
primo maggio sul suo terreno in localita' Jaruga, a 2
chilometri da Gnjilane.
Il crimine era stato compiuto da terroristi schipetari.
In cima al palo era stata posta una bottiglia che e'
rimasta conficcata nel ventre della vittima. Martinovic
e' stato operato all'Ospedale di Pristina, poi e' stato
trasferito all'Ospedale militare di Belgrado, e dopo a
Londra, dove e' stato operato due volte, con un dispaccio
clinico secondo il quale "non e' possibile che abbia
infierito su se stesso da solo", come era stato insinuato
da certi mezzi di informazione.
(da "OKO", settimanale belgradese, 15/9/2000. La vicenda,
mai riportata nelle cronache ne' nelle retrospettive sul
problema kosovaro in Italia, che fanno sempre iniziare
la storia del Kosmet con il discorso di Milosevic del
1989, era stata tuttavia menzionata sul nostro "Dossier
Kosovo" apparso sul mensile Nuova Unita' nel 1998)
Djordje Martinovic, metafora stradanja Srba na Kosmetu,
preminuo je 6. septembra u selu Citluk kod Krusevca.
Postao je poznat svetskoj javnosti 4. maja 1985. kad je
objavljena informacija da je sluzbenik Doma JNA u Gnjilanu
Djordje Martinovic nabijen na kolac 1. maja na svojoj
njivi Jaruga, dva kilometra od Gnjilana. Ovo zlodelo
su izvrsili siptarski teroristi. Na vrhu kolca bila
je flasa, koja je ostala u otrobi zrtve. Operisan je
u pristinskoj bolnici, potom je prebacen na VMA, pa u
London, gde je dva puta operisan, uz saopstenje da
"samopovredjivanje nije moguce", o cemu je bilo
insinuacija u javnosti.
---
ETHNIC ALBANIANS FIRE AT FRENCH KFOR POINT
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, September 30 (Tanjug) Ethnic Albanian
terrorists opened fire on Thursday evening at the French KFOR point in
the
village of Banje inhabited mostly by Serbs, Serbian sources confirmed to
Tanjug in Mitrovica.
Two grenades were fired at the French from the direction of the
Albanian village of Rudnik in the vicinity of Banje.
There were no killed or wounded in the incident, and the French
conducted a search in the village of Rudnik and found a large quantity
of
arms that belonged to the "KLA," which was transformed by Kouchner into
the
socalled Kosovo protection corps.
French KFOR members arrested on the spot a number of ethnic
Albanians and because they refuse to release them, ethnic Albanians have
blocked the regional road Kosovska MitrovicaPec near the village of
Rudnik,
making impossible the passage of KFOR vehicles.
---
>Below are excerpts from the official text of a speech by George Robertson
>in Iceland.
>
>Subjects are:
>Kosovo
>Partnership for Peace
>NATO Enlargement
>EU-NATO co-operation
>UN and NATO
>Increasing military spending
>
>
>
>NATO's New Agenda:
>More Progress than Meets the Eye
>Remarks by The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen
>Secretary General of NATO
>6 Sept. 2000
>The SACLANT Symposium Reykjavik, Iceland
>
>
>[KOSOVO]
>Let us go through the current NATO agenda, starting with Kosovo. If we
>stand back for a moment to look at the overall picture, it is actually very
>positive
>Just two years ago, most people in Kosovo feared for their lives and their
>property. At the height of the crisis, 80 percent of the population had
>fled their homes to avoid wanton ethnic violence.
>Today, the vast majority live in peace, and have renewed hope for the
>future. Today, for the first time in at least a decade, there are
>administrative structures in place that include all ethnic groups, not one.
>And in just a few weeks, there will be truly free elections in Kosovo for
>the first time in collective memory.
>Refugees have gone back and rebuilt their homes. Schools - even those
>flattened by Serb paramilitaries - have come back to life. Trains are
>running. Farmers are bringing in the harvest. Imagine what the situation
>could have become, and look at what it is today.
>Of course, there is much work to be done, and it will not be easy. There
>will be more violence, more accusations of discrimination, more boycotts
>and more standoffs.
>But the real news story is not the protest outside a mine, or the tragic
>and regrettable killing of an ethnic Serb. The news story is that in
>Kosovo, NATO, the other KFOR contributors, and the UN Administration are
>building hope and the rule of law out of what had been the rule of terror.
>Our goal is still to build a Kosovo that allows all of its people to share
>in the peace, freedom and democracy that we, and they, consider to be their
>right. And we are making progress. It is an opportunity we don't intend to
>miss.
>Just as we are making visible progress in Kosovo, we can already look back
>on considerable achievement in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As we approach the 11
>November elections there, we're truly turning a corner.
>Already in the robustly contested local elections earlier this year, more
>moderate politicians were elected to office than ever before - and the
>trend is set to continue this autumn.
>Refugees are returning in record numbers, and several municipalities -
>previously hostile to such returns - are now working with the international
>community to accept the returnees.
>Defence budgets and the Entity Armed Forces are being cut, as they should
>be. Bosnia-Herzegovina is even sending a multi-ethnic Olympic team to the
>Games in Sydney.
>The headlines of five years ago in Bosnia-Herzegovina were surely not
these. (...)
---
The San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 23, 2000
(reprinted in http://www.tenc.net
COLONY KOSOVO, WHERE COPS DO-GOODERS AND PRIVATEERS
RUN THE SHOW
By Christian Parenti (8-29-00)
CLOGGED WITH ALMOST 800,000 souls, Pristina, Kosovo, a city of tower
blocks rising from a parched valley floor, now holds twice the
population for which it was built. The air reeks of exhaust and burning
garbage. Ceaseless hot winds blow litter and clouds of gritty dust from
the huge mountain of mine tailings that lies a dozen miles due west. At
night one still hears the snap of gunfire and, the next day, rumors of
another unsolved murder.
Despite the city's modernist aesthetic (the place was rebuilt from
scratch after an earthquake in 1963), Pristina has no public
transportation or refuse collection. All the most impressive modernist
buildings downtown have been reduced to bombed-out relics. Throngs of
cell phone-wielding crowds and streams of new Mercedes and Audis choke
the streets below the charred towers. Water and electrical services are
intermittent, yet several cybercafés and brothels operate around the
clock.
Welcome to ground zero of NATO's reincarnation as what Secretary of
State Madeline Albright has called "a force for peace from the Middle
East to Central Africa." Billed as the greatest humanitarian
intervention since WWII, the U.N.-NATO occupation of Kosovo doesn't look
so noble up close. Rather than a multiethnic democracy, Kosovo is
shaping up to be a violent, corrupt, free-market colony.
'HUMANITARIAN' IMPERIALISM
Kosovar Albanians may talk about "their country," but the foreign-aid
workers in official white SUVs make the real decisions. After NATO's
78-day bombing, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo(UNMIK) was created
as an "interim administration." The U.N., in turn, has opened Kosovo to
a kaleidoscopic jumble of governmental and nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) ranging from Oxfam to obscure evangelical ministries.
At the apex of it all sits Bernard Krouchner, the Secretary General's
Special Representative in Kosovo. Founder of Médecins Sans Frontières
and a former socialist, Krouchner took a sharp right turn in the 1980s
when he championed the use of Western (particularly American) military
intervention as the path to human rights. Krouchner's left-wing critics
who argue that American and European corporate power and military aid
are the main causes of human rights violations internationally see
Krouchner as a Clinton-Blair "third way" hypocrite. Meanwhile, many
mainstream right-wing commentators see the short, thin Frenchman as a
publicity-seeking autocrat.
In Kosovo, Krouchner's responsibilities range from censoring the local
press when it offends him to appointing all local government personnel
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/unandthe.htm to schmoozing
with international donors.
Adding muscle to Krouchner's administrative decisions such as
unilaterally ditching the Yugoslavian dinar for the mark are about 4,000
so called UNMIK police, many of whom are transplanted American cops. For
the heavy lifting, Krouchner can count on the 40,000 international
soldiers that make up KFOR, the Kosovo Implementation Force.
Along with putting down the occasional ethnic riot, protecting convoys
of refugees, and guarding the few small Serb enclaves remaining in
Kosovo, http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/simca.htm KFOR and the
UNMIK police occasionally uncover caches of weapons belonging to the
officially disarmed Kosovo Liberation Army.
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/u.htm#disarm
Such operations are usually followed up with robust KFOR statements
reaffirming their commitment to "building a multiethnic society."
Yet, strangely, the ethnic cleansing this time Albanian against Serb
and Roma (Gypsy) never stops.
VIOLENCE STILL
"This place is a shit hole. All the young people I meet, I tell 'em: get
out! Go to another country," booms Doc Giles, a tanned, muscled American
cop who speaks in a thick, south-Jersey accent. A longtime narc-officer
from hyperviolent Camden, N.J., Giles has spent the last year working
homicide in Pristina with UNMIK. The pack on his bike sports a "Daniel
Faulkner: fallen not forgotten" button. (Faulkner was the cop whom death
row inmate and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal may or may not have murdered
18 years ago in Philadelphia.)
Giles's maggot's-eye view of interethnic relations is sobering: "Look,
all the perps are oo-che-kaa," Giles says, using the Albanian form for
the Kosovo Liberation Army's acronym. "They're fucking gangsters. I
don't care what anyone says they're an organized crime structure. And
all the judges are either scared or pro-KLA. They're like: you shot a
89-year-old Serb grandmother? Good for you. Get out of jail."
Of the province's 276 judges, only two are Serb, so Albanian hit squads
operate with near total impunity. Among their favorite targets during
the last year have been Orthodox churches and monasteries, more than 85
of which have been burned, looted, or demolished, according to both the
U.N. and a detailed report by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
After hearing one of Giles's rants about KLA death squads and
15-year-old Maldovan girls "turned out" as prostitutes
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/susan.htm, you'd almost agree
with his prescription: "What they should've done was put this place
under martial law, get a bunch of American cops from cities like Philly,
Dallas, and Denver to come in here and just kick the shit out of
everyone
for a few months. Then turn it over to your NGOs, or whatever."
Terrified merchants also tell stories of KLA thuggery.
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/reporter.htm "Ten percent. They take
10 percent of everything you make. And you pay or it's kaput," says a
nervous restaurateur in Prizren, an ancient town near the Albanian
border. He's a Kosovar Turk whose great-grandparents probably moved here
during the twilight of the Ottoman Empire, but he says that when he gets
enough money, he's taking his two children to Canada.
PRIVATIZATION
While Giles and his comrades recycle Albanian "perps" through a
nonworking judicial system, the U.N.'s paper pushers and its partner
organizations are hard at work trying to turn Kosovo into a free-market
paradise.
"We must privatize so as to secure investment and new technology. There
is no alternative," says Dianna Stefanova,
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/opening.htm director of the
European Agency for Reconstruction's office on privatization, which is
working under the auspices of UNMIK and Krouchner.
But the industries located in Kosovo are not UNMIK's to privatize. Nor
does the wording of Security Council resolution 1244 the document
defining the U.N.'s role in Kosovo give UNMIK the power to sell off
local industries. And when Krouchner made his pitch for mass
privatization to the Security Council in late June, he met with stiff
opposition from the Russians.
Oddly, despite the U.N.-NATO occupation, resolution 1244 recognizes
Kosovo as an integral province of Yugoslavia and does not empower the
U.N. to privatize. To get around this, Krouchner has devised a creative
bit of legerdemain: the U.N. isn't actually selling off assets; it's
just offering 10- and 15-year leases to foreign transnationals. The
first industry to go was the huge Sharr Cement factory, leased to the
Swiss firm Holderbank. "Sharr could produce all the cement for
reconstruction, and even export," says Roy Dickinson, a privatization
specialist with the European Agency for Reconstruction.
The next assets on the block are a series of vineyards and wine
cooperatives, but the ultimate prize is the gargantuan Trepca mining and
metallurgical complex that sprawls across northern Kosovo and into the
mountains of southern Serbia.
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/inthewee.htm
Since Roman times, foreign armies have targeted these massive mineral
deposits. Hitler took Trepca in 1941, and thereafter the mines some of
the richest in the world supplied German munitions factories with 40
percent of their lead inputs.
Trepca contains all of Yugoslavia's nickel deposits and three-quarters
of its other mineral wealth; during the 1990s the 42 mines and attendant
factories were one of Yugoslavia's leading export industries.
The Belgrade government and a private Greek bank that has also invested
in the mines insist that Trepca shall not change hands. The U.N. isn't
so sure. "The question of who gets what will be settled by a panel of
judges that UNMIK is still setting up," says a coy Stefanova. In the
meantime UNMIK is drawing up plans to downsize local industries and
streamline enterprise to appeal to foreign investors. But there's
another piece in the equation: who controls the land above the mines?
That, of course, brings us back to the issue of ethnic cleansing.
BALKAN BELFAST
The swift and shallow river Ibar, bisecting the town of Mitrovic, is the
front line in an unfinished war that pits Albanians against Serbs and
Roma. All non-Albanians have been expelled from south of the Ibar and
all Albanians driven from its northern bank.
[Emperor's Clothes note: Regarding the area North of the Ib,
the statement is incorrect, according to Oliver Ivanovic, a key leader
on the North shore. He insists that a large Albanian community remains,
and though relations are cold the Serbs have no desire to drive these
people out; quite the contrary.]
http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/avictory.htm
Thus crossing into north Mitrovic is much like entering Serbia: the
language, the music, and the beer are all Serbian, and people use the
dinar. This is also the heart of the Trepca complex.
Here, despite occupation by French troops
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/whyisthe.htm the Belgrade
government still pays salaries and pensions and still provides health
care.
And if even a fraction of U.N. and KFOR accusations are true, then some
of the hard men with mobile phones who lounge at the Dolce Vita Cafe on
the banks of the Ibar are probably undercover cops from Serbia (some of
whom, you will recall, have been indicted by the International Tribunal
on War Crimes at the Hague and could be arrested by KFOR).
"We're in a prison, and under attack," a young Serb named Branislav
says. "If I cross that bridge, I'll be killed."
This, it seems, is the future: an ethnically "pure" and therefore
"stable" Albanian Kosovo in the south, hosting huge NATO installations
like the sprawling 775-acre American base Bondsteel, with its 4000 G.I.s
on the plains of southeast Kosovo. In the north, on the other hand,
astride some small part of the Trepca mines and in a few other spots,
Serb and Roma ghettos will remain, possibly as parts of Serbia. And in
the places where these communities overlap there will be trouble and,
therefore, a plausible reason for the West to maintain a long-term
military presence.
[Reprinted from the The San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 23, 2000]
---
The lies of war crimes mass graves
by Kevin Ovenden
KOSOVO. THREE men in a car hurl a grenade at a group of children playing
basketball and then
speed off.
Nine children are left injured. All are lucky to be alive. This gruesome
scene is not from early last
year. It happened last week in the village of Crkvena Vodica, and the
victims were Serb, not
Albanian. The Guardian gave just two paragraphs to the story on
Saturday.
Shootings, bombings, kidnappings, murders and intimidation have forced
most of Kosovo's
pre-war Serb and Roma Gypsy populations to flee. The Guardian and the
rest of the press
justified NATO's intervention as the only way to stop "ethnic cleansing"
against Albanians. Well,
NATO now occupies Kosovo and ethnic cleansing is continuing, this time
against non-Albanians
and those who defend them. On Friday a bomb damaged a building which
houses the offices of
Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo, and of the authority
representing Serbs in
Kosovo. But, say the Guardian, foreign secretary Robin Cook, and NATO
chief George Robertson,
such killings are as nothing compared with the atrocities committed by
Serb forces in Kosovo.
Remember the claims by NATO governments during the war about obscene
atrocities and
"genocide" by Serbs in Kosovo? US defence secretary William Cohen said
as the bombing
intensified in March that 100,000 Albanian men of military age were
missing, adding, "They may
have been murdered."
The media dutifully repeated the wartime propaganda. Even the left of
Labour paper Action for
Solidarity ["Shachtmanist entryists" in Blair's party] quoted "100,000
Young Men Slaughtered".
Opponents of the war faced vilification, particularly at the hands of
allegedly liberal journalists
who backed the bombing. John Sweeney, journalist on the Guardian's
sister paper, the Observer,
accused anti-war campaigner John Pilger of being an apologist for mass
murder.
Remit
Sweeney predicted that those against the war would hang their heads in
shame when the war
ended and "tens of thousands of bodies are discovered in mass graves".
Investigators for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia reported last week.
After a year of examining hundreds of sites they discovered less than
3,000 bodies of civilians in
the whole of Kosovo.
That figure fits the estimate by the International Committee of the Red
Cross earlier this year of
about 2,400 Albanian dead. The tribunal's findings are significant.
It is a pro-Western body. Its remit excludes investigating NATO war
crimes. It is allowed to retry
someone found innocent until it gets a conviction. Its rules of evidence
favour the prosecution.
And much of its $93 million budget comes from private sources, notably
US billionaire George
Soros.
Yet its investigators say they have not found mass graves. Rather,
according to Benedicte
Giaever of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
"What we have are
consistent small numbers-two here, five there, ten here, seven there."
Shot
The tribunal refuses to say how many of those people were shot at close
range - executed - and
how many were killed by long range fire or explosions, what NATO refers
to as "collateral
damage" when its bombs kill civilians.
"Those of us who opposed the war are absolutely vindicated. We were
right to challenge NATO's
claims because this will happen again," said Phillip Knightley, author
and anti-war campaigner.
Serbian forces did commit atrocities in Kosovo but on nothing like the
scale NATO and the media
claimed-and mainly after NATO started bombing.
Audrey Gillan was one of the few journalists to say this at the time.
She described again in the
Guardian on Monday how journalists were under instructions from their
editors at the time to
come up with the most grotesque atrocity stories.
Basic procedures, such as checking facts or taking account of the
distressed state of Albanian
refugees, went out the window. The Guardian now blames NATO governments
for misleading the
public over the scale of the horror and the success of the bombing,
conveniently whitewashing the
media's role.
It still backs the bombing "in spite of the lies". It gives no apology
for spreading those lies or for
refusing space to anti-war campaigners. "Liberal bombers" such as
Sweeney and Jonathan
Freedland have yet to admit they were wrong. They are quite prepared to
churn out the same stuff
the next time the West goes to war.
Who exactly should be hanging their heads in shame?
from:
Socialist Worker [London weekly], No. 1711, 26 August 2000
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/
---
> From Antiwar.com (25. 8. 2000)
>
>
>
> KLA commanders trained in Albania
>
> Wednesday, 23 August 2000 12:45 (ET)
>
>
> KLA commanders trained in Albania
> By LULZIM COTA
>
> TIRANA, Albania, Aug. 23 (UPI) - Senior Kosovo Liberation Army
commanders
> trained in Albania starting in 1991, KLA deputy chief of staff Colonel
> Dilaver Goxhaj, said in interview published here on Wednesday "The
organized
> military training of Kosovo men continued until 1993 when Albania's police
> arrested Adem Jashari for illegal possession of weapons," Goxhaj said in
the
> interview with the daily Shekulli.
>
> Jashari, the first KLA commander, was killed together with 56 relatives,
> including children, when the Yugoslav army shelled his home in Prekaz, in
> March 1998. The incident inspired a rapid rise in the size of the KLA
which,
> according to Goxhaj, numbered 19,800 fighters before NATO air strikes
on
> Yugoslavia began on March 24, 1999.
>
> Goxhaj was born in Gjirokastra, south Albania, close to Greek border
and
> educated at a military school. Until 1993 Goxhaj was an instructor in the
> use of anti aircraft guns at the Albanian Military Academy. He joined the
> KLA in September 1998 and became deputy chief of staff. In Kosovo he was
> known as Commander Shpetim Golemi. Now back in Albania, he did not say
> whether he will return to Kosovo.
>
> The KLA set up a staff in December 1993, Goxhaj said, after "intensive
> preparation in Albania and a propaganda campaign in Kosovo and abroad."
> Another Albanian military expert, who had taught Jashari the use of
infantry
> weapons, confirmed Goxhaj story.
>
> According to Goxhaj's interview, there was close cooperation between the
> KLA, NATO and Albania's army in exchanging information about Yugoslav army
> movements, techniques and coordinates. Goxhaj confirms NATO had informed
> them when the air strikes were to begin. "We were in the KLA headquarters
in
> Kostrec village when Hashim Thaci, our chief commander, phoned from
Brussels
> and said 'today at 20 hours NATO will start air strikes."
>
> "NATO asked us to mark Serb army targets, their position, number,
> ammunition, the presence of anti-aircraft guns and their distance from
> civilians." NATO agreed to bomb only when civilian populations or KLA
forces
> were at least a kilometer from the Serb positions, Goxhaj said. All cases
of
> NATO hitting civilians or KLA forces, he said, followed from its aircraft
> finding targets for themselves and not as a result of information provided
> by the KLA.
>
> KLA forces doubled in size during the Kosovo fighting, Goxhai said. Some
> 10,000 Kosovo men and women joined after the Serbs began ethnic cleansing
> operations and another 11,000 volunteers came from the United States and
> Europe.
>
> Between November 28, 1997, when the KLA publicly announced its
existence,
> and June 20, 1999, when fighting ended, 2,000 members were killed and
4,800
> injured, he said. There were 12,000 civilian victims and 10,000 injured
> during the same period. Goxhaj's figures are lower than NATO reports on
the
> Kosovo conflict.
>
> Goxhaj thanked the military hospital in Tirana for saving many KLA lives
> and an Albanian helicopter brigade for transporting the injured to the
> hospital. Before and during the conflict, Albania denied Belgrade
> accusations that it allowed the KLA training camps on its territory. After
> the conflict, Fatos Nano, Albanian premier during the conflict, admitted
> Albania's help to the KLA and said there had been contacts between KLA
> leaders and American officials including Richard Holbrook, currently U.S.
> ambassador to the United Nations.
>
> --
> Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
> All rights reserved.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
POLITICAMENTE SCORRETTI
Osservatorio Etico Ambientale wrote:
>
> VI CONTESTO QUESTA CILEGINA perché Alessandro Curzi,
> HA DETTO LA VERITÀ !!!
>
> Siete attenti a criticare gli altri, e nello stesso momento siete carenti del
> senso di auto critica !!
>
> Siete politicamente scorretti !
>
> In poche parole, voi tutti siete per una Dittatura che si chiama: Dittatura
> del Proletariato !?
> Io sono di origine jugoslava e in ex-Yugoslavia non c'è stata mai la Dittatura
> del Proletariato ! C'è stata la Dittatura, però, la Dittatura
> del CKMP Yugoslavije [Comitato Centrale del Partito Comunista]!!! Il resto è
> stata solo una illusione: i operai non hanno avuto mai la voce in capitolo: la
> famosa autogestione " fabbriche agli operai", era solo sulla carta e nei mass
> media ! Gli operai non avevano diritto di contestare assolutamente niente,
> altrimenti chi lo faceva subiva delle persecuzioni di vario tipo ! Il
> Sindacato era di fatto una struttura virtuale ! Non hanno mai curato gli
> interessi degli operai, mentre la "borghesia rossa" del Comitato Centrale del
> Partito Comunista Yugoslavo faceva bello e cattivo tempo !!! Si sanno queste
> cose molto bene, è inutile nascondersi dietro un dito !
>
> Chi non era iscritto nel Partito Comunista non poteva fare nessun passo nella
> vita, malgrado la capacità e qualità che avevano le persone ! Quasi tutto
> funzionava sulla raccomandazione e familiarissimo ... chi non condivideva tale
> politica fu perseguitato con l'accusa di essere dissidente, o traditore o
> fascista o mercenario delle "forze nefaste occidentali" ...
>
> PIACE O NO, questa è la verità !
>
> Chi dice diversamente semplicemente è: o un ignorante o è un essere in mala
> fede che difende interessi chissà quali !!!
>
> Da parte nostra possiamo solo salutare le parole del
> Compagno Direttore Alessandro Curzi !!
>
> BRAVO CURZI, BEN'DETTO !!!
>
> Voi in Italia avete tanti di quelli problemi e "pani sporchi", [per esempio:
> avete ancora le leggi fascista in vigore], che di certo non potete criticare
> il popolo yugolsavo e le loro legittime scelte !!!
>
> Il voto del popolo yugoslavo è una svolta millenaria e di certo non
> permetteranno a nessuno di confiscare la Vittoria storica ! Noi non abbiamo
> dimenticato cosa è successo nel famoso 1948. quando regime di Staglin ci
> voleva sotto il suo ombrello. Sono stati per primi proprio i comunisti
> italiani di allora ad appoggiare Staglin ... !!
>
> Se vi piace così tanto la Dittatura di qualsiasi tipo perché non mettete Slobo
> Milosevic, Mira Markovic, Vojislav Seselj, Zjugunov e Zirinowschi
> nel vostro Montecitorio ?!
>
> Ma per favore, fate un aggiornamento della vostra geografia mentale ?!
>
> Un altra cosa, dovete moderare il vostro linguaggio:"...con le pezze al culo
> ..." è una espressione di peggior giornalismo, compreso pure quel giornalismo
> italiano noto come giornalismo inquisitorio pieno di bugie, menzogne e
> disinformazione lanciate a insabbiare ogni progresso delle
> forze veramente sane !!!!
>
> Mi state deludeno, mi dispiace !!!!
>
> Ciao a tutti,
>
> Danica Razlag
> http://stop-u238.i.am
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Date: Sat, 30 Sep 00 12:47PM MET DST
> From: Coordinamento Romano per la Jugoslavia <crj@...>
> To: crj <crj@...>
> Subject: Ciliegina numero 206 BIS
>
> DEMOCRAZIA O DITTATURA?
>
> Subject: Re: Ciliegina numero 206
> Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:12:35 +0200
> From: "sorgiorgio"
> To: <alessandro.curzi@...>, "crj"
>
> Caro Compagno Direttore Alessandro Curzi,
> hai torto! In Jugoslavia, purtroppo, c'è la democrazia. Quando c'era la
> Dittatura, la Dittatura del Proletariato,
> le cose andavano molto meglio.
> Vedi la Russia adesso c'è la democrazia e sono con le pezze al culo.
> Cordiali saluti
>
Gentile signora Danica,
kao prvo, mi od CRJ nismo samo italijani, ima i jugoslavena, i to znaci
OD CIJELE SFRJ-e.
La RFS di Jugoslavia poteva certo essere meglio di quello che e' stata,
fatto sta che - proprio in base ai discutibili criteri di democrazia da
lei richiamati - era assai piu' "democratica" del resto dei paesi a
"socialismo reale". La conseguenza di questa "democraticita'", tanto
apprezzata allora anche dalla nostra "sinistra" che oggi vi bombarda, e'
stato lo sfascio del paese, caduto in mano alle forze "democratiche"
filooccidentali, nazionaliste borghesi e secessioniste.
Lei scrive: "chi non condivideva tale politica fu perseguitato con
l'accusa di essere dissidente, o traditore o fascista o mercenario delle
'forze nefaste occidentali'". Magari avesse ragione! Dissidenti,
traditori, fascisti e mercenari al soldo dell'occidente erano veramente
un pericolo che purtroppo fu preso sottogamba, come e' dimostrato dal
fatto che quando queste canaglie hanno preso il potere - da Jansa a
Tudjman a Izetbegovic a Djukanovic a Thaci - la RFSJ e' precipitata in
un bagno di sangue.
Per quanto riguarda il libero voto del popolo jugoslavo, siete voi che
non lo state rispettando: infatti - come blocco DOS - avete partecipato
alle elezioni, eravate presenti come scrutatori in tutti i seggi, avete
lavorato nella commissione elettorale centrale insieme ai rappresentanti
di tutti i candidati. ED AVETE VINTO: quasi la maggioranza assoluta!
Allora, perche' non volete andare al ballottaggio? Con l'appoggio di
Seselj, di Djukanovic e di chissa' chi altro otterreste una maggioranza
schiacciante!
Perche' non volete andare al ballottaggio?
Perche' ve lo dicono gli USA, dai quali ricevete miliardi di dollari,
che vogliono gettare discredito sul sistema politico della RF di
Jugoslavia per condurre ad uno sfascio ulteriore, incominciando dalla
secessione del Montenegro, che e' gia' un feudo della mafia albanese.
S jugoslavenkim pozdravima
CRJ
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Osservatorio Etico Ambientale wrote:
>
> VI CONTESTO QUESTA CILEGINA perché Alessandro Curzi,
> HA DETTO LA VERITÀ !!!
>
> Siete attenti a criticare gli altri, e nello stesso momento siete carenti del
> senso di auto critica !!
>
> Siete politicamente scorretti !
>
> In poche parole, voi tutti siete per una Dittatura che si chiama: Dittatura
> del Proletariato !?
> Io sono di origine jugoslava e in ex-Yugoslavia non c'è stata mai la Dittatura
> del Proletariato ! C'è stata la Dittatura, però, la Dittatura
> del CKMP Yugoslavije [Comitato Centrale del Partito Comunista]!!! Il resto è
> stata solo una illusione: i operai non hanno avuto mai la voce in capitolo: la
> famosa autogestione " fabbriche agli operai", era solo sulla carta e nei mass
> media ! Gli operai non avevano diritto di contestare assolutamente niente,
> altrimenti chi lo faceva subiva delle persecuzioni di vario tipo ! Il
> Sindacato era di fatto una struttura virtuale ! Non hanno mai curato gli
> interessi degli operai, mentre la "borghesia rossa" del Comitato Centrale del
> Partito Comunista Yugoslavo faceva bello e cattivo tempo !!! Si sanno queste
> cose molto bene, è inutile nascondersi dietro un dito !
>
> Chi non era iscritto nel Partito Comunista non poteva fare nessun passo nella
> vita, malgrado la capacità e qualità che avevano le persone ! Quasi tutto
> funzionava sulla raccomandazione e familiarissimo ... chi non condivideva tale
> politica fu perseguitato con l'accusa di essere dissidente, o traditore o
> fascista o mercenario delle "forze nefaste occidentali" ...
>
> PIACE O NO, questa è la verità !
>
> Chi dice diversamente semplicemente è: o un ignorante o è un essere in mala
> fede che difende interessi chissà quali !!!
>
> Da parte nostra possiamo solo salutare le parole del
> Compagno Direttore Alessandro Curzi !!
>
> BRAVO CURZI, BEN'DETTO !!!
>
> Voi in Italia avete tanti di quelli problemi e "pani sporchi", [per esempio:
> avete ancora le leggi fascista in vigore], che di certo non potete criticare
> il popolo yugolsavo e le loro legittime scelte !!!
>
> Il voto del popolo yugoslavo è una svolta millenaria e di certo non
> permetteranno a nessuno di confiscare la Vittoria storica ! Noi non abbiamo
> dimenticato cosa è successo nel famoso 1948. quando regime di Staglin ci
> voleva sotto il suo ombrello. Sono stati per primi proprio i comunisti
> italiani di allora ad appoggiare Staglin ... !!
>
> Se vi piace così tanto la Dittatura di qualsiasi tipo perché non mettete Slobo
> Milosevic, Mira Markovic, Vojislav Seselj, Zjugunov e Zirinowschi
> nel vostro Montecitorio ?!
>
> Ma per favore, fate un aggiornamento della vostra geografia mentale ?!
>
> Un altra cosa, dovete moderare il vostro linguaggio:"...con le pezze al culo
> ..." è una espressione di peggior giornalismo, compreso pure quel giornalismo
> italiano noto come giornalismo inquisitorio pieno di bugie, menzogne e
> disinformazione lanciate a insabbiare ogni progresso delle
> forze veramente sane !!!!
>
> Mi state deludeno, mi dispiace !!!!
>
> Ciao a tutti,
>
> Danica Razlag
> http://stop-u238.i.am
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Date: Sat, 30 Sep 00 12:47PM MET DST
> From: Coordinamento Romano per la Jugoslavia <crj@...>
> To: crj <crj@...>
> Subject: Ciliegina numero 206 BIS
>
> DEMOCRAZIA O DITTATURA?
>
> Subject: Re: Ciliegina numero 206
> Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:12:35 +0200
> From: "sorgiorgio"
> To: <alessandro.curzi@...>, "crj"
>
> Caro Compagno Direttore Alessandro Curzi,
> hai torto! In Jugoslavia, purtroppo, c'è la democrazia. Quando c'era la
> Dittatura, la Dittatura del Proletariato,
> le cose andavano molto meglio.
> Vedi la Russia adesso c'è la democrazia e sono con le pezze al culo.
> Cordiali saluti
>
Gentile signora Danica,
kao prvo, mi od CRJ nismo samo italijani, ima i jugoslavena, i to znaci
OD CIJELE SFRJ-e.
La RFS di Jugoslavia poteva certo essere meglio di quello che e' stata,
fatto sta che - proprio in base ai discutibili criteri di democrazia da
lei richiamati - era assai piu' "democratica" del resto dei paesi a
"socialismo reale". La conseguenza di questa "democraticita'", tanto
apprezzata allora anche dalla nostra "sinistra" che oggi vi bombarda, e'
stato lo sfascio del paese, caduto in mano alle forze "democratiche"
filooccidentali, nazionaliste borghesi e secessioniste.
Lei scrive: "chi non condivideva tale politica fu perseguitato con
l'accusa di essere dissidente, o traditore o fascista o mercenario delle
'forze nefaste occidentali'". Magari avesse ragione! Dissidenti,
traditori, fascisti e mercenari al soldo dell'occidente erano veramente
un pericolo che purtroppo fu preso sottogamba, come e' dimostrato dal
fatto che quando queste canaglie hanno preso il potere - da Jansa a
Tudjman a Izetbegovic a Djukanovic a Thaci - la RFSJ e' precipitata in
un bagno di sangue.
Per quanto riguarda il libero voto del popolo jugoslavo, siete voi che
non lo state rispettando: infatti - come blocco DOS - avete partecipato
alle elezioni, eravate presenti come scrutatori in tutti i seggi, avete
lavorato nella commissione elettorale centrale insieme ai rappresentanti
di tutti i candidati. ED AVETE VINTO: quasi la maggioranza assoluta!
Allora, perche' non volete andare al ballottaggio? Con l'appoggio di
Seselj, di Djukanovic e di chissa' chi altro otterreste una maggioranza
schiacciante!
Perche' non volete andare al ballottaggio?
Perche' ve lo dicono gli USA, dai quali ricevete miliardi di dollari,
che vogliono gettare discredito sul sistema politico della RF di
Jugoslavia per condurre ad uno sfascio ulteriore, incominciando dalla
secessione del Montenegro, che e' gia' un feudo della mafia albanese.
S jugoslavenkim pozdravima
CRJ
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1064
AN ACT
To authorize a coordinated program to promote the development of
democracy in Serbia and Montenegro.
HR 1064 EH
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1064
AN ACT
To authorize a coordinated program to promote the development of
democracy in Serbia and Montenegro.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Serbia Democratization
Act of
2000'.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--SUPPORT FOR THE DEMOCRATIC FORCES
Sec. 101. Findings and policy.
Sec. 102. Assistance to promote democracy and civil society in
Yugoslavia.
Sec. 103. Authority for radio and television broadcasting.
Sec. 104. Development of political contacts relating to the Republic of
Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro.
TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO THE VICTIMS OF OPPRESSION
Sec. 201. Findings.
Sec. 202. Sense of the Congress.
Sec. 203. Assistance.
TITLE III--`OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS
Sec. 301. `Outer Wall' sanctions.
Sec. 302. International financial institutions not in compliance with
`Outer
Wall' sanctions.
TITLE IV--OTHER MEASURES AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
Sec. 401. Blocking assets in the United States.
Sec. 402. Suspension of entry into the United States.
Sec. 403. Prohibition on strategic exports to Yugoslavia.
Sec. 404. Prohibition on loans and investment.
Sec. 405. Prohibition of military-to-military cooperation.
Sec. 406. Multilateral sanctions.
Sec. 407. Exemptions.
Sec. 408. Waiver; termination of measures against Yugoslavia.
Sec. 409. Statutory construction.
TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 501. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Sec. 502. Sense of the Congress with respect to ethnic Hungarians of
Vojvodina.
Sec. 503. Ownership and use of diplomatic and consular properties.
Sec. 504. Transition assistance.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES- The term `appropriate
congressional committees' means the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the
Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) COMMERCIAL EXPORT- The term `commercial export' means the sale of an
agricultural commodity, medicine, or medical equipment by a United
States
seller to a foreign buyer in exchange for cash payment on market terms
without benefit of concessionary financing, export subsidies, government
or
government-backed credits or other nonmarket financing arrangements.
(3) INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA OR
TRIBUNAL-
The term `International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia' or
the
`Tribunal' means the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons
Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia Since 1991, as
established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 of May 25,
1993.
(4) YUGOSLAVIA- The term `Yugoslavia' means the so-called Federal
Republic
of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and the term `Government of
Yugoslavia' means the central government of Yugoslavia.
TITLE I--SUPPORT FOR THE DEMOCRATIC FORCES
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND POLICY.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:
(1) The President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, has consistently
engaged in undemocratic methods of governing.
(2) Yugoslavia has passed and implemented a law strictly limiting
freedom of
the press and has acted to intimidate and prevent independent media from
operating inside Yugoslavia.
(3) Although the Yugoslav and Serbian constitutions provide for the
right of
citizens to change their government, citizens of Serbia in practice are
prevented from exercising that right by the Milosevic regime's
domination of
the mass media and manipulation of the electoral process.
(4) The Yugoslav and Serbian governments have orchestrated attacks on
academics at institutes and universities throughout the country in an
effort
to prevent the dissemination of opinions that differ from official state
propaganda.
(5) The Yugoslav and Serbian governments hinder the formation of
nonviolent,
democratic opposition through restrictions on freedom of assembly and
association.
(6) The Yugoslav and Serbian governments use control and intimidation to
control the judiciary and manipulate the country's legal framework to
suit
the regime's immediate political interests.
(7) The Government of Serbia and the Government of Yugoslavia, under the
direction of President Milosevic, have obstructed the efforts of the
Government of Montenegro to pursue democratic and free-market policies.
(8) At great risk, the Government of Montenegro has withstood efforts by
President Milosevic to interfere with its government.
(9) The people of Serbia who do not endorse the undemocratic actions of
the
Milosevic government should not be the target of criticism that is
rightly
directed at the Milosevic regime.
(b) POLICY; SENSE OF THE CONGRESS-
(1) POLICY- It is the policy of the United States to encourage the
development of a government in Yugoslavia based on democratic principles
and
the rule of law and that respects internationally recognized human
rights.
(2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that--
(A) the United States should actively support the democratic forces in
Yugoslavia, including political parties and independent trade unions, to
develop a legitimate and viable alternative to the Milosevic regime;
(B) all United States Government officials, including individuals from
the
private sector acting on behalf of the United States Government, should
meet
regularly with representatives of democratic forces in Yugoslavia and
minimize to the extent practicable any direct contacts with officials of
the
Yugoslav or Serbian governments, and not meet with any individual
indicted
by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,
particularly President Slobodan Milosevic; and
(C) the United States should emphasize to all political leaders in
Yugoslavia the importance of respecting internationally recognized human
rights for all individuals residing in Yugoslavia.
SEC. 102. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN
YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) ASSISTANCE FOR THE SERBIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES-
(1) PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE- The purpose of assistance under this
subsection
is to promote and strengthen institutions of democratic government and
the
growth of an independent civil society in Serbia, including ethnic
tolerance
and respect for internationally recognized human rights.
(2) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE- To carry out the purpose of paragraph
(1),
the President is authorized to furnish assistance and other support for
the
activities described in paragraph (3).
(3) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED- Activities that may be supported by assistance
under paragraph (2) include the following:
(A) Democracy building.
(B) The development of nongovernmental organizations.
(C) The development of independent Serbian media.
(D) The development of the rule of law, to include a strong, independent
judiciary, the impartial administration of justice, and transparency in
political practices.
(E) International exchanges and advanced professional training programs
in
skill areas central to the development of civil society and a market
economy.
(F) The development of all elements of the democratic process, including
political parties and the ability to administer free and fair elections.
(G) The development of local governance.
(H) The development of a free-market economy.
(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS-
(A) IN GENERAL- There is authorized to be appropriated to the President
$50,000,000 for the period beginning October 1, 2000, and ending
September
30, 2001, to be made available for activities in support of the
democratization of the Republic of Serbia (excluding Kosovo) pursuant to
this subsection.
(B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS- Amounts appropriated pursuant to subparagraph
(A)
are authorized to remain available until expended.
(b) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT OF YUGOSLAVIA OR OF SERBIA-
In
carrying out subsection (a), the President should take all necessary
steps
to ensure that no funds or other assistance is provided to the
Government of
Yugoslavia or to the Government of Serbia, except for purposes permitted
under this title.
(c) ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO-
(1) IN GENERAL- The President may provide assistance to the Government
of
Montenegro, unless the President determines, and so reports to the
appropriate congressional committees, that the leadership of the
Government
of Montenegro is not committed to, or is not taking steps to promote,
democratic principles, the rule of law, or respect for internationally
recognized human rights.
(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- Unless the President makes the
determination, and so reports to the appropriate congressional
committees,
under paragraph (1), there is authorized to be appropriated to the
President
$55,000,000 for the period beginning October 1, 2000, and ending
September
30, 2001, to be made available for activities for or in the Republic of
Montenegro for purposes described in subsection (a), as well as to
support
ongoing political and economic reforms, and economic stabilization in
support of democratization.
SEC. 103. AUTHORITY FOR RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Broadcasting Board of Governors shall further the
open
communication of information and ideas through the increased use of
radio
and television broadcasting to Yugoslavia in both the Serbo-Croatian and
Albanian languages.
(b) IMPLEMENTATION- Radio and television broadcasting under subsection
(a)
shall be carried out by the Voice of America and, in addition, radio
broadcasting under that subsection shall be carried out by RFE/RL,
Incorporated. Subsection (a) shall be carried out in accordance with all
the
respective Voice of America and RFE/RL, Incorporated, standards to
ensure
that radio and television broadcasting to Yugoslavia serves as a
consistently reliable and authoritative source of accurate, objective,
and
comprehensive news.
(c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION- The implementation of subsection (a) may not
be
construed as a replacement for the strengthening of indigenous
independent
media called for in section 102(a)(3)(C). To the maximum extent
practicable,
the two efforts (strengthening independent media and increasing
broadcasts
into Serbia) shall be carried out in such a way that they mutually
support
each other.
SEC. 104. DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL CONTACTS RELATING TO THE REPUBLIC OF
SERBIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGRO.
(a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that
political
contacts between United States officials and those individuals who, in
an
official or unofficial capacity, represent a genuine desire for
democratic
governance in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro
should
be developed through regular and well publicized meetings.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There is authorized to be
appropriated
to the Secretary of State $350,000 for fiscal year 2001 for a voluntary
contribution to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly--
(1) to facilitate contacts by those who, in an official or unofficial
capacity, represent a genuine desire for democratic governance in the
Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro, with their
counterparts
in other countries; and
(2) to encourage the development of a multilateral effort to promote
democracy in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro.
TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO THE VICTIMS OF OPPRESSION
SEC. 201. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Beginning in February 1998 and ending in June 1999, the armed forces
of
Yugoslavia and the Serbian Interior Ministry police force engaged in a
brutal crackdown against the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo.
(2) As a result of the attack by Yugoslav and Serbian forces against the
Albanian population of Kosovo, more than 10,000 individuals were killed
and
1,500,000 individuals were displaced from their homes.
(3) The majority of the individuals displaced by the conflict in Kosovo
was
left homeless or was forced to find temporary shelter in Kosovo or
outside
the country.
(4) The activities of the Yugoslav armed forces and the police force of
the
Serbian Interior Ministry resulted in the widespread destruction of
agricultural crops, livestock, and property, as well as the poisoning of
wells and water supplies, and the looting of humanitarian goods provided
by
the international community.
SEC. 202. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the Government of Yugoslavia and the Government of Serbia bear
responsibility to the victims of the conflict in Kosovo, including
refugees
and internally displaced persons, and for property damage in Kosovo;
(2) under the direction of President Milosevic, neither the Government
of
Yugoslavia nor the Government of Serbia provided the resources to assist
innocent, civilian victims of oppression in Kosovo; and
(3) because neither the Government of Yugoslavia nor the Government of
Serbia fulfilled the responsibilities of a sovereign government toward
the
people in Kosovo, the international community offers the only recourse
for
humanitarian assistance to victims of oppression in Kosovo.
SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE.
(a) AUTHORITY- The President is authorized to furnish assistance under
section 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292) and
the
Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (22 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.),
as
appropriate, for--
(1) relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction in Kosovo; and
(2) refugees and persons displaced by the conflict in Kosovo.
(b) PROHIBITION- No assistance may be provided under this section to any
organization that has been designated as a foreign terrorist
organization
under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1189).
(c) USE OF ECONOMIC SUPPORT FUNDS- Any funds that have been allocated
under
chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2346
et seq.) for assistance described in subsection (a) may be used in
accordance with the authority of that subsection.
TITLE III--`OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS
SEC. 301. `OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS.
(a) APPLICATION OF MEASURES- The sanctions described in subsections (c)
through (g) shall apply with respect to Yugoslavia until the President
determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees
that
the Government of Yugoslavia has made significant progress in meeting
the
conditions described in subsection (b).
(b) CONDITIONS- The conditions referred to in subsection (a) are the
following:
(1) Agreement on a lasting settlement in Kosovo.
(2) Compliance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia
and
Herzegovina.
(3) Implementation of internal democratic reform.
(4) Settlement of all succession issues with the other republics that
emerged from the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
(5) Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia, including the transfer to The Hague of all individuals in
Yugoslavia indicted by the Tribunal.
(c) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS- The Secretary of the Treasury
shall instruct the United States executive directors of the
international
financial institutions to oppose, and vote against, any extension by
those
institutions of any financial assistance (including any technical
assistance
or grant) of any kind to the Government of Yugoslavia.
(d) ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE- The Secretary
of
State should instruct the United States Ambassador to the Organization
for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to oppose and block any
consensus
to allow the participation of Yugoslavia in the OSCE or any organization
affiliated with the OSCE.
(e) UNITED NATIONS- The Secretary of State should instruct the United
States
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--
(1) to oppose and vote against any resolution in the United Nations
Security
Council to admit Yugoslavia to the United Nations or any organization
affiliated with the United Nations; and
(2) to actively oppose and, if necessary, veto any proposal to allow
Yugoslavia to assume the membership of the former Socialist Federal
Republic
of Yugoslavia in the United Nations General Assembly or any other
organization affiliated with the United Nations.
(f) NATO- The Secretary of State should instruct the United States
Permanent
Representative to the North Atlantic Council to oppose and vote against
the
extension to Yugoslavia of membership or participation in the
Partnership
for Peace program or any other organization affiliated with NATO.
(g) SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN COOPERATION INITIATIVE- The Secretary of State
should
instruct the United States Representatives to the Southeast European
Cooperation Initiative (SECI) to actively oppose the participation of
Yugoslavia in SECI.
(h) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the President should not restore full diplomatic relations with
Yugoslavia until the President has determined and so reported to the
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Yugoslavia
has
met the conditions described in subsection (b); and
(2) the President should encourage all other European countries to
diminish
their level of diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia.
(i) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DEFINED- In this section, the
term
`international financial institution' includes the International
Monetary
Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the
International Development Association, the International Finance
Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guaranty Agency, and the
European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
SEC. 302. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH
`OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS.
It is the sense of the Congress that, if any international financial
institution (as defined in section 301(i)) approves a loan or other
financial assistance to the Government of Yugoslavia over the opposition
of
the United States, then the Secretary of the Treasury should withhold
from
payment of the United States share of any increase in the paid-in
capital of
such institution an amount equal to the amount of the loan or other
assistance.
TITLE IV--OTHER MEASURES AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
SEC. 401. BLOCKING ASSETS IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) BLOCKING OF ASSETS- All property and interests in property,
including
all commercial, industrial, or public utility undertakings or entities,
of
or in the name of the Government of Serbia or the Government of
Yugoslavia
that are in the United States, that come within the United States, or
that
are or come within the possession or control of United States persons,
including their overseas branches, are blocked.
(b) PROHIBITED TRANSFERS- Payments or transfers of any property or any
transactions involving the transfer of anything of economic value by any
United States person to the Government of Serbia, the Government of
Yugoslavia, or any person or entity acting for or on behalf of, or owned
or
controlled, directly or indirectly, by any of those governments,
persons, or
entities, are prohibited.
(c) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES- The Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation
with the Secretary of State, shall take such actions, including the
promulgation of regulations, orders, directives, rulings, instructions,
and
licenses, and employ all powers granted to the President by the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as may be necessary to
carry
out the purposes of this section, including, but not limited to, taking
such
steps as may be necessary to continue in effect the measures contained
in
Executive Order No. 13088 of June 9, 1998, and Executive Order No. 13121
of
April 30, 1999, and any rule, regulation, license, or order issued
thereunder.
(d) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES- All expenses incident to the blocking and
maintenance of property blocked under subsection (a) shall be charged to
the
owners or operators of such property, and expenses shall not be paid for
from blocked funds.
(e) PROHIBITIONS- The following are prohibited:
(1) Any transaction within the United States or by a United States
person
relating to any vessel in which a majority or controlling interest is
held
by a person or entity in, or operating from, Serbia, regardless of the
flag
under which the vessel sails.
(2)(A) The exportation to Serbia or to any entity operated from Serbia
or
owned and controlled by the Government of Serbia or the Government of
Yugoslavia, directly or indirectly, of any goods, software technology,
or
services, either--
(i) from the United States;
(ii) requiring the issuance of a license by a Federal agency; or
(iii) involving the use of United States registered vessels or aircraft.
(B) Any activity that promotes or is intended to promote exportation
described in subparagraph (A).
(3)(A) Any dealing by a United States person in--
(i) property exported from Serbia; or
(ii) property intended for exportation from Serbia to any country or
exportation to Serbia from any country.
(B) Any activity of any kind that promotes or is intended to promote any
dealing described in subparagraph (A).
(4) The performance by any United States person of any contract,
including a
financing contract, in support of an industrial, commercial, public
utility,
or governmental project in Serbia.
(f) EXCEPTIONS- Nothing in this section shall apply to--
(1) assistance provided under section 102 or section 203 of this Act; or
(2) information or informational materials described in section
203(b)(3) of
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
(g) DEFINITION- In this section, the term `United States person' means
any
United States citizen, any alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence
within the United States, any entity organized under the laws of the
United
States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.
SEC. 402. SUSPENSION OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES.
(a) PROHIBITION- The President shall use his authority under section
212(f)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) to suspend the
entry into the United States of any alien who--
(1) holds a position in the senior leadership of the Government of
Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia; or
(2) is a spouse, minor child, or agent of a person inadmissible under
paragraph (1).
(b) SENIOR LEADERSHIP DEFINED- In subsection (a)(1), the term `senior
leadership'--
(1) includes--
(A) the President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, and
government
ministers of Yugoslavia;
(B) the Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia; and
(C) the President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, and
government
ministers of the Republic of Serbia; and
(2) does not include the President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime
Ministers,
and government ministers of the Republic of Montenegro.
SEC. 403. PROHIBITION ON STRATEGIC EXPORTS TO YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) PROHIBITION- No computers, computer software, or goods or technology
intended to manufacture or service computers may be exported to or for
use
by the Government of Yugoslavia or by the Government of Serbia, or by
any of
the following entities of either government:
(1) The military.
(2) The police.
(3) The prison system.
(4) The national security agencies.
(b) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this section shall prevent the
issuance of licenses to ensure the safety of civil aviation and safe
operation of United States-origin commercial passenger aircraft and to
ensure the safety of ocean-going maritime traffic in international
waters.
SEC. 404. PROHIBITION ON LOANS AND INVESTMENT.
(a) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FINANCING- No loan, credit guarantee,
insurance, financing, or other similar financial assistance may be
extended
by any agency of the United States Government (including the
Export-Import
Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) to the Government
of
Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia.
(b) TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY- No funds made available by law may be
available for activities of the Trade and Development Agency in or for
Serbia.
(c) THIRD COUNTRY ACTION- The Secretary of State is urged to encourage
all
other countries, particularly European countries, to suspend any of
their
own programs providing support similar to that described in subsection
(a)
or (b) to the Government of Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia,
including by rescheduling repayment of the indebtedness of either
government
under more favorable conditions.
(d) PROHIBITION ON PRIVATE CREDITS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), no national of the
United States may make or approve any loan or other extension of credit,
directly or indirectly, to the Government of Yugoslavia or to the
Government
of Serbia or to any corporation, partnership, or other organization that
is
owned or controlled by either the Government of Yugoslavia or the
Government
of Serbia.
(2) EXCEPTION- Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a loan or extension of
credit for any housing, education, or humanitarian benefit to assist the
victims of oppression in Kosovo.
SEC. 405. PROHIBITION OF MILITARY-TO-MILITARY COOPERATION.
The United States Government (including any agency or entity of the
United
States) shall not provide assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 or the Arms Export Control Act (including the provision of Foreign
Military Financing under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act or
international military education and training under chapter 5 of part II
of
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) or provide any defense articles or
defense services under those Acts, to the armed forces of the Government
of
Yugoslavia or of the Government of Serbia.
SEC. 406. MULTILATERAL SANCTIONS.
It is the sense of the Congress that the President should continue to
seek
to coordinate with other countries, particularly European countries, a
comprehensive, multilateral strategy to further the purposes of this
title,
including, as appropriate, encouraging other countries to take measures
similar to those described in this title.
SEC. 407. EXEMPTIONS.
(a) EXEMPTION FOR KOSOVO- None of the restrictions imposed by this Act
shall
apply with respect to Kosovo, including with respect to governmental
entities or administering authorities or the people of Kosovo.
(b) EXEMPTION FOR MONTENEGRO- None of the restrictions imposed by this
Act
shall apply with respect to Montenegro, including with respect to
governmental entities of Montenegro, unless the President determines and
so
certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the
leadership of
the Government of Montenegro is not committed to, or is not taking steps
to
promote, democratic principles, the rule of law, or respect for
internationally recognized human rights.
SEC. 408. WAIVER; TERMINATION OF MEASURES AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) GENERAL WAIVER AUTHORITY- Except as provided in subsection (b), the
requirement to impose any measure under this Act may be waived for
successive periods not to exceed 12 months each, and the President may
provide assistance in furtherance of this Act notwithstanding any other
provision of law, if the President determines and so certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees in writing 15 days in advance of
the
implementation of any such waiver that--
(1) it is important to the national interest of the United States; or
(2) significant progress has been made in Yugoslavia in establishing a
government based on democratic principles and the rule of law, and that
respects internationally recognized human rights.
