AGLI U.S.A. NON BASTA MAI: NUOVO ULTIMATUM PER IL 31 MARZO

Il premier serbo Zoran Djindjic si e' detto ottimista sulla
possibilita' di poter sottostare all'ennesimo ricatto da
parte del Congresso USA, ed ottenere cosi' l'ambito status di
"nazione prediletta" (the most privileged nation).
Le condizioni da ottemperare stavolta sono l'arresto di tutti
i leader politici e militari che hanno difeso i serbi tra il
1991 ed oggi - in particolare Nikola Sainovic, Milan
Milutinovic (attuale Presidente della Repubblica federata di
Serbia), Dragoljub Ojdanic, Vlajko Stojilkovic, Radovan
Karadzic e Ratko Mladic - e l'interruzione di ogni
aiuto alla Repubblica Serbia di Bosnia.
Djindjic si aspetta pero' che questo nuovo ultimatum sia
l'ultimo da parte degli USA, perche' il giochetto di fissarne
uno o due ogni anno incomincia ormai a stancare anche i santi...

DJINDJIC ENTUSIASTA ALL'IDEA CHE LA SERBIA DIVENTI "NAZIONE
PRIVILEGIATA" DEGLI STATI UNITI

DJINDJIC SAYS MARCH 31 DEADLINE CONCERNING CONDITIONS
NEW YORK, Feb. 4 (Beta) - Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic on
Feb. 3 said that he was optimistic about Serbia meeting the
conditions set by the U.S. Congress, in order to win the
status of the most privileged nation.
"When Congress is concerned, Marc 31 might be the last date
in our relations that is linked with conditions. Because if
this passes, and I expect it will, then it is hard for me
to imagine another date next year with the same role as
March 31," Djindjic said in a statement to the Voice
of America.
"Once we win the status of the most privileged nation... we
will pass from the field of policy to the field of economics,"
he added.

DJINDJIC TRANQUILLO ED OTTIMISTA SULLE CONSEGNE AL
TRIBUNALE ILLEGALE DELL'AIA

DJINDJIC COOL UNDER PRESSURE TO COOPERATE
BELGRADE,Feb6 (B92) US pressure on Yugoslavia to cooperate
with the UN International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague is
part of a "natural process," Zoran Djindjic said today.
The Serbian prime minister insisted such pressure need not be
seen as "dramatic." He again stressed the need to hand over
the remaining indictees for the sake of Serbia's future.
"I think we in this country are resolute enough not to believe
five or six people are our national destiny. If we as a nation
were their hostages for ten years, I think there's no reason
to be their hostages for the next ten," Djindjic told press
in Belgrade.
The premier confirmed he was talking of Nikola Sainovic, Milan
Milutinovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic and Vlajko Stojilkovic, all
wanted at The Hague on the same indictment as Slobodan Milosevic
for war crimes in Kosovo.
Djindjic urged them to surrender to the Tribunal. But warned that
if they chose not to, "we'll find a solution whereby they end
up in The Hague." Cooperation with The Hague must have "concrete
results," he added.
During his visit to New York this week, Djindjic met Tribunal
chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. According to the prime minister,
Del Ponte's priority is to track down those responsible for
crimes committed in Vukovar, Srebrenica and Kosovo. "Everything
else will be subject to the local judiciary," he said.

