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German Foreign Minister Calls for Permanent German Troop
Occupation of Yugoslavia
Fischer Warns: Yugoslavs Must Acquire Democratic Culture to Relate to
Germany
Prof. Chossudovsky Comments: US Accepts German Domination in Yugoslavia
Berlin (AP)Oct. 11, 2000
[Emperor's Clothes note: The following has been translated from the
printout of a German
language 'Associated Press' dispatch. For more details, see end of
article]
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, addressing Parliament on
Wednesday, expressed
his opinion that Germany should not only provide material help to
Yugoslavia but that the
Bundeswehr and non-military organizations should establish a permanent
presence there. He
declared that this was a unique chance to create a democracy in the
context of further
European unification.
Reunited Germany has a special responsibility for stabilizing democracy
in Serbia. Democracy,
said Mr. Fischer, is the basis for a lasting peace in the Balkans. But
the priority is for the
moment that the democratic changes be carried out peacefully and that
justice prevail. The
Western Balkans is a part of the European comprehensive responsibility.
It was truly correct at the time to stop Slobodan Milosevich's policy of
Greater Serbia and to
engage oneself on the side of the democratic opposition, says Joschka
Fischer. Now the bloody
murdering in the Balkans can be stopped. The Stability Pact has to be
used, among other things,
for the clearing of the Danube. Also democratic culture has to be built
up [in Serbia] to make
possible the normalization of relations between Germany and Serbia. The
first steps have been
taken through the lifting of the oil and the flight embargoes by the
European Union. Now
Serbia can be accompanied on its route toward Europe. In the words of
Fischer, all those who
have made themselves guilty of grave crimes have to be brought to
justice.
[Note: Original German text will be posted as soon as possible at
http://emperors-clothes.com/german/bundeswehr.htm ]
German Domination Slated for Yugoslavia
Interview with Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University
of
Ottawa. Prof. Chossudovsky studies and writes about the effects of
International Monetary
Fund/NATO penetration of countries in transition.
Interview conducted by Max Sinclair
Sinclair: Some supporters of Kostunica are arguing, or hoping, that
somehow he can maneuver
around the United States because he has ties to Europe. That Europe is
getting away from US
domination and wants to be independent.
Chossudovsky: I think they're very naïve in that belief. Berlin and
Washington are working
hand in hand in this situation. They coordinate their respective foreign
policy initiatives.
Germany's secret service, the Bbundesnachrichten Dienst (BND)
collaborated closely with the
CIA in the various stages of the 78 day bombing of Yugoslavia, and also
after the bombing.
Everything indicates that what they want is to transform Yugoslavia into
a German
protectorate with German troops (and the Deutschmark) stationed on
Yugoslav soil, within
Germany's "lebensraum". This has been the fate of the other former
republics of Yugoslavia
including Macedonia and Croatia.
In Montenegro and Kosovo the Deutschmark has been established as legal
tender. In Kosovo
Germany's Commerzbank controls the entire commercial banking system. At
the same time it
is the Washington Group, which is a US Transnational linked up with the
US defence industry,
which controls the Trepca mines in northern Kosovo.
The Americans and their British allies have their eyes on Central Asia;
that is the deal. The
Caspian Sea basin and Central Asia are American territory. BP-AMOCO and
ARCO, the
world's largest Anglo-American oil consortium, is the major player in
the Caspian oil fields.
NATO's role, through GUUAM, the NATO-sponsored military alliance in this
area, is to
protect the pipeline routes from the Caucasus through the Balkans.
Germany is not an important player in the oil business. In return for
the US and Britain getting
the Caspian Sea Basin and Central Asia, Germany gets the Balkans and
parts of Eastern
Europe. The US and Germany seem to have agreed on this division of
territory and their
respective spheres of influence.
Sinclair: So they are fully united?
Chossudovsky: United in some regards, divided in others. There is a
major split between
Germany and the US in the defence industry. We see two competing defence
conglomerates.
The powerful Deutsche Aerospace which is part of Daimler is now allied
with France's
Aerospatiale Matra. In turn, British Aerospace is integrated into the US
military industrial
complex. It is in close relationship with major US defence contractors.
In other words the Western defence industry is split in two; the
Anglo-American axis and the
Franco-German axis. Incidentally in the oil business the Anglo-Americans
are also
competing with the French-Belgian-Italian consortium,
El-Aquitaine-Petrofina-ENI, which
also has links to the Iranian and Russian Oil companies.
Dinkic Attempts to Control Central Bank for the IMF
Chossudovsky: With regard to Yugoslavia, what they want is to impose the
Deutschmark,
which means Germany would dominate the monetary system. This requires
controlling the
Central Bank.
I think the biggest stake in Yugoslavia right now is over who does
control the Central Bank.
It appears that Mr. Mladjan Dinkic of the G17 group of economists has
assumed control of the
Bank. He has done this on behalf of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF)
If Yugoslavia is to retain national sovereignty, it is absolutely
essential that it regains
sovereignty over its bank and therefore its monetary policy. If
Kostunica and Dinkic and the
G-17 can hand over the Central Bank to the IMF, then the German banks
will come in as they
did in Kosovo and Bosnia . The IMF then acquires de facto control and
then we have a colonial
situation regardless of what might happen in the arena of party
politics. In other words, if the
IMF, through the G-17 economists, has control of the Central Bank in the
person of Mr.