(b) EXCEPTION- The President may implement the waiver under subsection
(a)
for successive periods not to exceed 3 months each without the 15 day
advance notification under that subsection--
(1) if the President determines that exceptional circumstances require
the
implementation of such waiver; and
(2) the President immediately notifies the appropriate congressional
committees of his determination.
(c) TERMINATION OF RESTRICTIONS- The restrictions imposed by this title
shall be terminated if the President determines and so certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Yugoslavia
is a
government that is committed to democratic principles and the rule of
law,
and that respects internationally recognized human rights.
SEC. 409. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.
(a) IN GENERAL- None of the restrictions or prohibitions contained in
this
Act shall be construed to limit humanitarian assistance (including the
provision of food and medicine), or the commercial export of
agricultural
commodities or medicine and medical equipment, to Yugoslavia.
(b) SPECIAL RULE- Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to permit
the
export of an agricultural commodity or medicine that could contribute to
the
development of a chemical or biological weapon.
TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
SEC. 501. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:
(1) United Nations Security Council Resolution 827, which was adopted
May
25, 1993, established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of
international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former
Yugoslavia since January 1, 1991.
(2) United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 requires full
cooperation
by all countries with the Tribunal, including the obligation of
countries to
comply with requests of the Tribunal for assistance or orders.
(3) The Government of Yugoslavia has disregarded its international
obligations with regard to the Tribunal, including its obligation to
transfer or facilitate the transfer to the Tribunal of any person on the
territory of Yugoslavia who has been indicted for war crimes or other
crimes
against humanity under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.
(4) The Government of Yugoslavia publicly rejected the Tribunal's
jurisdiction over events in Kosovo and has impeded the investigation of
representatives from the Tribunal, including denying those
representatives
visas for entry into Yugoslavia, in their efforts to gather information
about alleged crimes against humanity in Kosovo under the jurisdiction
of
the Tribunal.
(5) The Tribunal has indicted President Slobodan Milosevic for--
(A) crimes against humanity, specifically murder, deportations, and
persecutions; and
(B) violations of the laws and customs of war.
(b) POLICY- It shall be the policy of the United States to support fully
and
completely the investigation of President Slobodan Milosevic by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide,
crimes against humanity, war crimes, and grave breaches of the Geneva
Convention.
(c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- Subject to subsection (b), it is the sense of
the
Congress that the United States Government should gather all information
that the intelligence community (as defined in section 3(4) of the
National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4)) collects or has collected to
support an investigation of President Slobodan Milosevic for genocide,
crimes against humanity, war crimes, and grave breaches of the Geneva
Convention by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia
(ICTY) and that the Department of State should provide all appropriate
information to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICTY under procedures
established by the Director of Central Intelligence that are necessary
to
ensure adequate protection of intelligence sources and methods.
(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS- Not less than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter for the succeeding
5-year period, the President shall submit a report, in classified form
if
necessary, to the appropriate congressional committees that describes
the
information that was provided by the Department of State to the Office
of
the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia for the purposes of subsection (c).
SEC. 502. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO ETHNIC HUNGARIANS OF
VOJVODINA.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--
(1) approximately 350,000 ethnic Hungarians, as well as several other
minority populations, reside in the province of Vojvodina, part of
Serbia,
in traditional settlements in existence for centuries;
(2) this community has taken no side in any of the Balkan conflicts
since
1990, but has maintained a consistent position of nonviolence, while
seeking
to protect its existence through the meager opportunities afforded under
the
existing political system;
(3) the Serbian leadership deprived Vojvodina of its autonomous status
at
the same time as it did the same to the province of Kosovo;
(4) this population is subject to continuous harassment, intimidation,
and
threatening suggestions that they leave the land of their ancestors; and
(5) during the past 10 years this form of ethnic cleansing has already
driven 50,000 ethnic Hungarians and members of other minority
communities
out of the province of Vojvodina.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that the
President should--
(1) condemn harassment, threats, and intimidation against any ethnic
group
in Yugoslavia as the usual precursor of violent ethnic cleansing;
(2) express deep concern over the reports on recent threats,
intimidation,
and even violent incidents against the ethnic Hungarian inhabitants of
the
province of Vojvodina;
(3) call on the Secretary of State to regularly monitor the situation of
the
Hungarian ethnic group in Vojvodina; and
(4) call on the NATO allies of the United States, during any negotiation
on
the future status of Kosovo, also to pay substantial attention to
establishing satisfactory guarantees for the rights of the people of
Vojvodina, and, in particular, of the ethnic minorities in the province.
SEC. 503. OWNERSHIP AND USE OF DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PROPERTIES.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:
(1) The international judicial system, as currently structured, lacks
fully
effective remedies for the wrongful confiscation of property and for
unjust
enrichment from the use of wrongfully confiscated property by
governments
and private entities at the expense of the rightful owners of the
property.
(2) Since the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia
until March and June 1999, when the United States Government took
custody,
the Government of Yugoslavia exclusively used, and benefited from the
use
of, properties located in the United States that were owned by the
Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(3) Until the United States Government took custody, the Governments of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia,
and Slovenia were blocked by the Government of Yugoslavia from using, or
benefiting from the use of, any property located in the United States
that
was previously owned by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(4) The occupation and use by officials of Yugoslavia of that property
without prompt, adequate, and effective compensation under the
applicable
principles of international law to the Governments of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and
Slovenia is unjust and unreasonable.
(b) POLICY ON NEGOTIATIONS REGARDING PROPERTIES- It is the policy of the
United States to insist that the Government of Yugoslavia has a
responsibility to, and should, actively and cooperatively engage in good
faith negotiations with the Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia,
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Slovenia for resolution
of
the outstanding property issues resulting from the dissolution of the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including the disposition of
the
following properties located in the United States:
(1) 2222 Decatur Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(2) 2410 California Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(3) 1907 Quincy Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(4) 3600 Edmonds Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(5) 2221 R Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(6) 854 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
(7) 730 Park Avenue, New York, NY.
(c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON RETURN OF PROPERTIES- It is the sense of
the
Congress that, if the Government of Yugoslavia refuses to engage in good
faith negotiations on the status of the properties listed in subsection
(b),
the President should take steps to ensure that the interests of the
Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav
Republic
of Macedonia, and Slovenia are protected in accordance with
international
law.
SEC. 504. TRANSITION ASSISTANCE.
(a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that once the
regime of President Slobodan Milosevic has been replaced by a government
that is committed to democratic principles and the rule of law, and that
respects internationally recognized human rights, the President of the
United States should support the transition to democracy in Yugoslavia
by
providing immediate and substantial assistance, including facilitating
its
integration into international organizations.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE- The President is authorized to furnish
assistance to Yugoslavia if he determines, and so certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Yugoslavia
is
committed to democratic principles and the rule of law and respects
internationally recognized human rights.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS-
(1) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN- The President shall develop a plan for
providing
assistance to Yugoslavia in accordance with this section. Such
assistance
would be provided at such time as the President determines that the
Government of Yugoslavia is committed to democratic principles and the
rule
of law and respects internationally recognized human rights.
(2) STRATEGY- The plan developed under paragraph (1) shall include a
strategy for distributing assistance to Yugoslavia under the plan.
(3) DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS- The President shall take the necessary steps--
(A) to seek to obtain the agreement of other countries and international
financial institutions and other multilateral organizations to provide
assistance to Yugoslavia after the President determines that the
Government
of Yugoslavia is committed to democratic principles, the rule of law,
and
that respects internationally recognized human rights; and
(B) to work with such countries, institutions, and organizations to
coordinate all such assistance programs.
(4) COMMUNICATION OF PLAN- The President shall take the necessary steps
to
communicate to the people of Yugoslavia the plan for assistance
developed
under this section.
(5) REPORT- Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of
this
Act, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report describing in detail the plan required to be
developed
by paragraph (1).
Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 2000.
Attest:
Clerk.
END
2d Session
H. R. 1064
AN ACT
To authorize a coordinated program to promote the development of
democracy in Serbia and Montenegro.
HR 1064 EH
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1064
AN ACT
To authorize a coordinated program to promote the development of
democracy in Serbia and Montenegro.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Serbia Democratization
Act of
2000'.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--SUPPORT FOR THE DEMOCRATIC FORCES
Sec. 101. Findings and policy.
Sec. 102. Assistance to promote democracy and civil society in
Yugoslavia.
Sec. 103. Authority for radio and television broadcasting.
Sec. 104. Development of political contacts relating to the Republic of
Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro.
TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO THE VICTIMS OF OPPRESSION
Sec. 201. Findings.
Sec. 202. Sense of the Congress.
Sec. 203. Assistance.
TITLE III--`OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS
Sec. 301. `Outer Wall' sanctions.
Sec. 302. International financial institutions not in compliance with
`Outer
Wall' sanctions.
TITLE IV--OTHER MEASURES AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
Sec. 401. Blocking assets in the United States.
Sec. 402. Suspension of entry into the United States.
Sec. 403. Prohibition on strategic exports to Yugoslavia.
Sec. 404. Prohibition on loans and investment.
Sec. 405. Prohibition of military-to-military cooperation.
Sec. 406. Multilateral sanctions.
Sec. 407. Exemptions.
Sec. 408. Waiver; termination of measures against Yugoslavia.
Sec. 409. Statutory construction.
TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 501. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Sec. 502. Sense of the Congress with respect to ethnic Hungarians of
Vojvodina.
Sec. 503. Ownership and use of diplomatic and consular properties.
Sec. 504. Transition assistance.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES- The term `appropriate
congressional committees' means the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the
Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) COMMERCIAL EXPORT- The term `commercial export' means the sale of an
agricultural commodity, medicine, or medical equipment by a United
States
seller to a foreign buyer in exchange for cash payment on market terms
without benefit of concessionary financing, export subsidies, government
or
government-backed credits or other nonmarket financing arrangements.
(3) INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA OR
TRIBUNAL-
The term `International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia' or
the
`Tribunal' means the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons
Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia Since 1991, as
established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 of May 25,
1993.
(4) YUGOSLAVIA- The term `Yugoslavia' means the so-called Federal
Republic
of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and the term `Government of
Yugoslavia' means the central government of Yugoslavia.
TITLE I--SUPPORT FOR THE DEMOCRATIC FORCES
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND POLICY.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:
(1) The President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, has consistently
engaged in undemocratic methods of governing.
(2) Yugoslavia has passed and implemented a law strictly limiting
freedom of
the press and has acted to intimidate and prevent independent media from
operating inside Yugoslavia.
(3) Although the Yugoslav and Serbian constitutions provide for the
right of
citizens to change their government, citizens of Serbia in practice are
prevented from exercising that right by the Milosevic regime's
domination of
the mass media and manipulation of the electoral process.
(4) The Yugoslav and Serbian governments have orchestrated attacks on
academics at institutes and universities throughout the country in an
effort
to prevent the dissemination of opinions that differ from official state
propaganda.
(5) The Yugoslav and Serbian governments hinder the formation of
nonviolent,
democratic opposition through restrictions on freedom of assembly and
association.
(6) The Yugoslav and Serbian governments use control and intimidation to
control the judiciary and manipulate the country's legal framework to
suit
the regime's immediate political interests.
(7) The Government of Serbia and the Government of Yugoslavia, under the
direction of President Milosevic, have obstructed the efforts of the
Government of Montenegro to pursue democratic and free-market policies.
(8) At great risk, the Government of Montenegro has withstood efforts by
President Milosevic to interfere with its government.
(9) The people of Serbia who do not endorse the undemocratic actions of
the
Milosevic government should not be the target of criticism that is
rightly
directed at the Milosevic regime.
(b) POLICY; SENSE OF THE CONGRESS-
(1) POLICY- It is the policy of the United States to encourage the
development of a government in Yugoslavia based on democratic principles
and
the rule of law and that respects internationally recognized human
rights.
(2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that--
(A) the United States should actively support the democratic forces in
Yugoslavia, including political parties and independent trade unions, to
develop a legitimate and viable alternative to the Milosevic regime;
(B) all United States Government officials, including individuals from
the
private sector acting on behalf of the United States Government, should
meet
regularly with representatives of democratic forces in Yugoslavia and
minimize to the extent practicable any direct contacts with officials of
the
Yugoslav or Serbian governments, and not meet with any individual
indicted
by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,
particularly President Slobodan Milosevic; and
(C) the United States should emphasize to all political leaders in
Yugoslavia the importance of respecting internationally recognized human
rights for all individuals residing in Yugoslavia.
SEC. 102. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN
YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) ASSISTANCE FOR THE SERBIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES-
(1) PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE- The purpose of assistance under this
subsection
is to promote and strengthen institutions of democratic government and
the
growth of an independent civil society in Serbia, including ethnic
tolerance
and respect for internationally recognized human rights.
(2) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE- To carry out the purpose of paragraph
(1),
the President is authorized to furnish assistance and other support for
the
activities described in paragraph (3).
(3) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED- Activities that may be supported by assistance
under paragraph (2) include the following:
(A) Democracy building.
(B) The development of nongovernmental organizations.
(C) The development of independent Serbian media.
(D) The development of the rule of law, to include a strong, independent
judiciary, the impartial administration of justice, and transparency in
political practices.
(E) International exchanges and advanced professional training programs
in
skill areas central to the development of civil society and a market
economy.
(F) The development of all elements of the democratic process, including
political parties and the ability to administer free and fair elections.
(G) The development of local governance.
(H) The development of a free-market economy.
(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS-
(A) IN GENERAL- There is authorized to be appropriated to the President
$50,000,000 for the period beginning October 1, 2000, and ending
September
30, 2001, to be made available for activities in support of the
democratization of the Republic of Serbia (excluding Kosovo) pursuant to
this subsection.
(B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS- Amounts appropriated pursuant to subparagraph
(A)
are authorized to remain available until expended.
(b) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT OF YUGOSLAVIA OR OF SERBIA-
In
carrying out subsection (a), the President should take all necessary
steps
to ensure that no funds or other assistance is provided to the
Government of
Yugoslavia or to the Government of Serbia, except for purposes permitted
under this title.
(c) ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO-
(1) IN GENERAL- The President may provide assistance to the Government
of
Montenegro, unless the President determines, and so reports to the
appropriate congressional committees, that the leadership of the
Government
of Montenegro is not committed to, or is not taking steps to promote,
democratic principles, the rule of law, or respect for internationally
recognized human rights.
(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- Unless the President makes the
determination, and so reports to the appropriate congressional
committees,
under paragraph (1), there is authorized to be appropriated to the
President
$55,000,000 for the period beginning October 1, 2000, and ending
September
30, 2001, to be made available for activities for or in the Republic of
Montenegro for purposes described in subsection (a), as well as to
support
ongoing political and economic reforms, and economic stabilization in
support of democratization.
SEC. 103. AUTHORITY FOR RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Broadcasting Board of Governors shall further the
open
communication of information and ideas through the increased use of
radio
and television broadcasting to Yugoslavia in both the Serbo-Croatian and
Albanian languages.
(b) IMPLEMENTATION- Radio and television broadcasting under subsection
(a)
shall be carried out by the Voice of America and, in addition, radio
broadcasting under that subsection shall be carried out by RFE/RL,
Incorporated. Subsection (a) shall be carried out in accordance with all
the
respective Voice of America and RFE/RL, Incorporated, standards to
ensure
that radio and television broadcasting to Yugoslavia serves as a
consistently reliable and authoritative source of accurate, objective,
and
comprehensive news.
(c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION- The implementation of subsection (a) may not
be
construed as a replacement for the strengthening of indigenous
independent
media called for in section 102(a)(3)(C). To the maximum extent
practicable,
the two efforts (strengthening independent media and increasing
broadcasts
into Serbia) shall be carried out in such a way that they mutually
support
each other.
SEC. 104. DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL CONTACTS RELATING TO THE REPUBLIC OF
SERBIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGRO.
(a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that
political
contacts between United States officials and those individuals who, in
an
official or unofficial capacity, represent a genuine desire for
democratic
governance in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro
should
be developed through regular and well publicized meetings.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There is authorized to be
appropriated
to the Secretary of State $350,000 for fiscal year 2001 for a voluntary
contribution to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly--
(1) to facilitate contacts by those who, in an official or unofficial
capacity, represent a genuine desire for democratic governance in the
Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro, with their
counterparts
in other countries; and
(2) to encourage the development of a multilateral effort to promote
democracy in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro.
TITLE II--ASSISTANCE TO THE VICTIMS OF OPPRESSION
SEC. 201. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Beginning in February 1998 and ending in June 1999, the armed forces
of
Yugoslavia and the Serbian Interior Ministry police force engaged in a
brutal crackdown against the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo.
(2) As a result of the attack by Yugoslav and Serbian forces against the
Albanian population of Kosovo, more than 10,000 individuals were killed
and
1,500,000 individuals were displaced from their homes.
(3) The majority of the individuals displaced by the conflict in Kosovo
was
left homeless or was forced to find temporary shelter in Kosovo or
outside
the country.
(4) The activities of the Yugoslav armed forces and the police force of
the
Serbian Interior Ministry resulted in the widespread destruction of
agricultural crops, livestock, and property, as well as the poisoning of
wells and water supplies, and the looting of humanitarian goods provided
by
the international community.
SEC. 202. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the Government of Yugoslavia and the Government of Serbia bear
responsibility to the victims of the conflict in Kosovo, including
refugees
and internally displaced persons, and for property damage in Kosovo;
(2) under the direction of President Milosevic, neither the Government
of
Yugoslavia nor the Government of Serbia provided the resources to assist
innocent, civilian victims of oppression in Kosovo; and
(3) because neither the Government of Yugoslavia nor the Government of
Serbia fulfilled the responsibilities of a sovereign government toward
the
people in Kosovo, the international community offers the only recourse
for
humanitarian assistance to victims of oppression in Kosovo.
SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE.
(a) AUTHORITY- The President is authorized to furnish assistance under
section 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292) and
the
Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (22 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.),
as
appropriate, for--
(1) relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction in Kosovo; and
(2) refugees and persons displaced by the conflict in Kosovo.
(b) PROHIBITION- No assistance may be provided under this section to any
organization that has been designated as a foreign terrorist
organization
under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1189).
(c) USE OF ECONOMIC SUPPORT FUNDS- Any funds that have been allocated
under
chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2346
et seq.) for assistance described in subsection (a) may be used in
accordance with the authority of that subsection.
TITLE III--`OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS
SEC. 301. `OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS.
(a) APPLICATION OF MEASURES- The sanctions described in subsections (c)
through (g) shall apply with respect to Yugoslavia until the President
determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees
that
the Government of Yugoslavia has made significant progress in meeting
the
conditions described in subsection (b).
(b) CONDITIONS- The conditions referred to in subsection (a) are the
following:
(1) Agreement on a lasting settlement in Kosovo.
(2) Compliance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia
and
Herzegovina.
(3) Implementation of internal democratic reform.
(4) Settlement of all succession issues with the other republics that
emerged from the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
(5) Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia, including the transfer to The Hague of all individuals in
Yugoslavia indicted by the Tribunal.
(c) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS- The Secretary of the Treasury
shall instruct the United States executive directors of the
international
financial institutions to oppose, and vote against, any extension by
those
institutions of any financial assistance (including any technical
assistance
or grant) of any kind to the Government of Yugoslavia.
(d) ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE- The Secretary
of
State should instruct the United States Ambassador to the Organization
for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to oppose and block any
consensus
to allow the participation of Yugoslavia in the OSCE or any organization
affiliated with the OSCE.
(e) UNITED NATIONS- The Secretary of State should instruct the United
States
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--
(1) to oppose and vote against any resolution in the United Nations
Security
Council to admit Yugoslavia to the United Nations or any organization
affiliated with the United Nations; and
(2) to actively oppose and, if necessary, veto any proposal to allow
Yugoslavia to assume the membership of the former Socialist Federal
Republic
of Yugoslavia in the United Nations General Assembly or any other
organization affiliated with the United Nations.
(f) NATO- The Secretary of State should instruct the United States
Permanent
Representative to the North Atlantic Council to oppose and vote against
the
extension to Yugoslavia of membership or participation in the
Partnership
for Peace program or any other organization affiliated with NATO.
(g) SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN COOPERATION INITIATIVE- The Secretary of State
should
instruct the United States Representatives to the Southeast European
Cooperation Initiative (SECI) to actively oppose the participation of
Yugoslavia in SECI.
(h) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the President should not restore full diplomatic relations with
Yugoslavia until the President has determined and so reported to the
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Yugoslavia
has
met the conditions described in subsection (b); and
(2) the President should encourage all other European countries to
diminish
their level of diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia.
(i) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DEFINED- In this section, the
term
`international financial institution' includes the International
Monetary
Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the
International Development Association, the International Finance
Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guaranty Agency, and the
European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
SEC. 302. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH
`OUTER WALL' SANCTIONS.
It is the sense of the Congress that, if any international financial
institution (as defined in section 301(i)) approves a loan or other
financial assistance to the Government of Yugoslavia over the opposition
of
the United States, then the Secretary of the Treasury should withhold
from
payment of the United States share of any increase in the paid-in
capital of
such institution an amount equal to the amount of the loan or other
assistance.
TITLE IV--OTHER MEASURES AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
SEC. 401. BLOCKING ASSETS IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) BLOCKING OF ASSETS- All property and interests in property,
including
all commercial, industrial, or public utility undertakings or entities,
of
or in the name of the Government of Serbia or the Government of
Yugoslavia
that are in the United States, that come within the United States, or
that
are or come within the possession or control of United States persons,
including their overseas branches, are blocked.
(b) PROHIBITED TRANSFERS- Payments or transfers of any property or any
transactions involving the transfer of anything of economic value by any
United States person to the Government of Serbia, the Government of
Yugoslavia, or any person or entity acting for or on behalf of, or owned
or
controlled, directly or indirectly, by any of those governments,
persons, or
entities, are prohibited.
(c) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES- The Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation
with the Secretary of State, shall take such actions, including the
promulgation of regulations, orders, directives, rulings, instructions,
and
licenses, and employ all powers granted to the President by the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as may be necessary to
carry
out the purposes of this section, including, but not limited to, taking
such
steps as may be necessary to continue in effect the measures contained
in
Executive Order No. 13088 of June 9, 1998, and Executive Order No. 13121
of
April 30, 1999, and any rule, regulation, license, or order issued
thereunder.
(d) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES- All expenses incident to the blocking and
maintenance of property blocked under subsection (a) shall be charged to
the
owners or operators of such property, and expenses shall not be paid for
from blocked funds.
(e) PROHIBITIONS- The following are prohibited:
(1) Any transaction within the United States or by a United States
person
relating to any vessel in which a majority or controlling interest is
held
by a person or entity in, or operating from, Serbia, regardless of the
flag
under which the vessel sails.
(2)(A) The exportation to Serbia or to any entity operated from Serbia
or
owned and controlled by the Government of Serbia or the Government of
Yugoslavia, directly or indirectly, of any goods, software technology,
or
services, either--
(i) from the United States;
(ii) requiring the issuance of a license by a Federal agency; or
(iii) involving the use of United States registered vessels or aircraft.
(B) Any activity that promotes or is intended to promote exportation
described in subparagraph (A).
(3)(A) Any dealing by a United States person in--
(i) property exported from Serbia; or
(ii) property intended for exportation from Serbia to any country or
exportation to Serbia from any country.
(B) Any activity of any kind that promotes or is intended to promote any
dealing described in subparagraph (A).
(4) The performance by any United States person of any contract,
including a
financing contract, in support of an industrial, commercial, public
utility,
or governmental project in Serbia.
(f) EXCEPTIONS- Nothing in this section shall apply to--
(1) assistance provided under section 102 or section 203 of this Act; or
(2) information or informational materials described in section
203(b)(3) of
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
(g) DEFINITION- In this section, the term `United States person' means
any
United States citizen, any alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence
within the United States, any entity organized under the laws of the
United
States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.
SEC. 402. SUSPENSION OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES.
(a) PROHIBITION- The President shall use his authority under section
212(f)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) to suspend the
entry into the United States of any alien who--
(1) holds a position in the senior leadership of the Government of
Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia; or
(2) is a spouse, minor child, or agent of a person inadmissible under
paragraph (1).
(b) SENIOR LEADERSHIP DEFINED- In subsection (a)(1), the term `senior
leadership'--
(1) includes--
(A) the President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, and
government
ministers of Yugoslavia;
(B) the Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia; and
(C) the President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, and
government
ministers of the Republic of Serbia; and
(2) does not include the President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime
Ministers,
and government ministers of the Republic of Montenegro.
SEC. 403. PROHIBITION ON STRATEGIC EXPORTS TO YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) PROHIBITION- No computers, computer software, or goods or technology
intended to manufacture or service computers may be exported to or for
use
by the Government of Yugoslavia or by the Government of Serbia, or by
any of
the following entities of either government:
(1) The military.
(2) The police.
(3) The prison system.
(4) The national security agencies.
(b) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this section shall prevent the
issuance of licenses to ensure the safety of civil aviation and safe
operation of United States-origin commercial passenger aircraft and to
ensure the safety of ocean-going maritime traffic in international
waters.
SEC. 404. PROHIBITION ON LOANS AND INVESTMENT.
(a) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FINANCING- No loan, credit guarantee,
insurance, financing, or other similar financial assistance may be
extended
by any agency of the United States Government (including the
Export-Import
Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) to the Government
of
Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia.
(b) TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY- No funds made available by law may be
available for activities of the Trade and Development Agency in or for
Serbia.
(c) THIRD COUNTRY ACTION- The Secretary of State is urged to encourage
all
other countries, particularly European countries, to suspend any of
their
own programs providing support similar to that described in subsection
(a)
or (b) to the Government of Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia,
including by rescheduling repayment of the indebtedness of either
government
under more favorable conditions.
(d) PROHIBITION ON PRIVATE CREDITS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), no national of the
United States may make or approve any loan or other extension of credit,
directly or indirectly, to the Government of Yugoslavia or to the
Government
of Serbia or to any corporation, partnership, or other organization that
is
owned or controlled by either the Government of Yugoslavia or the
Government
of Serbia.
(2) EXCEPTION- Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a loan or extension of
credit for any housing, education, or humanitarian benefit to assist the
victims of oppression in Kosovo.
SEC. 405. PROHIBITION OF MILITARY-TO-MILITARY COOPERATION.
The United States Government (including any agency or entity of the
United
States) shall not provide assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 or the Arms Export Control Act (including the provision of Foreign
Military Financing under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act or
international military education and training under chapter 5 of part II
of
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) or provide any defense articles or
defense services under those Acts, to the armed forces of the Government
of
Yugoslavia or of the Government of Serbia.
SEC. 406. MULTILATERAL SANCTIONS.
It is the sense of the Congress that the President should continue to
seek
to coordinate with other countries, particularly European countries, a
comprehensive, multilateral strategy to further the purposes of this
title,
including, as appropriate, encouraging other countries to take measures
similar to those described in this title.
SEC. 407. EXEMPTIONS.
(a) EXEMPTION FOR KOSOVO- None of the restrictions imposed by this Act
shall
apply with respect to Kosovo, including with respect to governmental
entities or administering authorities or the people of Kosovo.
(b) EXEMPTION FOR MONTENEGRO- None of the restrictions imposed by this
Act
shall apply with respect to Montenegro, including with respect to
governmental entities of Montenegro, unless the President determines and
so
certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the
leadership of
the Government of Montenegro is not committed to, or is not taking steps
to
promote, democratic principles, the rule of law, or respect for
internationally recognized human rights.
SEC. 408. WAIVER; TERMINATION OF MEASURES AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) GENERAL WAIVER AUTHORITY- Except as provided in subsection (b), the
requirement to impose any measure under this Act may be waived for
successive periods not to exceed 12 months each, and the President may
provide assistance in furtherance of this Act notwithstanding any other
provision of law, if the President determines and so certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees in writing 15 days in advance of
the
implementation of any such waiver that--
(1) it is important to the national interest of the United States; or
(2) significant progress has been made in Yugoslavia in establishing a
government based on democratic principles and the rule of law, and that
respects internationally recognized human rights.
(b) EXCEPTION- The President may implement the waiver under subsection
(a)
for successive periods not to exceed 3 months each without the 15 day
advance notification under that subsection--
(1) if the President determines that exceptional circumstances require
the
implementation of such waiver; and
(2) the President immediately notifies the appropriate congressional
committees of his determination.
(c) TERMINATION OF RESTRICTIONS- The restrictions imposed by this title
shall be terminated if the President determines and so certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Yugoslavia
is a
government that is committed to democratic principles and the rule of
law,
and that respects internationally recognized human rights.
SEC. 409. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.
(a) IN GENERAL- None of the restrictions or prohibitions contained in
this
Act shall be construed to limit humanitarian assistance (including the
provision of food and medicine), or the commercial export of
agricultural
commodities or medicine and medical equipment, to Yugoslavia.
(b) SPECIAL RULE- Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to permit
the
export of an agricultural commodity or medicine that could contribute to
the
development of a chemical or biological weapon.
TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
SEC. 501. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:
(1) United Nations Security Council Resolution 827, which was adopted
May
25, 1993, established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of
international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former
Yugoslavia since January 1, 1991.
(2) United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 requires full
cooperation
by all countries with the Tribunal, including the obligation of
countries to
comply with requests of the Tribunal for assistance or orders.
(3) The Government of Yugoslavia has disregarded its international
obligations with regard to the Tribunal, including its obligation to
transfer or facilitate the transfer to the Tribunal of any person on the
territory of Yugoslavia who has been indicted for war crimes or other
crimes
against humanity under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.
(4) The Government of Yugoslavia publicly rejected the Tribunal's
jurisdiction over events in Kosovo and has impeded the investigation of
representatives from the Tribunal, including denying those
representatives
visas for entry into Yugoslavia, in their efforts to gather information
about alleged crimes against humanity in Kosovo under the jurisdiction
of
the Tribunal.
(5) The Tribunal has indicted President Slobodan Milosevic for--
(A) crimes against humanity, specifically murder, deportations, and
persecutions; and
(B) violations of the laws and customs of war.
(b) POLICY- It shall be the policy of the United States to support fully
and
completely the investigation of President Slobodan Milosevic by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide,
crimes against humanity, war crimes, and grave breaches of the Geneva
Convention.
(c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- Subject to subsection (b), it is the sense of
the
Congress that the United States Government should gather all information
that the intelligence community (as defined in section 3(4) of the
National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4)) collects or has collected to
support an investigation of President Slobodan Milosevic for genocide,
crimes against humanity, war crimes, and grave breaches of the Geneva
Convention by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia
(ICTY) and that the Department of State should provide all appropriate
information to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICTY under procedures
established by the Director of Central Intelligence that are necessary
to
ensure adequate protection of intelligence sources and methods.
(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS- Not less than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter for the succeeding
5-year period, the President shall submit a report, in classified form
if
necessary, to the appropriate congressional committees that describes
the
information that was provided by the Department of State to the Office
of
the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia for the purposes of subsection (c).
SEC. 502. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO ETHNIC HUNGARIANS OF
VOJVODINA.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--
(1) approximately 350,000 ethnic Hungarians, as well as several other
minority populations, reside in the province of Vojvodina, part of
Serbia,
in traditional settlements in existence for centuries;
(2) this community has taken no side in any of the Balkan conflicts
since
1990, but has maintained a consistent position of nonviolence, while
seeking
to protect its existence through the meager opportunities afforded under
the
existing political system;
(3) the Serbian leadership deprived Vojvodina of its autonomous status
at
the same time as it did the same to the province of Kosovo;
(4) this population is subject to continuous harassment, intimidation,
and
threatening suggestions that they leave the land of their ancestors; and
(5) during the past 10 years this form of ethnic cleansing has already
driven 50,000 ethnic Hungarians and members of other minority
communities
out of the province of Vojvodina.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that the
President should--
(1) condemn harassment, threats, and intimidation against any ethnic
group
in Yugoslavia as the usual precursor of violent ethnic cleansing;
(2) express deep concern over the reports on recent threats,
intimidation,
and even violent incidents against the ethnic Hungarian inhabitants of
the
province of Vojvodina;
(3) call on the Secretary of State to regularly monitor the situation of
the
Hungarian ethnic group in Vojvodina; and
(4) call on the NATO allies of the United States, during any negotiation
on
the future status of Kosovo, also to pay substantial attention to
establishing satisfactory guarantees for the rights of the people of
Vojvodina, and, in particular, of the ethnic minorities in the province.
SEC. 503. OWNERSHIP AND USE OF DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PROPERTIES.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:
(1) The international judicial system, as currently structured, lacks
fully
effective remedies for the wrongful confiscation of property and for
unjust
enrichment from the use of wrongfully confiscated property by
governments
and private entities at the expense of the rightful owners of the
property.
(2) Since the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia
until March and June 1999, when the United States Government took
custody,
the Government of Yugoslavia exclusively used, and benefited from the
use
of, properties located in the United States that were owned by the
Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(3) Until the United States Government took custody, the Governments of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia,
and Slovenia were blocked by the Government of Yugoslavia from using, or
benefiting from the use of, any property located in the United States
that
was previously owned by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(4) The occupation and use by officials of Yugoslavia of that property
without prompt, adequate, and effective compensation under the
applicable
principles of international law to the Governments of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and
Slovenia is unjust and unreasonable.
(b) POLICY ON NEGOTIATIONS REGARDING PROPERTIES- It is the policy of the
United States to insist that the Government of Yugoslavia has a
responsibility to, and should, actively and cooperatively engage in good
faith negotiations with the Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia,
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Slovenia for resolution
of
the outstanding property issues resulting from the dissolution of the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, including the disposition of
the
following properties located in the United States:
(1) 2222 Decatur Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(2) 2410 California Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(3) 1907 Quincy Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(4) 3600 Edmonds Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(5) 2221 R Street, NW, Washington, DC.
(6) 854 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
(7) 730 Park Avenue, New York, NY.
(c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON RETURN OF PROPERTIES- It is the sense of
the
Congress that, if the Government of Yugoslavia refuses to engage in good
faith negotiations on the status of the properties listed in subsection
(b),
the President should take steps to ensure that the interests of the
Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav
Republic
of Macedonia, and Slovenia are protected in accordance with
international
law.
SEC. 504. TRANSITION ASSISTANCE.
(a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that once the
regime of President Slobodan Milosevic has been replaced by a government
that is committed to democratic principles and the rule of law, and that
respects internationally recognized human rights, the President of the
United States should support the transition to democracy in Yugoslavia
by
providing immediate and substantial assistance, including facilitating
its
integration into international organizations.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE- The President is authorized to furnish
assistance to Yugoslavia if he determines, and so certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Yugoslavia
is
committed to democratic principles and the rule of law and respects
internationally recognized human rights.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS-
(1) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN- The President shall develop a plan for
providing
assistance to Yugoslavia in accordance with this section. Such
assistance
would be provided at such time as the President determines that the
Government of Yugoslavia is committed to democratic principles and the
rule
of law and respects internationally recognized human rights.
(2) STRATEGY- The plan developed under paragraph (1) shall include a
strategy for distributing assistance to Yugoslavia under the plan.
(3) DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS- The President shall take the necessary steps--
(A) to seek to obtain the agreement of other countries and international
financial institutions and other multilateral organizations to provide
assistance to Yugoslavia after the President determines that the
Government
of Yugoslavia is committed to democratic principles, the rule of law,
and
that respects internationally recognized human rights; and
(B) to work with such countries, institutions, and organizations to
coordinate all such assistance programs.
(4) COMMUNICATION OF PLAN- The President shall take the necessary steps
to
communicate to the people of Yugoslavia the plan for assistance
developed
under this section.
(5) REPORT- Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of
this
Act, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report describing in detail the plan required to be
developed
by paragraph (1).
Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 2000.
Attest:
Clerk.
END
URL for this article is http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm
The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel (9-28-2000)
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
>"We want to be open colony and open society." G-17 coordinator VESELIN
>VUKOTIC interviewed on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer", US Public
Television,
>July 14, 1999.
>
>How the International Monetary Fund and World Bank operate: "First, they
>force governments to do away with any social protections - subsidized food
or
>rent, free transportation, free medical care. Second, they force
businesses -
>public and private - into bankruptcy. Then these businesses are taken over
by
>a small clique of leveraged buyout speculators and other powerful foreign
>economic interests. They purchase the businesses at rock bottom prices.
This
>is called "Privatization through Liquidation" which is standard practice in
>the Balkans and Eastern Europe." (From the text below)
>
>Recently there's been a lot of interest in the economists in the Yugoslav
>group G-17. They wrote the Program adopted by the so-called "democratic"
>opposition and its Presidential candidate, Vojislav Kostunica. (For a
>discussion of that Program, see "US Arrogance & Yugoslav Elections" at
>www.emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm )
>
>The G-17 likes to give the impression it is independent and
>Yugoslav-oriented. In fact it is funded mainly through the Washington-based
>Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). CIPE describes itself
as
>"an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." But in fact it is "a core
>institute" of the National Endowment for Democracy which has nothing to do,
>as far as we can tell, with Democracy. Rather, the Endowment was created in
>1983 to solve a problem of Empire. People knew that the CIA bribed
>intellectuals and leaders and set up front groups to carry out US policy:
>
>"When these covert activities surfaced (as they inevitably did), the
fallout
>was devastating." ('Washington Post', Sept. 22, 1991).
>
>This is why Congress created the National Endowment for Democracy.
>
>Allen Weinstein, who planned the Endowment, said:
>
>"A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."
>('Washington Post', Sept. 21, 1991)
>
>The National Endowment for Democracy (a sort of CIA spin-off) controls and
>pays for the Center for International Private Enterprise which in turn
funds
>the G-17.
>
>Three of the leading members of G-17 are Washington-based staff members of
>the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. They are, Dusan Vujovic,
>Zeliko Bogetic and Branko Milanovic. In addition, G-17 coordinator
Professor
>Veselin Vukotic has worked closely with the World Bank. He was in charge of
>the World Bank "bankruptcy program" in Yugoslavia during 1989-1990, which
led
>to the devastation of the Yugoslav economy and set the stage for the
breakup
>of Yugoslavia. While on IMF/WB payrolls, they are heavily involved in
>politics in Serbia and Montenegro. Other members of the G-17 consult for
the
>World Bank and attend World Bank-organized meetings.
>
>The "democratic" opposition works with the G-17. It has endorsed the G-17
>Economic program. If it got into power, the G-17 economists would be in
>charge of remaking Yugoslavia. This is not a guess. The opposition Program
>calls for working closely with the International Monetary Fund. The Fund
>always insists that its men run the show. That is not open for negotiation.
>And the IMF's men can conveniently be found among the leading members of
G-17.
>
>On their Website, the G-17 states that their aim is to establish: "...a
>network of experts in all Serbian towns able to create and practically
>implement necessary changes in all fields of social life."
>
>This is not simply a group of economists. It is a network. The
International
>Monetary Fund and World Bank are using this network to impose their
policies
>on Yugoslavia. Meanwhile they tell everyone the fiction that G-17 is a
>home-grown alternative.
>
>G-17 Coordinator Mladjan Dinkic is right now on his way to Bulgaria to draw
>up a "Letter Of Intent" with his colleagues at the International Monetary
>Fund. This will be the first step toward enforcing IMF "economic medicine."
>"We hope they will accept it," Dinkic said to a Pacifica Radio reporter.
>
>Economic Medicine Worse than Russia and Ukraine
>
>What happens when the IMF takes over a country?
>
>One of writers, Prof. Chossudovsky, studies the International Monetary Fund
>and World Bank and what their policies do to countries. . The G-17 Economic
>Program contains the same measures they forced on Russia, the Ukraine,
>Bulgaria and Peru, and many others. The results: social and economic
>devastation.
>
>But Yugoslavia has resisted NATO's attack on its national sovereignty. So
the
>IMF will hit Yugoslavia with even harder economic medicine.
>
>Forced Bankruptcies and Mass Misery
>
>G-17 economists like to talk about "free markets" and "privatization." But
in
>fact their International Monetary Fund wrecks countries.
>
>First, they force governments to do away with any social protections -
>subsidized food or rent, free transportation, free medical care. Out the
>window.
>
>Second, they use economic manipulation and new laws to force businesses -
>public and private - into bankruptcy. Then these businesses are taken over
by
>a small clique of leveraged buyout speculators and other powerful foreign
>economic interests. They purchase the businesses at rock bottom prices.
This
>is called "Privatization through Liquidation" and it is standard practice
in
>the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
>
>A case in point: Yugoslavia, 1989
>
>The elder statesman of the G-17 is Professor Veselin Vukotic. Presently he
is
>one of the economic brains behind Montenegrin secessionism.
>
>But what was he doing before the breakup of Yugoslavia?
>
>In 1989 he was appointed Minister of Privatization under Yugoslav Premier
>Ante Markovic.
>
>Yugoslavs have bitter memories of 1989-1991. But do they "put a human face"
>on the nightmare? Perhaps people think the economic disaster resulted from
>"market mechanisms" or "incompetent government." In fact it resulted from a
>World Bank plan.
>
>People in Ante Markovic's government pulled the strings. In 1989-90,
>Professor Vukotic worked with his Cabinet colleagues and an army of Western
>lawyers and consultants. They imposed the Financial Operations Act. It was
a
>World Bank plan.
>
>Under this law, companies were carefully selected for bankruptcy or
>liquidation. They were forced to meet impossible conditions. In this way,
the
>World Bank, through the Ministry of Privatization headed by Professor
Vukotic
>orchestrated the breakup of fifty percent of Yugoslav industry. World Bank
>data confirms that under his direction more than 1100 industrial firms were
>wiped out from January 1989 to September 1990
>
>And that was only the beginning.
>
>Over 614,000 industrial workers were laid off out of 2.7 million. The areas
>hardest hit were: Serbia, including Kosovo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and
>Macedonia. Real wages did a nose-dive. Social programs collapsed.
>Unemployment shot up.
>
>And now this same Professor Vukotic, a key man in the G-17, wants to return
>to power. When the IMF gets its jaws on a country it forces the government
to
>work under people who have already served the IMF and World Bank before.,
>People like Professor Vukotic. Vukotic could finish the job he started in
>1989 under the World Bank, a job ironically discontinued when economic
>sanctions were imposed in 1992. (Bulgaria would probably be better off
today
>if it had been hit with sanctions instead of with the International
Monetary
>Fund!)
>
>Giving Montenegrin Property to Foreign Speculators
>
>While Prof. Vukotic hopes to regain cabinet status in a "democratic"
>opposition government in Yugoslavia he has also been working closely with
the
>secessionist government of Montenegro. Montenegrin President Milo
Djukanovic,
>his former student, had put him in charge of the privatization program
which
>is auctioning off state property in Montenegro.
>
>Recently we found a US Commerce Department advertisement on the internet.
The
>title is: " Montenegro: Seeks Privatization Fund Managers."
>
>The advertisement explains that these Managers are needed in Montenegro,
>where US officials are "providing technical support" for so-called
>privatization. The managers would control "funds" that would take over
>ownership of what is now public property. The Managers could "restructure"
>these privatized companies - lay off the workers and sell the most valuable
>components. The Commerce department promises that this "should be quite
>profitable." Note how brazenly the U.S. Commerce Department celebrates
>turning Montenegrin property into foreign profit.
>
>Kosovo
>
>Professor Vukotic has also been vocal on the political and economic status
of
>Kosovo. Last June NATO marched into Kosovo, and the UCK (or Kosovo
Liberation
>Army) along with them. Wherever they went, they drove loyal Yugoslav
citizens
>from their homes, stole or destroyed their property and threatened them
with
>death. By June 26, the expulsions were at a peak.
>
>While Kosovo was devastated, Professor Vukotic said: "Kosovo should also
have
>its own currency." That's virtually the same as saying Kosovo should be a
>separate country. ('Associated Press,' June 26, 1999)
>
>The Deutschmark was adopted as legal tender and almost the entire banking
>system in Kosovo was handed over to Germanys Commerzbank A.G. And the G-17
>economists applaud
>
>The G-17 on the IMF-World Bank Payroll
>
>One of the most prominent members of the G-17 is Dr. Dusan Vujovic, a
senior
>economist at the World Bank. He acts as a link between the G-17 and
>Washington. He has been very active overseeing "reforms" in so-called
>"transition countries". In August 2000, Vujovic was put in charge of
>negotiating one of the World Bank's most deadly economic packages. It was
>imposed on the Ukraine, already devastated by earlier IMF-World Bank
reforms.
>
>What happened to the Ukraine? The Ukraine disaster started in the fall of
>1994. Prime Minister Vitali Masol signed an agreement with the
International
>Monetary Fund. In exchange for accepting "economic shock treatment" Ukraine
>got a 360 million dollar loan. That's a very small amount for a country..
>"Reforms" began in mid-October, 1994. The IMF ordered the Ukrainian
>authorities to end State controls over the currency exchange rate. This led
>to the collapse of the currency. The price of bread shot up overnight -
300%.
>Electricity- up 600%. Public transportation - up 900%.
>
>The population was forced to buy necessities based on "dollarized" prices.
>Meanwhile people were earning less than ten dollars a month. Credit was
>frozen. With electricity prices sky high and no credit, public and private
>industries were destroyed. The international speculators moved in like
sharks
>in a frenzy.
>
>Then in November 1994, World Bank negotiators were sent in to further
>"advise" the government. This time they overhauled Ukraine's agriculture.
The
>grain market was deregulated. This allowed the US to dump grain surpluses
on
>the Ukraine market. Ukraine went from being a grain exporter to begging for
>Food Aid from the European Union and the U.S. Thanks to the International
>Monetary Fund, Ukraine is now a starving political protectorate of the US
and
>Germany. And remember, Ukraine never did anything to offend the U.S.. It
>didn't rebel for 10 years, like Yugoslavia.
>
>The Case of Bulgaria
>
>Another key member of the G-17 is Dr. Zeliko Bogetic who holds a senior
>position at the International Monetary Fund. The International Monetary
Fund
>has been the doctor in many economic cures. The patient always dies. In
>1994-96, Bogetic participated on behalf of the IMF in forcing a structural
>adjustment program (SAP) on Bulgaria. All social defenses - price controls,
>subsidized food, housing and medical care - were stripped away.
>
>The program led to mass poverty and terrible suffering. By 1997, old age
>pensions (according to World Bank sources) had collapsed to two dollars a
>month. The World Bank admits that 90 percent of Bulgarians now live below
the
>poverty line but, they announce, much economic progress is being made.
>Perhaps when all the Bulgarians are dead they will announce the achievement
>of perfection.
>
>In early 2000, Bogetic was dispatched by the International Monetary Fund to
>Podgorica, Montenegro to advise the pro-secessionist government of
President
>Milo Djukanovic. Bogetic was to help set up a currency board modeled on
that
>of Bosnia under the Dayton Accord. Bogetic's advice was to stop using the
>Dinar, the Yugoslav currency. He said that under no circumstances should
>Montenegro establish a Central Bank. Now remember, the Djukanovic
government
>in Montenegro says it wants "independence" from Yugoslavia. But a Central
>Bank is the requirement for real independence. No, said Bogetic, that is
the
>"worst possible solution". So this "independence" really means "colony"!
>
>
>Bogetic would be the likely candidate for Yugoslav Central Bank Governor if
>the "democratic" opposition were to win. He'd do the same thing he's doing
in
>Montenegro. He'd establish a colonial style currency board linked to the
>Deutschmark. Then monetary policy would be controlled by the country's
>creditors. This would be a excellent for the creditors but very bad for the
>common people including local businessmen and farmers. It would make it
>impossible to finance economic reconstruction through the mobilization of
>Yugoslavia's own domestic resources. The country would be in a
straightjacket.
>
>If the "democratic opposition" came to power they have said they will
>introduce International Monetary Fund medicine. That's what they say in
their
>Program. But would this be the same medicine that the IMF have prescribed
for
>Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine?
>
>Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine cooperated fully with Washington. As nations,
>they never resisted being turned into colonies. Was the West merciful?
>Consider Russia. During the first year that the reforms were applied, which
>was 1992, wages collapsed by 86 percent. And in many of the countries of
the
>Balkans and Eastern Europe, economic activity has been cut in half. And
these
>are cooperative countries. As everyone knows, the U.S. is very annoyed with
>Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia has not been a good slave. It has not kissed the
hand
>of the bombers.
>
>History shows that if the International Monetary Fund gets hold of a
country
>that has been rebellious the treatment is vicious. And we are not talking
>about major rebels, like Yugoslavia. We are talking about very moderate
>rebels, like Peru.
>
>In Peru, the government of President Alan Garcia (1985-1990) refused to do
>some of what the International Monetary Fund ordered. In 1985, it decided
to
>pay international debts at a reduced rate. It instituted an economic
program
>that would help (instead of destroying) the economy.
>
>The International Monetary Fund Responds
>
>The country was immediately put on a black list by the . This disrupted
>Peru's foreign trade. It damaged the economy. It produced discontent.
>
>Enter Professor Alberto Fujimori. It was the 1990 elections. With help from
>Washington, Peru was having economic problems. Many people wanted change.
>Professor Fujimori was unknown. People felt he was "honest" and
"promising".
>He led a tiny party that had never held power. He was the winner in the
1990
>elections.
>
>Once in office, Fujimori caved in to the International Monetary Fund's
>demands. What followed was the most deadly economic "reform" in Latin
>American history. From one day to the next, the price of fuel increased by
31
>times (2,968 per cent). The price of bread increased more than twelve times
>(1,150 per cent).
>
>People could no longer afford to boil water. A cholera epidemic broke out.
>The social consequences were devastating. An agricultural worker in August
>1990 was paid $7.50 a month (US). That was enough to buy two hamburgers and
a
>drink at McDonalds. Consumer prices in Lima were higher than New York. Real
>earnings dropped by 60 per cent. By mid-1991 the standard of living had
>declined by 85 per cent compared to the levels in the 1970s.And this was
the
>just beginning of ten years of deadly reforms under Fujimori.
>
>And remember, Peru didn't really do anything. Just resisted a few
>International Monetary Fund Measures. But Yugoslavia? Yugoslavia resisted
>colonial domination by Germany during World War II and now by the U.S.A.
>
>Washington and Berlin would like nothing more than to make Yugoslavia an
>example of what happens when you resist. That is, they would like to make
it
>a "model" protectorate.
>
>Haven't the U.S. and Germany made this perfectly clear in Kosovo? A
>gangster-fascist regime with links to the drug trade has been installed.
And
>Western leaders are fully aware of the horror they have wrought in Kosovo.
UN
>Secretary General Kofi Annan received a special report about this. The
report
>was discussed by the British newspaper, The Observer':
>
>"Murder, torture and extortion: these are the extraordinary charges made
>against the UN's own Kosovo Protection Corps in a confidential United
Nations
>report written for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
>
>"The KPC stands accused in the document, drawn up on 29 February, of
>'criminal activities - killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal policing,
>abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and
>hate-speech'. " (quoted in "How Will You Plead at your Trial, Mr. Annan?"
at
>http://emperors-clothes.com/news/howwill.htm )
>
>What would Washington do if it's G-17 employees got hold of Yugoslavia?
They
>would institute the most extreme economic "reforms". Prices would go sky
>high. Farmers would lose their land. Businesses would be bought up and
closed
>down.
>
>This kind of suffering produces ethnic tension. Washington would whip this
up
>by sending in their UCK (KLA) terrorists. Why does Washington keep the UCK
in
>power in Kosovo? Because they want to use them again. For what? They are
>incapable of fighting a real army. What are they good for?
>
>They are good for driving 350,000 unarmed civilians from their homes,
>kidnapping hundreds of people, killing hundreds or perhaps thousands. They
>can be used again in Serbia north of Kosovo - if the US gives them the nod.
>
>A Washington-controlled government would bring in NATO troops to "help keep
>order." The troops would never leave. The hunt for imaginary war criminals
>would go on, a thousand times worse than it is in the Bosnian Serb
Republic.
>Croatians, Bosnian Muslims and ethnic Albanians who fled to Serbia to
escape
>fascist persecution would be put on the list of phony war criminals. All
>loyal Yugoslavs would have to pay for their (imaginary) crimes so that
>"healing can begin."
>
>Every effort would be made to humiliate the people, to break their spirit,
>and to eliminate potential leaders of resistance.
>
>The example of post-war relations between the US and Vietnam is
informative.
>When the Vietnam War ended, the US government ordered an embargo which
>seriously hurt Vietnam, socially and economically. A few years ago,
>Washington agreed to lift the embargo following a secret agreement under
the
>Paris Club of official creditors. Vietnam agreed to pay the debts of the
>former South Vietnamese government. This was a puppet regime set up by
>Washington. It had gone into debt borrowing money from the US, money which
>was mainly used to buy weapons from the US to kill Vietnamese. And now
>Vietnam must repay Washington this odious debt.
>
>While Kostunica presents himself as a nationalist critical of NATO, he also
>wants to "normalise" Yugoslavia's relationship to the IMF and the OSCE. But
>these are "sister institutions", they work together in one big family. NATO
>is the "military arm" of Western financial interests. It does not operate
>independently but works in close consultation with Wall Street and the IMF.
>In Bosnia and Kosovo, NATO military repression is coordinated with actions
of
>the IMF and the World Bank.
>
>Under the IMF, the country would be transformed into a protectorate.
>"Economic warfare" would devastate the society. The Yugoslav people have
done
>remarkable work rebuilding what was destroyed by the NATO bombing last
year.
>But the IMF working through G-17 economists would work to liquidate
national
>industry . (We have seen a sample of this in Kosovo with the Trepca mining
>complex. It was handed over on a silver platter to the powerful "Washington
>Group", a US based construction, mining and defence contractor. The local
>employees have been discharged,)
>
>This economic assault would tend to increase ethnic tensions, providing
>opportunities for provocateurs. NATO could use the excuse of "age old
ethnic
>hatreds" to bring troops into the country. Meanwhile, as indicated in the
>G-17 Program, the IMF would order cuts in military spending. With a
weakened
>army it would be much more difficult to deal with the influx of Kosovo
>Liberation Army terrorists.
>
>Of course, the Yugoslav people could and undoubtedly would organize to
oppose
>these measures. But people should be aware that this can be the result of
>letting the International Monetary Fund get a grip on Yugoslavia.
>
>***
>
>Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa.
He
>is author of "The Globalization of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank
>Reforms," TWN, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. His special expertise is
>studying the consequences of the intervention by Western dominated economic
>institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank in Third World and former
>Socialist countries.
>
>Jared Israel, the editor of Emperor's Clothes, was a leader of the student
>antiwar movement in the 1960s. The Yugoslav resistance to U.S. government
>bullying inspired him to return to antiwar activity. He has written about
the
>struggle in the Balkans in newspapers around the world.
>
>To read articles by Chossudovsky or Israel go to
>http://emperors-clothes.com/artbyauth.html and click on "c" or "i"
>
>***
>
>If you find emperors-clothes useful, we can use your help...