ULTIMATUM DAL DIPARTIMENTO DI STATO USA

CONTINUATION OF FINANCIAL AID TO YUGOSLAVIA DEPENDS ON COOPERATION
WITH ICTY, SAYS STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL
BELGRADE,Feb6 (Beta)- A decision to whether to continue to provide
Yugoslavia with financial aid will be made by the U.S. president
who will decide by March 31 whether Belgrade has made progress
in cooperation with The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), respect of the Dayton agreement
and the treatment of national minorities, said the director of the
U.S. State Department's Balkan office, Paul Jones.
In an interview with BETA, Jones said that it was necessary to
make progress in each of these areas in order to for a decision
favorable for all to be made - the continuation of financial aid
to Yugoslavia.
Jones said that cooperation with the ICTY included the issue of
documents on war crimes, archives and access to witnesses, as well
as voluntary surrender and transfer of suspects to The Hague.
"We have to see a more cooperation with the tribunal in order to
be able to inform Congress about it on March 31," said Jones and
added that cooperation with the ICTY should become a process and
not an issue which has to be discussed again every time before
Congress meets.
Jones said that cooperation with the ICTY was only one aspect of
the problem and that the U.S. was interested in supporting
credible trials of those accused of war crimes before local
courts.
Jones said that Yugoslavia had made huge progress concerning the
rights and position of national minorities, especially in southern
Serbia, but that it was necessary to release Albanian prisoners
from prisons in Serbia and to reconsider their cases.
Jones also said that the U.S. believed that a democratic Montenegro
in a democratic Yugoslavia was the best solution for people in
Serbia, Montenegro and the region.

LA RF DI JUGOSLAVIA ESEGUE: TAGLIATI GLI AIUTI ALLA DIFESA DELLA
RS DI BOSNIA

YUGOSLAVIA WITHDRAWS FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO REPUBLIKA SRPSKA DEFENSE
MINISTRY
BELGRADE, Feb 8 ( Beta) - The Yugoslav government decided on Feb. 7
to revoke its financial support to the Republika Srpska defense
ministry starting March 1, reads a statement issued after a
government meeting. The support had up to now had been the paying
of salaries to some Republika Srpska officers who were registered
with the 30th military personnel centre, reads the Yugoslav press
bureau statement. Among the conditions the American administration
had set to the Yugoslav authorities for its continued financial
support, was not only full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal,
but also the endorsement of the Dayton Peace Accords for Bosnia-
Herzegovina, that is, the withdrawal of financial support to the
Republika Srpska defense ministry.

KOSTUNICA - ANCHE EGLI INTERESSATO ALLO STATUS DI "NAZIONE
PRIVILEGIATA" - TRANQUILLIZZANTE SULL'APPOGGIO USA AL REFERENDUM
SECESSIONISTA IN MONTENEGRO

US READY TO RETURN MOST-FAVOURED NATION STATUS TO YUGOSLAVIA
BELGRADE, Feb 8 ( B92) The US has expressed support for the
idea of returning most-favoured nation status to Yugoslavia,
President Vojislav Kostunica said today on his return from
Washington. Kostunica told press at Belgrade airport that both
sides had neglected this issue over the past year but that US
officials had shown readiness to resolve the matter.
The Yugoslav president said Washington had taken much the same
stance as the European Union on the future of the Yugoslav
federation. The EU has made clear it favours a "democratic
Montenegro in a democratic Yugoslavia." Kostunica also claimed
to have received assurances that the US would redress
imbalances in aid to Montenegro and Serbia.
YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT: US SUPPORT PRESERVATION OF YUGOSLAVIA
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 ( Tanjug) - Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica has said that during the meetings he
had in Washington, US ranking officials supported a
redefinition of the Yugoslav federation and the preservation
of Yugoslavia. A "two-day visit to the United States
took place at the moment when, in Brussels, Yugoslavia
had the European Union's biggest possible support for
the federation's redefinition and its preservation, and
during the the talks in Washington, an identical support
was given by the United States," Kostunica told Yugoslav
reporters in Washington late on Thursday, after he had met
with representatives of the Serbian diaspora at the Yugoslav
Embassy.

KOSTUNICA: HAIVOGLIA A SPIEGARE, TANTO A QUESTI AMERICANI NON
BASTERA' MAI...