>
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>
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>
>www.tenc.net
>[Emperor's Clothes]
>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel (9-28-2000)
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
>"We want to be open colony and open society." G-17 coordinator VESELIN
>VUKOTIC interviewed on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer", US Public
Television,
>July 14, 1999.
>
>How the International Monetary Fund and World Bank operate: "First, they
>force governments to do away with any social protections - subsidized food
or
>rent, free transportation, free medical care. Second, they force
businesses -
>public and private - into bankruptcy. Then these businesses are taken over
by
>a small clique of leveraged buyout speculators and other powerful foreign
>economic interests. They purchase the businesses at rock bottom prices.
This
>is called "Privatization through Liquidation" which is standard practice in
>the Balkans and Eastern Europe." (From the text below)
>
>Recently there's been a lot of interest in the economists in the Yugoslav
>group G-17. They wrote the Program adopted by the so-called "democratic"
>opposition and its Presidential candidate, Vojislav Kostunica. (For a
>discussion of that Program, see "US Arrogance & Yugoslav Elections" at
>www.emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm )
>
>The G-17 likes to give the impression it is independent and
>Yugoslav-oriented. In fact it is funded mainly through the Washington-based
>Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). CIPE describes itself
as
>"an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." But in fact it is "a core
>institute" of the National Endowment for Democracy which has nothing to do,
>as far as we can tell, with Democracy. Rather, the Endowment was created in
>1983 to solve a problem of Empire. People knew that the CIA bribed
>intellectuals and leaders and set up front groups to carry out US policy:
>
>"When these covert activities surfaced (as they inevitably did), the
fallout
>was devastating." ('Washington Post', Sept. 22, 1991).
>
>This is why Congress created the National Endowment for Democracy.
>
>Allen Weinstein, who planned the Endowment, said:
>
>"A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."
>('Washington Post', Sept. 21, 1991)
>
>The National Endowment for Democracy (a sort of CIA spin-off) controls and
>pays for the Center for International Private Enterprise which in turn
funds
>the G-17.
>
>Three of the leading members of G-17 are Washington-based staff members of
>the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. They are, Dusan Vujovic,
>Zeliko Bogetic and Branko Milanovic. In addition, G-17 coordinator
Professor
>Veselin Vukotic has worked closely with the World Bank. He was in charge of
>the World Bank "bankruptcy program" in Yugoslavia during 1989-1990, which
led
>to the devastation of the Yugoslav economy and set the stage for the
breakup
>of Yugoslavia. While on IMF/WB payrolls, they are heavily involved in
>politics in Serbia and Montenegro. Other members of the G-17 consult for
the
>World Bank and attend World Bank-organized meetings.
>
>The "democratic" opposition works with the G-17. It has endorsed the G-17
>Economic program. If it got into power, the G-17 economists would be in
>charge of remaking Yugoslavia. This is not a guess. The opposition Program
>calls for working closely with the International Monetary Fund. The Fund
>always insists that its men run the show. That is not open for negotiation.
>And the IMF's men can conveniently be found among the leading members of
G-17.
>
>On their Website, the G-17 states that their aim is to establish: "...a
>network of experts in all Serbian towns able to create and practically
>implement necessary changes in all fields of social life."
>
>This is not simply a group of economists. It is a network. The
International
>Monetary Fund and World Bank are using this network to impose their
policies
>on Yugoslavia. Meanwhile they tell everyone the fiction that G-17 is a
>home-grown alternative.
>
>G-17 Coordinator Mladjan Dinkic is right now on his way to Bulgaria to draw
>up a "Letter Of Intent" with his colleagues at the International Monetary
>Fund. This will be the first step toward enforcing IMF "economic medicine."
>"We hope they will accept it," Dinkic said to a Pacifica Radio reporter.
>
>Economic Medicine Worse than Russia and Ukraine
>
>What happens when the IMF takes over a country?
>
>One of writers, Prof. Chossudovsky, studies the International Monetary Fund
>and World Bank and what their policies do to countries. . The G-17 Economic
>Program contains the same measures they forced on Russia, the Ukraine,
>Bulgaria and Peru, and many others. The results: social and economic
>devastation.
>
>But Yugoslavia has resisted NATO's attack on its national sovereignty. So
the
>IMF will hit Yugoslavia with even harder economic medicine.
>
>Forced Bankruptcies and Mass Misery
>
>G-17 economists like to talk about "free markets" and "privatization." But
in
>fact their International Monetary Fund wrecks countries.
>
>First, they force governments to do away with any social protections -
>subsidized food or rent, free transportation, free medical care. Out the
>window.
>
>Second, they use economic manipulation and new laws to force businesses -
>public and private - into bankruptcy. Then these businesses are taken over
by
>a small clique of leveraged buyout speculators and other powerful foreign
>economic interests. They purchase the businesses at rock bottom prices.
This
>is called "Privatization through Liquidation" and it is standard practice
in
>the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
>
>A case in point: Yugoslavia, 1989
>
>The elder statesman of the G-17 is Professor Veselin Vukotic. Presently he
is
>one of the economic brains behind Montenegrin secessionism.
>
>But what was he doing before the breakup of Yugoslavia?
>
>In 1989 he was appointed Minister of Privatization under Yugoslav Premier
>Ante Markovic.
>
>Yugoslavs have bitter memories of 1989-1991. But do they "put a human face"
>on the nightmare? Perhaps people think the economic disaster resulted from
>"market mechanisms" or "incompetent government." In fact it resulted from a
>World Bank plan.
>
>People in Ante Markovic's government pulled the strings. In 1989-90,
>Professor Vukotic worked with his Cabinet colleagues and an army of Western
>lawyers and consultants. They imposed the Financial Operations Act. It was
a
>World Bank plan.
>
>Under this law, companies were carefully selected for bankruptcy or
>liquidation. They were forced to meet impossible conditions. In this way,
the
>World Bank, through the Ministry of Privatization headed by Professor
Vukotic
>orchestrated the breakup of fifty percent of Yugoslav industry. World Bank
>data confirms that under his direction more than 1100 industrial firms were
>wiped out from January 1989 to September 1990
>
>And that was only the beginning.
>
>Over 614,000 industrial workers were laid off out of 2.7 million. The areas
>hardest hit were: Serbia, including Kosovo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina and
>Macedonia. Real wages did a nose-dive. Social programs collapsed.
>Unemployment shot up.
>
>And now this same Professor Vukotic, a key man in the G-17, wants to return
>to power. When the IMF gets its jaws on a country it forces the government
to
>work under people who have already served the IMF and World Bank before.,
>People like Professor Vukotic. Vukotic could finish the job he started in
>1989 under the World Bank, a job ironically discontinued when economic
>sanctions were imposed in 1992. (Bulgaria would probably be better off
today
>if it had been hit with sanctions instead of with the International
Monetary
>Fund!)
>
>Giving Montenegrin Property to Foreign Speculators
>
>While Prof. Vukotic hopes to regain cabinet status in a "democratic"
>opposition government in Yugoslavia he has also been working closely with
the
>secessionist government of Montenegro. Montenegrin President Milo
Djukanovic,
>his former student, had put him in charge of the privatization program
which
>is auctioning off state property in Montenegro.
>
>Recently we found a US Commerce Department advertisement on the internet.
The
>title is: " Montenegro: Seeks Privatization Fund Managers."
>
>The advertisement explains that these Managers are needed in Montenegro,
>where US officials are "providing technical support" for so-called
>privatization. The managers would control "funds" that would take over
>ownership of what is now public property. The Managers could "restructure"
>these privatized companies - lay off the workers and sell the most valuable
>components. The Commerce department promises that this "should be quite
>profitable." Note how brazenly the U.S. Commerce Department celebrates
>turning Montenegrin property into foreign profit.
>
>Kosovo
>
>Professor Vukotic has also been vocal on the political and economic status
of
>Kosovo. Last June NATO marched into Kosovo, and the UCK (or Kosovo
Liberation
>Army) along with them. Wherever they went, they drove loyal Yugoslav
citizens
>from their homes, stole or destroyed their property and threatened them
with
>death. By June 26, the expulsions were at a peak.
>
>While Kosovo was devastated, Professor Vukotic said: "Kosovo should also
have
>its own currency." That's virtually the same as saying Kosovo should be a
>separate country. ('Associated Press,' June 26, 1999)
>
>The Deutschmark was adopted as legal tender and almost the entire banking
>system in Kosovo was handed over to Germanys Commerzbank A.G. And the G-17
>economists applaud
>
>The G-17 on the IMF-World Bank Payroll
>
>One of the most prominent members of the G-17 is Dr. Dusan Vujovic, a
senior
>economist at the World Bank. He acts as a link between the G-17 and
>Washington. He has been very active overseeing "reforms" in so-called
>"transition countries". In August 2000, Vujovic was put in charge of
>negotiating one of the World Bank's most deadly economic packages. It was
>imposed on the Ukraine, already devastated by earlier IMF-World Bank
reforms.
>
>What happened to the Ukraine? The Ukraine disaster started in the fall of
>1994. Prime Minister Vitali Masol signed an agreement with the
International
>Monetary Fund. In exchange for accepting "economic shock treatment" Ukraine
>got a 360 million dollar loan. That's a very small amount for a country..
>"Reforms" began in mid-October, 1994. The IMF ordered the Ukrainian
>authorities to end State controls over the currency exchange rate. This led
>to the collapse of the currency. The price of bread shot up overnight -
300%.
>Electricity- up 600%. Public transportation - up 900%.
>
>The population was forced to buy necessities based on "dollarized" prices.
>Meanwhile people were earning less than ten dollars a month. Credit was
>frozen. With electricity prices sky high and no credit, public and private
>industries were destroyed. The international speculators moved in like
sharks
>in a frenzy.
>
>Then in November 1994, World Bank negotiators were sent in to further
>"advise" the government. This time they overhauled Ukraine's agriculture.
The
>grain market was deregulated. This allowed the US to dump grain surpluses
on
>the Ukraine market. Ukraine went from being a grain exporter to begging for
>Food Aid from the European Union and the U.S. Thanks to the International
>Monetary Fund, Ukraine is now a starving political protectorate of the US
and
>Germany. And remember, Ukraine never did anything to offend the U.S.. It
>didn't rebel for 10 years, like Yugoslavia.
>
>The Case of Bulgaria
>
>Another key member of the G-17 is Dr. Zeliko Bogetic who holds a senior
>position at the International Monetary Fund. The International Monetary
Fund
>has been the doctor in many economic cures. The patient always dies. In
>1994-96, Bogetic participated on behalf of the IMF in forcing a structural
>adjustment program (SAP) on Bulgaria. All social defenses - price controls,
>subsidized food, housing and medical care - were stripped away.
>
>The program led to mass poverty and terrible suffering. By 1997, old age
>pensions (according to World Bank sources) had collapsed to two dollars a
>month. The World Bank admits that 90 percent of Bulgarians now live below
the
>poverty line but, they announce, much economic progress is being made.
>Perhaps when all the Bulgarians are dead they will announce the achievement
>of perfection.
>
>In early 2000, Bogetic was dispatched by the International Monetary Fund to
>Podgorica, Montenegro to advise the pro-secessionist government of
President
>Milo Djukanovic. Bogetic was to help set up a currency board modeled on
that
>of Bosnia under the Dayton Accord. Bogetic's advice was to stop using the
>Dinar, the Yugoslav currency. He said that under no circumstances should
>Montenegro establish a Central Bank. Now remember, the Djukanovic
government
>in Montenegro says it wants "independence" from Yugoslavia. But a Central
>Bank is the requirement for real independence. No, said Bogetic, that is
the
>"worst possible solution". So this "independence" really means "colony"!
>
>
>Bogetic would be the likely candidate for Yugoslav Central Bank Governor if
>the "democratic" opposition were to win. He'd do the same thing he's doing
in
>Montenegro. He'd establish a colonial style currency board linked to the
>Deutschmark. Then monetary policy would be controlled by the country's
>creditors. This would be a excellent for the creditors but very bad for the
>common people including local businessmen and farmers. It would make it
>impossible to finance economic reconstruction through the mobilization of
>Yugoslavia's own domestic resources. The country would be in a
straightjacket.
>
>If the "democratic opposition" came to power they have said they will
>introduce International Monetary Fund medicine. That's what they say in
their
>Program. But would this be the same medicine that the IMF have prescribed
for
>Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine?
>
>Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine cooperated fully with Washington. As nations,
>they never resisted being turned into colonies. Was the West merciful?
>Consider Russia. During the first year that the reforms were applied, which
>was 1992, wages collapsed by 86 percent. And in many of the countries of
the
>Balkans and Eastern Europe, economic activity has been cut in half. And
these
>are cooperative countries. As everyone knows, the U.S. is very annoyed with
>Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia has not been a good slave. It has not kissed the
hand
>of the bombers.
>
>History shows that if the International Monetary Fund gets hold of a
country
>that has been rebellious the treatment is vicious. And we are not talking
>about major rebels, like Yugoslavia. We are talking about very moderate
>rebels, like Peru.
>
>In Peru, the government of President Alan Garcia (1985-1990) refused to do
>some of what the International Monetary Fund ordered. In 1985, it decided
to
>pay international debts at a reduced rate. It instituted an economic
program
>that would help (instead of destroying) the economy.
>
>The International Monetary Fund Responds
>
>The country was immediately put on a black list by the . This disrupted
>Peru's foreign trade. It damaged the economy. It produced discontent.
>
>Enter Professor Alberto Fujimori. It was the 1990 elections. With help from
>Washington, Peru was having economic problems. Many people wanted change.
>Professor Fujimori was unknown. People felt he was "honest" and
"promising".
>He led a tiny party that had never held power. He was the winner in the
1990
>elections.
>
>Once in office, Fujimori caved in to the International Monetary Fund's
>demands. What followed was the most deadly economic "reform" in Latin
>American history. From one day to the next, the price of fuel increased by
31
>times (2,968 per cent). The price of bread increased more than twelve times
>(1,150 per cent).
>
>People could no longer afford to boil water. A cholera epidemic broke out.
>The social consequences were devastating. An agricultural worker in August
>1990 was paid $7.50 a month (US). That was enough to buy two hamburgers and
a
>drink at McDonalds. Consumer prices in Lima were higher than New York. Real
>earnings dropped by 60 per cent. By mid-1991 the standard of living had
>declined by 85 per cent compared to the levels in the 1970s.And this was
the
>just beginning of ten years of deadly reforms under Fujimori.
>
>And remember, Peru didn't really do anything. Just resisted a few
>International Monetary Fund Measures. But Yugoslavia? Yugoslavia resisted
>colonial domination by Germany during World War II and now by the U.S.A.
>
>Washington and Berlin would like nothing more than to make Yugoslavia an
>example of what happens when you resist. That is, they would like to make
it
>a "model" protectorate.
>
>Haven't the U.S. and Germany made this perfectly clear in Kosovo? A
>gangster-fascist regime with links to the drug trade has been installed.
And
>Western leaders are fully aware of the horror they have wrought in Kosovo.
UN
>Secretary General Kofi Annan received a special report about this. The
report
>was discussed by the British newspaper, The Observer':
>
>"Murder, torture and extortion: these are the extraordinary charges made
>against the UN's own Kosovo Protection Corps in a confidential United
Nations
>report written for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
>
>"The KPC stands accused in the document, drawn up on 29 February, of
>'criminal activities - killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal policing,
>abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and
>hate-speech'. " (quoted in "How Will You Plead at your Trial, Mr. Annan?"
at
>http://emperors-clothes.com/news/howwill.htm )
>
>What would Washington do if it's G-17 employees got hold of Yugoslavia?
They
>would institute the most extreme economic "reforms". Prices would go sky
>high. Farmers would lose their land. Businesses would be bought up and
closed
>down.
>
>This kind of suffering produces ethnic tension. Washington would whip this
up
>by sending in their UCK (KLA) terrorists. Why does Washington keep the UCK
in
>power in Kosovo? Because they want to use them again. For what? They are
>incapable of fighting a real army. What are they good for?
>
>They are good for driving 350,000 unarmed civilians from their homes,
>kidnapping hundreds of people, killing hundreds or perhaps thousands. They
>can be used again in Serbia north of Kosovo - if the US gives them the nod.
>
>A Washington-controlled government would bring in NATO troops to "help keep
>order." The troops would never leave. The hunt for imaginary war criminals
>would go on, a thousand times worse than it is in the Bosnian Serb
Republic.
>Croatians, Bosnian Muslims and ethnic Albanians who fled to Serbia to
escape
>fascist persecution would be put on the list of phony war criminals. All
>loyal Yugoslavs would have to pay for their (imaginary) crimes so that
>"healing can begin."
>
>Every effort would be made to humiliate the people, to break their spirit,
>and to eliminate potential leaders of resistance.
>
>The example of post-war relations between the US and Vietnam is
informative.
>When the Vietnam War ended, the US government ordered an embargo which
>seriously hurt Vietnam, socially and economically. A few years ago,
>Washington agreed to lift the embargo following a secret agreement under
the
>Paris Club of official creditors. Vietnam agreed to pay the debts of the
>former South Vietnamese government. This was a puppet regime set up by
>Washington. It had gone into debt borrowing money from the US, money which
>was mainly used to buy weapons from the US to kill Vietnamese. And now
>Vietnam must repay Washington this odious debt.
>
>While Kostunica presents himself as a nationalist critical of NATO, he also
>wants to "normalise" Yugoslavia's relationship to the IMF and the OSCE. But
>these are "sister institutions", they work together in one big family. NATO
>is the "military arm" of Western financial interests. It does not operate
>independently but works in close consultation with Wall Street and the IMF.
>In Bosnia and Kosovo, NATO military repression is coordinated with actions
of
>the IMF and the World Bank.
>
>Under the IMF, the country would be transformed into a protectorate.
>"Economic warfare" would devastate the society. The Yugoslav people have
done
>remarkable work rebuilding what was destroyed by the NATO bombing last
year.
>But the IMF working through G-17 economists would work to liquidate
national
>industry . (We have seen a sample of this in Kosovo with the Trepca mining
>complex. It was handed over on a silver platter to the powerful "Washington
>Group", a US based construction, mining and defence contractor. The local
>employees have been discharged,)
>
>This economic assault would tend to increase ethnic tensions, providing
>opportunities for provocateurs. NATO could use the excuse of "age old
ethnic
>hatreds" to bring troops into the country. Meanwhile, as indicated in the
>G-17 Program, the IMF would order cuts in military spending. With a
weakened
>army it would be much more difficult to deal with the influx of Kosovo
>Liberation Army terrorists.
>
>Of course, the Yugoslav people could and undoubtedly would organize to
oppose
>these measures. But people should be aware that this can be the result of
>letting the International Monetary Fund get a grip on Yugoslavia.
>
>***
>
>Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa.
He
>is author of "The Globalization of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank
>Reforms," TWN, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. His special expertise is
>studying the consequences of the intervention by Western dominated economic
>institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank in Third World and former
>Socialist countries.
>
>Jared Israel, the editor of Emperor's Clothes, was a leader of the student
>antiwar movement in the 1960s. The Yugoslav resistance to U.S. government
>bullying inspired him to return to antiwar activity. He has written about
the
>struggle in the Balkans in newspapers around the world.
>
>To read articles by Chossudovsky or Israel go to
>http://emperors-clothes.com/artbyauth.html and click on "c" or "i"
>
>***
>
>If you find emperors-clothes useful, we can use your help...
>
>(The Soros Foundation doesn't fund us...)
>
>We rely on volunteer labor and donations. Our expenses include: Internet
>fees, Lexis, our Internet research tool, equipment and phone bills. We use
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>
>Every month hundreds of thousands of people read articles from Emperor's
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>
>To use our secure server to make a donation please go to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/howyour.htm . Or you can mail a check to
>Emperor's Clothes, P.O. Box 610-321, Newton, MA 02461-0321. (USA) Or call
in
>a contribution at 617 916-1705
>
>Thanks for reading and thanks for helping.
>
>www.tenc.net
>[Emperor's Clothes]
>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Yugoslav 'Opposition' Negotiates Sale of Yugoslavia!
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel
* Joseph Biden (US congressman): "We, the Congress, are saying to the
people of Serbia that they are our friends, not our enemies. It is their
Government, it is Slobodan Milosevic that is the problem, not the
Serbian people... Should our West European allies choose to embrace a
post-Milosevic, democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia,
then I would say to them `good luck'..."
* Washington Votes to Finance Yugoslav Runoff Election
by Michel Chossudovsky
* Blatant U.S. intervention in Yugoslav elections protested; Group calls
for investigation (IAC)
* Are Washingtonians Helping Milosevic Survive?
by Srdja Trifkovic
---
URL for this article is http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/11.htm
Yugoslav 'Opposition' Negotiates Sale of Yugoslavia!
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
>People may not be aware that two prominent members of the Democratic
>Opposition of Serbia (DOS) just made a very important trip to Bulgaria.
They
>met with representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
World
>Bank and the NATO governments at a so-called "donor conference." The
purpose
>was to set the stage for NATO governments to takeover Yugoslavia.
>
>The trip was announced the day after the Yugoslav elections. Mladjan
Dinkic,
>the most likely Finance Minister in an opposition government, "said that
>representatives of his G-17 Plus will travel to Bulgaria this week for a
>donor conference on Yugoslavia with representatives of the International
>Monetary Fund." (United Press International, 27 September 2000)
>
>Dinkic was accompanied by Dr. Dragoslav Avramovic, an economist in Zoran
>Djindjic's 'Alliance for Change'. These so-called "democratic opposition"
>groups have been paid huge sums by US government agencies.
>
>Dinkic told United Press International that "Dragoslav Avramovic had
drafted
>a letter of intent with a request to the IMF and World Bank. Dinkic said he
>expected that this would be followed by negotiations with creditor
countries,
>the so-called Paris Club..." These are the NATO countries.
>
>A "Letter of Intent" includes a "Memorandum on Economic and Financial
>Policies". This establishes the conditions under which all of Yugoslavia
>would be put under the control of Western donors and creditors. Only a
>Yugoslav Finance Minister, selected by Parliament, has a legal right to
draft
>a "Letter of Intent." But Dinkic and Avramovic represent only the so-called
>"democratic" opposition. In what country is it legal for opposition
elements
>to "negotiate" with enemy countries who finance their movement? This is an
>extreme act of interference by the NATO countries.
>
>What measures do the NATO countries want to impose?
>
>* End of all government price controls;
>
>* Introduction of "free markets" without any protection for farmers or
>businesses from dumping of foreign goods;
>
>* End to all social protection. No government help with medical care,
>transportation , food or heating;
>
>* A freeze on credit to businesses
>
>* Massive layoffs of workers and drastic pay cuts for workers and farmers;
>
>* Forced liquidation of important businesses and industries, public and
>private
>
>* Any future reconstruction work to correct bombing damage be entrusted to
>companies from the NATO countries. They would be paid with money Yugoslavia
>would be forced to borrow from international lenders.
>
>The result of these policies would be: food prices would go fly high;
>enterprises would be driven into bankruptcy and liquidation; foreign
capital
>would seize the entire economy.
>
>The "Letter of Intent" would require the acceptance of Washington's
political
>demands. These were just laid out in the so-called "Serbian Democratization
>Act," # HR1064. It was passed by the US House of Representatives on
September
>25, the day Dinkic announced his trip to Bulgaria. Good timing. This law
>states that for Yugoslavia to be free of sanctions, and for it to be
>"allowed" into the IMF it would have to:
>
>1) Negotiate independence (meaning secession) for Kosovo and probably
>Vojvodina
>
>2) Completely "democratize" the country. "Democratize" is a code word for
>carrying out all US government orders;
>
>3) Settle "all succession issues with the other republics". This would
>include the 50 billion (US) that the Croatian government and the
Izetbegovic
>government in Bosnia are demanding as war reparations. The money would go
>right to these countries' creditors, which are NATO governments and Western
>Banks;
>
>4) Fully cooperate "with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
>Yugoslavia, including the transfer to The Hague of all individuals in
>Yugoslavia indicted by the Tribunal." This means the Yugoslav Army would
have
>to hunt down any person the Hague tribunal said was a war criminal. Any
>leader of resistance could be put on the Hague's secret list of phony war
>criminals..
>
>All this makes perfectly clear that Mr. Kostunica's promise to work with
the
>International Monetary Fund but at the same time "safeguard Yugoslavia" is
>hollow words: they sound good but mean nothing. In agreeing to draft a
Letter
>of Intent, Kostunica's coalition has already deserted national sovereignty.
>They have sold Yugoslavia, its economy, its institutions and its people.
>
>Meanwhile, the US law, HR 1064, authorizes the US government to immediately
>transfer another $105 million to the so-called "democratic" opposition and
>the secessionist government in Montenegro. American money -- together with
>funds transferred from other sources -- will not only pay for campaign
>expenses, it will finance payoffs.
>
>Washington and NATO are openly paying key individuals in the opposition
>parties to do what they are told to do. They are on the NATO bombers'
>payroll.
>
>Further reading:
>
>'The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections' by Michel
>Chossudovsky and Jared Israel. Summarizes devestating effects of World
>Bank/IMF intervention in several countries. Discusses link between Western
>financial takeover and social-political destruction.
>http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm
>
>'How the U.S. has Created a Corrupt Opposition in Serbia'
>By Jared Israel, Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Karen Talbot, Nico Varkevisser
>and Prof. Petar Maher.
>http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/scam.htm
>
>''NY Times' Confirms Charge: U.S. Gov't Meddles in Yugoslavia' with
comments
>by Jared Israel. "Suitcases full of cash" says the 'Times.'
>http://emperors-clothes.com/news/erlang.htm
>
>'Emperor's Clothes Interviews Radio B292'
>Revealing interviews by Jared Israel with two staff members at the U.S.
>"independent" radio station in Belgrade.
>http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/emperor.htm
>
>'Criticism of Emperor's Clothes on the Yugoslav Elections, with Reply'
>Prof. Robert Hayden & Jared Israel
>http://emperors-clothes.com/letters/yugoltr.htm
>
>'Will the US Get Their Money's Worth in Yugo Elections?' by George Szamuely
>at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/szamuely/willthe.htm
>
>'U.S. Law Passed by House of Represntatives on Funding Yugo Opposition and
>Harsh Terms for Lifting Sanctions'
>http://emperors-clothes.com/news/1064.htm (If this link gives you a server
>error please try a bit later; it is being set up.)
>
>www.tenc.net
>[Emperor's Clothes]
--
AP Worldstream
September 27, 2000; Wednesday 1:59 PM Eastern Time
Croatia's president said Wednesday that the West should maintain
sanctions
against Yugoslavia until Belgrade starts cooperating with the U.N.
tribunal
in The Hague and extradites suspected war criminals.
Following are comments by Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on the Senate floor
on
9/26/00 re the elections in Serbia. They fully illustrate why action on
HR
1064, a bill purportedly aimed at supporting democracy in Serbia, would
be
counterproductive. Once again, this bill would help save the Clinton
policy (and possibly save Milosevic too), not help get Milosevic out of
power.
Senator Biden says that "We, the Congress, are saying to the people of
Serbia that they are our friends, not our enemies. It is their
Government,
it is Slobodan Milosevic that is the problem, not the Serbian people."
But
a simple reading of the balance of his comments show that that is
clearly
not the case: under HR 1064 sanctions punishing Serbia -- not Milosevic
and
his black-market gang -- will be codified and kept in place (with some
unspecified "flexibility" generously promised by Sec. Albright) until
Kostunica complies with every demand from Washington, including sending
all
indicted war criminals to The Hague. Kostunica has stated that he will
not
do so, and as a patriot is he is no less
willing to send any of his countrymen to The Hague than any real
American
would be to send any U.S. citizen, however criminal he might be, to be
tried by a United Nations court.
The fact that this bill is a weapon aimed not at Milosevic but at
Kostunica
or any other democratic successor -- and that Kostunica has been
condemned
in advance as an "ultra-nationalist" if he does not agree to become
exactly
the quisling Milosevic accuses him of being -- is betrayed by the
following
comments near the end:
" To be blunt: respect for Dayton and cooperation with The Hague
Tribunal
must be litmus tests for any democratic government in Serbia. I
fervently
hope that Mr. Kostunica emerges victorious in the Yugoslav elections. If
he
does, the United States should immediately extend to him a sincere hand
of
friendship, with the assistance outlined in the pending legislation. .
. .
If, on the other hand, Mr. Kostunica comes to power and thinks that his
undeniable and praiseworthy democratic credentials will enable him to
pursue an aggressive Serbian nationalist policy with a kinder face, then
we
must disabuse him of this notion. Should our West European allies
choose
to embrace a post-Milosevic , democratically elected, but
ultra-nationalistic Serbia, then I would say to them `good luck; we'll
concentrate our policy in the former Yugoslavia on preparing democratic
and
prosperous Slovenia for the next round of NATO enlargement, on
continuing
to help reconstruct Bosnia and Kosovo, and on supporting the democratic
governments in Macedonia, Croatia, and Montenegro."
SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA (Senate - September 26, 2000)
[Page: S9251] GPO's PDF
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, on another matter which relates to another
form
of human rights, I wish to speak to the legislation we are going to
bring
up tomorrow, the Serbian Democratization Act of 2000. I am an original
cosponsor of this legislation. I am told that tomorrow we are going to
get
a chance to deal with this issue.
As everyone knows, Slobodan Milosevic is on the ropes. Despite
Milosevic's
massive systematic effort to steal Sunday's Yugoslav Presidential
election,
his state election commission had to admit that the opposition candidate
Vojislav Kostunica won at least the plurality of the votes already
counted;
48.22 percent to be exact.
According to opposition poll watchers, Kostunica in all probability
actually won about 55 percent of the vote, which would have obviated the
need for a two-candidate second-round runoff with Milosevic , which now
seems likely.
It is still unclear whether the democratic opposition will go along with
this semi-rigged, desperation plan of Milosevic's to hang on by rigging
the
runoff. Even if Milosevic loses the runoff and is forced to recognize
the
results of the election, he may still attempt to hold on to the levers
of
power through his control of the federal parliament and of the Socialist
Party with its network of political cronies
and corrupt businessmen.
He may use the classic tactic of provoking a foreign crisis by trying to
unseat the democratically elected, pro-Western government in Montenegro,
a
move I warned against on this floor several months ago.
We will have to wait and see for a few days before knowing exactly how
the
situation in Yugoslavia is going to develop, but there is no doubt
whatsoever as to who the primary villain in this drama is. It was, it
is,
and it continues to be Slobodan Milosevic , one of the most despicable
men
I have personally met, and, as everyone in this Chamber knows, a man who
has been indicted by The Hague Tribunal for war crimes and is the chief
obstacle to peace and stability in the Balkans.
Therefore, it should be--and has been--a primary goal of U.S. foreign
policy to isolate Milosevic and his cronies, and to assist the Serbian
democratic opposition in toppling him.
Earlier this year, with this goal in mind, the Serbian Democratization
Act
of 2000 was drafted in a bipartisan effort. It is particularly timely
that
the Senate consider this legislation tomorrow, precisely at the moment
when the Serbian people have courageously voted against Milosevic's
tyranny
that has so thoroughly ruined their country during the last decade.
I would like to review the main provisions of the legislation we will be
voting on tomorrow and then propose alternative strategies for our
relations with Serbia, depending upon the outcome of the elections.
The act supports the democratic opposition by authorizing $50 million
for
fiscal year 2001 to promote democracy and civil society in Serbia and
$55
million to assist the Government of Montenegro in its ongoing political
and economic reform efforts. It also authorizes increasing Voice of
America and Radio Free Europe broadcasting to Yugoslavia in both the
Serbo-Croatian and Albanian languages.
Second, the act prescribes assistance to the victims of Serbian
oppression
by authorizing the President of the United States to use authorities in
the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide humanitarian assistance to
individuals living in Kosovo for relief, rehabilitation, and
reconstruction, and to refugees and persons displaced by the conflict.
Third, the act we will vote on tomorrow codifies the so-called `outer
wall'
of sanctions by multilateral organizations, including the international
financial institutions.
I talked about this with Senator Voinovich of Ohio, and we agreed that
we
have to give the President more flexibility in this area.
Fourth, it authorizes other measures against Yugoslavia, including
blocking
Yugoslavia's assets in the United States; prohibits the issuance of
visas
and admission into the United States of any alien who holds a position
in
the senior leadership of the Government of Yugoslavia of Slobodan
Milosevic
or the
Government of Serbia and to members of their families; and prohibits
strategic exports to Yugoslavia, on private loans and investments and on
military-to-military cooperation.
The act also grants exceptions on export restrictions for humanitarian
assistance to Kosovo and on visa prohibitions to senior officials of the
Government of Montenegro, unless that Government changes its current
policy
of respect forinternational norms.
The act contains a national interest waiver for the President. The
President may also waive the act's provision if he certifies that
`significant progress has been made in Yugoslavia in establishing a
government based upon democratic principles and the rule of law, and
that
respects internationally recognized human rights.'
Clearly, if the democratic opposition triumphs in the current elections,
the chances will increase dramatically that the President will exercise
this waiver option.
We, the Congress, are saying to the people of Serbia that they are our
friends, not our enemies. It is their Government, it is Slobodan
Milosevic
that is the problem, not the Serbian people.
Today in the Committee on Foreign Relations, we discussed at length with
Madeleine Albright what we should be doing about Serbia. I have
discussed
it as well with Senator Voinovich.
I see the Senator from Iowa is on the floor. He may be here for other
reasons, but I know his keen interest in Serbia, the Serbian people, and
the need for us to render assistance if they, in fact, move in the
direction of democracy.
The act calls for Serbia to cooperate with the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
It also contains two important Sense of the Congress provisions. The
first
is that the President should condemn the harassment, threats, and
intimidation against any ethnic group in Yugoslavia, but in particular
against such persecution of the ethnic Hungarian minority in the Serbian
province of Vojvodina.
The second voices support for a fair and equitable disposition of the
ownership and use of the former Yugoslavia's diplomatic and consular
properties in the United States.
Finally, in a move to facilitate the transition to democracy in the
Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, Congress authorizes the President to furnish
assistance to Yugoslavia if he determines and certifies to the
appropriate
congressional committees that a post-Milosevic Government of Yugoslavia
is
`committed to democratic principles and the rule of law, and that
respects
internationally recognized human rights.'
Mr. President, the Serbia Democratization Act offers the President ample
flexibility in dealing with Serbia. If Milosevic should succeed in
frustrating the will of the Serbian people by stealing this election,
the
act will give the President of the United States a complete kit of
peaceful
tools to continue to try to undermine his oppressive regime.
If, on the other hand, the democratic opposition led by Mr. Kostunica
manages to make its electoral victory stick, then the final provision of
the act becomes the operative one in which we open up the spigot of
increased assistance to a democratic Serbia. Obviously, this would be
the
preferred option.
Unfortunately, however, foreign policy is rarely so black and white. The
apparent winner of the election, Mr. Kostunica, is vastly preferable to
Milosevic, but this may be a case of damning by faint praise. As many of
my
colleagues have heard me say on other occasions, I met Milosevic in
Belgrade during the Bosnian war and called him a war criminal to his
face.
Not only is he a war criminal, but he is thoroughly corrupt and
anti-democratic.
Mr. Kostunica, by all accounts, is honest and democratic, a dissident in
Communist times and a man with a reputation for probity. He seems,
however,
to represent a democratic, honest variant of a rather extreme Serbian
nationalism.
His language describing NATO's Operation Allied Force has been strident.
Like Milosevic --and most other Serbian politicians--he calls for the
return of Kosovo to Belgrade's rule. But I am prepared to have an open
mind
on what he said. I can understand why, in running for President, being
labeled by Mr. Milosevic as the `dupe of the West' and `a puppet of the
United States,' he would feel the need to openly condemn the United
States.
I also do not have a problem with the fact that he may have used tough
language with regard to Kosovo. There is a difference between words and
his
actions. So I will have great problems with him if, in fact, he tries to
again suppress the Kosovars, who, if he comes to power will probably
increase their agitation for independence.
Moreover, Kostunica has repeatedly said that if he is elected he would
refuse to hand over The Hague those Serbs indicted by the International
War
Crimes Tribunal.
To a large extent Kostunica's criticism of Milosevic's policies toward
non-Serbs in the old Yugoslavia--Slovenes, Croats, Bosniaks, and
Kosovars--is that those policies resulted in four failed wars. There is
no
indication, for example, that Kostunica would cut off Belgrade's support
for the radical Bosnian Serbs who on a daily basis are trying to
undermine
the Dayton Agreement.
Of course, as I have indicated earlier, Kostunica's policies must be
seen
in the context of an electoral campaign. Nonetheless, they do reflect
what
the traffic will bear. In other words, they reflect his view of
contemporary Serbian society.
During the Bosnian war and after it, I often stated publicly that in my
opinion Croatian President Franjo Tudjman was cut from the same cloth as
Milosevic --an aggressive, anti-democratic leader. The only reason I
advocated helping to rebuild his army was because, unlike Serbia,
Croatia
did not represent a major threat to the region. In fact, in the summer
of
1995 the reorganized Croatian Army provided the
Bosnian Army and the Bosnian Croat militia the support necessary to rout
the Bosnian Serbs and bring all parties to the negotiating table.
Since Tudjman's death, Croatia has proven that beneath the surface of
Tudjman's authoritarianism a genuine, Western-style democratic body
politic
survived. The newly elected government of President Stipe Mesic and
Prime
Minister Ivica Racan has utilized this mandate not only to enact
domestic
democratic reforms, but also to cut off support for the radical
Herzegovina
Croats who have done everything in their power to undo Dayton. The
government has also taken the much less popular step of handing over to
The
Hague Tribunal several high-ranking Croats who were indicted for alleged
war crimes.
The United States has a great deal invested in a democratic, multiethnic
Bosnia, and if Serbia and the rest of the world is lucky enough to be
rid
of Slobodan Milosevic , we should not give him an ex post facto victory
by
applying a looser standard of behavior on his successor than we have to
Tudjman's successors in Croatia. To be blunt: respect for Dayton and
cooperation with The Hague Tribunal must
be litmus tests for any democratic government in Serbia.
I fervently hope that Mr. Kostunica emerges victorious in the Yugoslav
elections. If he does, the United States should immediately extend to
him a
sincere hand of friendship, with the assistance outlined in the pending
legislation.
We should make clear to him that if he chooses to cooperate with us, a
`win-win' situation would result, with tangible benefits for the
long-suffering and isolated Serbian people who, we should never forget,
were this country's allies in two world wars during the twentieth
century.
If, on the other hand, Mr. Kostunica comes to power and thinks that his
undeniable and praiseworthy democratic credentials will enable him to
pursue an aggressive Serbian nationalist policy with a kinder face, then
we
must disabuse him of this notion.
Should our West European allies choose to embrace a post-Milosevic ,
democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia, then I would say
to
them `good luck; we'll concentrate our policy in the former Yugoslavia
on
preparing democratic and prosperous Slovenia for the next round of NATO
enlargement, on continuing to help reconstruct Bosnia and Kosovo, and on
supporting the democratic
governments in Macedonia, Croatia, and Montenegro.'
Mr. President, the long-frozen, icy situation in Serbia appears finally
to
be breaking up. I genuinely hope that Serbia is on the verge of
democracy.
I urge my colleagues to support the Serbia Democratization Act of 2000
in
order to enable ourgovernment peacefully to deal with any eventuality in
that country.
---
Washington Votes to Finance Yugoslav Runoff Election
by Professor Michel Chossudovsky (9-27-2000)
Washington is preparing for the run-off election in Yugoslavia. More
money is scheduled to be wired to opposition groups to their bank
accounts
in Budapest with fresh and "clean" dollar bills to be transported in
suitcases across the border. And this time it's big bucks: 500 million
US
dollars...
Perfect timing. On the day after the Presidential election, the US
House
of Representatives approved a bill:
"authorizing financial aid for opposition groups in Serbia. The
bill
authorizes $500
million to help finance democratic forces in Serbia and
Montenegro,
including $ 50 million
to fund the activities of pro-democracy and dissident groups.".
('Los Angeles Times,' September 26, 2000).
In an ironic twist, while the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS)
receives big bucks from the
bombers, it has committed itself in its electoral platform to adopting
"new laws" on the financing of
political parties. These laws are to be:
"in accordance with the generally accepted standards of democratic
societies.
Republican parliaments will be advised to adjust their legislation
according
to these principles."
(Election manifesto of "Democratic Opposition of Serbia", 5
September
2000).
With opposition political parties on the enemy's payroll, the Western
media has casually accused the
Yugoslav authorities of electoral fraud. In any other country,
receiving
cash from a foreign government would lead to the immediate indictment of
the political parties concerned. Their bank
accounts would be frozen. This has not happened yet in Yugoslavia.
Yet the media accuses the Yugoslav government of mistreating the
"democratic" opposition. In the
US, taking money from an unfriendly foreign power, especially a hostile
one, to finance campaign
expenses would quite understandably be considered "un-American". But in
Belgrade opposition forces say that they are patriotic. For them it is
not
"un-Yugoslav" to accept 500 million dollars from the bombers of their
country...
Michel Chossudovsky
---
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, #206
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646
212-633-2889 fax
iacenter@...
www.iacenter.org
International Action Center statement--
September 28, 2000; For immediate release:
Blatant U.S. intervention in Yugoslav elections protested; Group calls
for
investigation
In response to the emergency situation in Yugoslavia caused by the open
and extensive intervention in that nation’s election process by the U.S.
and
West European governments, the International Action Center is calling
for
the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate U.S.
manipulation of elections and other interference in the internal affairs
of
sovereign countries.
This intervention has taken the form of military pressure, with NATO
naval
maneuvers in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas and threats of resumed
bombings, economic pressure that a 9-year-long embargo would be relieved
only if the vote went against President Slobodan Milosevic, and direct
financing of organizations and parties that oppose the Milosevic-lead
coalition.
The IAC, founded in 1992 by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
and
other anti-war activists, has played a leading role in the anti-war
struggle in
the United States and in the fight to end sanctions against Iraq,
Yugoslavia,
Cuba and other countries.
In calling for the creation of the Commission of Inquiry Ramsey Clark
drew
attention to past U.S. manipulations of elections, giving the examples
of
Nicaragua, where the popular Sandinista government was voted out in 1990
and where Washington injected $54 million into that poor country. He
also
spoke of countries where the U.S. overrode the electoral process and
organized violent coups to put in their own person, as with Mobutu in
Zaire
(now Congo), or in Chile, Haiti and Iran.
“In all cases where the U.S. put ‘its man’ in office,” said Clark, “the
people
wound up worse off than before. Think of what Mobutu did to the Congo,
what Pinochet did to Chile, and that under the U.S.-backed governments
after
the Sandinistas in Nicaragua that country was reduced to one of the
poorest
on the earth. After the election in each country, U.S. money stopped
coming
in.”
The U.S. never kept its promises of aid to develop Nicaragua. Currently
Taiwanese bankers and industrialists are the major exploiters of
low-paid
Nicaraguan labor in the “free-trade zones,” where conditions of work in
the
sweatshops are about the worst in the world. The money Washington put
into the country was not a promise of things to come but an investment
expected to earn a quick return.
“We need,” said Clark, “to expose the way the U.S. government takes
advantage of elections to put in a regime of their choice, and how this
has
always been harmful to the people of that country.”
The U.S. government has boasted that it injected $77 million into
Yugoslavia
to build up the opposition to President Slobodan Milosevic and his
governing coalition. Another $105 million has been authorized on
September
26th by the U.S. House of Representatives for similar use.
“To put this amount in perspective,” said IAC co-director Sara
Flounders,
“The U.S. has voted more money to subvert an election in little
Yugoslavia
than the total funds both major U.S. Presidential candidates have
raised. This
year Al Gore has reported $47 million in contributions and George W.
Bush
$87 million. And that’s for a rich country with almost 300 million
people.
“This money goes a long way in Yugoslavia—a much poorer country with
only 11 million people. It’s as if some foreign country recently a U.S.
enemy
put tens of billions of dollars behind a candidate in the U.S. And this
is only
hard money. What about the millions of dollars in soft money from the
Soros
Foundation and the NGOs?”
“You can only imagine,” continued Flounders, “the hysteria it would
arouse
if that happened here. Those taking the money would be labeled as
traitors,
refused the right to run and probably charged with crimes.”
Flounders said the Commission of Inquiry was calling on others who have
the detailed information to show just what methods were used to
influence
the Yugoslav elections as well as other elections in the past. Others
may
want to illustrate how the U.S. government tried to buy elections in
their
countries. She also suggested that organizations in the other NATO
countries might want to investigate what the governments there have done
to manipulate the Yugoslav elections.
“The Yugoslav people heroically faced NATO bombing for 78 days last
year,” she said. “Now they are facing an equally heavy barrage of
high-tech
propaganda beamed in from the most powerful lie machine the human race
ever saw. We plan to reveal the insides of that machine and expose its
dangers to the world.”
For more information, call 212-633-6646 or look at the IAC web site at
www.iacenter.org.
---
http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/NewsST092800.htm
CHRONICLES ONLINE, Thursday, September 28, 2000
Are Washingtonians Helping Milosevic Survive?
by Srdja Trifkovic
Facts never speak for themselves, but people do.Those who still
doubt that there are powerful forces in Washington that are scared stiff
of Milosevics defeat are well advised to read some comments made by
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on the Senate floor on Tuesday, September 26,
regarding the elections in Serbia.
Senator Biden was speaking in support of HR 1064.This bill is
ostensibly aimed at supporting democracy in Serbia, but in terms of its
assumptions and practical consequences it could be called Saving
Slobos Skin. Biden opened by saying that Slobodan Milosevic is the
problem, not the Serbian people, but then he explained that under HR
1064 the array of sanctions punishing Serbia -- not Milosevic and his
cronies --will be re-codified and kept in place until Vojislav
Kostunica (or any other successor to Milosevic) complies with every
demand from Washington, including the delivery of all indicted war
criminals to The Hague tribunal. Dr. Kostunica has repeatedly stated
that this he will not do.Even if this tribunal wasnt a purely
political construct devoid of legal basis -- which it is -- Kostunica
would be right to loath sending any of his countrymen to The Hague, just
as any real American should shudder at the thought of sending any U.S.
citizen, however culpable, to be tried by a United Nations court.
Throwing the challenge of HR 1064 at Kostunica and doing so at the
very moment when he is locked in a life-and-death struggle with
Milosevic is either utterly insane, or deeply devious.Bad, or mad,
or both, Biden is very much in charge of Senate foreign relations, and
the context of his remarks makes it evident that this bill enjoys full
Administration support. It is not promoting democracy in Serbia but
preventing it.To Milosevics infinite delight Biden has condemned
Kostunica in advance as an ultra-nationalist if he does not agree to
become exactly the kind of NATO-friendly quisling the Belgrade regime
accuses him of being.The spirit and true intent of the bill is fully
betrayed by the following comments at the end of Bidens address:
To be blunt: respect for Dayton and cooperation with The Hague
Tribunal must be litmus tests for any democratic government in Serbia.I
fervently hope that Mr. Kostunica emerges victorious in the Yugoslav
elections.If he does, the United States should immediately extend to him
a
sincere hand of friendship, with the assistance outlined in the pending
legislation.If, on the other hand, Mr. Kostunica comes to power and
thinks
that his undeniable and praiseworthy democratic credentials will enable
him to
pursue an aggressive Serbian nationalist policy with a kinder face, then
we
must disabuse him of this notion.
In summary, to lay prostrate merits a friendly hand.The refusal to
submit is aggressive nationalism. Plus ca change: in June 1992 I
attended a meeting in Washington with then-assistant to the National
Security Advisor for European affairs, Jenone Walker.Referring to the
sanctions against Serbia -- in the context of Milosevics offer to
resign if they were lifted -- she stated that (quite apart from
Milosevic) they would stay in force until all current and potential
sources of conflict in the former Yugoslavia were removed, agreements
signed and sealed, and respected by the Serbs to the satisfaction of the
U.S. government.Eight years later HR 1064 proves that, on some issues
at least, there IS remarkable continuity and consistency in Washington.
But back to Biden. His concluding remarks had a threatening air: Should
our West European allies choose to embrace a post-Milosevic,
democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia, then I would say
to them good luck; well concentrate our policy in the former Yugoslavia
on preparing democratic and prosperous Slovenia for the next round of
NATO enlargement, on continuing to help reconstruct Bosnia and Kosovo,
and on supporting the democratic governments in Macedonia, Croatia, and
Montenegro.
This is the kind of challenge Americas European partners may well
accept this time.Some are keen to lift all sanctions against Serbia
regardless of who prevails in Belgrade.Theyve had enough of this kind
of neoimperial arrogance French planes are landing in Baghdad these
days - and they could easily turn the policy towards Belgrade after
Milosevic into a litmus test of their ability to say no to
Washington.The writing has been on the wall ever since the EU foreign
ministers had announced that all sanctions against Serbia would be
unconditionally lifted if Milosevic were to fall, and the country itself
welcomed with open arms into Europe, and helped financially.
This prospect is anathema to Joseph Biden and his like-minded friends
and colleagues in Washington.They dont want a democratic Serbia
reintegrated into the community of European nations, but a
Gauleiter-ruled colony in which any attempt to assert ones dignity, let
alone pride in ones identity, would be equated with aggressive
ultra-nationalism.That much has become clear in their attempt to
sabotage Milosevics opponents while he is struggling for survival.As
a UPI report noted last Monday, from Washingtons point of view a
Kostunica victory would derail U.S. hopes of negotiating a broad
settlement to Yugoslav issues on Washingtons terms.Those terms
entail acceptance of the loss of sovereignty (The Hague) and loss of
territory (Kosovo), plus whatever else is ordered from Washington.Last
Monday night Kostunica replied when he said that Yugoslavia must not
become anybodys protectorate.In the eyes of Biden & Co. this merely
confirms that he is an ultra-nationalist, which proves that we need HR
1064 enacted before Milosevic falls.
As Serbias true democrats struggle against that misshapen despot whose
strongest trump card is to accuse them of being pro-NATO traitors, a
concerted attempt is under way in Washington to impose humiliating
conditions on them that no democratically elected leaders of any nation
could ever accept.The participants in that endeavor know not what is
shame.The rest of us do, living as we do in the eighth year of the
Clinton-Gore presidency.
P.S.: From our We Told You So department:
It hardly needs stating that Americas support to the democratic
opposition in Belgrade has nothing to do with the alleged democratic
credentials of the specific parties, and everything to do with the
degree of its leaders professed readiness to act in accordance with the
diktat from Washington.[They need to be] submissive to the West,
a-national to the point of self-hatred, brazenly materialistic,
antitraditionalist and secular.With such an opposition, it is
unsurprising that the popular discontent with Milosevic could not have
been channeled into a victory for his enemies.Even thoroughly moderate
patriots with impeccable democratic credentials such as Dr. Kostunica
were simply not kosher enough for the U.S. State Department.
(Slobodan Milosevic, Our S.O.B. Chronicles, June 1997)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel
* Joseph Biden (US congressman): "We, the Congress, are saying to the
people of Serbia that they are our friends, not our enemies. It is their
Government, it is Slobodan Milosevic that is the problem, not the
Serbian people... Should our West European allies choose to embrace a
post-Milosevic, democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia,
then I would say to them `good luck'..."
* Washington Votes to Finance Yugoslav Runoff Election
by Michel Chossudovsky
* Blatant U.S. intervention in Yugoslav elections protested; Group calls
for investigation (IAC)
* Are Washingtonians Helping Milosevic Survive?
by Srdja Trifkovic
---
URL for this article is http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/11.htm
Yugoslav 'Opposition' Negotiates Sale of Yugoslavia!
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
>People may not be aware that two prominent members of the Democratic
>Opposition of Serbia (DOS) just made a very important trip to Bulgaria.
They
>met with representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
World
>Bank and the NATO governments at a so-called "donor conference." The
purpose
>was to set the stage for NATO governments to takeover Yugoslavia.
>
>The trip was announced the day after the Yugoslav elections. Mladjan
Dinkic,
>the most likely Finance Minister in an opposition government, "said that
>representatives of his G-17 Plus will travel to Bulgaria this week for a
>donor conference on Yugoslavia with representatives of the International
>Monetary Fund." (United Press International, 27 September 2000)
>
>Dinkic was accompanied by Dr. Dragoslav Avramovic, an economist in Zoran
>Djindjic's 'Alliance for Change'. These so-called "democratic opposition"
>groups have been paid huge sums by US government agencies.
>
>Dinkic told United Press International that "Dragoslav Avramovic had
drafted
>a letter of intent with a request to the IMF and World Bank. Dinkic said he
>expected that this would be followed by negotiations with creditor
countries,
>the so-called Paris Club..." These are the NATO countries.
>
>A "Letter of Intent" includes a "Memorandum on Economic and Financial
>Policies". This establishes the conditions under which all of Yugoslavia
>would be put under the control of Western donors and creditors. Only a
>Yugoslav Finance Minister, selected by Parliament, has a legal right to
draft
>a "Letter of Intent." But Dinkic and Avramovic represent only the so-called
>"democratic" opposition. In what country is it legal for opposition
elements
>to "negotiate" with enemy countries who finance their movement? This is an
>extreme act of interference by the NATO countries.
>
>What measures do the NATO countries want to impose?
>
>* End of all government price controls;
>
>* Introduction of "free markets" without any protection for farmers or
>businesses from dumping of foreign goods;
>
>* End to all social protection. No government help with medical care,
>transportation , food or heating;
>
>* A freeze on credit to businesses
>
>* Massive layoffs of workers and drastic pay cuts for workers and farmers;
>
>* Forced liquidation of important businesses and industries, public and
>private
>
>* Any future reconstruction work to correct bombing damage be entrusted to
>companies from the NATO countries. They would be paid with money Yugoslavia
>would be forced to borrow from international lenders.
>
>The result of these policies would be: food prices would go fly high;
>enterprises would be driven into bankruptcy and liquidation; foreign
capital
>would seize the entire economy.
>
>The "Letter of Intent" would require the acceptance of Washington's
political
>demands. These were just laid out in the so-called "Serbian Democratization
>Act," # HR1064. It was passed by the US House of Representatives on
September
>25, the day Dinkic announced his trip to Bulgaria. Good timing. This law
>states that for Yugoslavia to be free of sanctions, and for it to be
>"allowed" into the IMF it would have to:
>
>1) Negotiate independence (meaning secession) for Kosovo and probably
>Vojvodina
>
>2) Completely "democratize" the country. "Democratize" is a code word for
>carrying out all US government orders;
>
>3) Settle "all succession issues with the other republics". This would
>include the 50 billion (US) that the Croatian government and the
Izetbegovic
>government in Bosnia are demanding as war reparations. The money would go
>right to these countries' creditors, which are NATO governments and Western
>Banks;
>
>4) Fully cooperate "with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
>Yugoslavia, including the transfer to The Hague of all individuals in
>Yugoslavia indicted by the Tribunal." This means the Yugoslav Army would
have
>to hunt down any person the Hague tribunal said was a war criminal. Any
>leader of resistance could be put on the Hague's secret list of phony war
>criminals..
>
>All this makes perfectly clear that Mr. Kostunica's promise to work with
the
>International Monetary Fund but at the same time "safeguard Yugoslavia" is
>hollow words: they sound good but mean nothing. In agreeing to draft a
Letter
>of Intent, Kostunica's coalition has already deserted national sovereignty.
>They have sold Yugoslavia, its economy, its institutions and its people.
>
>Meanwhile, the US law, HR 1064, authorizes the US government to immediately
>transfer another $105 million to the so-called "democratic" opposition and
>the secessionist government in Montenegro. American money -- together with
>funds transferred from other sources -- will not only pay for campaign
>expenses, it will finance payoffs.
>
>Washington and NATO are openly paying key individuals in the opposition
>parties to do what they are told to do. They are on the NATO bombers'
>payroll.
>
>Further reading:
>
>'The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections' by Michel
>Chossudovsky and Jared Israel. Summarizes devestating effects of World
>Bank/IMF intervention in several countries. Discusses link between Western
>financial takeover and social-political destruction.
>http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm
>
>'How the U.S. has Created a Corrupt Opposition in Serbia'
>By Jared Israel, Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Karen Talbot, Nico Varkevisser
>and Prof. Petar Maher.
>http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/scam.htm
>
>''NY Times' Confirms Charge: U.S. Gov't Meddles in Yugoslavia' with
comments
>by Jared Israel. "Suitcases full of cash" says the 'Times.'
>http://emperors-clothes.com/news/erlang.htm
>
>'Emperor's Clothes Interviews Radio B292'
>Revealing interviews by Jared Israel with two staff members at the U.S.
>"independent" radio station in Belgrade.
>http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/emperor.htm
>
>'Criticism of Emperor's Clothes on the Yugoslav Elections, with Reply'
>Prof. Robert Hayden & Jared Israel
>http://emperors-clothes.com/letters/yugoltr.htm
>
>'Will the US Get Their Money's Worth in Yugo Elections?' by George Szamuely
>at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/szamuely/willthe.htm
>
>'U.S. Law Passed by House of Represntatives on Funding Yugo Opposition and
>Harsh Terms for Lifting Sanctions'
>http://emperors-clothes.com/news/1064.htm (If this link gives you a server
>error please try a bit later; it is being set up.)
>
>www.tenc.net
>[Emperor's Clothes]
--
AP Worldstream
September 27, 2000; Wednesday 1:59 PM Eastern Time
Croatia's president said Wednesday that the West should maintain
sanctions
against Yugoslavia until Belgrade starts cooperating with the U.N.
tribunal
in The Hague and extradites suspected war criminals.
Following are comments by Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on the Senate floor
on
9/26/00 re the elections in Serbia. They fully illustrate why action on
HR
1064, a bill purportedly aimed at supporting democracy in Serbia, would
be
counterproductive. Once again, this bill would help save the Clinton
policy (and possibly save Milosevic too), not help get Milosevic out of
power.
Senator Biden says that "We, the Congress, are saying to the people of
Serbia that they are our friends, not our enemies. It is their
Government,
it is Slobodan Milosevic that is the problem, not the Serbian people."
But
a simple reading of the balance of his comments show that that is
clearly
not the case: under HR 1064 sanctions punishing Serbia -- not Milosevic
and
his black-market gang -- will be codified and kept in place (with some
unspecified "flexibility" generously promised by Sec. Albright) until
Kostunica complies with every demand from Washington, including sending
all
indicted war criminals to The Hague. Kostunica has stated that he will
not
do so, and as a patriot is he is no less
willing to send any of his countrymen to The Hague than any real
American
would be to send any U.S. citizen, however criminal he might be, to be
tried by a United Nations court.
The fact that this bill is a weapon aimed not at Milosevic but at
Kostunica
or any other democratic successor -- and that Kostunica has been
condemned
in advance as an "ultra-nationalist" if he does not agree to become
exactly
the quisling Milosevic accuses him of being -- is betrayed by the
following
comments near the end:
" To be blunt: respect for Dayton and cooperation with The Hague
Tribunal
must be litmus tests for any democratic government in Serbia. I
fervently
hope that Mr. Kostunica emerges victorious in the Yugoslav elections. If
he
does, the United States should immediately extend to him a sincere hand
of
friendship, with the assistance outlined in the pending legislation. .
. .
If, on the other hand, Mr. Kostunica comes to power and thinks that his
undeniable and praiseworthy democratic credentials will enable him to
pursue an aggressive Serbian nationalist policy with a kinder face, then
we
must disabuse him of this notion. Should our West European allies
choose
to embrace a post-Milosevic , democratically elected, but
ultra-nationalistic Serbia, then I would say to them `good luck; we'll
concentrate our policy in the former Yugoslavia on preparing democratic
and
prosperous Slovenia for the next round of NATO enlargement, on
continuing
to help reconstruct Bosnia and Kosovo, and on supporting the democratic
governments in Macedonia, Croatia, and Montenegro."
SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY IN SERBIA (Senate - September 26, 2000)
[Page: S9251] GPO's PDF
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, on another matter which relates to another
form
of human rights, I wish to speak to the legislation we are going to
bring
up tomorrow, the Serbian Democratization Act of 2000. I am an original
cosponsor of this legislation. I am told that tomorrow we are going to
get
a chance to deal with this issue.
As everyone knows, Slobodan Milosevic is on the ropes. Despite
Milosevic's
massive systematic effort to steal Sunday's Yugoslav Presidential
election,
his state election commission had to admit that the opposition candidate
Vojislav Kostunica won at least the plurality of the votes already
counted;
48.22 percent to be exact.
According to opposition poll watchers, Kostunica in all probability
actually won about 55 percent of the vote, which would have obviated the
need for a two-candidate second-round runoff with Milosevic , which now
seems likely.
It is still unclear whether the democratic opposition will go along with
this semi-rigged, desperation plan of Milosevic's to hang on by rigging
the
runoff. Even if Milosevic loses the runoff and is forced to recognize
the
results of the election, he may still attempt to hold on to the levers
of
power through his control of the federal parliament and of the Socialist
Party with its network of political cronies
and corrupt businessmen.
He may use the classic tactic of provoking a foreign crisis by trying to
unseat the democratically elected, pro-Western government in Montenegro,
a
move I warned against on this floor several months ago.
We will have to wait and see for a few days before knowing exactly how
the
situation in Yugoslavia is going to develop, but there is no doubt
whatsoever as to who the primary villain in this drama is. It was, it
is,
and it continues to be Slobodan Milosevic , one of the most despicable
men
I have personally met, and, as everyone in this Chamber knows, a man who
has been indicted by The Hague Tribunal for war crimes and is the chief
obstacle to peace and stability in the Balkans.
Therefore, it should be--and has been--a primary goal of U.S. foreign
policy to isolate Milosevic and his cronies, and to assist the Serbian
democratic opposition in toppling him.
Earlier this year, with this goal in mind, the Serbian Democratization
Act
of 2000 was drafted in a bipartisan effort. It is particularly timely
that
the Senate consider this legislation tomorrow, precisely at the moment
when the Serbian people have courageously voted against Milosevic's
tyranny
that has so thoroughly ruined their country during the last decade.
I would like to review the main provisions of the legislation we will be
voting on tomorrow and then propose alternative strategies for our
relations with Serbia, depending upon the outcome of the elections.
The act supports the democratic opposition by authorizing $50 million
for
fiscal year 2001 to promote democracy and civil society in Serbia and
$55
million to assist the Government of Montenegro in its ongoing political
and economic reform efforts. It also authorizes increasing Voice of
America and Radio Free Europe broadcasting to Yugoslavia in both the
Serbo-Croatian and Albanian languages.
Second, the act prescribes assistance to the victims of Serbian
oppression
by authorizing the President of the United States to use authorities in
the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide humanitarian assistance to
individuals living in Kosovo for relief, rehabilitation, and
reconstruction, and to refugees and persons displaced by the conflict.
Third, the act we will vote on tomorrow codifies the so-called `outer
wall'
of sanctions by multilateral organizations, including the international
financial institutions.
I talked about this with Senator Voinovich of Ohio, and we agreed that
we
have to give the President more flexibility in this area.
Fourth, it authorizes other measures against Yugoslavia, including
blocking
Yugoslavia's assets in the United States; prohibits the issuance of
visas
and admission into the United States of any alien who holds a position
in
the senior leadership of the Government of Yugoslavia of Slobodan
Milosevic
or the
Government of Serbia and to members of their families; and prohibits
strategic exports to Yugoslavia, on private loans and investments and on
military-to-military cooperation.
The act also grants exceptions on export restrictions for humanitarian
assistance to Kosovo and on visa prohibitions to senior officials of the
Government of Montenegro, unless that Government changes its current
policy
of respect forinternational norms.
The act contains a national interest waiver for the President. The
President may also waive the act's provision if he certifies that
`significant progress has been made in Yugoslavia in establishing a
government based upon democratic principles and the rule of law, and
that
respects internationally recognized human rights.'
Clearly, if the democratic opposition triumphs in the current elections,
the chances will increase dramatically that the President will exercise
this waiver option.
We, the Congress, are saying to the people of Serbia that they are our
friends, not our enemies. It is their Government, it is Slobodan
Milosevic
that is the problem, not the Serbian people.
Today in the Committee on Foreign Relations, we discussed at length with
Madeleine Albright what we should be doing about Serbia. I have
discussed
it as well with Senator Voinovich.
I see the Senator from Iowa is on the floor. He may be here for other
reasons, but I know his keen interest in Serbia, the Serbian people, and
the need for us to render assistance if they, in fact, move in the
direction of democracy.
The act calls for Serbia to cooperate with the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
It also contains two important Sense of the Congress provisions. The
first
is that the President should condemn the harassment, threats, and
intimidation against any ethnic group in Yugoslavia, but in particular
against such persecution of the ethnic Hungarian minority in the Serbian
province of Vojvodina.
The second voices support for a fair and equitable disposition of the
ownership and use of the former Yugoslavia's diplomatic and consular
properties in the United States.
Finally, in a move to facilitate the transition to democracy in the
Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, Congress authorizes the President to furnish
assistance to Yugoslavia if he determines and certifies to the
appropriate
congressional committees that a post-Milosevic Government of Yugoslavia
is
`committed to democratic principles and the rule of law, and that
respects
internationally recognized human rights.'
Mr. President, the Serbia Democratization Act offers the President ample
flexibility in dealing with Serbia. If Milosevic should succeed in
frustrating the will of the Serbian people by stealing this election,
the
act will give the President of the United States a complete kit of
peaceful
tools to continue to try to undermine his oppressive regime.
If, on the other hand, the democratic opposition led by Mr. Kostunica
manages to make its electoral victory stick, then the final provision of
the act becomes the operative one in which we open up the spigot of
increased assistance to a democratic Serbia. Obviously, this would be
the
preferred option.
Unfortunately, however, foreign policy is rarely so black and white. The
apparent winner of the election, Mr. Kostunica, is vastly preferable to
Milosevic, but this may be a case of damning by faint praise. As many of
my
colleagues have heard me say on other occasions, I met Milosevic in
Belgrade during the Bosnian war and called him a war criminal to his
face.
Not only is he a war criminal, but he is thoroughly corrupt and
anti-democratic.
Mr. Kostunica, by all accounts, is honest and democratic, a dissident in
Communist times and a man with a reputation for probity. He seems,
however,
to represent a democratic, honest variant of a rather extreme Serbian
nationalism.
His language describing NATO's Operation Allied Force has been strident.
Like Milosevic --and most other Serbian politicians--he calls for the
return of Kosovo to Belgrade's rule. But I am prepared to have an open
mind
on what he said. I can understand why, in running for President, being
labeled by Mr. Milosevic as the `dupe of the West' and `a puppet of the
United States,' he would feel the need to openly condemn the United
States.
I also do not have a problem with the fact that he may have used tough
language with regard to Kosovo. There is a difference between words and
his
actions. So I will have great problems with him if, in fact, he tries to
again suppress the Kosovars, who, if he comes to power will probably
increase their agitation for independence.
Moreover, Kostunica has repeatedly said that if he is elected he would
refuse to hand over The Hague those Serbs indicted by the International
War
Crimes Tribunal.
To a large extent Kostunica's criticism of Milosevic's policies toward
non-Serbs in the old Yugoslavia--Slovenes, Croats, Bosniaks, and
Kosovars--is that those policies resulted in four failed wars. There is
no
indication, for example, that Kostunica would cut off Belgrade's support
for the radical Bosnian Serbs who on a daily basis are trying to
undermine
the Dayton Agreement.
Of course, as I have indicated earlier, Kostunica's policies must be
seen
in the context of an electoral campaign. Nonetheless, they do reflect
what
the traffic will bear. In other words, they reflect his view of
contemporary Serbian society.
During the Bosnian war and after it, I often stated publicly that in my
opinion Croatian President Franjo Tudjman was cut from the same cloth as
Milosevic --an aggressive, anti-democratic leader. The only reason I
advocated helping to rebuild his army was because, unlike Serbia,
Croatia
did not represent a major threat to the region. In fact, in the summer
of
1995 the reorganized Croatian Army provided the
Bosnian Army and the Bosnian Croat militia the support necessary to rout
the Bosnian Serbs and bring all parties to the negotiating table.
Since Tudjman's death, Croatia has proven that beneath the surface of
Tudjman's authoritarianism a genuine, Western-style democratic body
politic
survived. The newly elected government of President Stipe Mesic and
Prime
Minister Ivica Racan has utilized this mandate not only to enact
domestic
democratic reforms, but also to cut off support for the radical
Herzegovina
Croats who have done everything in their power to undo Dayton. The
government has also taken the much less popular step of handing over to
The
Hague Tribunal several high-ranking Croats who were indicted for alleged
war crimes.
The United States has a great deal invested in a democratic, multiethnic
Bosnia, and if Serbia and the rest of the world is lucky enough to be
rid
of Slobodan Milosevic , we should not give him an ex post facto victory
by
applying a looser standard of behavior on his successor than we have to
Tudjman's successors in Croatia. To be blunt: respect for Dayton and
cooperation with The Hague Tribunal must
be litmus tests for any democratic government in Serbia.
I fervently hope that Mr. Kostunica emerges victorious in the Yugoslav
elections. If he does, the United States should immediately extend to
him a
sincere hand of friendship, with the assistance outlined in the pending
legislation.
We should make clear to him that if he chooses to cooperate with us, a
`win-win' situation would result, with tangible benefits for the
long-suffering and isolated Serbian people who, we should never forget,
were this country's allies in two world wars during the twentieth
century.
If, on the other hand, Mr. Kostunica comes to power and thinks that his
undeniable and praiseworthy democratic credentials will enable him to
pursue an aggressive Serbian nationalist policy with a kinder face, then
we
must disabuse him of this notion.
Should our West European allies choose to embrace a post-Milosevic ,
democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia, then I would say
to
them `good luck; we'll concentrate our policy in the former Yugoslavia
on
preparing democratic and prosperous Slovenia for the next round of NATO
enlargement, on continuing to help reconstruct Bosnia and Kosovo, and on
supporting the democratic
governments in Macedonia, Croatia, and Montenegro.'
Mr. President, the long-frozen, icy situation in Serbia appears finally
to
be breaking up. I genuinely hope that Serbia is on the verge of
democracy.
I urge my colleagues to support the Serbia Democratization Act of 2000
in
order to enable ourgovernment peacefully to deal with any eventuality in
that country.
---
Washington Votes to Finance Yugoslav Runoff Election
by Professor Michel Chossudovsky (9-27-2000)
Washington is preparing for the run-off election in Yugoslavia. More
money is scheduled to be wired to opposition groups to their bank
accounts
in Budapest with fresh and "clean" dollar bills to be transported in
suitcases across the border. And this time it's big bucks: 500 million
US
dollars...
Perfect timing. On the day after the Presidential election, the US
House
of Representatives approved a bill:
"authorizing financial aid for opposition groups in Serbia. The
bill
authorizes $500
million to help finance democratic forces in Serbia and
Montenegro,
including $ 50 million
to fund the activities of pro-democracy and dissident groups.".
('Los Angeles Times,' September 26, 2000).
In an ironic twist, while the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS)
receives big bucks from the
bombers, it has committed itself in its electoral platform to adopting
"new laws" on the financing of
political parties. These laws are to be:
"in accordance with the generally accepted standards of democratic
societies.
Republican parliaments will be advised to adjust their legislation
according
to these principles."
(Election manifesto of "Democratic Opposition of Serbia", 5
September
2000).
With opposition political parties on the enemy's payroll, the Western
media has casually accused the
Yugoslav authorities of electoral fraud. In any other country,
receiving
cash from a foreign government would lead to the immediate indictment of
the political parties concerned. Their bank
accounts would be frozen. This has not happened yet in Yugoslavia.
Yet the media accuses the Yugoslav government of mistreating the
"democratic" opposition. In the
US, taking money from an unfriendly foreign power, especially a hostile
one, to finance campaign
expenses would quite understandably be considered "un-American". But in
Belgrade opposition forces say that they are patriotic. For them it is
not
"un-Yugoslav" to accept 500 million dollars from the bombers of their
country...
Michel Chossudovsky
---
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, #206
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646
212-633-2889 fax
iacenter@...
www.iacenter.org
International Action Center statement--
September 28, 2000; For immediate release:
Blatant U.S. intervention in Yugoslav elections protested; Group calls
for
investigation
In response to the emergency situation in Yugoslavia caused by the open
and extensive intervention in that nation’s election process by the U.S.
and
West European governments, the International Action Center is calling
for
the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate U.S.
manipulation of elections and other interference in the internal affairs
of
sovereign countries.
This intervention has taken the form of military pressure, with NATO
naval
maneuvers in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas and threats of resumed
bombings, economic pressure that a 9-year-long embargo would be relieved
only if the vote went against President Slobodan Milosevic, and direct
financing of organizations and parties that oppose the Milosevic-lead
coalition.
The IAC, founded in 1992 by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
and
other anti-war activists, has played a leading role in the anti-war
struggle in
the United States and in the fight to end sanctions against Iraq,
Yugoslavia,
Cuba and other countries.
In calling for the creation of the Commission of Inquiry Ramsey Clark
drew
attention to past U.S. manipulations of elections, giving the examples
of
Nicaragua, where the popular Sandinista government was voted out in 1990
and where Washington injected $54 million into that poor country. He
also
spoke of countries where the U.S. overrode the electoral process and
organized violent coups to put in their own person, as with Mobutu in
Zaire
(now Congo), or in Chile, Haiti and Iran.
“In all cases where the U.S. put ‘its man’ in office,” said Clark, “the
people
wound up worse off than before. Think of what Mobutu did to the Congo,
what Pinochet did to Chile, and that under the U.S.-backed governments
after
the Sandinistas in Nicaragua that country was reduced to one of the
poorest
on the earth. After the election in each country, U.S. money stopped
coming
in.”
The U.S. never kept its promises of aid to develop Nicaragua. Currently
Taiwanese bankers and industrialists are the major exploiters of
low-paid
Nicaraguan labor in the “free-trade zones,” where conditions of work in
the
sweatshops are about the worst in the world. The money Washington put
into the country was not a promise of things to come but an investment
expected to earn a quick return.
“We need,” said Clark, “to expose the way the U.S. government takes
advantage of elections to put in a regime of their choice, and how this
has
always been harmful to the people of that country.”
The U.S. government has boasted that it injected $77 million into
Yugoslavia
to build up the opposition to President Slobodan Milosevic and his
governing coalition. Another $105 million has been authorized on
September
26th by the U.S. House of Representatives for similar use.
“To put this amount in perspective,” said IAC co-director Sara
Flounders,
“The U.S. has voted more money to subvert an election in little
Yugoslavia
than the total funds both major U.S. Presidential candidates have
raised. This
year Al Gore has reported $47 million in contributions and George W.
Bush
$87 million. And that’s for a rich country with almost 300 million
people.
“This money goes a long way in Yugoslavia—a much poorer country with
only 11 million people. It’s as if some foreign country recently a U.S.
enemy
put tens of billions of dollars behind a candidate in the U.S. And this
is only
hard money. What about the millions of dollars in soft money from the
Soros
Foundation and the NGOs?”
“You can only imagine,” continued Flounders, “the hysteria it would
arouse
if that happened here. Those taking the money would be labeled as
traitors,
refused the right to run and probably charged with crimes.”
Flounders said the Commission of Inquiry was calling on others who have
the detailed information to show just what methods were used to
influence
the Yugoslav elections as well as other elections in the past. Others
may
want to illustrate how the U.S. government tried to buy elections in
their
countries. She also suggested that organizations in the other NATO
countries might want to investigate what the governments there have done
to manipulate the Yugoslav elections.
“The Yugoslav people heroically faced NATO bombing for 78 days last
year,” she said. “Now they are facing an equally heavy barrage of
high-tech
propaganda beamed in from the most powerful lie machine the human race
ever saw. We plan to reveal the insides of that machine and expose its
dangers to the world.”
For more information, call 212-633-6646 or look at the IAC web site at
www.iacenter.org.
---
http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/NewsST092800.htm
CHRONICLES ONLINE, Thursday, September 28, 2000
Are Washingtonians Helping Milosevic Survive?
by Srdja Trifkovic
Facts never speak for themselves, but people do.Those who still
doubt that there are powerful forces in Washington that are scared stiff
of Milosevics defeat are well advised to read some comments made by
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on the Senate floor on Tuesday, September 26,
regarding the elections in Serbia.
Senator Biden was speaking in support of HR 1064.This bill is
ostensibly aimed at supporting democracy in Serbia, but in terms of its
assumptions and practical consequences it could be called Saving
Slobos Skin. Biden opened by saying that Slobodan Milosevic is the
problem, not the Serbian people, but then he explained that under HR
1064 the array of sanctions punishing Serbia -- not Milosevic and his
cronies --will be re-codified and kept in place until Vojislav
Kostunica (or any other successor to Milosevic) complies with every
demand from Washington, including the delivery of all indicted war
criminals to The Hague tribunal. Dr. Kostunica has repeatedly stated
that this he will not do.Even if this tribunal wasnt a purely
political construct devoid of legal basis -- which it is -- Kostunica
would be right to loath sending any of his countrymen to The Hague, just
as any real American should shudder at the thought of sending any U.S.
citizen, however culpable, to be tried by a United Nations court.
Throwing the challenge of HR 1064 at Kostunica and doing so at the
very moment when he is locked in a life-and-death struggle with
Milosevic is either utterly insane, or deeply devious.Bad, or mad,
or both, Biden is very much in charge of Senate foreign relations, and
the context of his remarks makes it evident that this bill enjoys full
Administration support. It is not promoting democracy in Serbia but
preventing it.To Milosevics infinite delight Biden has condemned
Kostunica in advance as an ultra-nationalist if he does not agree to
become exactly the kind of NATO-friendly quisling the Belgrade regime
accuses him of being.The spirit and true intent of the bill is fully
betrayed by the following comments at the end of Bidens address:
To be blunt: respect for Dayton and cooperation with The Hague
Tribunal must be litmus tests for any democratic government in Serbia.I
fervently hope that Mr. Kostunica emerges victorious in the Yugoslav
elections.If he does, the United States should immediately extend to him
a
sincere hand of friendship, with the assistance outlined in the pending
legislation.If, on the other hand, Mr. Kostunica comes to power and
thinks
that his undeniable and praiseworthy democratic credentials will enable
him to
pursue an aggressive Serbian nationalist policy with a kinder face, then
we
must disabuse him of this notion.
In summary, to lay prostrate merits a friendly hand.The refusal to
submit is aggressive nationalism. Plus ca change: in June 1992 I
attended a meeting in Washington with then-assistant to the National
Security Advisor for European affairs, Jenone Walker.Referring to the
sanctions against Serbia -- in the context of Milosevics offer to
resign if they were lifted -- she stated that (quite apart from
Milosevic) they would stay in force until all current and potential
sources of conflict in the former Yugoslavia were removed, agreements
signed and sealed, and respected by the Serbs to the satisfaction of the
U.S. government.Eight years later HR 1064 proves that, on some issues
at least, there IS remarkable continuity and consistency in Washington.
But back to Biden. His concluding remarks had a threatening air: Should
our West European allies choose to embrace a post-Milosevic,
democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia, then I would say
to them good luck; well concentrate our policy in the former Yugoslavia
on preparing democratic and prosperous Slovenia for the next round of
NATO enlargement, on continuing to help reconstruct Bosnia and Kosovo,
and on supporting the democratic governments in Macedonia, Croatia, and
Montenegro.
This is the kind of challenge Americas European partners may well
accept this time.Some are keen to lift all sanctions against Serbia
regardless of who prevails in Belgrade.Theyve had enough of this kind
of neoimperial arrogance French planes are landing in Baghdad these
days - and they could easily turn the policy towards Belgrade after
Milosevic into a litmus test of their ability to say no to
Washington.The writing has been on the wall ever since the EU foreign
ministers had announced that all sanctions against Serbia would be
unconditionally lifted if Milosevic were to fall, and the country itself
welcomed with open arms into Europe, and helped financially.
This prospect is anathema to Joseph Biden and his like-minded friends
and colleagues in Washington.They dont want a democratic Serbia
reintegrated into the community of European nations, but a
Gauleiter-ruled colony in which any attempt to assert ones dignity, let
alone pride in ones identity, would be equated with aggressive
ultra-nationalism.That much has become clear in their attempt to
sabotage Milosevics opponents while he is struggling for survival.As
a UPI report noted last Monday, from Washingtons point of view a
Kostunica victory would derail U.S. hopes of negotiating a broad
settlement to Yugoslav issues on Washingtons terms.Those terms
entail acceptance of the loss of sovereignty (The Hague) and loss of
territory (Kosovo), plus whatever else is ordered from Washington.Last
Monday night Kostunica replied when he said that Yugoslavia must not
become anybodys protectorate.In the eyes of Biden & Co. this merely
confirms that he is an ultra-nationalist, which proves that we need HR
1064 enacted before Milosevic falls.
As Serbias true democrats struggle against that misshapen despot whose
strongest trump card is to accuse them of being pro-NATO traitors, a
concerted attempt is under way in Washington to impose humiliating
conditions on them that no democratically elected leaders of any nation
could ever accept.The participants in that endeavor know not what is
shame.The rest of us do, living as we do in the eighth year of the
Clinton-Gore presidency.
P.S.: From our We Told You So department:
It hardly needs stating that Americas support to the democratic
opposition in Belgrade has nothing to do with the alleged democratic
credentials of the specific parties, and everything to do with the
degree of its leaders professed readiness to act in accordance with the
diktat from Washington.[They need to be] submissive to the West,
a-national to the point of self-hatred, brazenly materialistic,
antitraditionalist and secular.With such an opposition, it is
unsurprising that the popular discontent with Milosevic could not have
been channeled into a victory for his enemies.Even thoroughly moderate
patriots with impeccable democratic credentials such as Dr. Kostunica
were simply not kosher enough for the U.S. State Department.
(Slobodan Milosevic, Our S.O.B. Chronicles, June 1997)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
"Vogliamo essere una colonia aperta [sic] ed una societa' aperta"
Queste le parole di VESELIN VUKOTIC, coordinatore del gruppo di
economisti "G-17" del blocco di opposizione serbo DOS - ai quali si
richiama Kostunica nel suo programma elettorale - intervistato da "The
News Hour with Jim Lehrer", US Public Television, il 14 luglio 1999.
Il 31 agosto successivo Vukotic, che e' anche responsabile governativo
per le privatizzazioni in Montenegro, dichiara a Guido Ruotolo sul
"Manifesto" che le imprese montenegrine non verranno "svendute" al
capitale straniero bensi', piu' semplicemente, "regalate" perche'
altrimenti non sarebbero appetibili.
---
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/489
REACTIONS TO THE CONGRESS ACT HR 1064
* Yugoslav 'Opposition' Negotiates Sale of Yugoslavia!
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel
(original: http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/11.htm )
* Joseph Biden (US congressman): "We, the Congress, are saying to the
people of Serbia that they are our friends, not our enemies. It is their
Government, it is Slobodan Milosevic that is the problem, not the
Serbian people... Should our West European allies choose to embrace a
post-Milosevic, democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia,
then I would say to them `good luck'..."
* Washington Votes to Finance Yugoslav Runoff Election
by Michel Chossudovsky
* Blatant U.S. intervention in Yugoslav elections protested; Group calls
for investigation (IAC)
* Are Washingtonians Helping Milosevic Survive?
by Srdja Trifkovic
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/487
H. R. 1064: AN ACT To authorize a coordinated program to promote the
development of democracy in Serbia and Montenegro.
> http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/488
The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel (9-28-2000)
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/461
Who Are the G-17?
By Michel Chossudovsky
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/217
IL PROGRAMMA "SEED", RADIO B92 ed il GRUPPO G17
---
CHINA: ELECTIONS IN YUGOSLAVIA ARE NOT OVER YET
PEKING, Sept 28 (Tanjug) - The elections in Yugoslavia have not been
completed yet and it is not known at this time who the president will
be,
Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Sun Yuxi said on Thursday.
Pointing out the results announced by the Yugoslav federal Electoral
Commission, Sun told a regular press conference that these elections are
exclusively an internal affair of Yugoslavia and underscored that China
respects the choice of the Yugoslav people. He said he hoped Yugoslavia
would preserve its political stability and achieve economic and social
growth. Sun expressed hope that Chinese-Yugoslav relations would
continue
to grow and pointed out that China and Yugoslavia have maintained, and
will
continue to maintain, economic and trade cooperation on the grounds of
equality and mutual benefits, cooperation which is in the interests and
beneficial to the peoples of both countries. China has repeatedly
announced
over the past few days that foreign interference in the internal affairs
of
a country, or in the electoral and post-election process in Yugoslavia,
is
unacceptable.
WEST DOES NOT CARE FOR SERBIAN PEOPLE
BEIJING, Sept 28 (Tanjug) - Chinese media carried on Thursday a Yugoslav
Electioral Commission statement that incumbent President Slobodan
Milosevic
and the opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica must undergo a second
round
of elections on Oct 8 as neither won a majority in the first.
Chinese Worker's Daily said in a commentary on the Yugoslav elections
that
the West does not care for free and fair elections in Yugoslavia or for
the
future of Serbian people, but only for its own interests, as
demonstrated
by its economic, political and even military pressures against
Yugoslavia.
The daily warns that this is gross interference in the internal affairs
of
Yugoslavia, adding that the chief aim of the West is to use pressure to
overthrow the current government in Belgrade.
Illustrating the media and other forms of pressure, the daily said that
the western media announced immediately after polling stations closed
Sunday evening that "President Slobodan Milosevic lost the elections".
Pointing to other means of gross interference of the West, the daily
stressed "threats and promises" of the West as regards economy, quoting
some western officials who said that the sanctions against Yugoslavia
would
be strenghtened if the election results were not in conformity to their
will. Media in Beijing stressed that Russia urged the West against
destabilizing Yugoslavia, quoting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's
statement that the Yugoslav people have full freedom to express their
will
without internal or external pressure.
---
Church's Appeal (STATEMENT TEXT)
Church's appeal to
Kostunica
The church's Bishop Justin congratulated Mr Kostunica
The text of the Serbian Orthodox Church's
statement to opposition candidate Vojislav
Kostunica calling on him to assume the
duties of Yugoslav president.
Dear Dr Vojislav Kostunica, elected president
of Yugoslavia,
In a sign of joy that the presidential,
parliamentary and local elections in our
homeland, on 24 September 2000, transpired
peacefully and with dignity, the Holy Synod of
the Serbian Orthodox Church calls on Dr
Vojislav Kostunica and his fellow elected
citizens to assume the administration of the
state, its parliament and municipalities in an
equally peaceful and dignified manner.
With dignity and on the
basis of the results
received, which are
proof of the trust of
the people to which
they belong.
With dignity and
responsibility in the
absolute sense of the
word, because we
know that this nation,
which has suffered
frequently, has always
thought about its freedom.
Therefore, today, when to all intents and
purposes it has achieved the freedom it has
wished for, those it has elected must not,
through their behaviour, allow the tears of
sorrow to flow down a single face.
Only in that case will the Lord of the Sky and
the Earth in the Holy Trinity - the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit - bless the start of
your daily work and answer the prayers of the
Orthodox Church of Saint Sava, with the
Patriarch at its head.
Chairman, Holy Synod AEM and Serbian
Patriarch, Pavle.
---
ELECTION SUPERVISING BOARD: YUGOSLAV POLLING WAS IN LINE WITH
LAW
BELGRADE, September 29 (Tanjug) September 24 Yugoslav
presidential and parliamentary elections and local polls in its republic
of
Serbia were peaceful and dignified, with full application of the
election
laws and generally accepted international standards, according to the
Yugoslav Election Supervising Board on Friday.
In view of the official election results and the presidential
runoff called for Oct. 8, the Board appealed to the presidential
candidates
and the parties that nominated them to exercise their rights in the
election process in line with the law.
It also invited all participants in the election process to
carry
out their electoral activities in accordance with the law and the
existing
regulations.
In this way, they would allow the presidential polls to be
concluded in a climate of tolerance and in conformity with the universal
democratic principles, the Board said. It added it would continue
to
monitor electoral activities and the behaviour of the participants in
the
election process.
INSTEAD OF 10,677 POLLING STATIONS, 10,309 OPENED
BELGRADE, September 30 (Tanjug) Yugoslav Statistics Institute
Director and Federal Election Commission member Milovan Zivkovic stated
on
Friday that the commission had correctly announced that on voters' rolls
before the elections were registered 7,861,421 voters at 10,677 polling
stations, but that the commission, because on election day in Kosovo and
Metohija were not opened 368 polling stations, with 611,590 registered
voters, announced that 7,249,831 was the total number of registered
voters.
Because in Kosovo and Metohija those polling stations were not
opened, from the point of view of statistics, election material could
not
be processed from 100 percent of polling stations, but from 96.55
percent,
Zivkovic said in a statement to Tanjug.
Since those polling stations were not opened, that means that
611,590 voters registered at those places fictitiously represent part of
the 7,861,421 voters, registered before the elections, Zivkovic said.
"That is why we have decided to announced that 7,249,831 voters
represents the complete number of voters registered from opened polling
stations, from which voting material has arrived and was processed,"
Zivkovic said.
The difference that has appeared, he said, represents the
number
of voters registered at polling stations that were not opened, Zivkovic
said, "which cannot influence total results."
"Simply, the commission has concluded that those voters were
unable to vote, because the polling stations where they are registered
had
not been opened, so that the number of 7,861,421 voters was no longer
relevant for total results," Zivkovic said.
YUGOSLAV ARMY REMAINS LOYAL TO PRINCIPLE OF DEPOLITIZATION
BELGRADE, September 30 (Tanjug) Yugoslav Army spokesman, Col.
Svetozar Radisic condemned on Friday the attempts of political parties
to
drag the Yugoslav Army into party disputes and said that the Yugoslav
Army
will remain consistent in observing the principle of depolitization.
In a written statement, Radisic says that in connection with
the
elections for president and for Yugoslav parliament, held on September
24,
at party rallies members of the Yugoslav Army are invited to declare
their
party affiliation and "representatives of some parties aggressively
demand
from officers to individually express themselves about election results
and
about the work of the federal election commission."
"Commands, units and institutions are not operationally linked
with parties, as they are not an element of the political system, and
that
is why there will be no meetings with party representatives in army
commands and headquarters or contacts with party representatives" the
statement said.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Queste le parole di VESELIN VUKOTIC, coordinatore del gruppo di
economisti "G-17" del blocco di opposizione serbo DOS - ai quali si
richiama Kostunica nel suo programma elettorale - intervistato da "The
News Hour with Jim Lehrer", US Public Television, il 14 luglio 1999.
Il 31 agosto successivo Vukotic, che e' anche responsabile governativo
per le privatizzazioni in Montenegro, dichiara a Guido Ruotolo sul
"Manifesto" che le imprese montenegrine non verranno "svendute" al
capitale straniero bensi', piu' semplicemente, "regalate" perche'
altrimenti non sarebbero appetibili.
---
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/489
REACTIONS TO THE CONGRESS ACT HR 1064
* Yugoslav 'Opposition' Negotiates Sale of Yugoslavia!
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel
(original: http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/11.htm )
* Joseph Biden (US congressman): "We, the Congress, are saying to the
people of Serbia that they are our friends, not our enemies. It is their
Government, it is Slobodan Milosevic that is the problem, not the
Serbian people... Should our West European allies choose to embrace a
post-Milosevic, democratically elected, but ultra-nationalistic Serbia,
then I would say to them `good luck'..."
* Washington Votes to Finance Yugoslav Runoff Election
by Michel Chossudovsky
* Blatant U.S. intervention in Yugoslav elections protested; Group calls
for investigation (IAC)
* Are Washingtonians Helping Milosevic Survive?
by Srdja Trifkovic
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/487
H. R. 1064: AN ACT To authorize a coordinated program to promote the
development of democracy in Serbia and Montenegro.
> http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/488
The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections
by Michel Chossudovsky and Jared Israel (9-28-2000)
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/461
Who Are the G-17?
By Michel Chossudovsky
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/217
IL PROGRAMMA "SEED", RADIO B92 ed il GRUPPO G17
---
CHINA: ELECTIONS IN YUGOSLAVIA ARE NOT OVER YET
PEKING, Sept 28 (Tanjug) - The elections in Yugoslavia have not been
completed yet and it is not known at this time who the president will
be,
Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Sun Yuxi said on Thursday.
Pointing out the results announced by the Yugoslav federal Electoral
Commission, Sun told a regular press conference that these elections are
exclusively an internal affair of Yugoslavia and underscored that China
respects the choice of the Yugoslav people. He said he hoped Yugoslavia
would preserve its political stability and achieve economic and social
growth. Sun expressed hope that Chinese-Yugoslav relations would
continue
to grow and pointed out that China and Yugoslavia have maintained, and
will
continue to maintain, economic and trade cooperation on the grounds of
equality and mutual benefits, cooperation which is in the interests and
beneficial to the peoples of both countries. China has repeatedly
announced
over the past few days that foreign interference in the internal affairs
of
a country, or in the electoral and post-election process in Yugoslavia,
is
unacceptable.
WEST DOES NOT CARE FOR SERBIAN PEOPLE
BEIJING, Sept 28 (Tanjug) - Chinese media carried on Thursday a Yugoslav
Electioral Commission statement that incumbent President Slobodan
Milosevic
and the opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica must undergo a second
round
of elections on Oct 8 as neither won a majority in the first.
Chinese Worker's Daily said in a commentary on the Yugoslav elections
that
the West does not care for free and fair elections in Yugoslavia or for
the
future of Serbian people, but only for its own interests, as
demonstrated
by its economic, political and even military pressures against
Yugoslavia.
The daily warns that this is gross interference in the internal affairs
of
Yugoslavia, adding that the chief aim of the West is to use pressure to
overthrow the current government in Belgrade.
Illustrating the media and other forms of pressure, the daily said that
the western media announced immediately after polling stations closed
Sunday evening that "President Slobodan Milosevic lost the elections".
Pointing to other means of gross interference of the West, the daily
stressed "threats and promises" of the West as regards economy, quoting
some western officials who said that the sanctions against Yugoslavia
would
be strenghtened if the election results were not in conformity to their
will. Media in Beijing stressed that Russia urged the West against
destabilizing Yugoslavia, quoting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's
statement that the Yugoslav people have full freedom to express their
will
without internal or external pressure.
---
Church's Appeal (STATEMENT TEXT)
Church's appeal to
Kostunica
The church's Bishop Justin congratulated Mr Kostunica
The text of the Serbian Orthodox Church's
statement to opposition candidate Vojislav
Kostunica calling on him to assume the
duties of Yugoslav president.
Dear Dr Vojislav Kostunica, elected president
of Yugoslavia,
In a sign of joy that the presidential,
parliamentary and local elections in our
homeland, on 24 September 2000, transpired
peacefully and with dignity, the Holy Synod of
the Serbian Orthodox Church calls on Dr
Vojislav Kostunica and his fellow elected
citizens to assume the administration of the
state, its parliament and municipalities in an
equally peaceful and dignified manner.
With dignity and on the
basis of the results
received, which are
proof of the trust of
the people to which
they belong.
With dignity and
responsibility in the
absolute sense of the
word, because we
know that this nation,
which has suffered
frequently, has always
thought about its freedom.
Therefore, today, when to all intents and
purposes it has achieved the freedom it has
wished for, those it has elected must not,
through their behaviour, allow the tears of
sorrow to flow down a single face.
Only in that case will the Lord of the Sky and
the Earth in the Holy Trinity - the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit - bless the start of
your daily work and answer the prayers of the
Orthodox Church of Saint Sava, with the
Patriarch at its head.
Chairman, Holy Synod AEM and Serbian
Patriarch, Pavle.
---
ELECTION SUPERVISING BOARD: YUGOSLAV POLLING WAS IN LINE WITH
LAW
BELGRADE, September 29 (Tanjug) September 24 Yugoslav
presidential and parliamentary elections and local polls in its republic
of
Serbia were peaceful and dignified, with full application of the
election
laws and generally accepted international standards, according to the
Yugoslav Election Supervising Board on Friday.
In view of the official election results and the presidential
runoff called for Oct. 8, the Board appealed to the presidential
candidates
and the parties that nominated them to exercise their rights in the
election process in line with the law.
It also invited all participants in the election process to
carry
out their electoral activities in accordance with the law and the
existing
regulations.
In this way, they would allow the presidential polls to be
concluded in a climate of tolerance and in conformity with the universal
democratic principles, the Board said. It added it would continue
to
monitor electoral activities and the behaviour of the participants in
the
election process.
INSTEAD OF 10,677 POLLING STATIONS, 10,309 OPENED
BELGRADE, September 30 (Tanjug) Yugoslav Statistics Institute
Director and Federal Election Commission member Milovan Zivkovic stated
on
Friday that the commission had correctly announced that on voters' rolls
before the elections were registered 7,861,421 voters at 10,677 polling
stations, but that the commission, because on election day in Kosovo and
Metohija were not opened 368 polling stations, with 611,590 registered
voters, announced that 7,249,831 was the total number of registered
voters.
Because in Kosovo and Metohija those polling stations were not
opened, from the point of view of statistics, election material could
not
be processed from 100 percent of polling stations, but from 96.55
percent,
Zivkovic said in a statement to Tanjug.
Since those polling stations were not opened, that means that
611,590 voters registered at those places fictitiously represent part of
the 7,861,421 voters, registered before the elections, Zivkovic said.
"That is why we have decided to announced that 7,249,831 voters
represents the complete number of voters registered from opened polling
stations, from which voting material has arrived and was processed,"
Zivkovic said.
The difference that has appeared, he said, represents the
number
of voters registered at polling stations that were not opened, Zivkovic
said, "which cannot influence total results."
"Simply, the commission has concluded that those voters were
unable to vote, because the polling stations where they are registered
had
not been opened, so that the number of 7,861,421 voters was no longer
relevant for total results," Zivkovic said.
YUGOSLAV ARMY REMAINS LOYAL TO PRINCIPLE OF DEPOLITIZATION
BELGRADE, September 30 (Tanjug) Yugoslav Army spokesman, Col.
Svetozar Radisic condemned on Friday the attempts of political parties
to
drag the Yugoslav Army into party disputes and said that the Yugoslav
Army
will remain consistent in observing the principle of depolitization.
In a written statement, Radisic says that in connection with
the
elections for president and for Yugoslav parliament, held on September
24,
at party rallies members of the Yugoslav Army are invited to declare
their
party affiliation and "representatives of some parties aggressively
demand
from officers to individually express themselves about election results
and
about the work of the federal election commission."
"Commands, units and institutions are not operationally linked
with parties, as they are not an element of the political system, and
that
is why there will be no meetings with party representatives in army
commands and headquarters or contacts with party representatives" the
statement said.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
COTANTA ERA LA MATERIA GRIGIA QUANTO IL FOLTO CRINE
Venerdi' 29 settembre, ore 20.20 circa, a "Zapping", RadioUno:
Sandro Curzi, sulla Jugoslavia:
"...tutta quella gente in piazza, quella e' democrazia. Be', poi certo,
li' c'e' la dittatura...".
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Venerdi' 29 settembre, ore 20.20 circa, a "Zapping", RadioUno:
Sandro Curzi, sulla Jugoslavia:
"...tutta quella gente in piazza, quella e' democrazia. Be', poi certo,
li' c'e' la dittatura...".
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
DEMOCRAZIA O DITTATURA?
Subject: Re: Ciliegina numero 206
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:12:35 +0200
From: "sorgiorgio"
To: <alessandro.curzi@...>, "crj"
Caro Compagno Direttore Alessandro Curzi,
hai torto! In Jugoslavia, purtroppo, c'è la democrazia. Quando c'era la
Dittatura, la Dittatura del Proletariato,
le cose andavano molto meglio.
Vedi la Russia adesso c'è la democrazia e sono con le pezze al culo.
Cordiali saluti
----- Original Message -----
From: "Coordinamento Romano per la Jugoslavia" <crj@...>
To: "crj" <crj@...>
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2000 10:22 AM
Subject: Ciliegina numero 206
> COTANTA ERA LA MATERIA GRIGIA QUANTO IL FOLTO CRINE
>
>
> Venerdi' 29 settembre, ore 20.20 circa, a "Zapping", RadioUno:
>
> Sandro Curzi, sulla Jugoslavia:
>
> "...tutta quella gente in piazza, quella e' democrazia. Be', poi certo,
> li' c'e' la dittatura...".
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Ciliegina numero 206
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:12:35 +0200
From: "sorgiorgio"
To: <alessandro.curzi@...>, "crj"
Caro Compagno Direttore Alessandro Curzi,
hai torto! In Jugoslavia, purtroppo, c'è la democrazia. Quando c'era la
Dittatura, la Dittatura del Proletariato,
le cose andavano molto meglio.
Vedi la Russia adesso c'è la democrazia e sono con le pezze al culo.
Cordiali saluti
----- Original Message -----
From: "Coordinamento Romano per la Jugoslavia" <crj@...>
To: "crj" <crj@...>
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2000 10:22 AM
Subject: Ciliegina numero 206
> COTANTA ERA LA MATERIA GRIGIA QUANTO IL FOLTO CRINE
>
>
> Venerdi' 29 settembre, ore 20.20 circa, a "Zapping", RadioUno:
>
> Sandro Curzi, sulla Jugoslavia:
>
> "...tutta quella gente in piazza, quella e' democrazia. Be', poi certo,
> li' c'e' la dittatura...".
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
1990-1991
Il 5 novembre 1990 Il Congresso degli USA, "grazie" all'impegno del
senatore Bob Dole, approva la legge 101/513, che sancisce la
dissoluzione della Jugoslavia attraverso il finanziamento diretto di
tutte le nuove formazioni "democratiche" (nazionaliste e secessioniste;
cfr. Sarah Flounders su "NATO in the Balkans"). A fine mese un rapporto
della CIA "profetizza" che la Jugoslavia ha solamente pochi mesi di
vita... la notizia viene diffusa dalle agenzie di stampa occidentali e
viene pubblicata il 29 novembre, giorno della Festa Nazionale della RFSJ
(si celebra la fondazione della Repubblica avvenuta a Jajce, in Bosnia,
nel 1943; cfr. http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/tempo90.gif e
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/stampa90.jpg).
* "LA JUGOSLAVIA E' L'UNICO PAESE DELL'EST EUROPEO CHE STIA
SIGNIFICATIVAMENTE RIDUCENDO IL SUO DEBITO ESTERO..." Il discorso
pronunciato dall'ex-ambasciatore statunitense in Jugoslavia, John D.
Scanlan, il 22 luglio 1990.
* "QUANTI PAESI CI SARANNO IL EUROPA DOPO IL 1992?" L'editoriale del New
York Times del 31 ottobre 1990, nel quale viene commentata la legge
101/513 del Senato USA che blocca tutti i rapporti economici con la RFS
di Jugoslavia ed impone di considerare separatamente le repubbliche
federate in base al grado di "democraticita'" riconosciuto dal
Dipartimento di Stato degli USA.
* "LA STRATEGIA DEI CROATI E' CHIARA: STANNO BOMBARDANDO IL MONDO DI
INFORMAZIONI..." Un articolo di Petar Makara sull'inizio della campagna
di disinformazione strategica ai danni del pubblico mondiale, mirata a
consentire la secessione della Slovenia e della Croazia.
(materiali distribuiti dalla mailing list STOPNATO -
http://stopnato.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber?Act=view_archive&list_id=stopnato
)
---
"LA JUGOSLAVIA E' L'UNICO PAESE DELL'EST EUROPEO CHE STIA
SIGNIFICATIVAMENTE RIDUCENDO IL SUO DEBITO ESTERO..."
Banquet Address by U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia,
John D. Scanlan July 22, 1990
Tonight, I would like to address the problem of the bad public image
that Yugoslavia in general,
and Serbia in particular, now tends to receive in the American Media.
The typical story on
Yugoslavia these days tends to have a theme that I would characterize
as: good Slovene--bad
Serb--poor Albanian. The most egregious recent example of this is the
story on Yugoslavia
which appeared in the August issue of National Geographic. The author
of the article takes at
face value, and quotes, anti-Serb comments of Albanians, Slovenes,
Macedonians, and Croatians,
most of whom are not particularly authoritative but represent
man-on-the-street opinions. He
does
not balance these by comments of Serbs except in one instance where he
quotes the angry
reaction of an Old Serbian friend of his about seccesionist sentiments
the author heard in
Slovenia. The author clearly seems toidentify much more comfortably
with Slovenes, Croatians,
Macedonians, and Albanians than with Serbs. About the only nod to
Serbian history is the
author's appreciation of the emotions Kosovo stirs in Serbs because of
the battle of Kosovo Polje
in 1389 and the subsequent centuries of occupaton of Serbia by the
Turks.
The sad part about this particular article is that the author
obviously knows something about
Yugoslavia but not enough to put events into proper perspective, and,
given the large and
influential role of the National Geographic, he is misleading literally
millions of Americans.
American ignorance of Yugoslavian history, culture, and geography is
by and large broad and
general. And why not, it is a very complicated story. Most Americans
do not know that Slovenes,
Croatians, Serbs, Montenegrins, and Macedonians are all Slavic peoples
with similiar languages.
Most Americans do not know that there are almost as many Albanians
living in Yugoslavia as in
Albania and that 90 percent of the Albanians in Yugoslavia are Moslems
who are able to practice
their religion freely in Yugoslavia, but not in Albania. Most Americans
do not know that the
Albanians in Yugoslavia enjoy the same civil and human rights as all
other Yugoslavs and have
infinitely more freedom in Yugoslavia than the Albanians in Albania, the
last Stalinist state
in Europe. Most Americans do not know that Albanian is a legal language
in the Kosovo and that
all Albanian children in the Kosovo attend Albanian language schools all
the way through
university, and Pristina is one of the largest universities in Europe in
terms of numbers of
students. Most Americans do not know that the largest and most modern
library and repository of
Albanian literature and culture is in Yugoslavia, in the city of
Pristina, not in Albania, and that that
library is one of the largest and finest libraries in Yugoslavia. Most
Americans do not know that
Serbia is the only republic of Yugoslavia that had two autonomous
regions carved out of it by the
Yugoslav constitution of 1974, when there was just as much justification
for carving out of Croatia
an Autonomous Region of Lika to recognize the more than half million
Serbs living there or an
Autonomous Region of Istria to recognize the large Italian minority
living there. I could go on
endlessly about what most Americans
do not know, but should know, before they make judgemental statements
about relations between
the ethnic groups that make up Yugoslavia.
I do not mean to suggest that there have not been human rights
abuses in Yugoslavia. There
have been many well documented cases of human rights abuses of Yugoslavs
by one ethnic group
by Yugoslavs of another ethnic groups or, more commonly, by Yugoslav
officials, and since we
have made human rights a strong and conscious element of our foreign
policy, we should not
hesitate to condemn human rights violation whenever and wherever we find
them. But we should
be totally objective in doing so and, in a powder ked of ethnic
divisiveness such as Yugoslavia
represent today, we should be extremely cautious to avoid the appearance
of tilting for or against
any ethnic group, particularly when emotions are as high as they are
today in Kosovo. As a
government, I think we have done so and I wish at this point to read to
you the official statement
of the Department of State issued on June 29, 1990.
"We are deeply concerned about rising tensions in the province of
Kosovo, in the Yugoslav
Republic of Serbia. Rooted in a long history, the conflict between
ethnic groups living in the area
threatens the well-being of all the people of Kosovo, Serbia, and
Yugoslavia.
"We believe this conflict can only be resolved through peaceful,
democratic dialogue and
respect for the dignity and human rights of alll citzens of the
province. It cannot be solved by
violence, intimidation, or the threat or use of force by any party. We
call upon the people and the
government of Serbia to respect and protect the rights of all Albanians
living in the Republic of
Serbia, especially Kosovo. By the same token, we call upon the Albanian
population in Kosovo to
respect and protect the rights of all resident Serbs and Montenegrins
and others.
"It is for the people of Yugoslavia alone to decide under what
constitutional arrangements they
wish to live. The United States continues to support the unity,
independence, and territorial
integrity of Yugoslavia. We hope that the people of Yugoslavia, of all
national and ethnic groups,
will live together on the basis of mutual respect, democratic pluralism,
and the principles
enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act and CSCE process. It is incumbent
on the ethnic majority of
each republic and province to guarantee the security and fundamental
human right of all national
and ethnic minorities living within the territory.
"Since World War II Yugoslavia has, on the whole, provided a
commendable example of
national, cultural, and ethnic harmony in a multinational state. We
hope Yugoslavia can continue
this proud tradition."
If the position of our government is clear, balanced, and objective,
then why is the media
coverage of events in Yugoslavia seemingly so prejudiced in favor of
some and against others? I
would have to say that I believe Yugoslavia in general, and Serbia in
particular, have not been
particularly adept in public relations. That is one reason. I think
another reason is that we have
forgotten that Yugoslavia has been independent of the Soviet Union
since 1948 and has pursued
its own national brand of communisim, and that it is, in fact, very
different from the former
Warsaw Pact client states of the Soviet Union who now have liberated
themselves to one degree
or another. Yugoslavia liberated itself from the Soviet Union but not
from communism under much
more difficult
circumstances in 1948. And we were wise enough to come to Yugoslavia's
aid quickly and
substantially, seeing it as in our own national interest to promote
fissures in the Soviet bloc.