KOSTUNICA UNFLINCHING UNDER PRESSURE OF THE DOLLAR
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 ( B92) The issue of cooperation with The
Hague Tribunal must be tackled in a "principled manner,"
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has told press in the
US. "There are things we must do for the sake of ourselves,"
said Kostunica, having been asked whether he believed
Belgrade would do enough in terms of cooperation to secure
US financial aid by March 31. Congress in the US late last
year conditioned future aid to Serbia on its cooperation
with the Dutch-based war crimes tribunal. But Kostunica, a
stickler for the law, insists the matter must be regulated
by domestic legislation: "Once again I reiterated the idea
that cooperation with the Tribunal should be legally
regulated," he told reporters.
The president claims that bypassing legal procedure represents
a continuation of the policy of the previous regime: "The
talk about individualization of responsibility means nothing
compared to what all those processes imply," he sad.
The US Congress also insisted Belgrade stop financing the
defense ministry in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb
entity of the Bosnia-Herzegovina federation. The Yugoslav
Government ruled yesterday that this would end as of March 1.
But Kostunica raised doubts as to whether this would be
fully appreciated on Capitol Hill, saying little has changed
in the way the US administration works.
"There are always details that we need to explain. I had to
explain to many American officials the circumstances under
which the decision to cut financial aid to Republika Srpska
was taken and that it actually happened, but you can rest
assured that in several months you will still have a senator
and a congressman who will raise this issue as if it had never
been solved, not to mention the non-governmental organizations."
Kostunica said that during his two-day visit he sought to
explain the changing circumstances in Yugoslavia and to
lobby for support for the survival of the federation. "In
the talks we had, that support was displayed," he said.

...ED INFATTI: GLI USA INSODDISFATTI SULLA COOPERAZIONE
CON IL TRIBUNALE ILLEGALE DELL'AIA

US UNHAPPY WITH HAGUE COOPERATION
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 ( Fonet) The US is dissatisfied with
Belgrade's attempts to cooperate with The Hague Tribunal
and to reform the Yugoslav Army, Dragoljub Micunovic said
today. Micunovic, speaker of the lower house of the
Yugoslav parliament, told FoNet news agency that Washington
"wants the pace of reform to be stepped up - above all
cooperation with The Hague Tribunal and reform of the
army."
He claimed that during the recent visit to the US, officials
of the Bush administration had voiced readiness to resume
economic aid and political support for reform in Yugoslavia.
Micunovic predicted that "certain people" indicted by
The Hague Tribunal could find themselves in the Netherlands
before the end of this month. There is a political will in
Belgrade to establish concrete cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,
said Micunovic.

VIOLENTO ATTACCO DELLA DEL PONTE A KOSTUNICA

KOSTUNICA PROTECTING MLADIC, SAYS CHIEF PROSECUTOR
ROME, Feb 9 ( B92) Hague Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte
yesterday accused Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica of
protecting former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic,
indicted on charges of genocide.
"The case against Mladic is self-evident. We know were he
is, in Belgrade, we know his address and we have proof that
he is there," Del Ponte told Italian news agency ANSA.
The prosecutor alleged that Kostunica had ordered he not be
arrested due to fear of offending the army and had even
given him an eighty-man guard. "It is a totally intolerable
situation. Kostunica agreed that there must be a cooperation
law established between Belgrade and the tribunal, but this
is just a pretext: the bill that I saw makes further
cooperation even more difficult," Del Ponte added.

ANCHE PITIC D'ACCORDO: FACCIAMO TUTTO QUELLO CHE VOGLIONO LORO

PITIC: WE PROMISED US WE WOULD ADOPT LAW ON COOPERATION
WITH ICTY
BELGRADE, Feb 10 (Tanjug) - Serbian Minister for International
Economic Relations, Goran Pitic, said on Sunday that our
country had promised the US authorities it would adopt a law
on cooperation with the ICTY, and pointed out that the law
had not yet been adopted.
Pitic said that represented a serious problem in efforts
which were being made in trying to make the United States
list our country among the most privileged countries in trade
with them. Pitic told the Belgrade BK TV that our delegation
had not just taken part in the Forum, but had also used the
opportunity to meet with some US congressmen, and other
influential people, including Secretary of Trade John Evans,
and tried to get them interested in investing into our
country.