Yugoslavia is now handicapped by the fact that its communist party,
having successfully
portrayed itself at home and abroad as indigenous and independent from
more than 40 years,
enjoys more credibility and domestic support than the Soviet installed
and directed East European
parties. The latter all crumbled rapidly during 1989, while the
Yugoslav party, which has its own
firmly
entrenched domestic base, has displayed more staying power. This
prompts many foreign
observers to conclude, incorrectly in my view, that Yugoslavia is less
interested in political and
economic reform than the Warsaw Pact European countries. This is, of
course, not at all true. In
a sense, Yugoslavia invented perestroika and glasnost and since Tito's
death in 1980 has been
seeking in fits and starts to reform its political and economic systems.
The process has moved
more slowly than we would have hoped, to the extent that most Americans
are prepared to believe
that Yugoslavia has not yet liberated itself as Warsaw Pact countries
have. Indeed, I have been
asked by people who should have know better, "When is Yugoslavia going
to follow the pattern of
Hungary, Poland, and other East European countries?
The only truly objective detailed and insightful account of the
current situation in Yugoslavia
which I have read recently was a series of two articles in the New York
Review of Books written
by Michael Scammell, who is a professor of Russian Literature at Cornell
University. Scammell
does a brilliant job of presenting the nationalistic and political
ferment together with detailed
historical background republic by republic, from north to south. He
points out that since the end of
World War II, Serbs were the leaders in democratic thought and movements
until the last two or
three years when the Slovenes moved to the fore, followed belatedly by
the Croatians. Scammel's
view is that while the democratic opposition remained just as strong in
Serbia as in Slovenia, the
dispute over Kosovo permitted the Serbian communist party to seize the
initiative by directing
nationalistic sentiments against the Albanians. The Serbian dissidents
were thus upstaged and
outflanked by Milosevic, who exploited the issue in order to strengthen
the party at the expense of
the opposition. But Scammell goes on to quote Yugoslavia's most famous
longstanding dissident
Milovan Djilas as having told Scammell that he too first approved of
Milosevic because he
Milosevic had smashed the old Titoist myths of brotherhood and unity
that were holding
Yugoslavia back. He had liberated the consciousness of the Serbian
people and was quite right to
make Kosovo
and Vodvodina subservient to Belgrade, even though it meant sending in
troops. Scammell than
quotes Kosta Cavoski as having told him that Milosevic is righting a
national wrong. Cavoski said
that communists everywhere, and especially Yugoslavian communists, have
exploited national
questions for their own ends and have crushed national interests. The
Serbs suffered under this
policy more than other people in Yugoslavia. While Djilas and Cavoski
told Scammell that they
believed Milosevic's style is authoritarian and his tactics unduly
rough, they did not consider him
to be a neo-Stanlinist or neo-fascist. Djilas said no arrests of
dissenters are being made in
Serbia itself, and although Milosevic controls 90 percent of the press,
the press is more outspoken
than it was. The intellectual atmosphere in Serbia is freer than it has
ever been. Philosophers,
sociologists, and writers are freer now than they were even before the
war.
The objective, extremely well-informed observer, Scammell, is
optimistic that Yugoslavia will
survive. As he puts it, "It seems inevitable that the federal basis of
Yugoslavia will be
reexamined and renegotiated in some form or other." I will cast my lot
with Scammell. I
personally believe that recentralization is out of the question. But I
am confident that a more
viable form of federation or confederation will be worked out for the
simple reason that at the end
of the day, Yugoslav leaders north and south will recognize that going
it alone is not a very good
option for any of them economically or politically. The complexities of
sorting out the ethnic
mixtures, dividing up
the commom property, and the prospect of facing the world as individual,
much smaller political
entities will chill secessionsist fervor when the decision time comes.
Scammell's article is by far the more profound and his predictions
for the future is based on
solid scholarship, but unfortunately, the New York Review of Books has a
very small readership
compared to the National Geographic. And our daily press and the
television sound bytes also
tend to report and exaggerate bad news from Yugoslavia.
On the economic front there is a lot of good news, but our daily
press by and large ignores it.
Yugoslavia is the only East European country that is currently
significantly reducing its foreign
debt. The debt had been reduced from $20 billion four years ago to $16
billion now, with the
expectation of another 2-3 billion reduction by the end of the year.
Inflation has been stopped and
reduced from a rate of almost 2000 percent last December to 31percent
this year to date and is
currently at a stable rate of 0 percent. Foreign currency reserves are
sharply up to a level of
approximately $7 billion. And the process of market oriented
privatiztion is proceeding far more
rapidly in Yugoslavia than in other East European countries. There has
been a very positive
development of new
democratic, independent labor unions throughout the country. And so
on. But you don't read
about these events in the daily press.
While we surely have every right to criticize the lack of media
objectivity with regard to
Yugoslavia, and the Serbs, I personally think we must also recognize
that the burning issue for the
future of Yugoslavia and Serbia is a viable solution to the Kosovo
problem. I don't pretend to have
any special wisdom on the subject. But I don't think the 1974
constitution was the answer. And I
think the citizens of the northern republics of Yugoslavia should
acknowledge that in the
mid-1980's they ignored the anguished pleas of thousands of Serbs and
Montengrins in the
Kosovo for attention to their concerns about their personal well-being
and security. And Iam
convinced that there must be an open and genuine dialogue in and about
the Kososo between
Serbs and Albanians in order for a viable solution to be found.
I have visited the Kosovo on many occasions, as early as 1955 as as
recently ast late 1988. I
have met repeatedly with Albanian and Serbian leaders there, including
several who are currently
actively engaged, and I believe that with the proper encouragement and
support from every corner
of Yugoslavia and from Yugoslavia's foreign friends, a solution can be
found. But this process
will never get off the ground if one party to the dispute is repeatedly,
incorrectly, and unfairly held
to be solely at fault. The modern Kosovo problem as been created by all
Yugoslavs. Let them join
together, with malice towards none and charity toward all, to solve the
problem. It is in their
common interest, and in ours, that they do so.
-
Editor's Note: The reader should keep in mind that this address was
delivered four years prior to
the publication of this book.
[John D. Scanlan served as US Ambassador to Yugoslavia in the late
1980s]
---
"QUANTI PAESI CI SARANNO IL EUROPA DOPO IL 1992?"
New York Times editorial Oct. 31, 1990.
"How many countries will there be in Europe after 1992? Seven,
according
to the bitter gibe circulating in Croatia: the European Community and
the six
republics that now make up Yugoslavia. Things could turn out that way
if
Slobodan Milosevic and his Communist cohorts in Serbia continue to hold
back
constitutional and *economic change* and stir up ethnic tension.
Ever since Slovenia and Croation elected non-communist governments
and
moved to *free the economy*, Mr. Milosevic has accused them of trying to
break up Yugoslavia. Slovenia and Croatia deny any separatist intent
but
want to turn Yugoslavia into a loosened confederation of sovereign
republics.
That would weaken the power of the Serbs ...
Yugoslavia's best hope lies in moving forward into Europe. But if
Belgrade resorts to force [to preserve the union] the door to Europe
will
slam shut. That's a firm message for the European community to send
now.
Washington can underscore this warning with one of its own: Any more
violence means no more aid.
... But it would be rash to cut off U.S, aid now, as Senator Alfonse
D'Amato has proposed. That would exacerbate Yugoslavia's economic
distress
-- and national passions. Voting down Mr. D'Amato's measure still
leaves
Yugoslavia on notice that aid is in jeopardy unless democratic change is
allowed to proceed in peace.
---
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/makara/fromthe2.htm
From the forthcoming Emperor's Clothes book, "Ten years of lies that
fooled the
world" -
Lying about Slovenian Secession , 1991
by Petar Makara (9-10-00)
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
In June, 1991 Slovenia announced it had seceded from Yugoslavia and
proceeded to seize
Yugoslav customs stations. The Western media then broadcast news of a
barbaric attack by
vicious Yugoslav troops, beaten back by brave Slovenians. But those
stories were pure fiction.
There was no such attack. Total casualties in this war were: 3 dead
Slovenian irregulars and 33
Yugoslav soldiers, executed after they surrendered. The Yugoslav troops
in Slovenia had not been
issued live ammunition, and this was public knowledge at the time.
Only one mainstream Western source admitted the stories were lies. That
was the 'European' in
its July 19-21, 1991. Note the date: barely one month after Slovenia
declared their intention to
secede, thus starting the first Yugoslav war of secession. The title of
the story was: "Lies win
Balkan war of words." It was written by Simon Freeman. Emperor's Clothes
has a photo copy of
the original. This is fortunate, for the article cannot be found on the
Internet using either the Lexis
or Google search engines.
The article is worth reading carefully because it at once exposes how
lies were used early on to
demonize the Serbs and at the same time implicitly supports some of the
propaganda it is
exposing.
The article has this subtitle:
"Yugoslavia has rediscovered the old adage that truth is the first
casualty of war.
Simon Freeman reports from Zagreb [Croatia] and Ljubljana
[Slovenia] where the
protagonists are involved in a fierce fight to capture the
attention of the world's
media."
It begins by talking about the Croat government's understanding of the
value of propaganda:.
[Quote] "The Croats' strategy today is clear. They are bombarding
the world with
information, which is usually so petty that it seems that it must
be true. But this is
an illusion; it is impossible to check most of these reports
precisely because the
clashes were so minor that, even if they happened, they left no
mark. And, in
between the recital of these so-called facts, the Croats toss
quite incredible
allegations; this week's favourite is to claim, straight-faced,
that the Serbs have
hired assassins from the Romanian Securitate.
[Quote continued] "Zagreb has launched this propaganda blitz after
carefully
analysing how the Slovenians managed to outmanoeuvre Belgrade in
the fight for
international sympathy. The Croats realised that the decisive
engagements, which
virtually guaranteed Slovenia's independence, took place in the
pages of the
foreign media and, even more important, in the news bulletins of
the major
television networks." [End quote.]
In fact, the Croatian leaders 'realised' nothing at all, nor did the
Slovenes 'outmaneuver' Belgrade.
The secession of these countries was planned and coordinated by the US
and German elites,
working through various agencies, including the CIA and BND. They
trained their proxy forces in
Croatia and Slovenia and then opened the pages of the mass media which
they controlled to
accept their proxies' propaganda.
How much maneuvering is required to win a media war when the Slovenes
and the mass media are
controlled by the same forces?
The Western conquerors divided the job of getting out misinformation.
The proxies in Slovenia and
Croatia were to craft lies, as best they could. The Western media was to
bring the lies to market.
The article goes on to say that "the Serbs" (meaning, the Yugoslav
Federation) are learning the
lesson that you have to use the Western media but that they are slow
students:
[Quote] "They have a leader, Slobodan Milosevic, whose brand of
stubborn
nationalism and hardline marxism is a public relations disaster.''
[End quote]
Note the propaganda hidden in this sentence. In the early stages of the
breakup of Yugoslavia, the
West tarred the Serbs with being "the last Communists on Planet Earth."
This particular
propaganda slogan was launched by the Croatian Catholic Church.
Then the article talks about the "cleverness" of the Slovene
propagandists:
[Quote] "The Slovenes cleverly portrayed themselves as
clean-limbed, tanned
churchgoers who only wanted to live peacefully and democratically
in their Alpine
idyll of mountains, lakes and meadows
[Quote] "The Serbs, on the other hand, the Slovenes suggested [and
the West
readily published], were ruthless communists. They were dirty,
unshaven brutes
who dropped cluster bombs on innocent civilians. They came from
the east, which
had always sought to inflict its intolerance, religious fanaticism
and alphabet of
squiggly lines on Europe.
[Quote] "These were grotesque caricatures, of course, but, thanks
to the brilliant
propaganda campaign in Ljubljana [capital of Slovenia], they have
taken hold of the
public imagination in the West, turning a complex struggle into a
straightforward
battle between the forces of light (Slovenes and Croats) and
darkness (Serbs).
The nerve-centre of this propaganda operation was an underground
conference
complex deep below the streets of Ljubljana. Here, a few dozen
officials from the
Slovenian Ministry of Information, backed up by young,
multilingual patriot
volunteers, worked tirelessly to service more than 1,000
journalists.
[Quote] "Inside this bunker the information flowed fast and
efficiently in an
atmosphere oddly similar to that found in a press centre at an
Olympic Games; the
results - tanks hit, shots fired, prisoners taken - were given
every hour. The
Slovenes needed a bloody, dramatic conflict to ensure the world
did not loose
interest. So they showered the media with details of battles that
had often never
taken place.
[Quote] Sometimes the Slovenes would enliven the day with
revelations which
were either ficticous or irrelevant...
[Quote] "...It was possible to report the war without ever
venturing above the
ground. Indeed, since it required an honours degree in
orienteering to negotiate the
labyrinth of roadblocks, many journalists opted [or were ordered?]
to remain
underground. But, for those who did venture into the sunlight, the
bunker war often
seemed a fantacy. For example, the world heard of a major battle
at Jezersko, a
small border post an the frontier with Austria. This greatly
surprised the Slovene
militiamen at Jezersko, who told me a few days later that the army
had fired a few
shots, taken the post and then, faced with Slovene reinforcement,
retreated
happily down the mountain. No one was hurt" [End quote]
Olympic Games indeed. The author counts on Olympian ignorance among his
readers. Some
thoughts on this excerpt:
1) He is telling us that Slovenes, for the first time in the
history of warfare, have
discovered that it is good to present themselves positively and
the enemy negatively. This
is astonishing. Even Hitler tried to present himself positively -
thus he launched World
War II by staging an incident which made it appear that Polish
border guards had attacked
Germany. And Hitler said he was fighting unshaven, dirty
communists also.
2) WHY did Western reporters sit in secessionists bunker and
present only the
secessionist side of the story when in fact the media of the
Federal Government of
Yugoslavia was also issuing daily news reports, and accurate ones
(i.e. that the stories
about fighting were lies). Why didn't Western reporters go out and
investigate to see who
was telling the truth? Why did these reporters happen to take the
side of secessionists
who described themselves in terms painfully similar to those used
by WWII Nazis? Why
did they refuse to give fair hearing to the news of a recognized,
sovereign country, one of
the founders of the United Nations, a country which had been on
friendly terms with the
West for many years?
3) Since when do Western reporters sit in a bunker while reporting
on a war? Haven't they
gone out and reported far tougher situations? The war in Slovenia
was feeble. The end
count of casualties was 3 dead Slovenian irregulars and 33
executed Yugoslav Federal
Army soldiers who had no ammunition (!) and surrendered. A total
of 36 people dead.
Some war! The casualty level of a bus accident. What happened to
so called Western
"investigative journalism" ?
4) The article says: "It required an honours degree in
orienteering to negotiate the
labyrinth of roadblocks [in Slovenia]" Baloney. Go and try to find
Slovenia on the map.
Hard isn't it? A country smaller than Connecticut. I guess these
journalists, with their true
"interest" in events, would be get lost in their Slovenian hotel.
With all those great and
terrible roadblocks and savage obstacles they wouldn't find a
bathroom.
5) Did ONLY the Slovenes have "young multilingual patriot
volunteers" ready to spread
their view of events? See how the image of clean-limbed young
Slovenes is presented
even here, where it is supposedly debunked! Are Serbs never
multilingual? Are they never
beautiful?
The author then presents his moral, which appears in the pages of the
'European' in large type:
[Quote] "Exaggerations will do nothing to heal the divisions which
are ripping the
country apart." [End quote]
Upside down and backwards, because in fact it is precisely the
exaggerations put forth by the
Western media which were the instrument for allowing Western involvement
in Yugoslavia -
justifying economic and military support for the secessionists,
sanctions against multiethnic
Yugoslavia, expulsions of Serbs, moderate Muslims and others who wanted
to hold it together, the
reintroduction of huge numbers of expatriate Croatian Ustashe fascists,
the disarming of
Yugoslav loyalists through introduction of UN troops, and the bombing of
loyalist forces, in Bosnia
and later Serbia and Montenegro.
Savagery was introduced from the West. Without the West, the Slovenian
and Croatian fascists
would never have had a chance in Yugoslavia.
-
Further reading....
1) "Germany and the US in the Balkans- a Careful Coincidence of National
Policies?" by T.W.
Carr at http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/carr/carr.html
2) "What Does NATO Want in Yugoslavia?" by Sean Gervasi at
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/gervasi/why.htm
If you find emperors-clothes useful, we can use your help...
(The Soros Foundation does NOT fund Emperors Clothes.)
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www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Il 5 novembre 1990 Il Congresso degli USA, "grazie" all'impegno del
senatore Bob Dole, approva la legge 101/513, che sancisce la
dissoluzione della Jugoslavia attraverso il finanziamento diretto di
tutte le nuove formazioni "democratiche" (nazionaliste e secessioniste;
cfr. Sarah Flounders su "NATO in the Balkans"). A fine mese un rapporto
della CIA "profetizza" che la Jugoslavia ha solamente pochi mesi di
vita... la notizia viene diffusa dalle agenzie di stampa occidentali e
viene pubblicata il 29 novembre, giorno della Festa Nazionale della RFSJ
(si celebra la fondazione della Repubblica avvenuta a Jajce, in Bosnia,
nel 1943; cfr. http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/tempo90.gif e
http://www.marx2001.org/crj/IM/stampa90.jpg).
* "LA JUGOSLAVIA E' L'UNICO PAESE DELL'EST EUROPEO CHE STIA
SIGNIFICATIVAMENTE RIDUCENDO IL SUO DEBITO ESTERO..." Il discorso
pronunciato dall'ex-ambasciatore statunitense in Jugoslavia, John D.
Scanlan, il 22 luglio 1990.
* "QUANTI PAESI CI SARANNO IL EUROPA DOPO IL 1992?" L'editoriale del New
York Times del 31 ottobre 1990, nel quale viene commentata la legge
101/513 del Senato USA che blocca tutti i rapporti economici con la RFS
di Jugoslavia ed impone di considerare separatamente le repubbliche
federate in base al grado di "democraticita'" riconosciuto dal
Dipartimento di Stato degli USA.
* "LA STRATEGIA DEI CROATI E' CHIARA: STANNO BOMBARDANDO IL MONDO DI
INFORMAZIONI..." Un articolo di Petar Makara sull'inizio della campagna
di disinformazione strategica ai danni del pubblico mondiale, mirata a
consentire la secessione della Slovenia e della Croazia.
(materiali distribuiti dalla mailing list STOPNATO -
http://stopnato.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber?Act=view_archive&list_id=stopnato
)
---
"LA JUGOSLAVIA E' L'UNICO PAESE DELL'EST EUROPEO CHE STIA
SIGNIFICATIVAMENTE RIDUCENDO IL SUO DEBITO ESTERO..."
Banquet Address by U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia,
John D. Scanlan July 22, 1990
Tonight, I would like to address the problem of the bad public image
that Yugoslavia in general,
and Serbia in particular, now tends to receive in the American Media.
The typical story on
Yugoslavia these days tends to have a theme that I would characterize
as: good Slovene--bad
Serb--poor Albanian. The most egregious recent example of this is the
story on Yugoslavia
which appeared in the August issue of National Geographic. The author
of the article takes at
face value, and quotes, anti-Serb comments of Albanians, Slovenes,
Macedonians, and Croatians,
most of whom are not particularly authoritative but represent
man-on-the-street opinions. He
does
not balance these by comments of Serbs except in one instance where he
quotes the angry
reaction of an Old Serbian friend of his about seccesionist sentiments
the author heard in
Slovenia. The author clearly seems toidentify much more comfortably
with Slovenes, Croatians,
Macedonians, and Albanians than with Serbs. About the only nod to
Serbian history is the
author's appreciation of the emotions Kosovo stirs in Serbs because of
the battle of Kosovo Polje
in 1389 and the subsequent centuries of occupaton of Serbia by the
Turks.
The sad part about this particular article is that the author
obviously knows something about
Yugoslavia but not enough to put events into proper perspective, and,
given the large and
influential role of the National Geographic, he is misleading literally
millions of Americans.
American ignorance of Yugoslavian history, culture, and geography is
by and large broad and
general. And why not, it is a very complicated story. Most Americans
do not know that Slovenes,
Croatians, Serbs, Montenegrins, and Macedonians are all Slavic peoples
with similiar languages.
Most Americans do not know that there are almost as many Albanians
living in Yugoslavia as in
Albania and that 90 percent of the Albanians in Yugoslavia are Moslems
who are able to practice
their religion freely in Yugoslavia, but not in Albania. Most Americans
do not know that the
Albanians in Yugoslavia enjoy the same civil and human rights as all
other Yugoslavs and have
infinitely more freedom in Yugoslavia than the Albanians in Albania, the
last Stalinist state
in Europe. Most Americans do not know that Albanian is a legal language
in the Kosovo and that
all Albanian children in the Kosovo attend Albanian language schools all
the way through
university, and Pristina is one of the largest universities in Europe in
terms of numbers of
students. Most Americans do not know that the largest and most modern
library and repository of
Albanian literature and culture is in Yugoslavia, in the city of
Pristina, not in Albania, and that that
library is one of the largest and finest libraries in Yugoslavia. Most
Americans do not know that
Serbia is the only republic of Yugoslavia that had two autonomous
regions carved out of it by the
Yugoslav constitution of 1974, when there was just as much justification
for carving out of Croatia
an Autonomous Region of Lika to recognize the more than half million
Serbs living there or an
Autonomous Region of Istria to recognize the large Italian minority
living there. I could go on
endlessly about what most Americans
do not know, but should know, before they make judgemental statements
about relations between
the ethnic groups that make up Yugoslavia.
I do not mean to suggest that there have not been human rights
abuses in Yugoslavia. There
have been many well documented cases of human rights abuses of Yugoslavs
by one ethnic group
by Yugoslavs of another ethnic groups or, more commonly, by Yugoslav
officials, and since we
have made human rights a strong and conscious element of our foreign
policy, we should not
hesitate to condemn human rights violation whenever and wherever we find
them. But we should
be totally objective in doing so and, in a powder ked of ethnic
divisiveness such as Yugoslavia
represent today, we should be extremely cautious to avoid the appearance
of tilting for or against
any ethnic group, particularly when emotions are as high as they are
today in Kosovo. As a
government, I think we have done so and I wish at this point to read to
you the official statement
of the Department of State issued on June 29, 1990.
"We are deeply concerned about rising tensions in the province of
Kosovo, in the Yugoslav
Republic of Serbia. Rooted in a long history, the conflict between
ethnic groups living in the area
threatens the well-being of all the people of Kosovo, Serbia, and
Yugoslavia.
"We believe this conflict can only be resolved through peaceful,
democratic dialogue and
respect for the dignity and human rights of alll citzens of the
province. It cannot be solved by
violence, intimidation, or the threat or use of force by any party. We
call upon the people and the
government of Serbia to respect and protect the rights of all Albanians
living in the Republic of
Serbia, especially Kosovo. By the same token, we call upon the Albanian
population in Kosovo to
respect and protect the rights of all resident Serbs and Montenegrins
and others.
"It is for the people of Yugoslavia alone to decide under what
constitutional arrangements they
wish to live. The United States continues to support the unity,
independence, and territorial
integrity of Yugoslavia. We hope that the people of Yugoslavia, of all
national and ethnic groups,
will live together on the basis of mutual respect, democratic pluralism,
and the principles
enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act and CSCE process. It is incumbent
on the ethnic majority of
each republic and province to guarantee the security and fundamental
human right of all national
and ethnic minorities living within the territory.
"Since World War II Yugoslavia has, on the whole, provided a
commendable example of
national, cultural, and ethnic harmony in a multinational state. We
hope Yugoslavia can continue
this proud tradition."
If the position of our government is clear, balanced, and objective,
then why is the media
coverage of events in Yugoslavia seemingly so prejudiced in favor of
some and against others? I
would have to say that I believe Yugoslavia in general, and Serbia in
particular, have not been
particularly adept in public relations. That is one reason. I think
another reason is that we have
forgotten that Yugoslavia has been independent of the Soviet Union
since 1948 and has pursued
its own national brand of communisim, and that it is, in fact, very
different from the former
Warsaw Pact client states of the Soviet Union who now have liberated
themselves to one degree
or another. Yugoslavia liberated itself from the Soviet Union but not
from communism under much
more difficult
circumstances in 1948. And we were wise enough to come to Yugoslavia's
aid quickly and
substantially, seeing it as in our own national interest to promote
fissures in the Soviet bloc.
Yugoslavia is now handicapped by the fact that its communist party,
having successfully
portrayed itself at home and abroad as indigenous and independent from
more than 40 years,
enjoys more credibility and domestic support than the Soviet installed
and directed East European
parties. The latter all crumbled rapidly during 1989, while the
Yugoslav party, which has its own
firmly
entrenched domestic base, has displayed more staying power. This
prompts many foreign
observers to conclude, incorrectly in my view, that Yugoslavia is less
interested in political and
economic reform than the Warsaw Pact European countries. This is, of
course, not at all true. In
a sense, Yugoslavia invented perestroika and glasnost and since Tito's
death in 1980 has been
seeking in fits and starts to reform its political and economic systems.
The process has moved
more slowly than we would have hoped, to the extent that most Americans
are prepared to believe
that Yugoslavia has not yet liberated itself as Warsaw Pact countries
have. Indeed, I have been
asked by people who should have know better, "When is Yugoslavia going
to follow the pattern of
Hungary, Poland, and other East European countries?
The only truly objective detailed and insightful account of the
current situation in Yugoslavia
which I have read recently was a series of two articles in the New York
Review of Books written
by Michael Scammell, who is a professor of Russian Literature at Cornell
University. Scammell
does a brilliant job of presenting the nationalistic and political
ferment together with detailed
historical background republic by republic, from north to south. He
points out that since the end of
World War II, Serbs were the leaders in democratic thought and movements
until the last two or
three years when the Slovenes moved to the fore, followed belatedly by
the Croatians. Scammel's
view is that while the democratic opposition remained just as strong in
Serbia as in Slovenia, the
dispute over Kosovo permitted the Serbian communist party to seize the
initiative by directing
nationalistic sentiments against the Albanians. The Serbian dissidents
were thus upstaged and
outflanked by Milosevic, who exploited the issue in order to strengthen
the party at the expense of
the opposition. But Scammell goes on to quote Yugoslavia's most famous
longstanding dissident
Milovan Djilas as having told Scammell that he too first approved of
Milosevic because he
Milosevic had smashed the old Titoist myths of brotherhood and unity
that were holding
Yugoslavia back. He had liberated the consciousness of the Serbian
people and was quite right to
make Kosovo
and Vodvodina subservient to Belgrade, even though it meant sending in
troops. Scammell than
quotes Kosta Cavoski as having told him that Milosevic is righting a
national wrong. Cavoski said
that communists everywhere, and especially Yugoslavian communists, have
exploited national
questions for their own ends and have crushed national interests. The
Serbs suffered under this
policy more than other people in Yugoslavia. While Djilas and Cavoski
told Scammell that they
believed Milosevic's style is authoritarian and his tactics unduly
rough, they did not consider him
to be a neo-Stanlinist or neo-fascist. Djilas said no arrests of
dissenters are being made in
Serbia itself, and although Milosevic controls 90 percent of the press,
the press is more outspoken
than it was. The intellectual atmosphere in Serbia is freer than it has
ever been. Philosophers,
sociologists, and writers are freer now than they were even before the
war.
The objective, extremely well-informed observer, Scammell, is
optimistic that Yugoslavia will
survive. As he puts it, "It seems inevitable that the federal basis of
Yugoslavia will be
reexamined and renegotiated in some form or other." I will cast my lot
with Scammell. I
personally believe that recentralization is out of the question. But I
am confident that a more
viable form of federation or confederation will be worked out for the
simple reason that at the end
of the day, Yugoslav leaders north and south will recognize that going
it alone is not a very good
option for any of them economically or politically. The complexities of
sorting out the ethnic
mixtures, dividing up
the commom property, and the prospect of facing the world as individual,
much smaller political
entities will chill secessionsist fervor when the decision time comes.
Scammell's article is by far the more profound and his predictions
for the future is based on
solid scholarship, but unfortunately, the New York Review of Books has a
very small readership
compared to the National Geographic. And our daily press and the
television sound bytes also
tend to report and exaggerate bad news from Yugoslavia.
On the economic front there is a lot of good news, but our daily
press by and large ignores it.
Yugoslavia is the only East European country that is currently
significantly reducing its foreign
debt. The debt had been reduced from $20 billion four years ago to $16
billion now, with the
expectation of another 2-3 billion reduction by the end of the year.
Inflation has been stopped and
reduced from a rate of almost 2000 percent last December to 31percent
this year to date and is
currently at a stable rate of 0 percent. Foreign currency reserves are
sharply up to a level of
approximately $7 billion. And the process of market oriented
privatiztion is proceeding far more
rapidly in Yugoslavia than in other East European countries. There has
been a very positive
development of new
democratic, independent labor unions throughout the country. And so
on. But you don't read
about these events in the daily press.
While we surely have every right to criticize the lack of media
objectivity with regard to
Yugoslavia, and the Serbs, I personally think we must also recognize
that the burning issue for the
future of Yugoslavia and Serbia is a viable solution to the Kosovo
problem. I don't pretend to have
any special wisdom on the subject. But I don't think the 1974
constitution was the answer. And I
think the citizens of the northern republics of Yugoslavia should
acknowledge that in the
mid-1980's they ignored the anguished pleas of thousands of Serbs and
Montengrins in the
Kosovo for attention to their concerns about their personal well-being
and security. And Iam
convinced that there must be an open and genuine dialogue in and about
the Kososo between
Serbs and Albanians in order for a viable solution to be found.
I have visited the Kosovo on many occasions, as early as 1955 as as
recently ast late 1988. I
have met repeatedly with Albanian and Serbian leaders there, including
several who are currently
actively engaged, and I believe that with the proper encouragement and
support from every corner
of Yugoslavia and from Yugoslavia's foreign friends, a solution can be
found. But this process
will never get off the ground if one party to the dispute is repeatedly,
incorrectly, and unfairly held
to be solely at fault. The modern Kosovo problem as been created by all
Yugoslavs. Let them join
together, with malice towards none and charity toward all, to solve the
problem. It is in their
common interest, and in ours, that they do so.
-
Editor's Note: The reader should keep in mind that this address was
delivered four years prior to
the publication of this book.
[John D. Scanlan served as US Ambassador to Yugoslavia in the late
1980s]
---
"QUANTI PAESI CI SARANNO IL EUROPA DOPO IL 1992?"
New York Times editorial Oct. 31, 1990.
"How many countries will there be in Europe after 1992? Seven,
according
to the bitter gibe circulating in Croatia: the European Community and
the six
republics that now make up Yugoslavia. Things could turn out that way
if
Slobodan Milosevic and his Communist cohorts in Serbia continue to hold
back
constitutional and *economic change* and stir up ethnic tension.
Ever since Slovenia and Croation elected non-communist governments
and
moved to *free the economy*, Mr. Milosevic has accused them of trying to
break up Yugoslavia. Slovenia and Croatia deny any separatist intent
but
want to turn Yugoslavia into a loosened confederation of sovereign
republics.
That would weaken the power of the Serbs ...
Yugoslavia's best hope lies in moving forward into Europe. But if
Belgrade resorts to force [to preserve the union] the door to Europe
will
slam shut. That's a firm message for the European community to send
now.
Washington can underscore this warning with one of its own: Any more
violence means no more aid.
... But it would be rash to cut off U.S, aid now, as Senator Alfonse
D'Amato has proposed. That would exacerbate Yugoslavia's economic
distress
-- and national passions. Voting down Mr. D'Amato's measure still
leaves
Yugoslavia on notice that aid is in jeopardy unless democratic change is
allowed to proceed in peace.
---
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/makara/fromthe2.htm
From the forthcoming Emperor's Clothes book, "Ten years of lies that
fooled the
world" -
Lying about Slovenian Secession , 1991
by Petar Makara (9-10-00)
www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
In June, 1991 Slovenia announced it had seceded from Yugoslavia and
proceeded to seize
Yugoslav customs stations. The Western media then broadcast news of a
barbaric attack by
vicious Yugoslav troops, beaten back by brave Slovenians. But those
stories were pure fiction.
There was no such attack. Total casualties in this war were: 3 dead
Slovenian irregulars and 33
Yugoslav soldiers, executed after they surrendered. The Yugoslav troops
in Slovenia had not been
issued live ammunition, and this was public knowledge at the time.
Only one mainstream Western source admitted the stories were lies. That
was the 'European' in
its July 19-21, 1991. Note the date: barely one month after Slovenia
declared their intention to
secede, thus starting the first Yugoslav war of secession. The title of
the story was: "Lies win
Balkan war of words." It was written by Simon Freeman. Emperor's Clothes
has a photo copy of
the original. This is fortunate, for the article cannot be found on the
Internet using either the Lexis
or Google search engines.
The article is worth reading carefully because it at once exposes how
lies were used early on to
demonize the Serbs and at the same time implicitly supports some of the
propaganda it is
exposing.
The article has this subtitle:
"Yugoslavia has rediscovered the old adage that truth is the first
casualty of war.
Simon Freeman reports from Zagreb [Croatia] and Ljubljana
[Slovenia] where the
protagonists are involved in a fierce fight to capture the
attention of the world's
media."
It begins by talking about the Croat government's understanding of the
value of propaganda:.
[Quote] "The Croats' strategy today is clear. They are bombarding
the world with
information, which is usually so petty that it seems that it must
be true. But this is
an illusion; it is impossible to check most of these reports
precisely because the
clashes were so minor that, even if they happened, they left no
mark. And, in
between the recital of these so-called facts, the Croats toss
quite incredible
allegations; this week's favourite is to claim, straight-faced,
that the Serbs have
hired assassins from the Romanian Securitate.
[Quote continued] "Zagreb has launched this propaganda blitz after
carefully
analysing how the Slovenians managed to outmanoeuvre Belgrade in
the fight for
international sympathy. The Croats realised that the decisive
engagements, which
virtually guaranteed Slovenia's independence, took place in the
pages of the
foreign media and, even more important, in the news bulletins of
the major
television networks." [End quote.]
In fact, the Croatian leaders 'realised' nothing at all, nor did the
Slovenes 'outmaneuver' Belgrade.
The secession of these countries was planned and coordinated by the US
and German elites,
working through various agencies, including the CIA and BND. They
trained their proxy forces in
Croatia and Slovenia and then opened the pages of the mass media which
they controlled to
accept their proxies' propaganda.
How much maneuvering is required to win a media war when the Slovenes
and the mass media are
controlled by the same forces?
The Western conquerors divided the job of getting out misinformation.
The proxies in Slovenia and
Croatia were to craft lies, as best they could. The Western media was to
bring the lies to market.
The article goes on to say that "the Serbs" (meaning, the Yugoslav
Federation) are learning the
lesson that you have to use the Western media but that they are slow
students:
[Quote] "They have a leader, Slobodan Milosevic, whose brand of
stubborn
nationalism and hardline marxism is a public relations disaster.''
[End quote]
Note the propaganda hidden in this sentence. In the early stages of the
breakup of Yugoslavia, the
West tarred the Serbs with being "the last Communists on Planet Earth."
This particular
propaganda slogan was launched by the Croatian Catholic Church.
Then the article talks about the "cleverness" of the Slovene
propagandists:
[Quote] "The Slovenes cleverly portrayed themselves as
clean-limbed, tanned
churchgoers who only wanted to live peacefully and democratically
in their Alpine
idyll of mountains, lakes and meadows
[Quote] "The Serbs, on the other hand, the Slovenes suggested [and
the West
readily published], were ruthless communists. They were dirty,
unshaven brutes
who dropped cluster bombs on innocent civilians. They came from
the east, which
had always sought to inflict its intolerance, religious fanaticism
and alphabet of
squiggly lines on Europe.
[Quote] "These were grotesque caricatures, of course, but, thanks
to the brilliant
propaganda campaign in Ljubljana [capital of Slovenia], they have
taken hold of the
public imagination in the West, turning a complex struggle into a
straightforward
battle between the forces of light (Slovenes and Croats) and
darkness (Serbs).
The nerve-centre of this propaganda operation was an underground
conference
complex deep below the streets of Ljubljana. Here, a few dozen
officials from the
Slovenian Ministry of Information, backed up by young,
multilingual patriot
volunteers, worked tirelessly to service more than 1,000
journalists.
[Quote] "Inside this bunker the information flowed fast and
efficiently in an
atmosphere oddly similar to that found in a press centre at an
Olympic Games; the
results - tanks hit, shots fired, prisoners taken - were given
every hour. The
Slovenes needed a bloody, dramatic conflict to ensure the world
did not loose
interest. So they showered the media with details of battles that
had often never
taken place.
[Quote] Sometimes the Slovenes would enliven the day with
revelations which
were either ficticous or irrelevant...
[Quote] "...It was possible to report the war without ever
venturing above the
ground. Indeed, since it required an honours degree in
orienteering to negotiate the
labyrinth of roadblocks, many journalists opted [or were ordered?]
to remain
underground. But, for those who did venture into the sunlight, the
bunker war often
seemed a fantacy. For example, the world heard of a major battle
at Jezersko, a
small border post an the frontier with Austria. This greatly
surprised the Slovene
militiamen at Jezersko, who told me a few days later that the army
had fired a few
shots, taken the post and then, faced with Slovene reinforcement,
retreated
happily down the mountain. No one was hurt" [End quote]
Olympic Games indeed. The author counts on Olympian ignorance among his
readers. Some
thoughts on this excerpt:
1) He is telling us that Slovenes, for the first time in the
history of warfare, have
discovered that it is good to present themselves positively and
the enemy negatively. This
is astonishing. Even Hitler tried to present himself positively -
thus he launched World
War II by staging an incident which made it appear that Polish
border guards had attacked
Germany. And Hitler said he was fighting unshaven, dirty
communists also.
2) WHY did Western reporters sit in secessionists bunker and
present only the
secessionist side of the story when in fact the media of the
Federal Government of
Yugoslavia was also issuing daily news reports, and accurate ones
(i.e. that the stories
about fighting were lies). Why didn't Western reporters go out and
investigate to see who
was telling the truth? Why did these reporters happen to take the
side of secessionists
who described themselves in terms painfully similar to those used
by WWII Nazis? Why
did they refuse to give fair hearing to the news of a recognized,
sovereign country, one of
the founders of the United Nations, a country which had been on
friendly terms with the
West for many years?
3) Since when do Western reporters sit in a bunker while reporting
on a war? Haven't they
gone out and reported far tougher situations? The war in Slovenia
was feeble. The end
count of casualties was 3 dead Slovenian irregulars and 33
executed Yugoslav Federal
Army soldiers who had no ammunition (!) and surrendered. A total
of 36 people dead.
Some war! The casualty level of a bus accident. What happened to
so called Western
"investigative journalism" ?
4) The article says: "It required an honours degree in
orienteering to negotiate the
labyrinth of roadblocks [in Slovenia]" Baloney. Go and try to find
Slovenia on the map.
Hard isn't it? A country smaller than Connecticut. I guess these
journalists, with their true
"interest" in events, would be get lost in their Slovenian hotel.
With all those great and
terrible roadblocks and savage obstacles they wouldn't find a
bathroom.
5) Did ONLY the Slovenes have "young multilingual patriot
volunteers" ready to spread
their view of events? See how the image of clean-limbed young
Slovenes is presented
even here, where it is supposedly debunked! Are Serbs never
multilingual? Are they never
beautiful?
The author then presents his moral, which appears in the pages of the
'European' in large type:
[Quote] "Exaggerations will do nothing to heal the divisions which
are ripping the
country apart." [End quote]
Upside down and backwards, because in fact it is precisely the
exaggerations put forth by the
Western media which were the instrument for allowing Western involvement
in Yugoslavia -
justifying economic and military support for the secessionists,
sanctions against multiethnic
Yugoslavia, expulsions of Serbs, moderate Muslims and others who wanted
to hold it together, the
reintroduction of huge numbers of expatriate Croatian Ustashe fascists,
the disarming of
Yugoslav loyalists through introduction of UN troops, and the bombing of
loyalist forces, in Bosnia
and later Serbia and Montenegro.
Savagery was introduced from the West. Without the West, the Slovenian
and Croatian fascists
would never have had a chance in Yugoslavia.
-
Further reading....
1) "Germany and the US in the Balkans- a Careful Coincidence of National
Policies?" by T.W.
Carr at http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/carr/carr.html
2) "What Does NATO Want in Yugoslavia?" by Sean Gervasi at
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/gervasi/why.htm
If you find emperors-clothes useful, we can use your help...
(The Soros Foundation does NOT fund Emperors Clothes.)
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www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
"IL NEMICO INTERNO GODE DI MOLTI APPOGGI ALL'ESTERNO"
Nel luglio 1971, intervenendo al Comitato Esecutivo della Lega dei
Comunisti della Croazia, il maresciallo Josip Broz Tito espresse la sua
preccupazione in merito al risorgente nazionalismo croato, incarnato nel
movimento zagrebino della "Matica Hrvatska":
<<...Col pretesto dell'"interesse nazionale" tutto cio' va a finire
nella controrivoluzione... In certi villaggi i serbi, diventati nervosi,
si armano... Volete tornare forse al 1941?... Sapete che altri verranno
[dall'estero], se qui si produce il disordine? Io preferisco riportare
l'ordine con il nostro esercito piuttosto che permettere ad altri di
farlo; altrimenti, quando non ci saro' piu', il paese esplodera'. Il
nemico interno gode di molti appoggi all'esterno. Le grandi potenze
utilizzeranno tutti gli elementi utili, comunisti o meno...>>
(citato su: Josip Krulic, "Storia della Jugoslavia dal 1945 ai nostri
giorni", Bompiani/RCS, Milano 1997, pagina 90)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Nel luglio 1971, intervenendo al Comitato Esecutivo della Lega dei
Comunisti della Croazia, il maresciallo Josip Broz Tito espresse la sua
preccupazione in merito al risorgente nazionalismo croato, incarnato nel
movimento zagrebino della "Matica Hrvatska":
<<...Col pretesto dell'"interesse nazionale" tutto cio' va a finire
nella controrivoluzione... In certi villaggi i serbi, diventati nervosi,
si armano... Volete tornare forse al 1941?... Sapete che altri verranno
[dall'estero], se qui si produce il disordine? Io preferisco riportare
l'ordine con il nostro esercito piuttosto che permettere ad altri di
farlo; altrimenti, quando non ci saro' piu', il paese esplodera'. Il
nemico interno gode di molti appoggi all'esterno. Le grandi potenze
utilizzeranno tutti gli elementi utili, comunisti o meno...>>
(citato su: Josip Krulic, "Storia della Jugoslavia dal 1945 ai nostri
giorni", Bompiani/RCS, Milano 1997, pagina 90)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Elmar Schmaehling <elmar_schmaehling@...>
An: adn <aktuelles@...>
Datum: Donnerstag, 28. September 2000 09:48
Betreff: Fw: YU-Wahlen
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
ich schicke Ihnen die Erklärung der deutschen Wahlbeobachter bei den
Jugoslawienwahlen noch einmal als doc-Datei.
Zusätzlich füge ich eine weitere Erklärung der internationalen
Beobachterkommission und einen Bericht über die Wahldurchführung in
Montenegro von Klaus Hartmann bei.
Auch die Vorlage des nun amtlichen Endergebnisses durch den
Bundeswahlausschuss ändert nichts an den Aussagen unserer Erklärung und
der Notwendigkeit beider Seiten, die Unterschiede beim Ergebnis der
Präsidentschaftskandidaten durch Offenlegen der Auswertungsunterlagen
gegenüber der Öffentlichkeit aufzuklären.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Elmar Schmähling
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erklaerung der Wahlbeobachter aus Deutschland
Demokratische und faire Bedingungen im Land selbst, massive
Manipulations- und Erpressungsversuche von aussen - Fazit der deutschen
Beobachter der Wahlen am 24. September 2000 in Jugoslawien
Entgegen der von Medien und Politikern im Westen verbreiteten
Informationen, dass die jugoslawischen Wahlen unter Ausschluss
unabhaengiger internationaler Beobachter stattgefunden haetten, haben
tatsaechlich 210 Wahlbeobachter aus 54 Laendern, unter ihnen 52
Abgeordnete, den Wahlverlauf verfolgt.
Als Wahlbeobachter aus Deutschland, eingeladen vom Jugoslawischen
Bundesparlament, sind wir ueberrascht, dass unsere Arbeit in der
deutschen Oeffentlichkeit nicht wahrgemommen wird, und erst recht diese
Chance zur Information aus erster Hand nicht genutzt wird.
Wir hoffen sehr, dass dies nicht seine Ursache darin hat, dass manche
interessierten Seiten schon vor Oeffnung der Wahllokale am 24. September
2000 "wissen" wollten, dass die Wahlen gefaelscht wuerden, und
"Ergebnisse" der Wahlen bereits verkuendeten, bevor die Stimmen
ausgezaehlt waren.
Wir hatten als Wahlbeobachter jede Moeglichkeit, uns frei zu bewegen,
Ueberpruefungen vor Ort vorzunehmen, die Bedingungen und den Ablauf der
Wahlen in allen Phasen zu kontrollieren. Mehrere hundert Wahllokale
wurden von den Beobachtern unangemeldet besucht. Daher stellen wir fest,
dass unsere Beobachtungen mit unseren eigenen Augen und mit eigenem
kritischen Verstand vorgenommen wurden, und dass wir daher den Wert
unserer Beobachtungen und Festellungen anders einschaetzen als jene
diversen Stellungnahmen von Politikern, die mit Informationen aus
dritter Hand in der Regel ihre vorgefasste Meinung bestaetigt sehen
wollen.
Die Internationale Beobachterkommission der Wahlen am 24. September 2000
hat in einer gemeinsamen Erklaerung festgestellt, dass die Wahlen
demokratisch und fair verlaufen sind, und die Standards von
demokratischen Wahlen in anderen Laendern voll erfuellt haben. Dieser
Feststellung wie der Gesamtstellungnahme der Internationalen Kommission
schliesst sich die deutsche Beobachtergruppe voll inhaltlich an. Sie
unterstreicht dabei besonders die Kritik hinsichtlich des skandaloesen,
umfassenden Drucks (bis zur Existenzbedrohung), mit denen die Waehler in
Montenegro durch die Djukanovic-Regierung von der Ausuebung ihres
Wahlrechts abgehalten werden sollten. Dies ist mit dem Grundsatz fairer
und freier, demokratischer und rechtsstaatlich einwandfreier Wahlen
nicht in Einklang zu bringen.
Wir unterstuetzen ebenso und aus den gleichen Gruenden die Kritik an der
massiven auslaendischen Einmischung in den Wahlkampf, sei es in Form
einer 77-Millionen-US-Dollarspende an bestimmte kandidierende
Gruppierungen, sei es durch "Wahlversprechen" der EU, man werde bei ein
bestimmtes Waehlervotum durch Aufhebung von Sanktionen honorieren. Von
jedem freien, ziviliserten und demokratischen Land wuerden derartige
Versuche der politischen Einmischung und Erpressung energisch
zurueckgewiesen, und wir befuerchten, dass solche Parteinahme vor den
Wahlen die Bereitschaft beeintraechtigen koennte, den Ablauf und die
Ergebnisse der Wahlen unvoreingenommen und objektiv zur Kenntnis zu
nehmen und das Recht zur selbstaendigen Entscheidung der Bevoelkerung
ueber die eigene Zukunft zu akzeptieren.
Die Internationale Beobachterkommission insgesamt hat sich ebenso wie
wir deutschen Beobachter jede Muehe gemacht, moegliche Fehler,
Unkorrektheiten oder Faelschungsbemuehungen zu identifizieren. Wir
konnten keine diesbezueglichen Feststellungen treffen. In Einzelfaellen
war der Sichtschutz zur Sicherstellung der geheimen Stimmabgabe
mangelhaft, was dann sofort nach unserer Intervention korrigiert wurde.
In Einzelfaellen waren Wahlwillige nicht in den Waehlerlisten
verzeichnet, entsprechend den Problemen in Deutschland, wenn
Wahlberechtigte ihre Eintragung in der Waehlerliste nicht vorher
pruefen. Gehaeuft traten solche Probleme der fehlenden Verzeichnung in
den Waehlerlisten bei jenen auf, die seit Uebernahme der Verwaltung
durch UNMIK/KFOR aus Kosovo und Metohija gewaltsam vertrieben wurden.
Hier gabe es offenkundig Abstimmungsprobleme mit den Listen des Roten
Kreuzes, in denen offenbar nicht alle Vertriebenen erfasst sind.
Grundsaetzlich ist aber festzuhalten, dass - von diesen Einwaenden
abgesehen – die Wahlen in Uebereinstimmung mit den gesetzlichen
Vorschriften stattfanden, diese Vorschriften internationalen
rechtsstaatlichen Masstaeben entsprechen, und die Durchfuehrung der
Wahlen korrekt und professionell erfolgte. Wir konnten uns davon
ueberzeugen, dass es in Jugoslawien gelungen ist, trotz widriger
Umstaende - durch acht Jahre Wirtschaftssanktionen und den
voelkerrechtswidrigen Angriffskrieg der NATO 1999 – die allgemeinen
Bedingungen fuer demokratische Wahlen zu schaffen, ebenso fuer die
Taetigkeit und das Zusammenwirken unterschiedlicher politischer Kraefte.
Die Rechtmaessigkeit und Legitimitaet der Wahlen steht somit ausser
Frage.
Zum Wahlablauf konnten wir konkret feststellen:
Die Wahlurnen in den Wahllokalen wurden bei Oeffnung der Wahllokale
versiegelt, nachdem durch den ersten Waehler festgestellt und mit
Unterschrift bestaetigt wurde, dass sie leer waren. Die Stimmzettel
wurden in abgezaehlter Stueckzahl in versiegelten Paketen unmittelbar
vor der Wahl ausgeliefert, ihr Empfang war zu quittieren, die nicht
verbrauchten Stimmzettel mussten nach Abschluss der Stimmabgabe
gezaehlt, die Zahl quittiert und als versiegeltes Paket zurueckgegeben
werden.
In allen Wahlkomitees waren Vertreter der an der Wahl teilnehmenden
Parteien / Gruppierungen, einschliesslich der Oppositionsparteien,
beteiligt. Die Auszaehlung der Stimmen erfolgte gemeinsam. Ueber die
Gueltigkeit zweifelhafter Stimmzettel wurde abgestimmt. Das Protokoll
mit dem Wahlergebnis wurde von allen Mitgliedern zu unterzeichnet.
Von diesem Protokoll wurden sechs Exemplare angefertigt. Das erste
Exemplar ging mit allen Wahlunterlagen an das Wahlkomitee des jeweiligen
Wahlkreises. Das zweite wurde an der Eingangstuer des Wahllokals
ausgehaengt. Die vier verbleibenden Exemplare wurden unmittelbar an die
Vertreter der vier Parteien / Gruppierungen ausgehaendigt, deren
Kandidaten die meisten Stimmen auf sich vereinigen konnten. Alle
uebrigen Parteien / Gruppierungen hatten Anspruch auf Aushaendigung
einer Protokoll-Kopie innerhalb von 12 Stunden.
Eine nochmalige Stimmzaehlung auf oertlicher oder Wahlkreisebene findet
nicht statt. Es gilt ausschliesslich das original im Wahllokal
festgestellte und von allen unterzeichnete Ergebnis, eine nachtraegliche
Veraenderung dieser urspruenglichen Zahlen ist somit ausgeschlossen.
Die Wahlergebnisse auf Bundeseben werden auf Basis saemtlicher Prokolle
aus den Wahllokalen von der Bundeswahlkommission in den Rechner
eingegeben. Die eingegeben Zahlen koennen eingesehen und von den
Parteivertretern, die auch einen Platz in der Bundeswahlkommission
haben, mit den Zahlen der in ihrer Hand befindlichen Einzelprotokollen
verglichen werden.
Vorsorglich hat die deutsche Beobachtergruppe stichprobenartig
Ergebnisse aus Wahllokalen notiert und mit den Eingaben im zentralen
Rechner der Bundeswahlkommission verglichen – mit dem Ergebnis, dass die
Eingaben korrekt erfolgt sind.
Aufgrund dieses festgestellten Verfahrens sind die in westlichen Medien
behaupteten "gestohlene Stimmen" oder Wahlfaelschungen technisch
praktisch nicht durchfuehrbar. Dies hat der Wahlkampfmanager der DOS,
Zoran Djindjic, auf Befragen ausdruecklich bestaetigt.
Wiederholt wurde nach der Wahl von verschiedenen Seiten das "lange
Schweigen" der Wahlkommission kritisiert, waehrend die verschiedenen
Parteien sich staendig mit neuen Siegesmeldungen zu uebertreffen
versuchten, wobei sie sich jeweils nur auf jenen Teil der von ihnen
selektiv ausgewaehlten Wahlprotokolle stuetzten.
Das Zusammenfuehren der einzelnen Wahlergebnisse in der Rechenzentrale
der Bundeswahlkommission als Grundlage offizieller Ergebnisse erklaert,
fuer die Wahlbeobachter nachvollziehbar, den beanspruchten Zeitbedarf.
Die Wahlkommission ist gesetzlich verpflichtet, das amtliche Endergebnis
binnen 72 Stunden nach Schliessung der Wahllokale bekanntzugeben. Eine
staendige Bekanntgabe nicht repraesentativer Zwischenergebnisse wuerde
nur der Tendenz zur subjektiven Interpretation im Sinne vorweggenommener
Endergebnisse Vorschub leisten. Die an die Fristen zur Bekanntgabe des
Wahlergebnisses geknuepften Spekulationen und Unterstellungen einer
Faelschungsmoeglichkeit sind unhaltbar.
Die Wahlbeobachter kritisieren, dass bestimmte Politiker der EU und der
USA ihre Missachtung der demokratischen Willensbildung der Bevoelkerung
dadurch ausgedrueckt haben, Wahlsieger zu ernennen, ohne Wahlverfahren
und die tatsaechlichen Wahlergebnisse zu kennen. Diese Einmischung ist
umso verwerflicher, als sie mit der Androhung von Sanktionen verbunden
isrt..
Die Wahlbeobachter geben ihrer Ueberzeugung Ausdruck, dass Frieden,
Stabilitaet und Partnerschaft zwischen allen Staaten nur auf der
Grundlage der Respektierung gleicher Rechte, der Souveraenitaet und
Gleichheit gedeihen koennen.
Belgrad, 26. September 2000 - Fuer die deutsche Beobachtergruppe:
gez. Klaus Hartmann, Preaesident der Weltunion der der Freidenker
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Richter, Vors. d. Gesellschaft zum Schutz
Buergerrechte und Menschenwuerde
Ralph Hartmann, Botschafter a.D.
Elmar Schmaehling, ehem. Flottillenadmiral
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Als Wahlbeobachter unterwegs in Montenegro
Die "demokratischen" Wahlen im Djukanovic-Land
Von Klaus Hartmann
Am 24. September 2000 begab sich eine Gruppe von rund 30 Wahlbeobachtern
von Belgrad aus nach Montenegro, um sich ein Bild von den
Wahlbedingungen und dem Wahlablauf in der jugoslawischen Teilrepublik zu
machen. Die Beobachter kamen u.a. aus Bulgarien, Makedonien, Moldawien,
Georgien und der Ukraine, aus Indien und dem Tschad sowie aus
NATO-Laendern wie Kanada, Grossbritannien und Deutschland.
Auf dem Flughafen von Tivat in der Kotor-Bucht angekommen, fuhr die
Gruppe mit dem Bus zu Wahllokalen in verschiedenen Teilen des Landes.
Die erste Station war die Jaz-Strand vor Budva an der Adria-Kueste, und
hier gab es bereits den ersten markanten Eindruck von den
Wahlbedingungen: Das Wahllokal war zwar ueberdacht, aber letztlich fand
die Wahl unter freiem Himmel statt – das Hotel hatte auf Weisung "von
oben" die Bereitstellung eines Raumes verweigert. Um 8.15 Uhr gab gerade
der 7. Waehler von 315 seine Stimme ab. Mit Kartons war auf den Tischen
ein Sichtschutz improvisiert worden, der entfernt an Wahlkabinen
gemahnte. Drei verschiedene Stimmzettel gab es – fuer die
Praesidentschaftswahl und die Wahlen zu den beiden Kammern des
Bundesparlaments (die Buergerkammer wird nach Bevoelkerungsstaerke
besetzt, die Laenderkammer mit je 20 Vertretern Serbiens und 20
Montenegros - diese Regelung wurde anderslautender Westpropaganda zum
Trotz bei der juengsten Verfassungsaenderung nicht angetastet).
Das Wahlkomitee bestand aus Vertretern verschiedener Parteien, die
Partei des montenegrinischen Praesidenten Djukanovic war mit zwei
offiziellen "Beobachtern" praesent. Deren "Beobachtermission" war von
besonderer Art. Mitglieder des Wahlkomitees berichteten ueber einen
ungeheuren Druck auf die Bevoelkerung waehrend der letzten 10 Tage,
nicht zur Wahl zu gehen, es habe persoenliche Bedrohung, Drohungen mit
dem Verlust des Arbeitsplatzes oder der sozialen Unterstuetzung gegeben.
Dass dies nicht aus der Luft gegriffen war, kann ich aufgrund meines
achttaegigen Aufenthaltes mit einer Freidenker-Gruppe eine Woche zuvor
in Montenegro bestaetigen. In vielen Gespraechen wurde berichtet, dass
eine staatlich organisierte massive Einschuechterungs-Kampagne begonnen
habe, die alle Wahlwilligen mit Existenzgefaehrdung bedrohe.
Es wurden konkrete Beispiele genannt, wo u. a. ein Direktor eines
holzverarbeitenden Betriebes seinen Beschaeftigten ankuendigte, wer am
Sonntag zur Wahl gehe, brauche am Montag nicht mehr zur Arbeit zu
erscheinen. Das Gleiche gab ein Schulleiter im Norden des Landes seinem
Lehrerkollegium bekannt.
So hatten die Beobachter aus der Djukanovic-Partei eine fuer alle
Beteiligten offenkundige Aufgabe – jene, die trotz der Drohungen von
ihrem Wahlrecht Gebrauch machten, zu melden und die angekuendigten
Schikanen Realitaet werden zu lassen.
Doch die "demokratische, westlich orientierte" Regierung des
NATO-Freundes Djukanovic beliess es nicht bei solchen "Beobachtern".
Kaum war unsere Beobachter-Gruppe erschienen, verliessen zwei finstere
Gestalten ihren in der Naehe geparkten Pkw, um sich mit verschraenkten
Armen rund 30 Meter vom Wahllokal aufzubauen, und zu bedeuten: Auch die
Geheimpolizei Dukanovic’ laesst diese demokratischen Wahlen und die
Waehler nicht allein.
Beim naechsten Wahllokal im Strandbereich von Budva hatten um 8.40 Uhr
13 von 665 Waehlern ihre Stimme abgegeben. Das Wahllokal befand sich in
einem engen Raum des derzeit ungenutzten Erholungsheim der
Jugoslawischen Flussschiffahrt, da die frueheren Wahlstellen (in der
Schule und im Hotel Mocren) von der Djukanovic-dominierten
Stadtverwaltung verweigert wurden.
Auch hier wurde ueber Drohungen gegen die Waehler und potentielle
Mitglieder des Wahlkomitees berichtet, am Wahltag selbst gab es noch
keine Stoerungen. Auch hier Mitglieder verschiedener Parteien im
Komitee, und eine Besonderheit – eine Vertreterin des
DOS-Wahlbuendnisses, der "Demokratischen Opposition" Serbiens, die unter
dem Patronat von Madeleine Albright den Praesidentschaftskandidaten
Kostunica hervorbrachte – die einzige nicht kompromittierte Figur der
notorisch zerstrittenen wie NATO-hoerigen "Opposition". Doch die
Beobachterin "der DOS" war in Wirklichkeit eine Vertreterin der
Djukanovic-Partei, es machte sich aber besser, nicht im Namen einer die
Wahlen boykottierenden Partei aufzutreten. Das warfen die Mitglieder des
Wahlkomitees ihr vor – und sie gab es schliesslich zu, bekraeftigte aber
zugleich ihre Unterstuetzung fuer Kostunica. Eine Unterstuetzung, die
freilich recht platonisch bleiben musste, da sie, aus dem 15 km
entfernten Petrovac stammend, ihrem angeblichen Favoriten gar nicht mit
der eigenen Stimme dienen konnte.
Beim anschliessenden Fruehstueck der Beobachter auf der Terasse des zu
Wahlzwecken verweigerten Hotels Mocren in Budva traf ich meinen Freund
Mischa wieder, den ich telefonisch ueber mein Kommen informiert hatte,
und von dem wir uns gerade eine Woche zuvor in seinem Haus verabschiedet
hatten. Ich sprach ueber das bisher Gesehene, und er meinte mit
resignierendem Kopfschuetteln, es sei eine Schande, was die Mafia-Bande
um Djukanovic Montenegro antue, das schoene Land werde der NATO und dem
Internationalen Verbrechen ausgeliefert, gleichzeitig soll das Volk von
seinen serbischen Bruedern und seinen historischen Wurzeln abgeschnitten
werden.
Ich fragte Mischa ueber einige Nachrichten, die in der Vorwoche von BBC
aus Montenegro kolportiert worden waren: Ein Soldat der jugoslawischen
Armee habe eine montenegrinischen Polizisten erschossen – BBC nahm das
als einen Beweis fuer die "von Milosevic geplante Provokation zwecks
militaerischem Eingreifen". Mischa klaerte darueber auf, dass die
Schiesserei sich zwischen Maennern in Zivilkleidung ereignet hat,
zumindest der "Soldat" sei schon lange nicht mehr in der Armee. Man
nehme an, es handle sich um eine innermafioese Auseinandersetzung –
zumindest seien alle "politischen" Motive frei erfunden.
Doch BBC meldete auch, zur Bekraeftigung, massive Bewegung von Truppen
und Fahrzeugen der jugoslawischen Armee auf den Strassen Montenegros in
der Woche vor der Wahl. "Auch davon ist kein Wort wahr", meinte Mischa
empoert, "hier ist alles exakt genauso normal und ruhig wie Ihr es in
den Tagen vorher selbst erlebt habt". Nach dieser neuen Lektion in
Sachen "freier Medien im Westen" besuchten wir ein drittes Wahllokal in
einem Wohnviertel Budvars. Zum Abschied hatte uns Mischa versichert,
obwohl Djukanovic in seiner Funktion als Praesident (!) im Fernsehen
erklaert habe, kein anstaendiger, ehrenhafter Mensch, der fuer
Montenegro sei, duerfe zur Wahl gehen, sei es fuer ihn
selbstverstaendlich, trotz aller Einschuechterungen zur Wahl zu gehen –
"alles andere waere eine Schande".
Wir steuerten direkt auf die Stadtverwaltung zu, doch mussten wir kurz
davor abbiegen – in den Schachklub, in Nebenraeumen von
"Montenegrotourist". Wieder beengte Verhaeltnisse, improvisierter
Sichtschutz, wieder ein politisch gemischtes Wahlkomitee, und wieder
eine "Beobachterin", die offiziell fuer Kostunica wachte, tatsaechlich
aber fuer Djukanovic die Waehlerliste inspizierte. Eine Aufgabe, die
ihre Kraefte sichtlich ueberforderte, denn in und vor dem Wahllokal
bildete sich eine grosse Waehler-"Schlange", was ein Wahlboykotteur
naturgemaess nicht sonderlich liebt. Deshalb sah sie "die Gefahr, bei
dieser Menge den Ueberblick zu verlieren und es zu Wahlfaelschungen
kommen koenne." Um 10.20 Uhr hatten in diesem Lokal rund 400 von 3.900
Waehlern ihre Stimme abgegeben, und ca. 50 warteten auf die Moeglichkeit
zur Stimmabgabe.
Auch im benachbarten Gebaeude der Stadtverwaltung war eine grosse
Betriebsamkeit festzustellen. An einem Fenster im ersten Stock hatten
sich zwei Exemplare der Djukanovic-Polizei in gruen-braunen
Kampfanzuegen postiert, die den Eingang des Wahllokals nicht aus den
Augen liessen. Als ich eine Reihe meiner Mitbeobachter auf diese
Gestalten aufmerksam machte, eilte ein schwarz gekleideter Zivilist aus
der Menge vor dem Wahllokal vor das Fenster der beiden, und sie machten
umgehend neuen Beobachtern in Zivil Platz. Den zurueckkehrenden
schwarzen Mann fragten wir nach seiner Funktion, worauf er meinte, er
sei Waehler, er warte nur auf seine Frau, die noch im Wahllokal sei. Als
wir uns etwas entfernt hatten, lief er unentwegt zwischen Wahllokal,
Stadtverwaltung und einer Gaststaette hin und her, sprach unablaessig
mit anderen "unauffaellig Herumlungernden", waehrend "seine Frau"
verschwunden blieb – die womoeglich als besonders schwerer Fall von
Wahlfaelschung hoechstselbst in die Wahlurne gefallen war.
Weitere Aufregung vor dem Wahllokal: "Wenn Ihr mich hier nicht waehlen
lasst, fahre ich nach Serbien!", rief eine erboste Frau, die als
NATO/UCK-Vertriebene aus Kosovo und Metohija in Budva Zuflucht fand.
"Irgendwie" sei es nach Angaben von Umstehenden zu Differenzen zwischen
den Listen des Roten Kreuzes und den Waehlerlisten gekommen. Von den in
Budva lebenden rund 1000 Kosovo-Vertriebenen sollen nur ca. 500 auf den
Waehlerlisten stehen. Noch schlimmer in der montenegrinischen Hauptstadt
Podgorica, der naechsten Station unserer "Observer-Mission" - dort
sollen von 20.000 Vertriebenen gar nur 1.000 den Weg in die
Waehlerlisten gefunden haben. Eine bei der bekannten
Pro-Milosevic-Stimmung unter den Kosovo-Serben umso unverstaendlichere
"Organisationsleistung" – die waehrend des Wahltages wohl nicht mehr
geheilt werden konnte.
Zum Abschied aus Budva rief uns noch ein Waehler zu: "Berichtet, dass
dies hier keine freien Wahlen sind! Seit Wochen werden wir
eingeschuechtert und bedroht fuer den Fall, dass wir zur Wahl gehen. Im
Volk herrscht Angst, wir haben hier eine Terror-Verwaltung. Wir wollen
aber nicht von Serbien getrennt werden, wir wollen nicht in einer
Kolonie leben!"
Bei unserem Aufenthalt in Montenegro Mitte September hatte uns bereits
ein Freund, der in der Tourismus-Branche arbeitet, auf die merkwuerdige
Lage hingewiesen, dass nicht nur Rundfunk, Fernsehen und Zeitungen von
Djukanovic angewiesen worden seien, nicht ueber Wahlvorbereitungen und
Wahlkampf zu berichten – sogar bezahlte Zeitungsanzeigen, Werbespots und
offizielle Plakatierung wuerden verweigert. Bei der Fahrt von der Kueste
ueber die alte Residenzstadt Cetinje nach Podgorica sahen wir dafuer in
grosser Zahl Werbetafeln (ohne erkennbaren"Absender") mit der Parole:
"Ich weigere mich, zu waehlen. Zum Wohle von Montenegro und Serbien."
Das ist jenes Wohl, das aus der Hand der NATO kommen soll.
In Podgorica die Pressekonferenz des Landeswahlkomitees – im engen
Kolleg einer privaten Gaststaette (die grossen staatlichen Hotels hatten
ebenfalls keinen Raum fuer Wahlaktivitaeten). Information: Bis 11 Uhr
haetten rund 15% der Wahlberechtigten in Montenegro ihre Stimme
abgegeben – trotz massiver Drohungen und Behinderungen.
In den Wahllokalen der montenegrinischen Hauptstadt ein aehnliches Bild
wie gehabt. Mitglieder der Sozialistischen Volkspartei von Momir
Bulatovic, der Serbischen Radikalen Partei von Vojislav Seselj, der
Serbischen Volkspartei und vereinzelt auch Mitglieder verschiedener
kommunistischer Parteien bildeten das Wahlkomitee, ergaenzt um ein bis
zwei Beobachter - vorgeblich der "Demokratischen Opposition" Kostunicas,
real Spione Djukanovic’. Im ersten Wahllokal hatten um 14.30 Uhr 15% von
983 Waehlern gewaehlt, im zweiten um 14.45 Uhr 20% von 809 Waehlern.
Beide Wahllokale waren in Tourismusbueros der Bundesrepublik
untergebracht.
Im dritten Wahllokal Podgoricas (Nr.61), in einem Freizeitclub der
Jugoslawischen Armee untergebracht, berichtete man uns von massiven
Provokationen der Djukanovic-Polizei. Bei Eroeffnung des Lokals seien
rund um den Eingang des Lokals mehrere Polizei-Kameras im Straeuchern
installiert gewesen, um alle Waehler "festzuhalten". Nach Intervention
des Wahlkomitees wurden sie zwar entfernt, jedoch parkte 80 Meter
entfernt ein grauer Golf mit zwei Polizisten (Kennzeichen PG 12 – 87)
sowie weitere "dickere" Fahrzeuge in der Naehe mit unablaessigen
Mobiltelefonieren.
Hier erfuhren wir auch von einem Faktor, der nicht unerheblich fuer die
relative Wirksamkeit des Boykotts gewesen sein duerfte: Die
Djukanovic-Regierung hatte den Wahlsonntag kurzerhand zum Arbeitstag
erklaert! Die Beschaeftigten im Gesundheitswesen und im gesamten
oeffentlichen Dienst, auch die Arbeiter der groesseren staatlichen
Betriebe hatten schlicht keine Zeit fuer den Gang zum Wahllokal – wenn
sie ihren Arbeitsplatz nicht unerlaubt verlassen wollten. Wetten, dass
ueber dieses "kleine" Detail kein Sterbenswoertchen verloren wird, wenn
die "freien westlichen Medien" triumphierend ueber den Erfolg des
Djukanovic-Boykotts berichten?
Letzte Station unserer Rundfahrt war die Stadt Kolasin im Norden
Montenegros, gelegen in jenen Bergen, die namensgebend fuer die kleine
Republik sind. Hier stellt die Sozialistische Volkspartei, die mit der
Sozialistischen Partei Serbiens verbunden ist, die lokale Regierung, und
deshalb konnte hier auch in oeffentlichen Gebaeuden gewaehlt werden. Im
ersten Wahllokal, in der Gemeindebuecherei, hatten um 17.20 40% von 720
Waehlern gewaehlt. Auch hier ein gemischtes Komitee, und ein
Djukanovic-Vertrauter. Der war sichtlich verbluefft ueber unsere Frage
nach seiner Partei, sodass ihm (unter Protest der Komitee-Mitglieder)
ein Parteifreund zurief: "Sag, dass Du Vertreter der Demokratischen
Opposition bist, sag es!" Wir haetten es aber auch so schon gewusst.
Die letzten beiden Wahllokale, die wir in Kolasin besuchten, lagen im
Buergerhaus und verzeichneten gegen 17.30 Uhr eine Wahlbeteiligung von
etwa 50%. Ein Komiteevorsitzender sagte uns, einige Arbeiter und Rentner
haetten die Drohungen der Republiksregierung wohl ernst genommen und
seien nicht erschienen, weil sie um ihre Loehne und Renten fuerchteten.
Er sei aber sicher, dass es sich um leere Drohungen handele, denn auch
der Praesident sei doch an Verfassung und Gesetz gebunden, besonders ein
Demokrat wie Milo Djukanovic. Bevor wir allzu fassungslos werden
konnten, machte uns das schallende Gelaechter der Komiteemitglieder
klar, dass ihr Vorsitzender zu scherzen beliebt. Nur der "oppositionelle
Demokrat" laechelte saeuerlich.
Da war sein Kollege im Nachbarwahllokal von anderer Statur: der
ueberschlug sich foermlich dabei, uns zu versichern, wie wunderbar die
Zusammenarbeit sei, wie gut und kontrolliert die gesamte Wahlhandlung
ablaeuft, technisch einwandfrei demokratisch voellig korrekt -
Faelschungen seien ausgeschlossen, dafuer verbuerge er sich, und bei
Bedarf koennten wir auch seinen Namen angeben.
Trotz dieser aufmunternden Worte zogen wir vor der Rueckreise nach
Belgrad das Fazit, dass diese Wahlen beim besten Willen nicht frei,
geheim und gleich genannt werden koennen. Die Wahlen, wohlgemerkt im
"westlichen Montenegro", nicht jene im "Reich des boesen Slobo". Eine
Situation der systematischen Einschuechterung und Angst stoert die neuen
Weltordner nicht die Bohne, wenn sie sich eine neue Kolonie untertan
machen wollen. Allerdings muss die jugoslawische Regierung die Frage
beantworten, ob eine allen demokratischen Normen Hohn sprechende
Wahlbehinderung auf einem Teil ihres Territoriums hingenommen werden
kann.
Klaus Hartmann
ist Praesident der Weltunion der Freidenker und wurde in dieser Funktion
vom jugoslawischen Bundesparlament als Wahlbeobachter eingeladen
PS- In den Nachrichten verschiedener Fernseh- und Rundfunkstationen
wurde am Abend des 25.09.2000 aus Montenegro von einer Entlassungswelle
in Betrieben und verwaltungen berichtet.
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Press release
Belgrade, September 26, 2000
"A free and fair election", international observers say.
The 210 international observers from 54 countries who have come to
Yugoslavia to monitor the elections have among them current and former
parliamentarians, representatives from political parties and
organizations, as well as scholars, journalists and activists. They have
been able to view the electoral activities from rallies to the actual
voting on September 24 and many have taken the opportunity meet with the
leaders of various political parties and the different presidential
campaigns.
The observers feel strongly that they have had free, unobstructed access
to the relevant activities and particularly to the voting on the 24 when
observers visited polling stations in different parts of Yugoslavia,
including Montenegro and Kosovo.
In Montenegro, the ca 20 foreign observers witnessed an overall
atmosphere of intimidation of the voters, originating from the
government of Mr. Djukanovic which is boycotting the elections.
Everywhere there were huge billboards telling people not to vote. These
had the appearances of threats: "Don’t vote or else..." Some of those
who did vote, told the observers that they felt voting was risky for
them and could lead to the loss of jobs and other forms of harassment,
as the polling stations were watched by the police and cameras not
belonging to the media were pointed at the citizens coming to vote. In
one poll Serbian refugees from Kosovo told the observers that hundreds
of them had been left off the voters’ lists, although they had the
necessary documentation to be able to vote. (This situation was brought
to the attention of the Montenegrin Electoral Commission and a more
detailed report will be forwarded to the Federal Electoral Commission of
Yugoslavia.)
The observers note that the voting process overall was orderly and
smooth although it involved three separate ballots with multiple
choices. The voting process, in the opinion of many, was equal or
superior to the ones in their own countries.
The observers feel strongly that the so-called "international community"
has been abusive of Yugoslavia and democratic principles, in declaring
weeks ahead that the election will be "rigged" and heaping constant
abuse at the authorities in Yugoslavia who are trying to carry out a
complicated, multi-level election in stressful conditions. This abuse
has continued after the election, with leaders of Western countries
declaring only a few hours after the election that Mr. Kustunica has
won, as if they would have had privileged access to the voting results!
This leads us to wonder whether if Mr. Kustunica in fact comes first,
whether his election will also be considered fraudulent, because, after
all, "everybody knows" that the election was rigged.
The observers believe that there has been undue interference in the
Yugoslavian election by the Western powers, in particular by the United
States, which has seen fit to interfere to the tune of $77(US) million
to various opposition movements and organizations, including the
"independent" media. This is a shameful - and no doubt illegal –
intrusion into the affairs of a sovereign nation. Also the attempts by
the European Union to bribe Yugoslavian voters to vote in a certain way
in order to be "rewarded" with the lifting of sanctions and other
goodies, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
The observers leave Yugoslavia with a hightened respect for the
integrity of the political process in the country. From what we have
seen and heard, we believe that the results will truly reflect the will
and the wishes of the people of Yugoslavia. –30-
This statement has been endorsed by:
NAME COUNTRY
... ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Liebe Leute,
>
>zu den Wahlen in Jugoslawien dokumentiere ich folgende Texte:
>
>FAIR, ABER NICHT FREI
>EINDRÜCKE DER INTERNATIONALEN WAHLBEOBACHTER IN JUGOSLAWIEN.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>junge Welt v. 27.09.2000
>Anlage 1
>
>DJINDJIC SETZT AUF GEWALT DER STRAßE
>OPPOSITION WIRFT WAHLKOMMISSION JUGOSLAWIENS MANIPULATION VOR.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>Anlage 2
>
>WAHLEN IM DJUKANOVIC-LAND
>ALS WAHLBEOBACHTER UNTERWEGS IN MONTENEGRO.
>Von Klaus Hartmann
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>Anlage 3
>
>NATO-STAATEN SCHLIEßEN DEN RING
>TRUPPEN WERDEN UM JUGOSLAWIEN KONZENTRIERT. DROHUNG MIT MILITÄRSCHLAG
>Von Rainer Rupp
>junge Welt v.26.09.2000
>Anlage 4
>
>WIRD JUGOSLAWIEN DIE NATO STOPPEN?
>Von Klaus von Raussendorff
>Mitteilungen der Kommunistischen Plattform der PDS Oktober/2000
>Anlage 5
>
>Mit internationalistischen Grüßen
>
>Klaus v. Raussendorff
>
>---------------------------------------------------------
>Anti-Imperialistische Korrespondenz (AIK)
>Redaktion: Klaus von Raussendorff
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>Email: raussendorff@...
>
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>Email: aik-web@...
>
>Wer die AIK nicht empfangen möchte,
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>"unsubscribe" an raussendorff@...
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
>
>Anlage 1
>
>junge Welt v. 27.09.2000
>
>FAIR, ABER NICHT FREI
>EINDRÜCKE DER INTERNATIONALEN WAHLBEOBACHTER IN JUGOSLAWIEN.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>
>Wer hat gewonnen, hast Du Ergebnisse«, war die am Montag morgen die in
>Belgrad wohl am häufigsten gestellte Frage. Die Antwort blieb man
>schuldig, auch wenn die Oppositionszeitung Danas in dicken Lettern mit
>»Popeda! - Sieg!« titelte. Es ist kein normales Land, und es waren keine
>normale Wahlen, die am Sonntag in Jugoslawien stattfanden. Gut ein Jahr
>nach dem NATO-Krieg gegen das Balkanland waren 7861327 Wahlberechtigte,
>7417197 in Serbien und 444130 in Montenegro, aufgerufen, den künftigen
>Präsidenten zu wählen. Erstmals wird damit der Staatschef Jugoslawiens
>direkt von der Bevölkerung bestimmt. Darüber hinaus galt es, die
>Abgeordneten für die beiden Kammern des Bundesparlamentes, sowie
>Kreisräte und Kommunale Mandatsträger zu wählen.
>
>Die Wähler waren nicht wirklich frei in ihrem Votum. »Wenn die Wahlen
>nicht fair sind, werden wir Jugoslawien hermetisch isolieren«, ließ der
>US-Präsident in Washington am Vorabend des Urnenganges verlauten. Als
>»fair« und für den Westen akzeptabel gelten die Wahlen nur dann, wenn
>der gegenwärtige Präsident Jugoslawiens, Slobodan Milosevic, sein Amt
>verliert. Millionensummen wurden im Vorfeld von den USA und der
>Europäischen Union aufgebracht, ein Klima zu erzeugen, demzufolge
>Oppositionskandidat Vojislav Kostunica die Wahlen auf jeden Fall
>gewinnen würde - und sollte er es nicht, dann könne dies nicht dem
>Wählervotum geschuldet sein, sondern Manipulationen der Resultate
>seitens der Regierungsparteien SPS (Sozialistische Partei Serbiens) und
>JUL (Jugoslawische Linke). Eine leichte Position also für die
>Pro-NATO-Opposition in Belgrad.
>
>Unter der Drohung fortdauernder Sanktionen, der Sezession Montenegros
>und in Erwartung bürgerkriegsähnlicher Auseinandersetzungen im Falle
>einer Niederlage der Oppositionsparteien sowie dem Versprechen auf
>wirtschaftliche Hilfe als Belohnung für einen Sieg der »Demokratischen
>Opposition Serbiens« (DOS) galt es, über die Zukunft im kleinen wie
>einer ganzen Nation zu entscheiden. Es sind »historische Wahlen« im
>besten Sinne, und ihr Ergebnis dürfte von globaler Bedeutung sein. Wird
>die NATO von den Wählern nachträglich für ihr Bombardement Jugoslawiens
>mehrheitlich mit den Stimmen für Kostunica belohnt, oder steht der
>Großteil der Bevölkerung nach wie vor an der Seite derjenigen, die das
>Land bis dato den neokolonialen Einvernahmungs- und
>Unterordnungsambitionen des Westens entziehen konnten?
>
>Sieg oder Niederlage, demokratische Wahlen oder Manipulation, Wandel mit
>dem Kandidaten Kostunica oder ewige Despotie eines Milosevic? Dieser
>einfachen Fragestellung folgend herrscht in den großen westlichen
>Unisonomedien denn auch seit Tagen eine Art neuerliche Kriegsstimmung.
>
>Samstag, 9.02 Uhr: Die Korrespondentin des britischen Nachrichtensenders
>BBC, Jacky Rowland, vermeldet telefonisch aus Belgrad, letzten Umfragen
>zufolge habe der DOS-Kandidat Vojislav Kostunica einen Zehn-Prozent-
>Vorsprung gegenüber dem amtierenden Präsidenten Milosevic. Da seit
>Freitag 0.00 Uhr eigentlich Wahlruhe herrscht, gibt es keinerlei neue
>Daten oder Umfragen. Auch wenn diese »Vorwahlumfragen« in den westlichen
>Medien sowie der Oppositionspresse in Jugoslawien immer wieder
>präsentiert wurden, es gibt keinen seriösen Meinungsforscher, der den
>Erhebung Glauben schenkt.
>
>Die regierungsnahe jugoslawische Tageszeitung Politika titelt in ihrer
>Samstagausgabe mit der neugeschaffenen Verbindung über die Donau. In der
>Nacht zum Freitag waren alle Teile des Brückenschlusses »Varadinska
>Duga« in Novi Sad verbunden worden. Das Megaprojekt ist Teil des
>Regierungsprogramms zum Wiederaufbau und Erneuerung des Landes. Die vom
>Westen finanzierte Zeitung Glas übt sich hingegen in defätistischem
>Realismus und vermeldet auf der Titelseite den vermeintlich aktuellen
>Schwarzmarktwechselkurs von DM und Dinar, der bei eins zu 35 liegen
>soll. In der Tat war der Wert des Dinars in den Vorwahltagen
>kontinuierlich gesunken, und in den Geschäften Belgrads wurde der
>Eindruck erweckt, als ob es eine Knappheit an Grundnahrungsmitteln wie
>Öl, Zucker und Milch gäbe. Künstliche Krisenstimmung.
>
>Sonntag, 8.00: Nabil Zaki aus Kairo beginnt im Belgrader Stadtteil
>Karaburma mit seiner Arbeit. Er gehört der internationalen
>Wahlbeobachtergruppe an, die von der Belgrader Regierung eingeladen
>wurde, den Urnengang zu überwachen. 210 Mitglieder umfaßt die »election
>observing mission«, sie kommen aus mehr als 50 Ländern. Nabil Zaki ist
>Chefredakteur der ägyptischen Tageszeitung Al Ahali und Präsident der
>Abteilung für internationale Beziehungen von »Tagamo«. Die Linkspartei
>rechnet damit, bei den in vier Wochen anstehenden Parlamentswahlen in
>Ägypten die Zahl ihrer Sitze im Parlament von fünf auf zehn zu
>verdoppeln. In der Schule »Stjepan Stevo Filipovic« in der Straße
>Patrisa Lumumbe 5 gehören Zana Niksic und ihre Tochter Liljana zu den
>ersten Wählern am Morgen. Für beide ist klar, bei dem Urnengang geht es
>um die Verteidigung ihres Landes gegen eine Übernahme durch die NATO. In
>der ersten Viertelstunde nach Öffnung der Wahllokale haben bereits 40
>Wähler abgestimmt, erfährt Nabil Zaki von der Wahlkommission. Es sind
>überwiegend Rentner, die zu dieser Zeit ihre Stimme abgeben. In dem
>Klassenzimmer der Grundschule sitzen mehr Mitglieder dieser
>parteienübergreifenden Kommission als Wähler Platz finden würden. Zwei
>jugoslawische Papierfähnchen auf die grüne Tafel geklebt markieren den
>Raum als Wahllokal. Die Stimmung ist locker, man kennt sich aus der
>Nachbarschaft. Sowohl die Kommissionsmitglieder der oppositionellen DOS
>und SPO (Serbische Erneuerungsbewegung) wie die regierenden SPS sind
>zufrieden mit der Wahlprozedur und bezeichnen sie auf Nachfrage als
>»fair«. Zwei ältere Frauen, die für die Serbische Radikale Partei (SRS)
>die Richtigkeit des Urnenganges überprüfen sollen, nicken beipflichtend
>zu. Fünf Wahlboxen sind aufgestellt, sie wurden am Morgen verplompt und
>werden nach Schließung des Wahllokals um 20 Uhr in Anwesenheit aller
>Wahlkommissionsmitglieder geöffnet. Auf dem Boden einer jeden Urne liegt
>eine Wahlliste, damit soll den Anschuldigungen begegnet werden, es gebe
>eventuell einen doppelten Boden in den Boxen. In einer stundenlangen
>Prozedur werden schließlich die Stimmen gemeinsam ausgezählt, geprüft
>und gegengeprüft. Dem Westen und den Anschuldigungen der Opposition,
>Milosevic würde sich mittels Wahlmanipulationen an der Macht halten,
>sollen damit entkräftet werden. Für Gelächter wie für Verstimmung sorgt
>Nabil Zaki mit der Frage nach Wahlsymbolen für die einzelnen Parteien.
>In Ländern mit hoher Analphabetenrate soll dies den Wählern bei der
>Unterscheidung der Konkurrenten helfen. »Bei uns können alle lesen«,
>tönt eine ältere Frau aus der anderen Ecke des Raumes. Symbole auf den
>Stimmzetteln seien daher nicht notwendig.
>
>Um 8.20 Uhr ist der Wahlbeobachter bereits im Wahllokal in der
>Physik-Fakultät in der Straße Zara Dusana 13. Er gehört zum Wahlkreis
>Stari Grad und liegt im Zentrum Belgrads. Nabil Zaki interessiert sich
>für die Identifizierung der Wahlberechtigten. Stimmzettel erhält nur,
>wer mit Wahlbenachrichtigung und Personalausweis oder Paß kommt. Eine
>mehrfache Stimmabgabe ist damit nicht möglich. Die Daten werden mit dem
>Wählerverzeichnis überprüft, der DOS-Vertreter sitzt direkt daneben und
>notiert zudem die Wählernummer. Alle anderen Mitglieder auch dieser
>parteienübergreifenden Kommission können den Prozeß nachvollziehen. In
>Ägypten gebe es stets Streit darüber, ob sich die Wähler ausweisen
>müssen, Manipulationen seien damit leicht möglich, erklärt er gegenüber
>junge Welt, die als einzige Zeitung die Wahlbeochtermission begleitet.
>
>Im Wahlkreis 43, dessen Wahllokal sich im Gebäude des Serbischen Roten
>Kreuzes in der Simina 19 befindet, scheint man um halb neun am Morgen
>noch zu schlafen, fragt Nabil Zaki scherzend die gutgelaunten
>Wahlkommissionsmitglieder. Auch hier werden Kaffee und Saft
>parteiübergreifend getrunken und über das ein oder andere Witzchen
>gelacht. Als dann doch eine Wählerin auftaucht und Nabil Zaki fragt, für
>wen sie denn gestimmt habe, wird er von den Kommissionsmitgliedern
>unterbrochen. Dies dürfe in den Wahllokalen nicht erfragt werden. Die
>Abstimmung ist geheim und niemand habe sich hier für das Votum des
>Einzelnen zu interessieren. Die 40jährige Mutter dreier Kinder freilich
>läßt Zaki wissen, daß sie für den »Wechsel« gestimmt habe. Ein hagerer
>Rentner hat Pech. Da er sich nur mit seinem Gesundheitsausweis, der kein
>Foto enthält, legitimieren kann, darf er nicht abstimmen. Er wird
>gebeten, doch nach Hause zu gehen und mit seinem Personalausweis
>wiederzukommen.
>
>Um 9 Uhr inspiziert Nabil Zaki das Wahllokal 52 in der Marsala
>Birijusova 58 ganz in der Nähe der Belgrader Fußgängerzone. Von den 921
>Wahlberechtigten haben hier schon 90 ihre Stimmen abgegeben. In dem
>engen, verrauchten Raum reihen sich die Mitglieder von SPS, DOS, SPO und
>SRS dicht an dicht aneinander. Zwei weitere Mitglieder der
>Wahlkommission beharren darauf, »neutral« zu sein und keiner Partei
>anzugehören.
>
>In einer Stunde hat der 65jährige Philosoph aus Kairo damit fünf
>Wahllokale aufgesucht. Unterschiedslos äußerten sich die Vertreter der
>verschiedenen Parteien jeweils zufrieden mit dem Ablauf des
>Wahlprozesses. Es gebe keine Probleme, heißt es einmütig, von
>Manipulation könne keine Rede sein. Weder gebe es das Interesse noch die
>Möglichkeiten dafür. Nabil Zaki ist zufrieden mit seiner bisherigen
>Mission. »In Ägypten ist die Opposition häufig von der Wahlkommission
>ausgeschlossen«, kritisiert er die Demokriedefizite in seinem Land. Sie
>habe keine Möglichkeit, die Stimmabgabe und - auszählung zu überwachen
>und die Stimmung in den Wahllokalen sei häufig aggressiv. Ähnlich äußern
>sich gegenüber junge Welt im Laufe des Wahlsonntags Beobachter aus der
>Ukraine, aus Rußland, Bolivien, Argentinien und Griechenland.
>
>Pancevo, 11 Uhr: In den Räumen der Wirtschaftskammer der 15 Kilometer
>nordöstlich von Belgrad gelegenen Stadt stehen Zoran Nikolic, Präsident
>des Südbanats, und Dusan Sivsev, Präsident der Wahlkommission für die
>Region Pancevo, einer 20köpfigen Gruppe internationaler Wahlbeobachter
>Rede und Antwort. Von der Tatsache abgesehen, daß drei Wahllokale
>aufgrund technischer Probleme wenige Minuten verspätet geöffnet wurden,
>habe es in ihrem Verantwortunsbereich keine Probleme gegeben. Alle
>Parteien hätten die Wahlruhe respektiert. Laut Gesetz darf 48 Stunden
>vor dem Urnengang nicht mehr geworben werden, im Umkreis von 50 Metern
>um die Wahllokale ist zudem jede Parteiwerbung untersagt. Wahlplakate
>müssen im Zweifelsfall entfernt werden, was an den gut 100 zerrissenen
>Milosevic- Postern an einer Baustellenwand im Eingangsbereich des
>Wahllokals sichtbar wird.
>
>Die Chancen für die Opposition seien unterschiedlich, erklärt Nikolic
>auf Nachfrage. Frühestens Montag könne die Wahlkommission die Ergebnisse
>bekannt geben. Da aber alle Parteien durch eigene Mitglieder vertreten
>seien, könnten diese eigene Hochrechnungen und Stimmungsbilder
>erstellen. Seriös und zuverlässig sind diese freilich nicht, wie sich im
>Laufe des Sonntag abend und Montag zeigen wird. Im Vorfeld der Wahlen
>hat es Kritik gegeben, daß nur eine Wählerliste in den Wahllokalen
>ausliegt und nicht jede Partei eine erhält. Dusan Sivsev beruft sich auf
>die Gesetzeslage und verweist darauf, daß jeder die Möglichkeiten gehabt
>habe, die Wählerlisten einzusehen. Er unterstreicht, daß es keine
>Differenzen über diese Listen zwischen den Parteien gebe, es sei also
>eine funktional-formale, keine inhaltliche Kritik. Vitali Shibko von der
>Sozialistischen Partei der Ukraine äußert sich zufrieden mit dem bisher
>gesehenen. Für ihn wichtig ist die Kontrolle der Wahlurnen selbst. Bei
>den Wahlen in Jugoslawien sei es - im Gegensatz zu seinem Land, das vom
>Westen unterstütztwerde - nicht möglich, daß zusätzliche Stimmen in die
>Boxen geworfen werden können. Landsmann Sergio Dovgan von der
>Bauernpartei pflichtet ihm bei. Beide haben vier Wahllokale in Belgrad
>besucht und berichten von der freundlichen Atmosphäre dort. Es gebe
>keinen Druck auf die Wähler, für eine bestimmte Partei oder einen
>bestimmten Kandidaten zu stimmen.
>
>Antonio Alac aus Argentinien pflichtet den beiden bei. Im Unterschied zu
>seinem Land gebe es keine Polizei vor den Wahllokalen. »Es sind Wahlen
>des Volkes.« In Argentinien würden die Stimmen an geheimen Plätzen
>ausgezählt. Der Opposition werde im Gegensatz zu Jugoslawien die
>Partizipation an diesem Prozeß verwehrt, Wahlfälschung sei daher Teil
>des politischen Tagesgeschäftes. Es sei doch absurd, daß Jugoslawien
>ausgerechnet von den Ländern Demokratiedefizite unterstellt werden, die
>wie die USA für die Unterstützung der Diktaturen in Lateinamerika
>bekannt seien. »Unsere Gesetzgebung basiert auf westlichen Modellen«,
>erklärt der Zoran Nikolic den Wahlbeobachtern. »Ausgerechnet diese
>Länder klagen uns zur Zeit an, undemokratisch und repressiv zu sein«,
>pflichtet der serbische Politiker seinen Vorredner bei. »Wir sind daher
>sehr dankbar, daß sie nach den Wahlen in ihren Ländern Botschafter der
>Wahrheit sind.«
>
>12.30 Uhr am Rande von Pancevo: Rush-hour im Wahllokal in der
>Kikinska-Straße. Mit den zur Seite geschobenen Ausstellungstücken im
>Möbelhaus Tamis Trgovina wirkt es improvisiert. Doch es erfüllt seinen
>Zweck. 510 Wähler haben bis Mittag ihre Stimme abgegeben, 50 Prozent der
>Wahlberechtigten in diesem Kreis. Obwohl die Anzahl der Wahlkabinen von
>vier auf acht verdoppelt wurde, stehen die Wähler Schlange. »Die hohe
>Wahlbeteiligung spricht für ein hohes politisches Bewußtsein in diesem
>Land«, urteilt Nabil Zaki. »Am wichtigsten für uns ist, daß die ganze
>Wahl ordnungsgemäß verläuft. Wir wollen eine faire Abstimmung«, erklärt
>ihm die Präsidentin der lokalen Wahlkommission, Rula Zora.
>
>Daß an die Schaufensterscheiben des Möbelhauses im Laufe des Vormittags
>Otpor-Aktivisten ihre Parolen zur Unterstützung der Opposition gesprüht
>haben und nebenan fleißig Anti-Regierungsplakate der Soros-Foundation
>geklebt wurden, nehmen beide schulterzuckend zur Kenntnis. Was dagegen
>tun? - Wären indes Plakate der SPS neben dem Wahllokal nicht rechtzeitig
>abgerissen worden, »unabhängige Wahlbeobachter« würden von Manipulation
>und »Unregelmäßigkeiten in Pancevo« sprechen.
>
>Belgrad am Nachmittag: Im Stundenrhythmus gibt CeSID, das vom
>Multimilliardär George Soros unterstützte »Zentrum für freie Wahlen und
>Demokratie«, im Media-Centar eine Pressekonferenz. Sein Zentrum werde
>davon abgehalten, die Wahlen zu beobachten, erklärt Marko Blagojevic vor
>der internationalen Presse. Auch DOS-Vertreter dürften die Wahllokale
>nicht aufsuchen, so die CeSID-Behauptung. Die richtige und langersehnte
>Information für die Sendezentralen in den westlichen Hauptstädten. Gegen
>16 Uhr weiß das ZDF von »Unregelmäßigkeiten« bei den Wahlen in
>Jugoslawien zu berichten und spricht von »Befürchtungen« der Opposition,
>daß es Manipulationen gebe.
>
>Vrsac, 16.30 Uhr: Das Städtchen an der jugoslawisch- rumänischen Grenze
>ist wohlhabend und aufgeräumt. Mit den zwei Konditorei-Fabriken, etwas
>chemischer und pharmazeutischer Industrie sowie dem Wein vom Fruska Gora
>bringen es die Einwohnern von Vrsac zu einigem Wohlstand. 23 nationale
>Minderheiten und Nationen leben neben- und miteinander hier im Nordosten
>der Vojvodina. Die Rumänen stellen mit 13 Prozent die größte Minderheit.
>In den Schulen erhalten sie muttersprachlichen Unterricht, am Rathaus
>sind die Eingangstafeln dreisprachig - serbisch, rumänisch und ungarisch
>- gehalten. Ebenso wie die Stimmzettel, erklärt der Präsident der
>Wahlkommission, Milorad Vidulevic. Auf die von jW angesprochenen
>Anschuldigungen der ausländischen Medien, die Wahlen würden mittels der
>Stimmen der Kosovo-Flüchtlinge und der Armeeangehörigen gefälscht, läßt
>Vidulevic einen Packen versiegelter Umschläge bringen. 102
>Wahlberechtigte von Vrsac leisteten zur Zeit ihren Militärdienst. Sie
>seien in Kasernen in ganz Serbien untergebracht. Am vergangenen Dienstag
>haben sie von ihm per Post die Wahlunterlagen erhalten und bis Freitag
>zurückgeschickt. Die Umschläge werden am Abend nach Schließung der
>Wahllokale in Anwesenheit der kompletten Wahlkommission geöffnet. Die
>Stimmzettel, jeweils in separaten, neutralen und verschlossenen
>Umschlägen verpackt, werden in die jeweiligen Urnen - für die
>Präsidentschaftswahlen, die Kammern des Bundesparlamentes und die
>Kommunen - geworfen. Vor der Gruppe der Wahlbeobachter öffnet Vidulevic
>zwei Umschläge, um die Ausführungen zu untermauern. In jedem Umschlag
>liegt separat zudem die Wahlbenachrichtigung, so daß auf den
>Wählerlisten vermerkt werden könne, wer am Votum teilgenommen habe und
>wer nicht.
>
>Die Stimmen der Kosovo-Flüchtlinge werden ebenfalls vor Ort in
>Anwesenheit aller Parteienvertreter ausgezählt. Die Ergebnisse werden
>anschließend den Wahlbezirken Vranje und Prokuplj zugerechnet.
>Wahllokale für Kosovo-Vertriebene gibt es in jeder Stadt, in der mehr
>als 100 Wahlberechtigte aus der südserbischen Provinz leben. 350000
>Menschen, überwiegend Serben, wurden seit Einmarsch der KFOR- Soldaten
>im Juni 1999 aus dem Kosovo vertrieben. Von einigen wenigen serbischen
>Enklaven und dem Norden der Provinz abgesehen, konnten im Kosovo die
>Wahlen nicht organisiert werden. »Nur diejenigen, die Angst haben zu
>verlieren, sprechen zu diesem Zeitpunkt von Manipulation«, weißt
>Vidulevic die Anschuldigungen der westlichen Medien und von CeSID
>zurück.
>
>17.50 Uhr: Im Wahllokal 23 im Gymnasium für Chemie und Textiltechnik in
>Vrsac herrscht reger Andrang. Bis 18 Uhr haben 609 von 925
>Wahlberechtigten ihre Stimme abgegeben. DOS-Vertreter Dusan Dulejan
>kritisiert, daß internationale Beobachter nur von der Regierung
>eingeladen worden seien. Ihm fehlen »unabhängige« Monitore von der OSZE.
>Dennoch, auf Nachfrage von jW äußert er sich zufrieden über den
>Wahlprozeß »in diesem Raum«. Er weiß aber von Manipulationen in Nis im
>Süden Serbiens zu berichten. Woher die Information, so die Nachfrage.
>Während des Mittagessens habe er zu Hause »Deutsche Welle« gehört und es
>im Internet gelesen. Daher die »gesicherte Information«.
>
>Belgrad, 21 Uhr: Auf dem Trg Republike, dem Platz der Republik, im
>Zentrum der jugoslawischen Hauptstadt, haben SPS und JUL ein »Konzert
>des Volkes« organisiert. Einige Parteiaufrechte schwenken ihre
>Parteifahnen im Wind, auf der Bühne wird Folklore und traditionelles
>Liedgut geboten. Eine schlechte Propagandashow für RTS, das serbische
>Staatsfernsehen. Der Großteil der Anwesenden, Anhänger der Opposition,
>pfeift die Künstler nieder. DOS selbst spricht eine Stunde nach
>Schließung der Wahllokale nur 200 Meter neben dem Konzert, auf dem Platz
>Terazije, vor gut 5000 Unterstützern von »Sieg«. Die »Ära Milosevic«
>wird als beendet gefeiert. Ergebnisse gibt es freilich zu diesem
>Zeitpunkt noch nicht. CNN sendet aus dem Haus nebenan live in die USA
>und alle Welt über die »Wahlparty der Opposition«. Im Hintergrund die
>wartenden DOS-Fans. Später positionieren sich vielleicht zwei Dutzend
>Polizisten zwischen den beiden Gruppen - SPS-Folklore-Anhänger hie und
>aggressiv-siegeslustige Jungwähler da. Mit ihren Helmen und Knüppeln an
>der Seite wirken die Sicherheitskräfte entsprechend martialisch, die
>Bilder fürs Abendprogramm in den USA und die Morgenmagazine in
>Deutschland sind perfekt - Milosevics Regime bleibt repressiv.
>Übergriffe oder Festnahmen gab es freilich nicht. Ebensowenig wie
>sichere Wahlergebnisse. Die liegen auch am Montag mittag noch nicht vor,
>beide Lager beanspruchen allerdings für sich den Sieg bei den
>Präsidentschaftswahlen. Trotz aller Unsicherheit in Jugoslawien, in den
>deutschen, britischen und US-Medien werden Kostunica als Wahlgewinner
>gehandelt und die Gerüchte über Manipulation gepflegt.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
>
>Anlage 2
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>
>DJINDJIC SETZT AUF GEWALT DER STRAßE
>OPPOSITION WIRFT WAHLKOMMISSION JUGOSLAWIENS MANIPULATION VOR.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>
>Jugoslawien wird in den nächsten vier Jahren eine Linksregierung haben.
>Der nächste Präsident des Balkanlandes wird in einem zweiten Wahlgang
>bestimmt werden müssen. Dies geht aus den am Dienstag abend
>veröffentlichten vorläufigen Ergebnissen der Bundeswahlkommission
>hervor. Demnach haben nach den Wahlen am vergangenen Sonntag die
>Sozialistische Partei Serbiens (SPS), die Jugoslawische Linke (JUL) und
>die montenegrinische Sozialistische Volkspartei (SNP) in beiden Kammern
>des Bundesparlamentes die absolute Mehrheit der Abgeordnetensitze. Auf
>kommunaler Ebene müssen die Linksparteien Serbiens indes aufgrund des
>Mehrheitswahlprinzips eine gnadenlose Niederlage hinnehmen. Zwei Drittel
>der Städte werden künftig von der DOS regiert, ein Drittel von der
>SPS/JUL.
>Überraschend war vor allem aber das schlechte Abschneiden von Slobodan
>Milosevic, der mit 2026478 Wählerstimmen deutlich entfernt von einer
>absoluten Mehrheit bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen liegt. Auch wenn der
>Gegenkandidat der »Demokratischen Opposition Serbiens« (DOS), Vojislav
>Kostunica, mit 48,22 Prozent der Wählerstimmen deutlich vor dem im
>Westen verhaßten jugoslawischen Präsidenten Milosevic (40,23 Prozent)
>führt, die absolute Mehrheit im ersten Wahlgang konnte er laut
>Bundeswahlkommission nicht gewinnen. Am 8. Oktober steht somit die
>zweite Runde an. Unklar ist allerdings, ob Kostunica an dieser
>teilnehmen wird.
>
>Am späten Dienstag abend hatte Zoran Djindjic, Wahlkampfleiter der DOS,
>vor der Presse in Belgrad erklärt, sein Anti-Milosevic-Bündnis werde die
>Ergebnisse der Bundeswahlkommission nicht akzeptieren und die »Bürger
>Serbiens« zur »Verteidigung« ihres »Sieges« auf die Straße rufen. Im
>DOS-Hauptquartier im Zentrum der jugoslawischen Hauptstadt sowie in
>Washington, London und Berlin sowie den großen Westmedien war Vojislav
>Kostunica bereits unmittelbar nach Schließung der Wahllokale am Sonntag
>zum Sieger und damit nächsten Präsidenten Jugoslawiens erklärt worden.
>Das Wort Manipulation und Wahlbetrug machte am Dienstag denn auch
>schnell die Runde. Uneinig ist man sich bei der DOS indes im Umgang mit
>den Resultaten der Wahlen zum Bundesparlament. Während DOS-Sprecher
>Cedomir Jovanovic für alle Wahlen den Sieg der Opposition reklamiert,
>räumte Wahlkampfleiter Djindjic die Führung der Linksparteien bei den
>politisch wichtigen Parlamentswahlen ein.
>
>Doch den Sieg Vojislav Kostunicas wolle man sich nicht nehmen lassen.
>Für Mittwoch abend hatten DOS und die mit ihr verbundene neoliberale
>Ökonomengruppe G-17-Plus zu einer Großkundgebung vor der Skupstina, dem
>Parlament im Herzen Belgrads, aufgerufen. Vojislav Kostunica wollte dort
>seinen Anspruch auf den Präsidentenposten proklamieren, ganze 24 Stunden
>vor der Bekanntgabe des endgültigen Wahlergebnisses durch die
>Bundeswahlkommission. In den folgenden Tagen sollen Demonstrationen
>folgen. Die internationalen Nachrichtensender BBC und CNN stimmten ihre
>Zuschauer bereits im Laufe des Mittwoch auf blutige Auseinandersetzungen
>am Abend ein. Eine Verantwortung für eine mögliche Gewalteskalation in
>Belgrad will DOS allerdings nicht übernehmen, erklärte Djindjic auf
>junge Welt-Nachfrage. Doch genau die Verantwortung - einen Bürgerkrieg
>in Jugoslawien zu verhindern - kommt ihr zu. Es liegt in ihren Händen,
>ihre im Siegestaumel schwelgenden Anhänger auf den Boden der Realität
>zurückzuholen. Denn selbst wenn Vojislav Kostunica der nächste Präsident
>Jugoslawiens sein sollte, Slobodan Milosevic wird - ganz legal - ein
>wichtiger Faktor im Land bleiben. »Gotov je - Er ist am Ende«, diese
>während des Wahlkampfes ausgegebene Parole wurde zu früh gebrüllt.
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Anlage 3
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>
>WAHLEN IM DJUKANOVIC-LAND
>ALS WAHLBEOBACHTER UNTERWEGS IN MONTENEGRO.
>Von Klaus Hartmann
>
>Am 24. September 2000 begab sich eine Gruppe von rund 30 Wahlbeobachtern
>von Belgrad aus nach Montenegro, um sich ein Bild von den
>Wahlbedingungen und dem Wahlablauf in der jugoslawischen Teilrepublik zu
>machen. Die Beobachter kamen unter anderem aus Bulgarien, Makedonien,
>Moldawien, Georgien und der Ukraine, aus Indien und dem Tschad sowie aus
>den NATO-Ländern Kanada, Großbritannien und Deutschland.
>
>Auf dem Flughafen von Tivat in der Kotor-Bucht angekommen fuhr die
>Gruppe mit dem Bus zu Wahllokalen in verschiedenen Teilen des Landes.
>Die erste Station war der Jaz-Strand vor Budva an der Adria-Küste, und
>hier gab es bereits den ersten markanten Eindruck von den
>Wahlbedingungen: Das Wahllokal war zwar überdacht, aber letztlich fand
>die Wahl unter freiem Himmel statt - das Hotel hatte auf Weisung »von
>oben« die Bereitstellung eines Raumes verweigert. Um 8.15 Uhr gab gerade
>der siebte Wähler von 315 Wahlberechtigten seine Stimme ab. Mit Kartons
>war auf den Tischen ein Sichtschutz improvisiert worden, der entfernt an
>Wahlkabinen erinnerte. Das Wahlkomitee bestand aus Vertretern
>verschiedener Parteien. Auch die Partei des montenegrinischen
>Präsidenten Milo Djukanovic war mit zwei offiziellen »Beobachtern«
>präsent. Deren »Beobachtermission« war von besonderer Art. Mitglieder
>des Wahlkomitees berichteten über einen ungeheuren Druck auf die
>Bevölkerung während der letzten zehn Tage, nicht zur Wahl zu gehen. Es
>habe persönliche Bedrohung, Drohungen mit dem Verlust des Arbeitsplatzes
>oder der sozialen Unterstützung gegeben.
>
>Daß dies nicht aus der Luft gegriffen war, kann ich aufgrund meines
>achttägigen Aufenthaltes mit einer Gruppe der Freidenker eine Woche
>zuvor in Montenegro bestätigen. In vielen Gesprächen wurde uns
>berichtet, daß eine staatlich organisierte massive
>Einschüchterungskampagne begonnen habe, die alle Wahlwilligen mit
>Existenzgefährdung bedrohe. Uns wurden konkrete Beispiele genannt: Der
>Direktor eines holzverarbeitenden Betriebes kündigte seinen
>Beschäftigten an, wer am Sonntag zur Wahl gehe, brauche am Montag nicht
>mehr zur Arbeit zu erscheinen. Das Gleiche gab ein Schulleiter im Norden
>des Landes seinem Lehrerkollegium bekannt. So hatten die Beobachter aus
>der Djukanovic-Partei eine für alle Beteiligten offenkundige Aufgabe -
>jene, die trotz der Drohungen von ihrem Wahlrecht Gebrauch machten, zu
>melden und die angekündigten Schikanen Realität werden zu lassen.
>
>Beim nächsten Wahllokal im Strandbereich von Budva hatten um 8.40 Uhr 13
>von 665 Wählern ihre Stimme abgegeben. Das Wahllokal befand sich in
>einem engen Raum des derzeit ungenutzten Erholungsheimes der
>Jugoslawischen Flußschiffahrt, da die früheren Wahlstellen (in der
>Schule und im Hotel Mocren) von der Djukanovic-dominierten
>Stadtverwaltung verweigert wurden. Auch hier wurde über Drohungen gegen
>die Wähler und potentielle Mitglieder des Wahlkomitees berichtet. Am
>Wahltag selbst gab es keine Störungen. Auch hier saßen Mitglieder
>verschiedener Parteien im Komitee und - eine Besonderheit - eine
>Vertreterin des DOS-Wahlbündnisses, der »Demokratischen Opposition
>Serbiens«. Doch die »Beobachterin der DOS« war in Wirklichkeit eine
>Vertreterin der Djukanovic-Partei der Demokratischen Sozialisten (DPS),
>es machte sich aber besser, nicht im Namen einer die Wahlen
>boykottierenden Partei aufzutreten.
>
>Beim anschließenden Frühstück der Beobachter traf ich meinen Freund
>Mischa wieder. Ich befragte ihn zu einigen Nachrichten, die in der
>Vorwoche von BBC aus Montenegro kolportiert worden waren: Ein Soldat der
>jugoslawischen Armee habe einen montenegrinischen Polizisten erschossen.
>Das britische Fernsehen nahm das als einen Beweis für die »von Milosevic
>geplante Provokation zwecks militärischem Eingreifen«. Mischa klärte
>darüber auf, daß sich die Schießerei zwischen Männern in Zivilkleidung
>ereignet hat, zumindest der »Soldat« sei schon lange nicht mehr in der
>Armee. Man nehme an, es handle sich um eine Auseinandersetzung in der
>Mafia - zumindest seien alle »politischen« Motive frei erfunden. Nach
>dieser neuen Lektion in Sachen »freier Medien im Westen« besuchten wir
>ein drittes Wahllokal in einem Wohnviertel Budvars.
>
>Wir steuerten direkt auf die Stadtverwaltung zu, doch mußten wir kurz
>davor abbiegen - in den Schachklub in Nebenräumen von
>»Montenegrotourist«. Wieder beengte Verhältnisse, improvisierter
>Sichtschutz, wieder ein politisch gemischtes Wahlkomitee und wieder eine
>»Beobachterin«, die offiziell für Kostunica wachte, tatsächlich aber für
>Djukanovic die Wählerliste inspizierte. Eine Aufgabe, die ihre Kräfte
>sichtlich überforderte, denn in und vor dem Wahllokal bildete sich eine
>große Wählerschlange, was ein Wahlboykotteur naturgemäß nicht sonderlich
>liebt. Deshalb sah sie »die Gefahr, bei dieser Menge den Überblick zu
>verlieren, und daß es so zu Wahlfälschungen kommen könne«.
>
>Auch im benachbarten Gebäude der Stadtverwaltung war eine große
>Betriebsamkeit festzustellen. An einem Fenster im ersten Stock hatten
>sich zwei Angehörige der montenegrinischen Polizei in grün-braunen
>Kampfanzügen postiert, um den Eingang des Wahllokals zu observieren. Als
>ich eine Reihe meiner Mitbeobachter auf die beiden aufmerksam machte,
>eilte ein schwarz gekleideter Zivilist aus der Menge vor dem Wahllokal
>vor das Fenster der beiden. In der Folge machten sie umgehend neuen
>Beobachtern in Zivilkleidung Platz.
>
>Weitere Aufregung vor dem Wahllokal: »Wenn ihr mich hier nicht wählen
>laßt, fahre ich nach Serbien!« rief eine erboste Frau, die als
>NATO-UCK-Vertriebene aus dem Kosovo in Budva Zuflucht fand. »Irgendwie«
>sei es nach Angaben von Umstehenden zu Differenzen zwischen den Listen
>des Roten Kreuzes und den Wählerverzeichnissen gekommen. Von den in
>Budva lebenden rund 1000 Kosovo- Vertriebenen sollen nur etwa 500 auf
>den Wählerlisten stehen. Noch schlimmer, in der montenegrinischen
>Hauptstadt Podgorica, der nächsten Station unserer »Observer-Mission«,
>sollen von 20000 Vertriebenen gar nur 1000 Aufnahme in die Wählerlisten
>gefunden haben.
>
>In den Wahllokalen der montenegrinischen Hauptstadt ein ähnliches Bild
>wie gehabt. Im Wahllokal Nr. 61 in Podgorica, in einem Freizeitclub der
>Jugoslawischen Armee untergebracht, berichtete man uns von massiven
>Provokationen der Djukanovic-Polizei. Bei Eröffnung des Lokals seien
>rund um den Eingang mehrere Polizeikameras installiert gewesen. Nach
>Intervention des Wahlkomitees wurden sie zwar entfernt, jedoch parkte 80
>Meter entfernt ein grauer Golf mit zwei Polizisten sowie weitere
>»dickere« Fahrzeuge in der Nähe mit unablässigen Mobiltelefonierern.
>Hier erfuhren wir auch von einem Faktor, der nicht unerheblich für die
>relative Wirksamkeit des Boykotts gewesen sein dürfte: Die
>Djukanovic-Regierung hatte den Wahlsonntag kurzerhand zum Arbeitstag
>erklärt. Die Beschäftigten im Gesundheitswesen und im gesamten
>öffentlichen Dienst, auch die Arbeiter der größeren staatlichen
>Betriebe, hatten schlicht keine Zeit für den Gang zum Wahllokal, wenn
>sie ihren Arbeitsplatz nicht unerlaubt verlassen wollten.
>
>* Klaus Hartmann ist Präsident der Weltunion der Freidenker und wurde in
>dieser Funktion vom jugoslawischen Bundesparlament als Wahlbeobachter
>nach Belgrad eingeladen
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
>
>Anlage 4
>junge Welt v.26.09.2000
>
>NATO-STAATEN SCHLIEßEN DEN RING
>TRUPPEN WERDEN UM JUGOSLAWIEN KONZENTRIERT. DROHUNG MIT MILITÄRSCHLAG
>Von Rainer Rupp
>
>Schon vor Abschluß der Wahl in Jugoslawien am Sonntag riefen NATO und EU
>gemeinsam mit der von ihnen teuer bezahlten jugoslawischen Opposition
>»Wahlbetrug«. Denn falls der NATO-Kandidat Kostunica verlieren sollte,
>dann wäre die Wahl von Milosevic manipuliert und könne folglich von EU
>und NATO nicht anerkannt werden. Um dies auch durchzusetzen - so die
>Überlegung der westlichen Wertegemeinschaft - mußte die NATO erneut ihre
>humanitäre Kriegsmaschine rund um Jugoslawien konzentrieren und in
>Alarmbereitschaft versetzen.
>
>Der französische Außenminister ließ Sonntag nacht noch über Radio Monte
>Carlo wissen, daß seine EU-Amtskollegen noch spätabends in einer
>Telefonkonferenz beraten hätten, wie zu reagieren sei, »falls Präsident
>Milosevic die Wahlen mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen sollte«. Wobei
>natürlich jedem der Beteiligten von vornherein klar war, daß Milosevic
>mit nichts anderem als nur mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen konnte,
>schließlich hatten EU und USA nicht umsonst mindestens 75 Millionen
>Dollar Wahlhilfe an die korrupte Opposition gezahlt und noch größere
>Versprechungen gemacht, die Jugoslawen sollten sich in der Wahl für den
>von der NATO ausgewählten Kandidaten entscheiden.
>
>Daß die militärische Friedensintervention gegen Belgrad jederzeit wieder
>aufgenommen werden kann, das macht die NATO mit ihrem Zusammenzug
>militärischer Mittel rund um Jugoslawien deutlich. Damit in Belgrad die
>Friedensbotschaft der westlichen Humanisten nicht mißverstanden wird,
>hat NATO-Generalsekretär Lord Robertson Präsident Milosevic bereits mit
>militärischen Aktionen gedroht, »falls er bei den Wahlen betrügt«. Er
>warnte, daß sich die »Truppen der westlichen Allianz auf dem Balkan in
>Alarmbereitschaft befinden«. Zu diesem Zweck hatte die NATO rechtzeitig
>zur Wahl die größte See-Armada seit ihrem ersten Angriff auf Jugoslawien
>im Mittelmeer zusammengezogen. Der britische Premier Tony Blair, der
>sich mit seinem militaristischen Humangesülze längst einen festen Platz
>im Himmel der Neuen Weltordnung gesichert hat, sandte als »Botschaft an
>Präsident Slobodan Milosevic« den britischen Flugzeugträger »Invincible«
>und den Hubschrauberträger »Ocean« ins Mittelmeer, wo sie auf eine
>amerikanische Schlachtschiffgruppe stoßen werden.
>
>Am Montag berichtete die britis<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
Von: Elmar Schmaehling <elmar_schmaehling@...>
An: adn <aktuelles@...>
Datum: Donnerstag, 28. September 2000 09:48
Betreff: Fw: YU-Wahlen
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
ich schicke Ihnen die Erklärung der deutschen Wahlbeobachter bei den
Jugoslawienwahlen noch einmal als doc-Datei.
Zusätzlich füge ich eine weitere Erklärung der internationalen
Beobachterkommission und einen Bericht über die Wahldurchführung in
Montenegro von Klaus Hartmann bei.
Auch die Vorlage des nun amtlichen Endergebnisses durch den
Bundeswahlausschuss ändert nichts an den Aussagen unserer Erklärung und
der Notwendigkeit beider Seiten, die Unterschiede beim Ergebnis der
Präsidentschaftskandidaten durch Offenlegen der Auswertungsunterlagen
gegenüber der Öffentlichkeit aufzuklären.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Elmar Schmähling
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erklaerung der Wahlbeobachter aus Deutschland
Demokratische und faire Bedingungen im Land selbst, massive
Manipulations- und Erpressungsversuche von aussen - Fazit der deutschen
Beobachter der Wahlen am 24. September 2000 in Jugoslawien
Entgegen der von Medien und Politikern im Westen verbreiteten
Informationen, dass die jugoslawischen Wahlen unter Ausschluss
unabhaengiger internationaler Beobachter stattgefunden haetten, haben
tatsaechlich 210 Wahlbeobachter aus 54 Laendern, unter ihnen 52
Abgeordnete, den Wahlverlauf verfolgt.
Als Wahlbeobachter aus Deutschland, eingeladen vom Jugoslawischen
Bundesparlament, sind wir ueberrascht, dass unsere Arbeit in der
deutschen Oeffentlichkeit nicht wahrgemommen wird, und erst recht diese
Chance zur Information aus erster Hand nicht genutzt wird.
Wir hoffen sehr, dass dies nicht seine Ursache darin hat, dass manche
interessierten Seiten schon vor Oeffnung der Wahllokale am 24. September
2000 "wissen" wollten, dass die Wahlen gefaelscht wuerden, und
"Ergebnisse" der Wahlen bereits verkuendeten, bevor die Stimmen
ausgezaehlt waren.
Wir hatten als Wahlbeobachter jede Moeglichkeit, uns frei zu bewegen,
Ueberpruefungen vor Ort vorzunehmen, die Bedingungen und den Ablauf der
Wahlen in allen Phasen zu kontrollieren. Mehrere hundert Wahllokale
wurden von den Beobachtern unangemeldet besucht. Daher stellen wir fest,
dass unsere Beobachtungen mit unseren eigenen Augen und mit eigenem
kritischen Verstand vorgenommen wurden, und dass wir daher den Wert
unserer Beobachtungen und Festellungen anders einschaetzen als jene
diversen Stellungnahmen von Politikern, die mit Informationen aus
dritter Hand in der Regel ihre vorgefasste Meinung bestaetigt sehen
wollen.
Die Internationale Beobachterkommission der Wahlen am 24. September 2000
hat in einer gemeinsamen Erklaerung festgestellt, dass die Wahlen
demokratisch und fair verlaufen sind, und die Standards von
demokratischen Wahlen in anderen Laendern voll erfuellt haben. Dieser
Feststellung wie der Gesamtstellungnahme der Internationalen Kommission
schliesst sich die deutsche Beobachtergruppe voll inhaltlich an. Sie
unterstreicht dabei besonders die Kritik hinsichtlich des skandaloesen,
umfassenden Drucks (bis zur Existenzbedrohung), mit denen die Waehler in
Montenegro durch die Djukanovic-Regierung von der Ausuebung ihres
Wahlrechts abgehalten werden sollten. Dies ist mit dem Grundsatz fairer
und freier, demokratischer und rechtsstaatlich einwandfreier Wahlen
nicht in Einklang zu bringen.
Wir unterstuetzen ebenso und aus den gleichen Gruenden die Kritik an der
massiven auslaendischen Einmischung in den Wahlkampf, sei es in Form
einer 77-Millionen-US-Dollarspende an bestimmte kandidierende
Gruppierungen, sei es durch "Wahlversprechen" der EU, man werde bei ein
bestimmtes Waehlervotum durch Aufhebung von Sanktionen honorieren. Von
jedem freien, ziviliserten und demokratischen Land wuerden derartige
Versuche der politischen Einmischung und Erpressung energisch
zurueckgewiesen, und wir befuerchten, dass solche Parteinahme vor den
Wahlen die Bereitschaft beeintraechtigen koennte, den Ablauf und die
Ergebnisse der Wahlen unvoreingenommen und objektiv zur Kenntnis zu
nehmen und das Recht zur selbstaendigen Entscheidung der Bevoelkerung
ueber die eigene Zukunft zu akzeptieren.
Die Internationale Beobachterkommission insgesamt hat sich ebenso wie
wir deutschen Beobachter jede Muehe gemacht, moegliche Fehler,
Unkorrektheiten oder Faelschungsbemuehungen zu identifizieren. Wir
konnten keine diesbezueglichen Feststellungen treffen. In Einzelfaellen
war der Sichtschutz zur Sicherstellung der geheimen Stimmabgabe
mangelhaft, was dann sofort nach unserer Intervention korrigiert wurde.
In Einzelfaellen waren Wahlwillige nicht in den Waehlerlisten
verzeichnet, entsprechend den Problemen in Deutschland, wenn
Wahlberechtigte ihre Eintragung in der Waehlerliste nicht vorher
pruefen. Gehaeuft traten solche Probleme der fehlenden Verzeichnung in
den Waehlerlisten bei jenen auf, die seit Uebernahme der Verwaltung
durch UNMIK/KFOR aus Kosovo und Metohija gewaltsam vertrieben wurden.
Hier gabe es offenkundig Abstimmungsprobleme mit den Listen des Roten
Kreuzes, in denen offenbar nicht alle Vertriebenen erfasst sind.
Grundsaetzlich ist aber festzuhalten, dass - von diesen Einwaenden
abgesehen – die Wahlen in Uebereinstimmung mit den gesetzlichen
Vorschriften stattfanden, diese Vorschriften internationalen
rechtsstaatlichen Masstaeben entsprechen, und die Durchfuehrung der
Wahlen korrekt und professionell erfolgte. Wir konnten uns davon
ueberzeugen, dass es in Jugoslawien gelungen ist, trotz widriger
Umstaende - durch acht Jahre Wirtschaftssanktionen und den
voelkerrechtswidrigen Angriffskrieg der NATO 1999 – die allgemeinen
Bedingungen fuer demokratische Wahlen zu schaffen, ebenso fuer die
Taetigkeit und das Zusammenwirken unterschiedlicher politischer Kraefte.
Die Rechtmaessigkeit und Legitimitaet der Wahlen steht somit ausser
Frage.
Zum Wahlablauf konnten wir konkret feststellen:
Die Wahlurnen in den Wahllokalen wurden bei Oeffnung der Wahllokale
versiegelt, nachdem durch den ersten Waehler festgestellt und mit
Unterschrift bestaetigt wurde, dass sie leer waren. Die Stimmzettel
wurden in abgezaehlter Stueckzahl in versiegelten Paketen unmittelbar
vor der Wahl ausgeliefert, ihr Empfang war zu quittieren, die nicht
verbrauchten Stimmzettel mussten nach Abschluss der Stimmabgabe
gezaehlt, die Zahl quittiert und als versiegeltes Paket zurueckgegeben
werden.
In allen Wahlkomitees waren Vertreter der an der Wahl teilnehmenden
Parteien / Gruppierungen, einschliesslich der Oppositionsparteien,
beteiligt. Die Auszaehlung der Stimmen erfolgte gemeinsam. Ueber die
Gueltigkeit zweifelhafter Stimmzettel wurde abgestimmt. Das Protokoll
mit dem Wahlergebnis wurde von allen Mitgliedern zu unterzeichnet.
Von diesem Protokoll wurden sechs Exemplare angefertigt. Das erste
Exemplar ging mit allen Wahlunterlagen an das Wahlkomitee des jeweiligen
Wahlkreises. Das zweite wurde an der Eingangstuer des Wahllokals
ausgehaengt. Die vier verbleibenden Exemplare wurden unmittelbar an die
Vertreter der vier Parteien / Gruppierungen ausgehaendigt, deren
Kandidaten die meisten Stimmen auf sich vereinigen konnten. Alle
uebrigen Parteien / Gruppierungen hatten Anspruch auf Aushaendigung
einer Protokoll-Kopie innerhalb von 12 Stunden.
Eine nochmalige Stimmzaehlung auf oertlicher oder Wahlkreisebene findet
nicht statt. Es gilt ausschliesslich das original im Wahllokal
festgestellte und von allen unterzeichnete Ergebnis, eine nachtraegliche
Veraenderung dieser urspruenglichen Zahlen ist somit ausgeschlossen.
Die Wahlergebnisse auf Bundeseben werden auf Basis saemtlicher Prokolle
aus den Wahllokalen von der Bundeswahlkommission in den Rechner
eingegeben. Die eingegeben Zahlen koennen eingesehen und von den
Parteivertretern, die auch einen Platz in der Bundeswahlkommission
haben, mit den Zahlen der in ihrer Hand befindlichen Einzelprotokollen
verglichen werden.
Vorsorglich hat die deutsche Beobachtergruppe stichprobenartig
Ergebnisse aus Wahllokalen notiert und mit den Eingaben im zentralen
Rechner der Bundeswahlkommission verglichen – mit dem Ergebnis, dass die
Eingaben korrekt erfolgt sind.
Aufgrund dieses festgestellten Verfahrens sind die in westlichen Medien
behaupteten "gestohlene Stimmen" oder Wahlfaelschungen technisch
praktisch nicht durchfuehrbar. Dies hat der Wahlkampfmanager der DOS,
Zoran Djindjic, auf Befragen ausdruecklich bestaetigt.
Wiederholt wurde nach der Wahl von verschiedenen Seiten das "lange
Schweigen" der Wahlkommission kritisiert, waehrend die verschiedenen
Parteien sich staendig mit neuen Siegesmeldungen zu uebertreffen
versuchten, wobei sie sich jeweils nur auf jenen Teil der von ihnen
selektiv ausgewaehlten Wahlprotokolle stuetzten.
Das Zusammenfuehren der einzelnen Wahlergebnisse in der Rechenzentrale
der Bundeswahlkommission als Grundlage offizieller Ergebnisse erklaert,
fuer die Wahlbeobachter nachvollziehbar, den beanspruchten Zeitbedarf.
Die Wahlkommission ist gesetzlich verpflichtet, das amtliche Endergebnis
binnen 72 Stunden nach Schliessung der Wahllokale bekanntzugeben. Eine
staendige Bekanntgabe nicht repraesentativer Zwischenergebnisse wuerde
nur der Tendenz zur subjektiven Interpretation im Sinne vorweggenommener
Endergebnisse Vorschub leisten. Die an die Fristen zur Bekanntgabe des
Wahlergebnisses geknuepften Spekulationen und Unterstellungen einer
Faelschungsmoeglichkeit sind unhaltbar.
Die Wahlbeobachter kritisieren, dass bestimmte Politiker der EU und der
USA ihre Missachtung der demokratischen Willensbildung der Bevoelkerung
dadurch ausgedrueckt haben, Wahlsieger zu ernennen, ohne Wahlverfahren
und die tatsaechlichen Wahlergebnisse zu kennen. Diese Einmischung ist
umso verwerflicher, als sie mit der Androhung von Sanktionen verbunden
isrt..
Die Wahlbeobachter geben ihrer Ueberzeugung Ausdruck, dass Frieden,
Stabilitaet und Partnerschaft zwischen allen Staaten nur auf der
Grundlage der Respektierung gleicher Rechte, der Souveraenitaet und
Gleichheit gedeihen koennen.
Belgrad, 26. September 2000 - Fuer die deutsche Beobachtergruppe:
gez. Klaus Hartmann, Preaesident der Weltunion der der Freidenker
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Richter, Vors. d. Gesellschaft zum Schutz
Buergerrechte und Menschenwuerde
Ralph Hartmann, Botschafter a.D.
Elmar Schmaehling, ehem. Flottillenadmiral
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Als Wahlbeobachter unterwegs in Montenegro
Die "demokratischen" Wahlen im Djukanovic-Land
Von Klaus Hartmann
Am 24. September 2000 begab sich eine Gruppe von rund 30 Wahlbeobachtern
von Belgrad aus nach Montenegro, um sich ein Bild von den
Wahlbedingungen und dem Wahlablauf in der jugoslawischen Teilrepublik zu
machen. Die Beobachter kamen u.a. aus Bulgarien, Makedonien, Moldawien,
Georgien und der Ukraine, aus Indien und dem Tschad sowie aus
NATO-Laendern wie Kanada, Grossbritannien und Deutschland.
Auf dem Flughafen von Tivat in der Kotor-Bucht angekommen, fuhr die
Gruppe mit dem Bus zu Wahllokalen in verschiedenen Teilen des Landes.
Die erste Station war die Jaz-Strand vor Budva an der Adria-Kueste, und
hier gab es bereits den ersten markanten Eindruck von den
Wahlbedingungen: Das Wahllokal war zwar ueberdacht, aber letztlich fand
die Wahl unter freiem Himmel statt – das Hotel hatte auf Weisung "von
oben" die Bereitstellung eines Raumes verweigert. Um 8.15 Uhr gab gerade
der 7. Waehler von 315 seine Stimme ab. Mit Kartons war auf den Tischen
ein Sichtschutz improvisiert worden, der entfernt an Wahlkabinen
gemahnte. Drei verschiedene Stimmzettel gab es – fuer die
Praesidentschaftswahl und die Wahlen zu den beiden Kammern des
Bundesparlaments (die Buergerkammer wird nach Bevoelkerungsstaerke
besetzt, die Laenderkammer mit je 20 Vertretern Serbiens und 20
Montenegros - diese Regelung wurde anderslautender Westpropaganda zum
Trotz bei der juengsten Verfassungsaenderung nicht angetastet).
Das Wahlkomitee bestand aus Vertretern verschiedener Parteien, die
Partei des montenegrinischen Praesidenten Djukanovic war mit zwei
offiziellen "Beobachtern" praesent. Deren "Beobachtermission" war von
besonderer Art. Mitglieder des Wahlkomitees berichteten ueber einen
ungeheuren Druck auf die Bevoelkerung waehrend der letzten 10 Tage,
nicht zur Wahl zu gehen, es habe persoenliche Bedrohung, Drohungen mit
dem Verlust des Arbeitsplatzes oder der sozialen Unterstuetzung gegeben.
Dass dies nicht aus der Luft gegriffen war, kann ich aufgrund meines
achttaegigen Aufenthaltes mit einer Freidenker-Gruppe eine Woche zuvor
in Montenegro bestaetigen. In vielen Gespraechen wurde berichtet, dass
eine staatlich organisierte massive Einschuechterungs-Kampagne begonnen
habe, die alle Wahlwilligen mit Existenzgefaehrdung bedrohe.
Es wurden konkrete Beispiele genannt, wo u. a. ein Direktor eines
holzverarbeitenden Betriebes seinen Beschaeftigten ankuendigte, wer am
Sonntag zur Wahl gehe, brauche am Montag nicht mehr zur Arbeit zu
erscheinen. Das Gleiche gab ein Schulleiter im Norden des Landes seinem
Lehrerkollegium bekannt.
So hatten die Beobachter aus der Djukanovic-Partei eine fuer alle
Beteiligten offenkundige Aufgabe – jene, die trotz der Drohungen von
ihrem Wahlrecht Gebrauch machten, zu melden und die angekuendigten
Schikanen Realitaet werden zu lassen.
Doch die "demokratische, westlich orientierte" Regierung des
NATO-Freundes Djukanovic beliess es nicht bei solchen "Beobachtern".
Kaum war unsere Beobachter-Gruppe erschienen, verliessen zwei finstere
Gestalten ihren in der Naehe geparkten Pkw, um sich mit verschraenkten
Armen rund 30 Meter vom Wahllokal aufzubauen, und zu bedeuten: Auch die
Geheimpolizei Dukanovic’ laesst diese demokratischen Wahlen und die
Waehler nicht allein.
Beim naechsten Wahllokal im Strandbereich von Budva hatten um 8.40 Uhr
13 von 665 Waehlern ihre Stimme abgegeben. Das Wahllokal befand sich in
einem engen Raum des derzeit ungenutzten Erholungsheim der
Jugoslawischen Flussschiffahrt, da die frueheren Wahlstellen (in der
Schule und im Hotel Mocren) von der Djukanovic-dominierten
Stadtverwaltung verweigert wurden.
Auch hier wurde ueber Drohungen gegen die Waehler und potentielle
Mitglieder des Wahlkomitees berichtet, am Wahltag selbst gab es noch
keine Stoerungen. Auch hier Mitglieder verschiedener Parteien im
Komitee, und eine Besonderheit – eine Vertreterin des
DOS-Wahlbuendnisses, der "Demokratischen Opposition" Serbiens, die unter
dem Patronat von Madeleine Albright den Praesidentschaftskandidaten
Kostunica hervorbrachte – die einzige nicht kompromittierte Figur der
notorisch zerstrittenen wie NATO-hoerigen "Opposition". Doch die
Beobachterin "der DOS" war in Wirklichkeit eine Vertreterin der
Djukanovic-Partei, es machte sich aber besser, nicht im Namen einer die
Wahlen boykottierenden Partei aufzutreten. Das warfen die Mitglieder des
Wahlkomitees ihr vor – und sie gab es schliesslich zu, bekraeftigte aber
zugleich ihre Unterstuetzung fuer Kostunica. Eine Unterstuetzung, die
freilich recht platonisch bleiben musste, da sie, aus dem 15 km
entfernten Petrovac stammend, ihrem angeblichen Favoriten gar nicht mit
der eigenen Stimme dienen konnte.
Beim anschliessenden Fruehstueck der Beobachter auf der Terasse des zu
Wahlzwecken verweigerten Hotels Mocren in Budva traf ich meinen Freund
Mischa wieder, den ich telefonisch ueber mein Kommen informiert hatte,
und von dem wir uns gerade eine Woche zuvor in seinem Haus verabschiedet
hatten. Ich sprach ueber das bisher Gesehene, und er meinte mit
resignierendem Kopfschuetteln, es sei eine Schande, was die Mafia-Bande
um Djukanovic Montenegro antue, das schoene Land werde der NATO und dem
Internationalen Verbrechen ausgeliefert, gleichzeitig soll das Volk von
seinen serbischen Bruedern und seinen historischen Wurzeln abgeschnitten
werden.
Ich fragte Mischa ueber einige Nachrichten, die in der Vorwoche von BBC
aus Montenegro kolportiert worden waren: Ein Soldat der jugoslawischen
Armee habe eine montenegrinischen Polizisten erschossen – BBC nahm das
als einen Beweis fuer die "von Milosevic geplante Provokation zwecks
militaerischem Eingreifen". Mischa klaerte darueber auf, dass die
Schiesserei sich zwischen Maennern in Zivilkleidung ereignet hat,
zumindest der "Soldat" sei schon lange nicht mehr in der Armee. Man
nehme an, es handle sich um eine innermafioese Auseinandersetzung –
zumindest seien alle "politischen" Motive frei erfunden.
Doch BBC meldete auch, zur Bekraeftigung, massive Bewegung von Truppen
und Fahrzeugen der jugoslawischen Armee auf den Strassen Montenegros in
der Woche vor der Wahl. "Auch davon ist kein Wort wahr", meinte Mischa
empoert, "hier ist alles exakt genauso normal und ruhig wie Ihr es in
den Tagen vorher selbst erlebt habt". Nach dieser neuen Lektion in
Sachen "freier Medien im Westen" besuchten wir ein drittes Wahllokal in
einem Wohnviertel Budvars. Zum Abschied hatte uns Mischa versichert,
obwohl Djukanovic in seiner Funktion als Praesident (!) im Fernsehen
erklaert habe, kein anstaendiger, ehrenhafter Mensch, der fuer
Montenegro sei, duerfe zur Wahl gehen, sei es fuer ihn
selbstverstaendlich, trotz aller Einschuechterungen zur Wahl zu gehen –
"alles andere waere eine Schande".
Wir steuerten direkt auf die Stadtverwaltung zu, doch mussten wir kurz
davor abbiegen – in den Schachklub, in Nebenraeumen von
"Montenegrotourist". Wieder beengte Verhaeltnisse, improvisierter
Sichtschutz, wieder ein politisch gemischtes Wahlkomitee, und wieder
eine "Beobachterin", die offiziell fuer Kostunica wachte, tatsaechlich
aber fuer Djukanovic die Waehlerliste inspizierte. Eine Aufgabe, die
ihre Kraefte sichtlich ueberforderte, denn in und vor dem Wahllokal
bildete sich eine grosse Waehler-"Schlange", was ein Wahlboykotteur
naturgemaess nicht sonderlich liebt. Deshalb sah sie "die Gefahr, bei
dieser Menge den Ueberblick zu verlieren und es zu Wahlfaelschungen
kommen koenne." Um 10.20 Uhr hatten in diesem Lokal rund 400 von 3.900
Waehlern ihre Stimme abgegeben, und ca. 50 warteten auf die Moeglichkeit
zur Stimmabgabe.
Auch im benachbarten Gebaeude der Stadtverwaltung war eine grosse
Betriebsamkeit festzustellen. An einem Fenster im ersten Stock hatten
sich zwei Exemplare der Djukanovic-Polizei in gruen-braunen
Kampfanzuegen postiert, die den Eingang des Wahllokals nicht aus den
Augen liessen. Als ich eine Reihe meiner Mitbeobachter auf diese
Gestalten aufmerksam machte, eilte ein schwarz gekleideter Zivilist aus
der Menge vor dem Wahllokal vor das Fenster der beiden, und sie machten
umgehend neuen Beobachtern in Zivil Platz. Den zurueckkehrenden
schwarzen Mann fragten wir nach seiner Funktion, worauf er meinte, er
sei Waehler, er warte nur auf seine Frau, die noch im Wahllokal sei. Als
wir uns etwas entfernt hatten, lief er unentwegt zwischen Wahllokal,
Stadtverwaltung und einer Gaststaette hin und her, sprach unablaessig
mit anderen "unauffaellig Herumlungernden", waehrend "seine Frau"
verschwunden blieb – die womoeglich als besonders schwerer Fall von
Wahlfaelschung hoechstselbst in die Wahlurne gefallen war.
Weitere Aufregung vor dem Wahllokal: "Wenn Ihr mich hier nicht waehlen
lasst, fahre ich nach Serbien!", rief eine erboste Frau, die als
NATO/UCK-Vertriebene aus Kosovo und Metohija in Budva Zuflucht fand.
"Irgendwie" sei es nach Angaben von Umstehenden zu Differenzen zwischen
den Listen des Roten Kreuzes und den Waehlerlisten gekommen. Von den in
Budva lebenden rund 1000 Kosovo-Vertriebenen sollen nur ca. 500 auf den
Waehlerlisten stehen. Noch schlimmer in der montenegrinischen Hauptstadt
Podgorica, der naechsten Station unserer "Observer-Mission" - dort
sollen von 20.000 Vertriebenen gar nur 1.000 den Weg in die
Waehlerlisten gefunden haben. Eine bei der bekannten
Pro-Milosevic-Stimmung unter den Kosovo-Serben umso unverstaendlichere
"Organisationsleistung" – die waehrend des Wahltages wohl nicht mehr
geheilt werden konnte.
Zum Abschied aus Budva rief uns noch ein Waehler zu: "Berichtet, dass
dies hier keine freien Wahlen sind! Seit Wochen werden wir
eingeschuechtert und bedroht fuer den Fall, dass wir zur Wahl gehen. Im
Volk herrscht Angst, wir haben hier eine Terror-Verwaltung. Wir wollen
aber nicht von Serbien getrennt werden, wir wollen nicht in einer
Kolonie leben!"
Bei unserem Aufenthalt in Montenegro Mitte September hatte uns bereits
ein Freund, der in der Tourismus-Branche arbeitet, auf die merkwuerdige
Lage hingewiesen, dass nicht nur Rundfunk, Fernsehen und Zeitungen von
Djukanovic angewiesen worden seien, nicht ueber Wahlvorbereitungen und
Wahlkampf zu berichten – sogar bezahlte Zeitungsanzeigen, Werbespots und
offizielle Plakatierung wuerden verweigert. Bei der Fahrt von der Kueste
ueber die alte Residenzstadt Cetinje nach Podgorica sahen wir dafuer in
grosser Zahl Werbetafeln (ohne erkennbaren"Absender") mit der Parole:
"Ich weigere mich, zu waehlen. Zum Wohle von Montenegro und Serbien."
Das ist jenes Wohl, das aus der Hand der NATO kommen soll.
In Podgorica die Pressekonferenz des Landeswahlkomitees – im engen
Kolleg einer privaten Gaststaette (die grossen staatlichen Hotels hatten
ebenfalls keinen Raum fuer Wahlaktivitaeten). Information: Bis 11 Uhr
haetten rund 15% der Wahlberechtigten in Montenegro ihre Stimme
abgegeben – trotz massiver Drohungen und Behinderungen.
In den Wahllokalen der montenegrinischen Hauptstadt ein aehnliches Bild
wie gehabt. Mitglieder der Sozialistischen Volkspartei von Momir
Bulatovic, der Serbischen Radikalen Partei von Vojislav Seselj, der
Serbischen Volkspartei und vereinzelt auch Mitglieder verschiedener
kommunistischer Parteien bildeten das Wahlkomitee, ergaenzt um ein bis
zwei Beobachter - vorgeblich der "Demokratischen Opposition" Kostunicas,
real Spione Djukanovic’. Im ersten Wahllokal hatten um 14.30 Uhr 15% von
983 Waehlern gewaehlt, im zweiten um 14.45 Uhr 20% von 809 Waehlern.
Beide Wahllokale waren in Tourismusbueros der Bundesrepublik
untergebracht.
Im dritten Wahllokal Podgoricas (Nr.61), in einem Freizeitclub der
Jugoslawischen Armee untergebracht, berichtete man uns von massiven
Provokationen der Djukanovic-Polizei. Bei Eroeffnung des Lokals seien
rund um den Eingang des Lokals mehrere Polizei-Kameras im Straeuchern
installiert gewesen, um alle Waehler "festzuhalten". Nach Intervention
des Wahlkomitees wurden sie zwar entfernt, jedoch parkte 80 Meter
entfernt ein grauer Golf mit zwei Polizisten (Kennzeichen PG 12 – 87)
sowie weitere "dickere" Fahrzeuge in der Naehe mit unablaessigen
Mobiltelefonieren.
Hier erfuhren wir auch von einem Faktor, der nicht unerheblich fuer die
relative Wirksamkeit des Boykotts gewesen sein duerfte: Die
Djukanovic-Regierung hatte den Wahlsonntag kurzerhand zum Arbeitstag
erklaert! Die Beschaeftigten im Gesundheitswesen und im gesamten
oeffentlichen Dienst, auch die Arbeiter der groesseren staatlichen
Betriebe hatten schlicht keine Zeit fuer den Gang zum Wahllokal – wenn
sie ihren Arbeitsplatz nicht unerlaubt verlassen wollten. Wetten, dass
ueber dieses "kleine" Detail kein Sterbenswoertchen verloren wird, wenn
die "freien westlichen Medien" triumphierend ueber den Erfolg des
Djukanovic-Boykotts berichten?
Letzte Station unserer Rundfahrt war die Stadt Kolasin im Norden
Montenegros, gelegen in jenen Bergen, die namensgebend fuer die kleine
Republik sind. Hier stellt die Sozialistische Volkspartei, die mit der
Sozialistischen Partei Serbiens verbunden ist, die lokale Regierung, und
deshalb konnte hier auch in oeffentlichen Gebaeuden gewaehlt werden. Im
ersten Wahllokal, in der Gemeindebuecherei, hatten um 17.20 40% von 720
Waehlern gewaehlt. Auch hier ein gemischtes Komitee, und ein
Djukanovic-Vertrauter. Der war sichtlich verbluefft ueber unsere Frage
nach seiner Partei, sodass ihm (unter Protest der Komitee-Mitglieder)
ein Parteifreund zurief: "Sag, dass Du Vertreter der Demokratischen
Opposition bist, sag es!" Wir haetten es aber auch so schon gewusst.
Die letzten beiden Wahllokale, die wir in Kolasin besuchten, lagen im
Buergerhaus und verzeichneten gegen 17.30 Uhr eine Wahlbeteiligung von
etwa 50%. Ein Komiteevorsitzender sagte uns, einige Arbeiter und Rentner
haetten die Drohungen der Republiksregierung wohl ernst genommen und
seien nicht erschienen, weil sie um ihre Loehne und Renten fuerchteten.
Er sei aber sicher, dass es sich um leere Drohungen handele, denn auch
der Praesident sei doch an Verfassung und Gesetz gebunden, besonders ein
Demokrat wie Milo Djukanovic. Bevor wir allzu fassungslos werden
konnten, machte uns das schallende Gelaechter der Komiteemitglieder
klar, dass ihr Vorsitzender zu scherzen beliebt. Nur der "oppositionelle
Demokrat" laechelte saeuerlich.
Da war sein Kollege im Nachbarwahllokal von anderer Statur: der
ueberschlug sich foermlich dabei, uns zu versichern, wie wunderbar die
Zusammenarbeit sei, wie gut und kontrolliert die gesamte Wahlhandlung
ablaeuft, technisch einwandfrei demokratisch voellig korrekt -
Faelschungen seien ausgeschlossen, dafuer verbuerge er sich, und bei
Bedarf koennten wir auch seinen Namen angeben.
Trotz dieser aufmunternden Worte zogen wir vor der Rueckreise nach
Belgrad das Fazit, dass diese Wahlen beim besten Willen nicht frei,
geheim und gleich genannt werden koennen. Die Wahlen, wohlgemerkt im
"westlichen Montenegro", nicht jene im "Reich des boesen Slobo". Eine
Situation der systematischen Einschuechterung und Angst stoert die neuen
Weltordner nicht die Bohne, wenn sie sich eine neue Kolonie untertan
machen wollen. Allerdings muss die jugoslawische Regierung die Frage
beantworten, ob eine allen demokratischen Normen Hohn sprechende
Wahlbehinderung auf einem Teil ihres Territoriums hingenommen werden
kann.
Klaus Hartmann
ist Praesident der Weltunion der Freidenker und wurde in dieser Funktion
vom jugoslawischen Bundesparlament als Wahlbeobachter eingeladen
PS- In den Nachrichten verschiedener Fernseh- und Rundfunkstationen
wurde am Abend des 25.09.2000 aus Montenegro von einer Entlassungswelle
in Betrieben und verwaltungen berichtet.
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Press release
Belgrade, September 26, 2000
"A free and fair election", international observers say.
The 210 international observers from 54 countries who have come to
Yugoslavia to monitor the elections have among them current and former
parliamentarians, representatives from political parties and
organizations, as well as scholars, journalists and activists. They have
been able to view the electoral activities from rallies to the actual
voting on September 24 and many have taken the opportunity meet with the
leaders of various political parties and the different presidential
campaigns.
The observers feel strongly that they have had free, unobstructed access
to the relevant activities and particularly to the voting on the 24 when
observers visited polling stations in different parts of Yugoslavia,
including Montenegro and Kosovo.
In Montenegro, the ca 20 foreign observers witnessed an overall
atmosphere of intimidation of the voters, originating from the
government of Mr. Djukanovic which is boycotting the elections.
Everywhere there were huge billboards telling people not to vote. These
had the appearances of threats: "Don’t vote or else..." Some of those
who did vote, told the observers that they felt voting was risky for
them and could lead to the loss of jobs and other forms of harassment,
as the polling stations were watched by the police and cameras not
belonging to the media were pointed at the citizens coming to vote. In
one poll Serbian refugees from Kosovo told the observers that hundreds
of them had been left off the voters’ lists, although they had the
necessary documentation to be able to vote. (This situation was brought
to the attention of the Montenegrin Electoral Commission and a more
detailed report will be forwarded to the Federal Electoral Commission of
Yugoslavia.)
The observers note that the voting process overall was orderly and
smooth although it involved three separate ballots with multiple
choices. The voting process, in the opinion of many, was equal or
superior to the ones in their own countries.
The observers feel strongly that the so-called "international community"
has been abusive of Yugoslavia and democratic principles, in declaring
weeks ahead that the election will be "rigged" and heaping constant
abuse at the authorities in Yugoslavia who are trying to carry out a
complicated, multi-level election in stressful conditions. This abuse
has continued after the election, with leaders of Western countries
declaring only a few hours after the election that Mr. Kustunica has
won, as if they would have had privileged access to the voting results!
This leads us to wonder whether if Mr. Kustunica in fact comes first,
whether his election will also be considered fraudulent, because, after
all, "everybody knows" that the election was rigged.
The observers believe that there has been undue interference in the
Yugoslavian election by the Western powers, in particular by the United
States, which has seen fit to interfere to the tune of $77(US) million
to various opposition movements and organizations, including the
"independent" media. This is a shameful - and no doubt illegal –
intrusion into the affairs of a sovereign nation. Also the attempts by
the European Union to bribe Yugoslavian voters to vote in a certain way
in order to be "rewarded" with the lifting of sanctions and other
goodies, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
The observers leave Yugoslavia with a hightened respect for the
integrity of the political process in the country. From what we have
seen and heard, we believe that the results will truly reflect the will
and the wishes of the people of Yugoslavia. –30-
This statement has been endorsed by:
NAME COUNTRY
... ...
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>Liebe Leute,
>
>zu den Wahlen in Jugoslawien dokumentiere ich folgende Texte:
>
>FAIR, ABER NICHT FREI
>EINDRÜCKE DER INTERNATIONALEN WAHLBEOBACHTER IN JUGOSLAWIEN.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>junge Welt v. 27.09.2000
>Anlage 1
>
>DJINDJIC SETZT AUF GEWALT DER STRAßE
>OPPOSITION WIRFT WAHLKOMMISSION JUGOSLAWIENS MANIPULATION VOR.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>Anlage 2
>
>WAHLEN IM DJUKANOVIC-LAND
>ALS WAHLBEOBACHTER UNTERWEGS IN MONTENEGRO.
>Von Klaus Hartmann
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>Anlage 3
>
>NATO-STAATEN SCHLIEßEN DEN RING
>TRUPPEN WERDEN UM JUGOSLAWIEN KONZENTRIERT. DROHUNG MIT MILITÄRSCHLAG
>Von Rainer Rupp
>junge Welt v.26.09.2000
>Anlage 4
>
>WIRD JUGOSLAWIEN DIE NATO STOPPEN?
>Von Klaus von Raussendorff
>Mitteilungen der Kommunistischen Plattform der PDS Oktober/2000
>Anlage 5
>
>Mit internationalistischen Grüßen
>
>Klaus v. Raussendorff
>
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>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
>
>Anlage 1
>
>junge Welt v. 27.09.2000
>
>FAIR, ABER NICHT FREI
>EINDRÜCKE DER INTERNATIONALEN WAHLBEOBACHTER IN JUGOSLAWIEN.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>
>Wer hat gewonnen, hast Du Ergebnisse«, war die am Montag morgen die in
>Belgrad wohl am häufigsten gestellte Frage. Die Antwort blieb man
>schuldig, auch wenn die Oppositionszeitung Danas in dicken Lettern mit
>»Popeda! - Sieg!« titelte. Es ist kein normales Land, und es waren keine
>normale Wahlen, die am Sonntag in Jugoslawien stattfanden. Gut ein Jahr
>nach dem NATO-Krieg gegen das Balkanland waren 7861327 Wahlberechtigte,
>7417197 in Serbien und 444130 in Montenegro, aufgerufen, den künftigen
>Präsidenten zu wählen. Erstmals wird damit der Staatschef Jugoslawiens
>direkt von der Bevölkerung bestimmt. Darüber hinaus galt es, die
>Abgeordneten für die beiden Kammern des Bundesparlamentes, sowie
>Kreisräte und Kommunale Mandatsträger zu wählen.
>
>Die Wähler waren nicht wirklich frei in ihrem Votum. »Wenn die Wahlen
>nicht fair sind, werden wir Jugoslawien hermetisch isolieren«, ließ der
>US-Präsident in Washington am Vorabend des Urnenganges verlauten. Als
>»fair« und für den Westen akzeptabel gelten die Wahlen nur dann, wenn
>der gegenwärtige Präsident Jugoslawiens, Slobodan Milosevic, sein Amt
>verliert. Millionensummen wurden im Vorfeld von den USA und der
>Europäischen Union aufgebracht, ein Klima zu erzeugen, demzufolge
>Oppositionskandidat Vojislav Kostunica die Wahlen auf jeden Fall
>gewinnen würde - und sollte er es nicht, dann könne dies nicht dem
>Wählervotum geschuldet sein, sondern Manipulationen der Resultate
>seitens der Regierungsparteien SPS (Sozialistische Partei Serbiens) und
>JUL (Jugoslawische Linke). Eine leichte Position also für die
>Pro-NATO-Opposition in Belgrad.
>
>Unter der Drohung fortdauernder Sanktionen, der Sezession Montenegros
>und in Erwartung bürgerkriegsähnlicher Auseinandersetzungen im Falle
>einer Niederlage der Oppositionsparteien sowie dem Versprechen auf
>wirtschaftliche Hilfe als Belohnung für einen Sieg der »Demokratischen
>Opposition Serbiens« (DOS) galt es, über die Zukunft im kleinen wie
>einer ganzen Nation zu entscheiden. Es sind »historische Wahlen« im
>besten Sinne, und ihr Ergebnis dürfte von globaler Bedeutung sein. Wird
>die NATO von den Wählern nachträglich für ihr Bombardement Jugoslawiens
>mehrheitlich mit den Stimmen für Kostunica belohnt, oder steht der
>Großteil der Bevölkerung nach wie vor an der Seite derjenigen, die das
>Land bis dato den neokolonialen Einvernahmungs- und
>Unterordnungsambitionen des Westens entziehen konnten?
>
>Sieg oder Niederlage, demokratische Wahlen oder Manipulation, Wandel mit
>dem Kandidaten Kostunica oder ewige Despotie eines Milosevic? Dieser
>einfachen Fragestellung folgend herrscht in den großen westlichen
>Unisonomedien denn auch seit Tagen eine Art neuerliche Kriegsstimmung.
>
>Samstag, 9.02 Uhr: Die Korrespondentin des britischen Nachrichtensenders
>BBC, Jacky Rowland, vermeldet telefonisch aus Belgrad, letzten Umfragen
>zufolge habe der DOS-Kandidat Vojislav Kostunica einen Zehn-Prozent-
>Vorsprung gegenüber dem amtierenden Präsidenten Milosevic. Da seit
>Freitag 0.00 Uhr eigentlich Wahlruhe herrscht, gibt es keinerlei neue
>Daten oder Umfragen. Auch wenn diese »Vorwahlumfragen« in den westlichen
>Medien sowie der Oppositionspresse in Jugoslawien immer wieder
>präsentiert wurden, es gibt keinen seriösen Meinungsforscher, der den
>Erhebung Glauben schenkt.
>
>Die regierungsnahe jugoslawische Tageszeitung Politika titelt in ihrer
>Samstagausgabe mit der neugeschaffenen Verbindung über die Donau. In der
>Nacht zum Freitag waren alle Teile des Brückenschlusses »Varadinska
>Duga« in Novi Sad verbunden worden. Das Megaprojekt ist Teil des
>Regierungsprogramms zum Wiederaufbau und Erneuerung des Landes. Die vom
>Westen finanzierte Zeitung Glas übt sich hingegen in defätistischem
>Realismus und vermeldet auf der Titelseite den vermeintlich aktuellen
>Schwarzmarktwechselkurs von DM und Dinar, der bei eins zu 35 liegen
>soll. In der Tat war der Wert des Dinars in den Vorwahltagen
>kontinuierlich gesunken, und in den Geschäften Belgrads wurde der
>Eindruck erweckt, als ob es eine Knappheit an Grundnahrungsmitteln wie
>Öl, Zucker und Milch gäbe. Künstliche Krisenstimmung.
>
>Sonntag, 8.00: Nabil Zaki aus Kairo beginnt im Belgrader Stadtteil
>Karaburma mit seiner Arbeit. Er gehört der internationalen
>Wahlbeobachtergruppe an, die von der Belgrader Regierung eingeladen
>wurde, den Urnengang zu überwachen. 210 Mitglieder umfaßt die »election
>observing mission«, sie kommen aus mehr als 50 Ländern. Nabil Zaki ist
>Chefredakteur der ägyptischen Tageszeitung Al Ahali und Präsident der
>Abteilung für internationale Beziehungen von »Tagamo«. Die Linkspartei
>rechnet damit, bei den in vier Wochen anstehenden Parlamentswahlen in
>Ägypten die Zahl ihrer Sitze im Parlament von fünf auf zehn zu
>verdoppeln. In der Schule »Stjepan Stevo Filipovic« in der Straße
>Patrisa Lumumbe 5 gehören Zana Niksic und ihre Tochter Liljana zu den
>ersten Wählern am Morgen. Für beide ist klar, bei dem Urnengang geht es
>um die Verteidigung ihres Landes gegen eine Übernahme durch die NATO. In
>der ersten Viertelstunde nach Öffnung der Wahllokale haben bereits 40
>Wähler abgestimmt, erfährt Nabil Zaki von der Wahlkommission. Es sind
>überwiegend Rentner, die zu dieser Zeit ihre Stimme abgeben. In dem
>Klassenzimmer der Grundschule sitzen mehr Mitglieder dieser
>parteienübergreifenden Kommission als Wähler Platz finden würden. Zwei
>jugoslawische Papierfähnchen auf die grüne Tafel geklebt markieren den
>Raum als Wahllokal. Die Stimmung ist locker, man kennt sich aus der
>Nachbarschaft. Sowohl die Kommissionsmitglieder der oppositionellen DOS
>und SPO (Serbische Erneuerungsbewegung) wie die regierenden SPS sind
>zufrieden mit der Wahlprozedur und bezeichnen sie auf Nachfrage als
>»fair«. Zwei ältere Frauen, die für die Serbische Radikale Partei (SRS)
>die Richtigkeit des Urnenganges überprüfen sollen, nicken beipflichtend
>zu. Fünf Wahlboxen sind aufgestellt, sie wurden am Morgen verplompt und
>werden nach Schließung des Wahllokals um 20 Uhr in Anwesenheit aller
>Wahlkommissionsmitglieder geöffnet. Auf dem Boden einer jeden Urne liegt
>eine Wahlliste, damit soll den Anschuldigungen begegnet werden, es gebe
>eventuell einen doppelten Boden in den Boxen. In einer stundenlangen
>Prozedur werden schließlich die Stimmen gemeinsam ausgezählt, geprüft
>und gegengeprüft. Dem Westen und den Anschuldigungen der Opposition,
>Milosevic würde sich mittels Wahlmanipulationen an der Macht halten,
>sollen damit entkräftet werden. Für Gelächter wie für Verstimmung sorgt
>Nabil Zaki mit der Frage nach Wahlsymbolen für die einzelnen Parteien.
>In Ländern mit hoher Analphabetenrate soll dies den Wählern bei der
>Unterscheidung der Konkurrenten helfen. »Bei uns können alle lesen«,
>tönt eine ältere Frau aus der anderen Ecke des Raumes. Symbole auf den
>Stimmzetteln seien daher nicht notwendig.
>
>Um 8.20 Uhr ist der Wahlbeobachter bereits im Wahllokal in der
>Physik-Fakultät in der Straße Zara Dusana 13. Er gehört zum Wahlkreis
>Stari Grad und liegt im Zentrum Belgrads. Nabil Zaki interessiert sich
>für die Identifizierung der Wahlberechtigten. Stimmzettel erhält nur,
>wer mit Wahlbenachrichtigung und Personalausweis oder Paß kommt. Eine
>mehrfache Stimmabgabe ist damit nicht möglich. Die Daten werden mit dem
>Wählerverzeichnis überprüft, der DOS-Vertreter sitzt direkt daneben und
>notiert zudem die Wählernummer. Alle anderen Mitglieder auch dieser
>parteienübergreifenden Kommission können den Prozeß nachvollziehen. In
>Ägypten gebe es stets Streit darüber, ob sich die Wähler ausweisen
>müssen, Manipulationen seien damit leicht möglich, erklärt er gegenüber
>junge Welt, die als einzige Zeitung die Wahlbeochtermission begleitet.
>
>Im Wahlkreis 43, dessen Wahllokal sich im Gebäude des Serbischen Roten
>Kreuzes in der Simina 19 befindet, scheint man um halb neun am Morgen
>noch zu schlafen, fragt Nabil Zaki scherzend die gutgelaunten
>Wahlkommissionsmitglieder. Auch hier werden Kaffee und Saft
>parteiübergreifend getrunken und über das ein oder andere Witzchen
>gelacht. Als dann doch eine Wählerin auftaucht und Nabil Zaki fragt, für
>wen sie denn gestimmt habe, wird er von den Kommissionsmitgliedern
>unterbrochen. Dies dürfe in den Wahllokalen nicht erfragt werden. Die
>Abstimmung ist geheim und niemand habe sich hier für das Votum des
>Einzelnen zu interessieren. Die 40jährige Mutter dreier Kinder freilich
>läßt Zaki wissen, daß sie für den »Wechsel« gestimmt habe. Ein hagerer
>Rentner hat Pech. Da er sich nur mit seinem Gesundheitsausweis, der kein
>Foto enthält, legitimieren kann, darf er nicht abstimmen. Er wird
>gebeten, doch nach Hause zu gehen und mit seinem Personalausweis
>wiederzukommen.
>
>Um 9 Uhr inspiziert Nabil Zaki das Wahllokal 52 in der Marsala
>Birijusova 58 ganz in der Nähe der Belgrader Fußgängerzone. Von den 921
>Wahlberechtigten haben hier schon 90 ihre Stimmen abgegeben. In dem
>engen, verrauchten Raum reihen sich die Mitglieder von SPS, DOS, SPO und
>SRS dicht an dicht aneinander. Zwei weitere Mitglieder der
>Wahlkommission beharren darauf, »neutral« zu sein und keiner Partei
>anzugehören.
>
>In einer Stunde hat der 65jährige Philosoph aus Kairo damit fünf
>Wahllokale aufgesucht. Unterschiedslos äußerten sich die Vertreter der
>verschiedenen Parteien jeweils zufrieden mit dem Ablauf des
>Wahlprozesses. Es gebe keine Probleme, heißt es einmütig, von
>Manipulation könne keine Rede sein. Weder gebe es das Interesse noch die
>Möglichkeiten dafür. Nabil Zaki ist zufrieden mit seiner bisherigen
>Mission. »In Ägypten ist die Opposition häufig von der Wahlkommission
>ausgeschlossen«, kritisiert er die Demokriedefizite in seinem Land. Sie
>habe keine Möglichkeit, die Stimmabgabe und - auszählung zu überwachen
>und die Stimmung in den Wahllokalen sei häufig aggressiv. Ähnlich äußern
>sich gegenüber junge Welt im Laufe des Wahlsonntags Beobachter aus der
>Ukraine, aus Rußland, Bolivien, Argentinien und Griechenland.
>
>Pancevo, 11 Uhr: In den Räumen der Wirtschaftskammer der 15 Kilometer
>nordöstlich von Belgrad gelegenen Stadt stehen Zoran Nikolic, Präsident
>des Südbanats, und Dusan Sivsev, Präsident der Wahlkommission für die
>Region Pancevo, einer 20köpfigen Gruppe internationaler Wahlbeobachter
>Rede und Antwort. Von der Tatsache abgesehen, daß drei Wahllokale
>aufgrund technischer Probleme wenige Minuten verspätet geöffnet wurden,
>habe es in ihrem Verantwortunsbereich keine Probleme gegeben. Alle
>Parteien hätten die Wahlruhe respektiert. Laut Gesetz darf 48 Stunden
>vor dem Urnengang nicht mehr geworben werden, im Umkreis von 50 Metern
>um die Wahllokale ist zudem jede Parteiwerbung untersagt. Wahlplakate
>müssen im Zweifelsfall entfernt werden, was an den gut 100 zerrissenen
>Milosevic- Postern an einer Baustellenwand im Eingangsbereich des
>Wahllokals sichtbar wird.
>
>Die Chancen für die Opposition seien unterschiedlich, erklärt Nikolic
>auf Nachfrage. Frühestens Montag könne die Wahlkommission die Ergebnisse
>bekannt geben. Da aber alle Parteien durch eigene Mitglieder vertreten
>seien, könnten diese eigene Hochrechnungen und Stimmungsbilder
>erstellen. Seriös und zuverlässig sind diese freilich nicht, wie sich im
>Laufe des Sonntag abend und Montag zeigen wird. Im Vorfeld der Wahlen
>hat es Kritik gegeben, daß nur eine Wählerliste in den Wahllokalen
>ausliegt und nicht jede Partei eine erhält. Dusan Sivsev beruft sich auf
>die Gesetzeslage und verweist darauf, daß jeder die Möglichkeiten gehabt
>habe, die Wählerlisten einzusehen. Er unterstreicht, daß es keine
>Differenzen über diese Listen zwischen den Parteien gebe, es sei also
>eine funktional-formale, keine inhaltliche Kritik. Vitali Shibko von der
>Sozialistischen Partei der Ukraine äußert sich zufrieden mit dem bisher
>gesehenen. Für ihn wichtig ist die Kontrolle der Wahlurnen selbst. Bei
>den Wahlen in Jugoslawien sei es - im Gegensatz zu seinem Land, das vom
>Westen unterstütztwerde - nicht möglich, daß zusätzliche Stimmen in die
>Boxen geworfen werden können. Landsmann Sergio Dovgan von der
>Bauernpartei pflichtet ihm bei. Beide haben vier Wahllokale in Belgrad
>besucht und berichten von der freundlichen Atmosphäre dort. Es gebe
>keinen Druck auf die Wähler, für eine bestimmte Partei oder einen
>bestimmten Kandidaten zu stimmen.
>
>Antonio Alac aus Argentinien pflichtet den beiden bei. Im Unterschied zu
>seinem Land gebe es keine Polizei vor den Wahllokalen. »Es sind Wahlen
>des Volkes.« In Argentinien würden die Stimmen an geheimen Plätzen
>ausgezählt. Der Opposition werde im Gegensatz zu Jugoslawien die
>Partizipation an diesem Prozeß verwehrt, Wahlfälschung sei daher Teil
>des politischen Tagesgeschäftes. Es sei doch absurd, daß Jugoslawien
>ausgerechnet von den Ländern Demokratiedefizite unterstellt werden, die
>wie die USA für die Unterstützung der Diktaturen in Lateinamerika
>bekannt seien. »Unsere Gesetzgebung basiert auf westlichen Modellen«,
>erklärt der Zoran Nikolic den Wahlbeobachtern. »Ausgerechnet diese
>Länder klagen uns zur Zeit an, undemokratisch und repressiv zu sein«,
>pflichtet der serbische Politiker seinen Vorredner bei. »Wir sind daher
>sehr dankbar, daß sie nach den Wahlen in ihren Ländern Botschafter der
>Wahrheit sind.«
>
>12.30 Uhr am Rande von Pancevo: Rush-hour im Wahllokal in der
>Kikinska-Straße. Mit den zur Seite geschobenen Ausstellungstücken im
>Möbelhaus Tamis Trgovina wirkt es improvisiert. Doch es erfüllt seinen
>Zweck. 510 Wähler haben bis Mittag ihre Stimme abgegeben, 50 Prozent der
>Wahlberechtigten in diesem Kreis. Obwohl die Anzahl der Wahlkabinen von
>vier auf acht verdoppelt wurde, stehen die Wähler Schlange. »Die hohe
>Wahlbeteiligung spricht für ein hohes politisches Bewußtsein in diesem
>Land«, urteilt Nabil Zaki. »Am wichtigsten für uns ist, daß die ganze
>Wahl ordnungsgemäß verläuft. Wir wollen eine faire Abstimmung«, erklärt
>ihm die Präsidentin der lokalen Wahlkommission, Rula Zora.
>
>Daß an die Schaufensterscheiben des Möbelhauses im Laufe des Vormittags
>Otpor-Aktivisten ihre Parolen zur Unterstützung der Opposition gesprüht
>haben und nebenan fleißig Anti-Regierungsplakate der Soros-Foundation
>geklebt wurden, nehmen beide schulterzuckend zur Kenntnis. Was dagegen
>tun? - Wären indes Plakate der SPS neben dem Wahllokal nicht rechtzeitig
>abgerissen worden, »unabhängige Wahlbeobachter« würden von Manipulation
>und »Unregelmäßigkeiten in Pancevo« sprechen.
>
>Belgrad am Nachmittag: Im Stundenrhythmus gibt CeSID, das vom
>Multimilliardär George Soros unterstützte »Zentrum für freie Wahlen und
>Demokratie«, im Media-Centar eine Pressekonferenz. Sein Zentrum werde
>davon abgehalten, die Wahlen zu beobachten, erklärt Marko Blagojevic vor
>der internationalen Presse. Auch DOS-Vertreter dürften die Wahllokale
>nicht aufsuchen, so die CeSID-Behauptung. Die richtige und langersehnte
>Information für die Sendezentralen in den westlichen Hauptstädten. Gegen
>16 Uhr weiß das ZDF von »Unregelmäßigkeiten« bei den Wahlen in
>Jugoslawien zu berichten und spricht von »Befürchtungen« der Opposition,
>daß es Manipulationen gebe.
>
>Vrsac, 16.30 Uhr: Das Städtchen an der jugoslawisch- rumänischen Grenze
>ist wohlhabend und aufgeräumt. Mit den zwei Konditorei-Fabriken, etwas
>chemischer und pharmazeutischer Industrie sowie dem Wein vom Fruska Gora
>bringen es die Einwohnern von Vrsac zu einigem Wohlstand. 23 nationale
>Minderheiten und Nationen leben neben- und miteinander hier im Nordosten
>der Vojvodina. Die Rumänen stellen mit 13 Prozent die größte Minderheit.
>In den Schulen erhalten sie muttersprachlichen Unterricht, am Rathaus
>sind die Eingangstafeln dreisprachig - serbisch, rumänisch und ungarisch
>- gehalten. Ebenso wie die Stimmzettel, erklärt der Präsident der
>Wahlkommission, Milorad Vidulevic. Auf die von jW angesprochenen
>Anschuldigungen der ausländischen Medien, die Wahlen würden mittels der
>Stimmen der Kosovo-Flüchtlinge und der Armeeangehörigen gefälscht, läßt
>Vidulevic einen Packen versiegelter Umschläge bringen. 102
>Wahlberechtigte von Vrsac leisteten zur Zeit ihren Militärdienst. Sie
>seien in Kasernen in ganz Serbien untergebracht. Am vergangenen Dienstag
>haben sie von ihm per Post die Wahlunterlagen erhalten und bis Freitag
>zurückgeschickt. Die Umschläge werden am Abend nach Schließung der
>Wahllokale in Anwesenheit der kompletten Wahlkommission geöffnet. Die
>Stimmzettel, jeweils in separaten, neutralen und verschlossenen
>Umschlägen verpackt, werden in die jeweiligen Urnen - für die
>Präsidentschaftswahlen, die Kammern des Bundesparlamentes und die
>Kommunen - geworfen. Vor der Gruppe der Wahlbeobachter öffnet Vidulevic
>zwei Umschläge, um die Ausführungen zu untermauern. In jedem Umschlag
>liegt separat zudem die Wahlbenachrichtigung, so daß auf den
>Wählerlisten vermerkt werden könne, wer am Votum teilgenommen habe und
>wer nicht.
>
>Die Stimmen der Kosovo-Flüchtlinge werden ebenfalls vor Ort in
>Anwesenheit aller Parteienvertreter ausgezählt. Die Ergebnisse werden
>anschließend den Wahlbezirken Vranje und Prokuplj zugerechnet.
>Wahllokale für Kosovo-Vertriebene gibt es in jeder Stadt, in der mehr
>als 100 Wahlberechtigte aus der südserbischen Provinz leben. 350000
>Menschen, überwiegend Serben, wurden seit Einmarsch der KFOR- Soldaten
>im Juni 1999 aus dem Kosovo vertrieben. Von einigen wenigen serbischen
>Enklaven und dem Norden der Provinz abgesehen, konnten im Kosovo die
>Wahlen nicht organisiert werden. »Nur diejenigen, die Angst haben zu
>verlieren, sprechen zu diesem Zeitpunkt von Manipulation«, weißt
>Vidulevic die Anschuldigungen der westlichen Medien und von CeSID
>zurück.
>
>17.50 Uhr: Im Wahllokal 23 im Gymnasium für Chemie und Textiltechnik in
>Vrsac herrscht reger Andrang. Bis 18 Uhr haben 609 von 925
>Wahlberechtigten ihre Stimme abgegeben. DOS-Vertreter Dusan Dulejan
>kritisiert, daß internationale Beobachter nur von der Regierung
>eingeladen worden seien. Ihm fehlen »unabhängige« Monitore von der OSZE.
>Dennoch, auf Nachfrage von jW äußert er sich zufrieden über den
>Wahlprozeß »in diesem Raum«. Er weiß aber von Manipulationen in Nis im
>Süden Serbiens zu berichten. Woher die Information, so die Nachfrage.
>Während des Mittagessens habe er zu Hause »Deutsche Welle« gehört und es
>im Internet gelesen. Daher die »gesicherte Information«.
>
>Belgrad, 21 Uhr: Auf dem Trg Republike, dem Platz der Republik, im
>Zentrum der jugoslawischen Hauptstadt, haben SPS und JUL ein »Konzert
>des Volkes« organisiert. Einige Parteiaufrechte schwenken ihre
>Parteifahnen im Wind, auf der Bühne wird Folklore und traditionelles
>Liedgut geboten. Eine schlechte Propagandashow für RTS, das serbische
>Staatsfernsehen. Der Großteil der Anwesenden, Anhänger der Opposition,
>pfeift die Künstler nieder. DOS selbst spricht eine Stunde nach
>Schließung der Wahllokale nur 200 Meter neben dem Konzert, auf dem Platz
>Terazije, vor gut 5000 Unterstützern von »Sieg«. Die »Ära Milosevic«
>wird als beendet gefeiert. Ergebnisse gibt es freilich zu diesem
>Zeitpunkt noch nicht. CNN sendet aus dem Haus nebenan live in die USA
>und alle Welt über die »Wahlparty der Opposition«. Im Hintergrund die
>wartenden DOS-Fans. Später positionieren sich vielleicht zwei Dutzend
>Polizisten zwischen den beiden Gruppen - SPS-Folklore-Anhänger hie und
>aggressiv-siegeslustige Jungwähler da. Mit ihren Helmen und Knüppeln an
>der Seite wirken die Sicherheitskräfte entsprechend martialisch, die
>Bilder fürs Abendprogramm in den USA und die Morgenmagazine in
>Deutschland sind perfekt - Milosevics Regime bleibt repressiv.
>Übergriffe oder Festnahmen gab es freilich nicht. Ebensowenig wie
>sichere Wahlergebnisse. Die liegen auch am Montag mittag noch nicht vor,
>beide Lager beanspruchen allerdings für sich den Sieg bei den
>Präsidentschaftswahlen. Trotz aller Unsicherheit in Jugoslawien, in den
>deutschen, britischen und US-Medien werden Kostunica als Wahlgewinner
>gehandelt und die Gerüchte über Manipulation gepflegt.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
>
>Anlage 2
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>
>DJINDJIC SETZT AUF GEWALT DER STRAßE
>OPPOSITION WIRFT WAHLKOMMISSION JUGOSLAWIENS MANIPULATION VOR.
>Von Rüdiger Göbel, Belgrad
>
>Jugoslawien wird in den nächsten vier Jahren eine Linksregierung haben.
>Der nächste Präsident des Balkanlandes wird in einem zweiten Wahlgang
>bestimmt werden müssen. Dies geht aus den am Dienstag abend
>veröffentlichten vorläufigen Ergebnissen der Bundeswahlkommission
>hervor. Demnach haben nach den Wahlen am vergangenen Sonntag die
>Sozialistische Partei Serbiens (SPS), die Jugoslawische Linke (JUL) und
>die montenegrinische Sozialistische Volkspartei (SNP) in beiden Kammern
>des Bundesparlamentes die absolute Mehrheit der Abgeordnetensitze. Auf
>kommunaler Ebene müssen die Linksparteien Serbiens indes aufgrund des
>Mehrheitswahlprinzips eine gnadenlose Niederlage hinnehmen. Zwei Drittel
>der Städte werden künftig von der DOS regiert, ein Drittel von der
>SPS/JUL.
>Überraschend war vor allem aber das schlechte Abschneiden von Slobodan
>Milosevic, der mit 2026478 Wählerstimmen deutlich entfernt von einer
>absoluten Mehrheit bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen liegt. Auch wenn der
>Gegenkandidat der »Demokratischen Opposition Serbiens« (DOS), Vojislav
>Kostunica, mit 48,22 Prozent der Wählerstimmen deutlich vor dem im
>Westen verhaßten jugoslawischen Präsidenten Milosevic (40,23 Prozent)
>führt, die absolute Mehrheit im ersten Wahlgang konnte er laut
>Bundeswahlkommission nicht gewinnen. Am 8. Oktober steht somit die
>zweite Runde an. Unklar ist allerdings, ob Kostunica an dieser
>teilnehmen wird.
>
>Am späten Dienstag abend hatte Zoran Djindjic, Wahlkampfleiter der DOS,
>vor der Presse in Belgrad erklärt, sein Anti-Milosevic-Bündnis werde die
>Ergebnisse der Bundeswahlkommission nicht akzeptieren und die »Bürger
>Serbiens« zur »Verteidigung« ihres »Sieges« auf die Straße rufen. Im
>DOS-Hauptquartier im Zentrum der jugoslawischen Hauptstadt sowie in
>Washington, London und Berlin sowie den großen Westmedien war Vojislav
>Kostunica bereits unmittelbar nach Schließung der Wahllokale am Sonntag
>zum Sieger und damit nächsten Präsidenten Jugoslawiens erklärt worden.
>Das Wort Manipulation und Wahlbetrug machte am Dienstag denn auch
>schnell die Runde. Uneinig ist man sich bei der DOS indes im Umgang mit
>den Resultaten der Wahlen zum Bundesparlament. Während DOS-Sprecher
>Cedomir Jovanovic für alle Wahlen den Sieg der Opposition reklamiert,
>räumte Wahlkampfleiter Djindjic die Führung der Linksparteien bei den
>politisch wichtigen Parlamentswahlen ein.
>
>Doch den Sieg Vojislav Kostunicas wolle man sich nicht nehmen lassen.
>Für Mittwoch abend hatten DOS und die mit ihr verbundene neoliberale
>Ökonomengruppe G-17-Plus zu einer Großkundgebung vor der Skupstina, dem
>Parlament im Herzen Belgrads, aufgerufen. Vojislav Kostunica wollte dort
>seinen Anspruch auf den Präsidentenposten proklamieren, ganze 24 Stunden
>vor der Bekanntgabe des endgültigen Wahlergebnisses durch die
>Bundeswahlkommission. In den folgenden Tagen sollen Demonstrationen
>folgen. Die internationalen Nachrichtensender BBC und CNN stimmten ihre
>Zuschauer bereits im Laufe des Mittwoch auf blutige Auseinandersetzungen
>am Abend ein. Eine Verantwortung für eine mögliche Gewalteskalation in
>Belgrad will DOS allerdings nicht übernehmen, erklärte Djindjic auf
>junge Welt-Nachfrage. Doch genau die Verantwortung - einen Bürgerkrieg
>in Jugoslawien zu verhindern - kommt ihr zu. Es liegt in ihren Händen,
>ihre im Siegestaumel schwelgenden Anhänger auf den Boden der Realität
>zurückzuholen. Denn selbst wenn Vojislav Kostunica der nächste Präsident
>Jugoslawiens sein sollte, Slobodan Milosevic wird - ganz legal - ein
>wichtiger Faktor im Land bleiben. »Gotov je - Er ist am Ende«, diese
>während des Wahlkampfes ausgegebene Parole wurde zu früh gebrüllt.
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Anlage 3
>junge Welt 28.09.2000
>
>WAHLEN IM DJUKANOVIC-LAND
>ALS WAHLBEOBACHTER UNTERWEGS IN MONTENEGRO.
>Von Klaus Hartmann
>
>Am 24. September 2000 begab sich eine Gruppe von rund 30 Wahlbeobachtern
>von Belgrad aus nach Montenegro, um sich ein Bild von den
>Wahlbedingungen und dem Wahlablauf in der jugoslawischen Teilrepublik zu
>machen. Die Beobachter kamen unter anderem aus Bulgarien, Makedonien,
>Moldawien, Georgien und der Ukraine, aus Indien und dem Tschad sowie aus
>den NATO-Ländern Kanada, Großbritannien und Deutschland.
>
>Auf dem Flughafen von Tivat in der Kotor-Bucht angekommen fuhr die
>Gruppe mit dem Bus zu Wahllokalen in verschiedenen Teilen des Landes.
>Die erste Station war der Jaz-Strand vor Budva an der Adria-Küste, und
>hier gab es bereits den ersten markanten Eindruck von den
>Wahlbedingungen: Das Wahllokal war zwar überdacht, aber letztlich fand
>die Wahl unter freiem Himmel statt - das Hotel hatte auf Weisung »von
>oben« die Bereitstellung eines Raumes verweigert. Um 8.15 Uhr gab gerade
>der siebte Wähler von 315 Wahlberechtigten seine Stimme ab. Mit Kartons
>war auf den Tischen ein Sichtschutz improvisiert worden, der entfernt an
>Wahlkabinen erinnerte. Das Wahlkomitee bestand aus Vertretern
>verschiedener Parteien. Auch die Partei des montenegrinischen
>Präsidenten Milo Djukanovic war mit zwei offiziellen »Beobachtern«
>präsent. Deren »Beobachtermission« war von besonderer Art. Mitglieder
>des Wahlkomitees berichteten über einen ungeheuren Druck auf die
>Bevölkerung während der letzten zehn Tage, nicht zur Wahl zu gehen. Es
>habe persönliche Bedrohung, Drohungen mit dem Verlust des Arbeitsplatzes
>oder der sozialen Unterstützung gegeben.
>
>Daß dies nicht aus der Luft gegriffen war, kann ich aufgrund meines
>achttägigen Aufenthaltes mit einer Gruppe der Freidenker eine Woche
>zuvor in Montenegro bestätigen. In vielen Gesprächen wurde uns
>berichtet, daß eine staatlich organisierte massive
>Einschüchterungskampagne begonnen habe, die alle Wahlwilligen mit
>Existenzgefährdung bedrohe. Uns wurden konkrete Beispiele genannt: Der
>Direktor eines holzverarbeitenden Betriebes kündigte seinen
>Beschäftigten an, wer am Sonntag zur Wahl gehe, brauche am Montag nicht
>mehr zur Arbeit zu erscheinen. Das Gleiche gab ein Schulleiter im Norden
>des Landes seinem Lehrerkollegium bekannt. So hatten die Beobachter aus
>der Djukanovic-Partei eine für alle Beteiligten offenkundige Aufgabe -
>jene, die trotz der Drohungen von ihrem Wahlrecht Gebrauch machten, zu
>melden und die angekündigten Schikanen Realität werden zu lassen.
>
>Beim nächsten Wahllokal im Strandbereich von Budva hatten um 8.40 Uhr 13
>von 665 Wählern ihre Stimme abgegeben. Das Wahllokal befand sich in
>einem engen Raum des derzeit ungenutzten Erholungsheimes der
>Jugoslawischen Flußschiffahrt, da die früheren Wahlstellen (in der
>Schule und im Hotel Mocren) von der Djukanovic-dominierten
>Stadtverwaltung verweigert wurden. Auch hier wurde über Drohungen gegen
>die Wähler und potentielle Mitglieder des Wahlkomitees berichtet. Am
>Wahltag selbst gab es keine Störungen. Auch hier saßen Mitglieder
>verschiedener Parteien im Komitee und - eine Besonderheit - eine
>Vertreterin des DOS-Wahlbündnisses, der »Demokratischen Opposition
>Serbiens«. Doch die »Beobachterin der DOS« war in Wirklichkeit eine
>Vertreterin der Djukanovic-Partei der Demokratischen Sozialisten (DPS),
>es machte sich aber besser, nicht im Namen einer die Wahlen
>boykottierenden Partei aufzutreten.
>
>Beim anschließenden Frühstück der Beobachter traf ich meinen Freund
>Mischa wieder. Ich befragte ihn zu einigen Nachrichten, die in der
>Vorwoche von BBC aus Montenegro kolportiert worden waren: Ein Soldat der
>jugoslawischen Armee habe einen montenegrinischen Polizisten erschossen.
>Das britische Fernsehen nahm das als einen Beweis für die »von Milosevic
>geplante Provokation zwecks militärischem Eingreifen«. Mischa klärte
>darüber auf, daß sich die Schießerei zwischen Männern in Zivilkleidung
>ereignet hat, zumindest der »Soldat« sei schon lange nicht mehr in der
>Armee. Man nehme an, es handle sich um eine Auseinandersetzung in der
>Mafia - zumindest seien alle »politischen« Motive frei erfunden. Nach
>dieser neuen Lektion in Sachen »freier Medien im Westen« besuchten wir
>ein drittes Wahllokal in einem Wohnviertel Budvars.
>
>Wir steuerten direkt auf die Stadtverwaltung zu, doch mußten wir kurz
>davor abbiegen - in den Schachklub in Nebenräumen von
>»Montenegrotourist«. Wieder beengte Verhältnisse, improvisierter
>Sichtschutz, wieder ein politisch gemischtes Wahlkomitee und wieder eine
>»Beobachterin«, die offiziell für Kostunica wachte, tatsächlich aber für
>Djukanovic die Wählerliste inspizierte. Eine Aufgabe, die ihre Kräfte
>sichtlich überforderte, denn in und vor dem Wahllokal bildete sich eine
>große Wählerschlange, was ein Wahlboykotteur naturgemäß nicht sonderlich
>liebt. Deshalb sah sie »die Gefahr, bei dieser Menge den Überblick zu
>verlieren, und daß es so zu Wahlfälschungen kommen könne«.
>
>Auch im benachbarten Gebäude der Stadtverwaltung war eine große
>Betriebsamkeit festzustellen. An einem Fenster im ersten Stock hatten
>sich zwei Angehörige der montenegrinischen Polizei in grün-braunen
>Kampfanzügen postiert, um den Eingang des Wahllokals zu observieren. Als
>ich eine Reihe meiner Mitbeobachter auf die beiden aufmerksam machte,
>eilte ein schwarz gekleideter Zivilist aus der Menge vor dem Wahllokal
>vor das Fenster der beiden. In der Folge machten sie umgehend neuen
>Beobachtern in Zivilkleidung Platz.
>
>Weitere Aufregung vor dem Wahllokal: »Wenn ihr mich hier nicht wählen
>laßt, fahre ich nach Serbien!« rief eine erboste Frau, die als
>NATO-UCK-Vertriebene aus dem Kosovo in Budva Zuflucht fand. »Irgendwie«
>sei es nach Angaben von Umstehenden zu Differenzen zwischen den Listen
>des Roten Kreuzes und den Wählerverzeichnissen gekommen. Von den in
>Budva lebenden rund 1000 Kosovo- Vertriebenen sollen nur etwa 500 auf
>den Wählerlisten stehen. Noch schlimmer, in der montenegrinischen
>Hauptstadt Podgorica, der nächsten Station unserer »Observer-Mission«,
>sollen von 20000 Vertriebenen gar nur 1000 Aufnahme in die Wählerlisten
>gefunden haben.
>
>In den Wahllokalen der montenegrinischen Hauptstadt ein ähnliches Bild
>wie gehabt. Im Wahllokal Nr. 61 in Podgorica, in einem Freizeitclub der
>Jugoslawischen Armee untergebracht, berichtete man uns von massiven
>Provokationen der Djukanovic-Polizei. Bei Eröffnung des Lokals seien
>rund um den Eingang mehrere Polizeikameras installiert gewesen. Nach
>Intervention des Wahlkomitees wurden sie zwar entfernt, jedoch parkte 80
>Meter entfernt ein grauer Golf mit zwei Polizisten sowie weitere
>»dickere« Fahrzeuge in der Nähe mit unablässigen Mobiltelefonierern.
>Hier erfuhren wir auch von einem Faktor, der nicht unerheblich für die
>relative Wirksamkeit des Boykotts gewesen sein dürfte: Die
>Djukanovic-Regierung hatte den Wahlsonntag kurzerhand zum Arbeitstag
>erklärt. Die Beschäftigten im Gesundheitswesen und im gesamten
>öffentlichen Dienst, auch die Arbeiter der größeren staatlichen
>Betriebe, hatten schlicht keine Zeit für den Gang zum Wahllokal, wenn
>sie ihren Arbeitsplatz nicht unerlaubt verlassen wollten.
>
>* Klaus Hartmann ist Präsident der Weltunion der Freidenker und wurde in
>dieser Funktion vom jugoslawischen Bundesparlament als Wahlbeobachter
>nach Belgrad eingeladen
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
>
>Anlage 4
>junge Welt v.26.09.2000
>
>NATO-STAATEN SCHLIEßEN DEN RING
>TRUPPEN WERDEN UM JUGOSLAWIEN KONZENTRIERT. DROHUNG MIT MILITÄRSCHLAG
>Von Rainer Rupp
>
>Schon vor Abschluß der Wahl in Jugoslawien am Sonntag riefen NATO und EU
>gemeinsam mit der von ihnen teuer bezahlten jugoslawischen Opposition
>»Wahlbetrug«. Denn falls der NATO-Kandidat Kostunica verlieren sollte,
>dann wäre die Wahl von Milosevic manipuliert und könne folglich von EU
>und NATO nicht anerkannt werden. Um dies auch durchzusetzen - so die
>Überlegung der westlichen Wertegemeinschaft - mußte die NATO erneut ihre
>humanitäre Kriegsmaschine rund um Jugoslawien konzentrieren und in
>Alarmbereitschaft versetzen.
>
>Der französische Außenminister ließ Sonntag nacht noch über Radio Monte
>Carlo wissen, daß seine EU-Amtskollegen noch spätabends in einer
>Telefonkonferenz beraten hätten, wie zu reagieren sei, »falls Präsident
>Milosevic die Wahlen mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen sollte«. Wobei
>natürlich jedem der Beteiligten von vornherein klar war, daß Milosevic
>mit nichts anderem als nur mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen konnte,
>schließlich hatten EU und USA nicht umsonst mindestens 75 Millionen
>Dollar Wahlhilfe an die korrupte Opposition gezahlt und noch größere
>Versprechungen gemacht, die Jugoslawen sollten sich in der Wahl für den
>von der NATO ausgewählten Kandidaten entscheiden.
>
>Daß die militärische Friedensintervention gegen Belgrad jederzeit wieder
>aufgenommen werden kann, das macht die NATO mit ihrem Zusammenzug
>militärischer Mittel rund um Jugoslawien deutlich. Damit in Belgrad die
>Friedensbotschaft der westlichen Humanisten nicht mißverstanden wird,
>hat NATO-Generalsekretär Lord Robertson Präsident Milosevic bereits mit
>militärischen Aktionen gedroht, »falls er bei den Wahlen betrügt«. Er
>warnte, daß sich die »Truppen der westlichen Allianz auf dem Balkan in
>Alarmbereitschaft befinden«. Zu diesem Zweck hatte die NATO rechtzeitig
>zur Wahl die größte See-Armada seit ihrem ersten Angriff auf Jugoslawien
>im Mittelmeer zusammengezogen. Der britische Premier Tony Blair, der
>sich mit seinem militaristischen Humangesülze längst einen festen Platz
>im Himmel der Neuen Weltordnung gesichert hat, sandte als »Botschaft an
>Präsident Slobodan Milosevic« den britischen Flugzeugträger »Invincible«
>und den Hubschrauberträger »Ocean« ins Mittelmeer, wo sie auf eine
>amerikanische Schlachtschiffgruppe stoßen werden.
>
>Am Montag berichtete die britis<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
L'OCCIDENTE ADESSO HA PAURA CHE KOSTUNICA VINCA PER DAVVERO
L'interesse dell'Occidente e' solo nello scoppio di disordini
all'interno del paese. Per questo non vogliono andare al ballottaggio,
che con la partecipazione al voto dei montenegrini e con l'appoggio di
tutte le destre sarebbe vinto da Kostunica con una larga maggioranza.
* Risultati finali e reazioni ufficiali
* Un clamoroso boomerang per l'Occidente
* Il discorso di Kostunica, le dichiarazioni della opposizione
liberal-nazionalista sulle interferenze occidentali, Seselj salta sul
carro di Kostunica
* Auf Deutsch:
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/481
Zu den Wahlen in Jugoslawien
Dichiarazioni degli osservatori tedeschi, valutazioni da "Junge Welt"
(http://www.jungewelt.de) e dalla "Kommunistische Plattform" della PDS.
---
RUSULTATI FINALI UFFICIALI
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
BELGRADE, 28 September 2000 No. 3191
S P E C I A L I S S U E
FEDERAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION ANNOUNCES FINAL RESULTS OF
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
BELGRADE, September 28 (Tanjug) The Federal Electoral
Commission
announced early on Thursday the final results of the Yugoslav
presidential
election, which show that none of the candidates has won over 50 percent
of
the votes and that a runoff election will therefore have to be held.
According to the Federal Parliament Press Service, the
elections
were democratic and fair and the Commission had received no complaints
from
any of the polling stations regarding the regularity of the presidential
election.
At its session late on Wednesday, the Commission adopted a
decision on determining the results of the federal presidential
election.
According to the results from 10,673 polling stations, the
turnout
was 69.7 percent, or 5,053,428 voters out of the total electorate of
7,249,831, and the percentage of invalid ballots was 2.68.
The presidential candidates won the following number of votes:
Miodrag Vidojkovic 46,421 or 0.92 percent
Vojislav Kostunica 2,474,392 or 48.96 percent
Slobodan Milosevic 1,951,761 or 38.62 percent
Vojislav Mihailovic 146,585 or 2.90 percent
Tomislav Nikolic 292,759 or 5.79 percent
On the basis of these results, the Commission took note that
none
of the candidates won the necessary majority of votes in the first round
and ruled that a runoff election will be held according to law.
The two candidates with the highest number of votes Vojislav
Kostunica and Slobodan Milosevic will run in the second round, that the
Commission scheduled for Sunday, October 8, 2000.
YUGOSLAVIA WILL PURSUE POLICY OF EQUALITY AND COOPERATION JOVANOVIC
BELGRADE, September 28 (Tanjug) Yugoslav Foreign Minister
Zivadin
Jovanovic said late on Wednesday that the victory of the leftists'
coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Yugoslav Left
(JUL)
and the Socialist National Party of Montenegro (SNP) at the
parliamentary
elections guarantees that the policy of defending freedom, independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity and of cooperation with all
countries
on the basis of equality will continue to be pursued.
Speaking for RadioTelevision Serbia (RTS), Jovanovic said that
media and political pressure against Yugoslavia by both foreign and
domestic, socalled independent media, intensifies, all in order to
present
the situation as it suits them.
"It is wellknown that the US policy in countries such as
Yugoslavia is based on the people and organizations that materially
depend
on the United States," said Jovanovic.
Discussing the international policy, he stressed that
Yugoslavia
has intensive contacts and friendly relations with representatives of
countries all around the world.
"The majority of countries gladly accept Yugoslavia as a friend
and a partner in bilateral cooperation at the international scene," said
Jovanovic.
Our policy the policy of defending freedom, independence and
respect of principles, of equal cooperation with all countries, above
all
our neighbours, is highly respected, stressed Jovanovic noting that "
the
process of normalization of Yugoslavia's status in many international
organizations is moving forward."
---
Sulle notizie (false e/o tendenziose) riportate dai nostri media:
Notizia falsa:
- La Repubblica Federale Jugoslava è una Repubblica Presidenziale in cui
il
Presidente eletto ha pieni poteri (modello Usa - P2).
Ne conseguirebbe una decisiva importanza dell'esito delle votazioni
presidenziali. In quest'ottica, nessun dato viene diffuso e commentato
sull'esito delle elezioni politiche che hanno eletto i membri del
Parlamento. I
servizi sulla Jugoslavia (più spesso detta Serbia tout court, o come Rai
3 che
riesce a dire "elezioni in ex-Jugoslavia - dove, in Slovenia?), ora
passati in
secondo o terzo piano, insistono sui presunti brogli, sullo 'scippo'
del
ballottaggio presidenziale, sui democratici ricatti dell'occidente al
despota
balcanico, ma si guardano bene dal raccontare a dovere esiti e
prospettive
del voto politico.
Realtà:
- La RFJ è una Repubblica parlamentare il cui Parlamento elegge il Primo
Ministro, che detiene il Governo del Paese.
Ne consegue che con i dati attuali delle elezioni politiche e
presidenziali, le
Camere avranno una maggioranza di sinistra (partiti Socialista -
Comunista -
Socialista del Montenegro) che esprimerà il Primo ministro. E' nella
loro
facoltà legittima e democratica, ad esempio, eleggere Milosevic a capo
del
Governo...
Ne consegue inoltre che con Kostunica presidente o meno, con
ballottaggio
o meno, il governo non sarà comunque filooccidentale (e nemmeno
Kostunica potrebbe 'tradire' i suoi molti elettori ipernazionalisti e
monarchici), checchè ne dica la Nato e i suoi/nostri media, ai quali non
resta
che soffiare sul fuoco della protesta di piazza e sulla 'speranza'
indotta di
un'evoluzione violenta che sfoci in una guerra civile, per far poi
intervenire i
'democraticizzatori' presenti in forze nell'Adriatico.
Queste elezioni, che volevano essere sfruttate per risolvere una volta
per
tutte l'"anomalia jugoslava", si sono trasformate per l'occidente in un
boomerang. Gli è andata male, la Jugoslavia vivrà.
(G. Ellero, da pck-yugoslavia@...)
---
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/kostunica2.html
ANTIWAR, Wednesday, September 27, 2000
We Will Defend Ourselves
by Vojislav Kostunica (9/27/00)
Editorial note: What follows is the full text of Vojislav Kostunica's
[September 27] speech a crowd of more than 200,000 in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia.
Dear, brave fellow-citizens, free people, we have won! We have won in
spite of lies and Slobodan Milosevic's violence. We have won despite the
sanctions we have lived under for years, despite the NATO bombs which
fell last year, despite some democrats in Serbia and Montenegro who have
turned their backs on us. There lies our strength, and perhaps our
stubbornness, but this is the real Serbia.
All of us on Sunday said what kind of Serbia we want to live in. They
have once more tried to sneer at the will of the people, they have tried
again to steal the elections; they have tried to bargain on the second
round, but we are saying to them: there will be no second round, there
is no bargaining. We are fighting for democracy and democracy is based
on truth, not on lies. The truth is that we have won this election. If
we were to bargain with them we would be recognizing lies instead of the
truth. In any case, democracy is based on the will of the people, on the
will of the majority. Who are they? How many of them are left? They are
a minority, a minority of those around him. The majority of the
Socialists don't want to take part in the fraud. They don't want to be
destroyed with him.
We are strong at this moment because we have the support of the world.
Of Russia, of the European Union. This support is important but it is
not decisive: what is decisive is our strength, our will, our
determination to stop whims of one man. There will be no sacred
individuals in this country; only the will of the people and the law
will be sacred. My message to the Socialists is that we will not act as
did your leaders; we will not hound people who have opposing opinions;
we will not burst into other people's houses; we will not buy ruined
companies; we will not remove the property of the people from the
country.
My message to the army and the police is that we are one: the army and
the police are part of the people, the part which defends the country, a
part which should not defend only one man and his family.
Slobodan Milosevic is a tyrant who has lost his strength and the only
thing left for him is to grasp one simple fact. If he did not understand
it while he was in power, then he will understand it when we divorce him
from power. We will defend the country, we will defend ourselves,
because we have freed ourselves. September 24 was the confirmation of
our deliverance.
We Don't Need Your Help, Opposition Serbs Tell West
http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=203564
We Don't Need Your Help, Opposition Serbs Tell West
BELGRADE, Sep 27, 2000 -- (Reuters) Serbian opposition leaders and
ordinary
Belgraders on Tuesday said a warning by Britain to Slobodan Milosevic
would
hurt, not help, their struggle to oust the embattled Yugoslav leader.
"We do not need their help. Statements like this are not helping the
opposition at all," said Gordana, a 35-year-old civil engineer.
"If they want Milosevic to leave, they should keep quiet," she said.
"They should remember that although the majority of citizens are against
Milosevic, we have not forgotten that they bombed us."
"They should stay out of this. Elections are our internal affair," said
Milan, a waiter in a Belgrade restaurant. "The dispute over election
results
should be resolved just like Kostunica said - with reason and in a
democratic
manner."
Serb opposition officials also made clear that they could do without
statements like British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's warning to
Milosevic
not to use "naked power" to cling to office.
"I am begging some unhinged world leaders to spare us any
counterproductive
help because so far they have made many promises and done many things
which
have only caused the suffering of our people," said Momcilo Perisic,
leader
of the tiny opposition Movement for Democratic Serbia.
"And I beg them to finally realize that they should not settle their
accounts with Milosevic, or he with them, at the expense of the lives of
our
citizens," he told Reuters.
TROOPS AT HAND
Cook, speaking at the annual conference of Britain's ruling Labor Party,
also said on Tuesday that Western powers had plenty of military might
near
Serbia.
Britain has 15 warships in the Mediterranean, with 5,000 sailors, Royal
Marines and aircrew. Tens of thousands of NATO-led troops are securing
peace
in Bosnia and Kosovo. And hundreds of U.S. troops took part in a joint
assault on an Adriatic island off Croatia on Tuesday.
Asked about Cook's remarks, Goran Svilanovic of the Civic Alliance of
Serbia
said: "There is no need for anyone from the outside to participate in
the
process of peaceful change of power and no one can benefit from
statements
such as these."
Perisic's and Svilanovic's parties are members of the Democratic
Opposition of
Serbia bloc, which says its presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica
won a
first round victory in Sunday's presidential elections.
Milosevic and his backers have showed no sign of admitting defeat, with
his
Socialist Party insisting their candidate won.
The Federal Election Commission said the official results would be
announced
on Thursday.
During the election campaign, the Belgrade authorities had branded their
domestic opponents NATO lackeys plotting to destroy Serbia under Western
instructions.
Reflecting this, Kostunica has distanced himself from the West,
criticizing
especially U.S. policy in the Balkans and the UN tribunal that has
indicted
Milosevic for war crimes.
JUGOSLAVIA: CONGRATULAZIONI SESELJ A KOSTUNICA, HAI VINTO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 28 SET - Il leader del Partito radicale serbo (Srs),
l'ultranazionalista Vojslav Seselj, si e' congratulato con il candidato
dell'Opposizione democratica serba (Dos) alle elezioni presidenziali
jugoslave Vojislav Kostunica per ''la vittoria al primo turno'' nella
consultazione. Per il Srs, ha sottolineato Seselj sconfessando il
ballotaggio indetto dalla commissione elettorale centrale, ''le elezioni
sono finite''. ''Sono avvenuti pesanti brogli'', ha aggiunto il leader
ultranazionalista. Seselj ha poi detto di ''essere aperto'' all'ipotesi
di
aprire assieme al leader del Movimento per il rinnovamento serbo Vuk
Draskovic una grisi nel parlamento repubblicano serbo, dove i due
partiti
avrebbero assieme la maggioranza. ''Milosevic per 13 anni e' stato una
figura chiave per la Serbia, ha fatto molti errori politici ed e'
diventato
fastidioso per il popolo serbo'', ha aggiunto Seselj. (ANSA)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
L'interesse dell'Occidente e' solo nello scoppio di disordini
all'interno del paese. Per questo non vogliono andare al ballottaggio,
che con la partecipazione al voto dei montenegrini e con l'appoggio di
tutte le destre sarebbe vinto da Kostunica con una larga maggioranza.
* Risultati finali e reazioni ufficiali
* Un clamoroso boomerang per l'Occidente
* Il discorso di Kostunica, le dichiarazioni della opposizione
liberal-nazionalista sulle interferenze occidentali, Seselj salta sul
carro di Kostunica
* Auf Deutsch:
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/481
Zu den Wahlen in Jugoslawien
Dichiarazioni degli osservatori tedeschi, valutazioni da "Junge Welt"
(http://www.jungewelt.de) e dalla "Kommunistische Plattform" della PDS.
---
RUSULTATI FINALI UFFICIALI
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY
BELGRADE, 28 September 2000 No. 3191
S P E C I A L I S S U E
FEDERAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION ANNOUNCES FINAL RESULTS OF
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
BELGRADE, September 28 (Tanjug) The Federal Electoral
Commission
announced early on Thursday the final results of the Yugoslav
presidential
election, which show that none of the candidates has won over 50 percent
of
the votes and that a runoff election will therefore have to be held.
According to the Federal Parliament Press Service, the
elections
were democratic and fair and the Commission had received no complaints
from
any of the polling stations regarding the regularity of the presidential
election.
At its session late on Wednesday, the Commission adopted a
decision on determining the results of the federal presidential
election.
According to the results from 10,673 polling stations, the
turnout
was 69.7 percent, or 5,053,428 voters out of the total electorate of
7,249,831, and the percentage of invalid ballots was 2.68.
The presidential candidates won the following number of votes:
Miodrag Vidojkovic 46,421 or 0.92 percent
Vojislav Kostunica 2,474,392 or 48.96 percent
Slobodan Milosevic 1,951,761 or 38.62 percent
Vojislav Mihailovic 146,585 or 2.90 percent
Tomislav Nikolic 292,759 or 5.79 percent
On the basis of these results, the Commission took note that
none
of the candidates won the necessary majority of votes in the first round
and ruled that a runoff election will be held according to law.
The two candidates with the highest number of votes Vojislav
Kostunica and Slobodan Milosevic will run in the second round, that the
Commission scheduled for Sunday, October 8, 2000.
YUGOSLAVIA WILL PURSUE POLICY OF EQUALITY AND COOPERATION JOVANOVIC
BELGRADE, September 28 (Tanjug) Yugoslav Foreign Minister
Zivadin
Jovanovic said late on Wednesday that the victory of the leftists'
coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Yugoslav Left
(JUL)
and the Socialist National Party of Montenegro (SNP) at the
parliamentary
elections guarantees that the policy of defending freedom, independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity and of cooperation with all
countries
on the basis of equality will continue to be pursued.
Speaking for RadioTelevision Serbia (RTS), Jovanovic said that
media and political pressure against Yugoslavia by both foreign and
domestic, socalled independent media, intensifies, all in order to
present
the situation as it suits them.
"It is wellknown that the US policy in countries such as
Yugoslavia is based on the people and organizations that materially
depend
on the United States," said Jovanovic.
Discussing the international policy, he stressed that
Yugoslavia
has intensive contacts and friendly relations with representatives of
countries all around the world.
"The majority of countries gladly accept Yugoslavia as a friend
and a partner in bilateral cooperation at the international scene," said
Jovanovic.
Our policy the policy of defending freedom, independence and
respect of principles, of equal cooperation with all countries, above
all
our neighbours, is highly respected, stressed Jovanovic noting that "
the
process of normalization of Yugoslavia's status in many international
organizations is moving forward."
---
Sulle notizie (false e/o tendenziose) riportate dai nostri media:
Notizia falsa:
- La Repubblica Federale Jugoslava è una Repubblica Presidenziale in cui
il
Presidente eletto ha pieni poteri (modello Usa - P2).
Ne conseguirebbe una decisiva importanza dell'esito delle votazioni
presidenziali. In quest'ottica, nessun dato viene diffuso e commentato
sull'esito delle elezioni politiche che hanno eletto i membri del
Parlamento. I
servizi sulla Jugoslavia (più spesso detta Serbia tout court, o come Rai
3 che
riesce a dire "elezioni in ex-Jugoslavia - dove, in Slovenia?), ora
passati in
secondo o terzo piano, insistono sui presunti brogli, sullo 'scippo'
del
ballottaggio presidenziale, sui democratici ricatti dell'occidente al
despota
balcanico, ma si guardano bene dal raccontare a dovere esiti e
prospettive
del voto politico.
Realtà:
- La RFJ è una Repubblica parlamentare il cui Parlamento elegge il Primo
Ministro, che detiene il Governo del Paese.
Ne consegue che con i dati attuali delle elezioni politiche e
presidenziali, le
Camere avranno una maggioranza di sinistra (partiti Socialista -
Comunista -
Socialista del Montenegro) che esprimerà il Primo ministro. E' nella
loro
facoltà legittima e democratica, ad esempio, eleggere Milosevic a capo
del
Governo...
Ne consegue inoltre che con Kostunica presidente o meno, con
ballottaggio
o meno, il governo non sarà comunque filooccidentale (e nemmeno
Kostunica potrebbe 'tradire' i suoi molti elettori ipernazionalisti e
monarchici), checchè ne dica la Nato e i suoi/nostri media, ai quali non
resta
che soffiare sul fuoco della protesta di piazza e sulla 'speranza'
indotta di
un'evoluzione violenta che sfoci in una guerra civile, per far poi
intervenire i
'democraticizzatori' presenti in forze nell'Adriatico.
Queste elezioni, che volevano essere sfruttate per risolvere una volta
per
tutte l'"anomalia jugoslava", si sono trasformate per l'occidente in un
boomerang. Gli è andata male, la Jugoslavia vivrà.
(G. Ellero, da pck-yugoslavia@...)
---
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/kostunica2.html
ANTIWAR, Wednesday, September 27, 2000
We Will Defend Ourselves
by Vojislav Kostunica (9/27/00)
Editorial note: What follows is the full text of Vojislav Kostunica's
[September 27] speech a crowd of more than 200,000 in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia.
Dear, brave fellow-citizens, free people, we have won! We have won in
spite of lies and Slobodan Milosevic's violence. We have won despite the
sanctions we have lived under for years, despite the NATO bombs which
fell last year, despite some democrats in Serbia and Montenegro who have
turned their backs on us. There lies our strength, and perhaps our
stubbornness, but this is the real Serbia.
All of us on Sunday said what kind of Serbia we want to live in. They
have once more tried to sneer at the will of the people, they have tried
again to steal the elections; they have tried to bargain on the second
round, but we are saying to them: there will be no second round, there
is no bargaining. We are fighting for democracy and democracy is based
on truth, not on lies. The truth is that we have won this election. If
we were to bargain with them we would be recognizing lies instead of the
truth. In any case, democracy is based on the will of the people, on the
will of the majority. Who are they? How many of them are left? They are
a minority, a minority of those around him. The majority of the
Socialists don't want to take part in the fraud. They don't want to be
destroyed with him.
We are strong at this moment because we have the support of the world.
Of Russia, of the European Union. This support is important but it is
not decisive: what is decisive is our strength, our will, our
determination to stop whims of one man. There will be no sacred
individuals in this country; only the will of the people and the law
will be sacred. My message to the Socialists is that we will not act as
did your leaders; we will not hound people who have opposing opinions;
we will not burst into other people's houses; we will not buy ruined
companies; we will not remove the property of the people from the
country.
My message to the army and the police is that we are one: the army and
the police are part of the people, the part which defends the country, a
part which should not defend only one man and his family.
Slobodan Milosevic is a tyrant who has lost his strength and the only
thing left for him is to grasp one simple fact. If he did not understand
it while he was in power, then he will understand it when we divorce him
from power. We will defend the country, we will defend ourselves,
because we have freed ourselves. September 24 was the confirmation of
our deliverance.
We Don't Need Your Help, Opposition Serbs Tell West
http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=203564
We Don't Need Your Help, Opposition Serbs Tell West
BELGRADE, Sep 27, 2000 -- (Reuters) Serbian opposition leaders and
ordinary
Belgraders on Tuesday said a warning by Britain to Slobodan Milosevic
would
hurt, not help, their struggle to oust the embattled Yugoslav leader.
"We do not need their help. Statements like this are not helping the
opposition at all," said Gordana, a 35-year-old civil engineer.
"If they want Milosevic to leave, they should keep quiet," she said.
"They should remember that although the majority of citizens are against
Milosevic, we have not forgotten that they bombed us."
"They should stay out of this. Elections are our internal affair," said
Milan, a waiter in a Belgrade restaurant. "The dispute over election
results
should be resolved just like Kostunica said - with reason and in a
democratic
manner."
Serb opposition officials also made clear that they could do without
statements like British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's warning to
Milosevic
not to use "naked power" to cling to office.
"I am begging some unhinged world leaders to spare us any
counterproductive
help because so far they have made many promises and done many things
which
have only caused the suffering of our people," said Momcilo Perisic,
leader
of the tiny opposition Movement for Democratic Serbia.
"And I beg them to finally realize that they should not settle their
accounts with Milosevic, or he with them, at the expense of the lives of
our
citizens," he told Reuters.
TROOPS AT HAND
Cook, speaking at the annual conference of Britain's ruling Labor Party,
also said on Tuesday that Western powers had plenty of military might
near
Serbia.
Britain has 15 warships in the Mediterranean, with 5,000 sailors, Royal
Marines and aircrew. Tens of thousands of NATO-led troops are securing
peace
in Bosnia and Kosovo. And hundreds of U.S. troops took part in a joint
assault on an Adriatic island off Croatia on Tuesday.
Asked about Cook's remarks, Goran Svilanovic of the Civic Alliance of
Serbia
said: "There is no need for anyone from the outside to participate in
the
process of peaceful change of power and no one can benefit from
statements
such as these."
Perisic's and Svilanovic's parties are members of the Democratic
Opposition of
Serbia bloc, which says its presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica
won a
first round victory in Sunday's presidential elections.
Milosevic and his backers have showed no sign of admitting defeat, with
his
Socialist Party insisting their candidate won.
The Federal Election Commission said the official results would be
announced
on Thursday.
During the election campaign, the Belgrade authorities had branded their
domestic opponents NATO lackeys plotting to destroy Serbia under Western
instructions.
Reflecting this, Kostunica has distanced himself from the West,
criticizing
especially U.S. policy in the Balkans and the UN tribunal that has
indicted
Milosevic for war crimes.
JUGOSLAVIA: CONGRATULAZIONI SESELJ A KOSTUNICA, HAI VINTO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 28 SET - Il leader del Partito radicale serbo (Srs),
l'ultranazionalista Vojslav Seselj, si e' congratulato con il candidato
dell'Opposizione democratica serba (Dos) alle elezioni presidenziali
jugoslave Vojislav Kostunica per ''la vittoria al primo turno'' nella
consultazione. Per il Srs, ha sottolineato Seselj sconfessando il
ballotaggio indetto dalla commissione elettorale centrale, ''le elezioni
sono finite''. ''Sono avvenuti pesanti brogli'', ha aggiunto il leader
ultranazionalista. Seselj ha poi detto di ''essere aperto'' all'ipotesi
di
aprire assieme al leader del Movimento per il rinnovamento serbo Vuk
Draskovic una grisi nel parlamento repubblicano serbo, dove i due
partiti
avrebbero assieme la maggioranza. ''Milosevic per 13 anni e' stato una
figura chiave per la Serbia, ha fatto molti errori politici ed e'
diventato
fastidioso per il popolo serbo'', ha aggiunto Seselj. (ANSA)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
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