Dinkic, then they control part of the key power in the country. If they
also get the position of
Finance Minister they have it all.
Mr. Dinkic appears to have assumed the functions of a Central Bank
governor without the
legally required parliamentary assent. There is evidence, publicly
available, that the IMF has
already begun wrecking the monetary system. For Yugoslavia to retain
sovereignty, its
monetary policy must be controlled by those answerable to parliament,
not to the IMF. This
means removing the Central Bank from Dinkic and his associates.
With regard to Yugoslavia the US, Germany and France collaborate.
Sinclair: The other day I read an article which suggested that Kostunica
has the backing of
France and so he can therefore play an independent role.
Chossudovsky: France and German go together. As I mentioned, their
defense industries are
fully integrated now. There's very close collaboration between the two.
That is the new axis.
France, Germany and Italy, on one side, and Britain and America on the
other.
Sinclair: So does this mean there is hope that the Serbs will be
protected from the U.S. by
France and Germany?
Chossudovsky: They won't; no no, they won't. Of course, there are many
disagreements and
conflicts between Germany and the US. In Albania, the Germans supported
the Democrats
and the US supported the Socialists. The Germans lost out. Germany's
giant mining
consortium Preussag, lost out to an Anglo-American mining company when
the Socialists
came in. Albania is one of the world's largest producers of chrome, you
see.
But with regard to Yugoslavia the US and German sides fully collaborate.
And mind you, the International Monetary Fund is run by a German now.
Let's be clear: in the
Balkans and Eastern Europe, the IMF is just as much an instrument of
German domination as
it is of American domination.
And then of course there are the historical implications of Germany once
more occupying
Yugoslavia. This of course has been an established goal of the German
Empire, including
during W.W.II.
Sinclair: Before we conclude could you talk a bit more about United
States and Central Asia?
Chossudovsky: Well the United States has extended into the Caucasus and
the Central Asian
Republics of the former Soviet Union; it also has its eyes on China.
Since the Asian crisis and
the IMF bailout in 1997, South Korea is becoming into a full fledged
colony of the US. The
powerful Korean business conglomerates (Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo, Kia)
are being taken
over by U.S. financial interests. The Germans, including Deutsche Bank
and Commerzbank,
are also present in Korea, picking up the pieces. The US has 38,000
troops in Korea. The
Korean economy is being ransacked.
***
The Case of the Reluctant News Report
As far as we know, the 'AP' dispatch posted above was only distributed
in German. A reader
spotted it at Yahoo.com's German language site and emailed us his
English translation of an
excerpt as well as the web address where he'd found it. Following his
instructions we went to
http://de.news.yahoo.com/4/ and did a search for "Fischer will
Jugoslawien mit Bundeswehr
helfen" [Fischer wants Army to help Yugoslavia]. This took us to the web
address
"http://de.news.yahoo.com/001011/12/14aun.html" The url we there had the
right title, but the
link didn't work. The other links on the page worked fine. We contacted
a friend in Germany
who has access to 'AP' . He got a printout of the actual news dispatch
and sent us the text in
German and translated it to English. We will post the original German
soon.
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[Emperor's Clothes]
Further Reading
'U.S. Arrogance and Yugoslav Elections' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm
'The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm
'Yugoslav Coup Unravels' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/szamuely/unravels.htm
Two interviews relate first hand experience with the DOS terror:
* These Dindjic people are brown shirts' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/djindjic.htm
An interview conducted after the Oct. 5 coup
* 'On the list, they had me marked as a nationalist' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/onthelist.htm
Interview conducted before the Oct. 5 coup
---
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTS IN YUGOSLAVIA: STRUGGLE CONTINUES
DESPITE
SETBACK IN BELGRADE
By Sara Flounders and John Catalinotto
11 Oct 2000--Faced with enormous pressure from the United States and its
NATO allies, a demonstration of 200,000 people in Belgrade demanding
that
he step down, and violent attacks by smaller organized paramilitary
units,
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic resigned Oct. 6.
These events pose two questions of vital importance for the
working-class,
anti-war and progressive movements around the world.
The first is: Which side are you on? Was this a people's victory, as
the
corporate media claim, or a setback for the working class in Yugoslavia
and
worldwide?
The second question determines the outcome of this ongoing struggle:
Which
class will control the state--that is, the army, the police, the laws
and
the courts? Will the international capitalist class that controls the
World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the big investment banks and
the
multinational corporations also control all the levers of economic and
political life in Yugoslavia?
The mass demonstration gave the developments the appearance of a
revolutionary uprising. But it was a false appearance, for the event
was a
NATO-backed counter-revolutionary coup that is still incomplete and can
be
resisted.
NATO LEADERS CHEER KOSTUNICA
The most obvious indication of the character of what happened came from
the
leaders of the NATO countries that carried out the brutal 11-week
bombing
campaign against Yugoslavia last year. The wild cheering by U.S.
President
Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, British Prime
Minister
Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Green Party
Foreign
Minister Joshka Fischer should clarify the significance of last week's
events for anyone who thought that the vote for Vojislav Kostunica or
the
upheaval in Belgrade was a victory for democracy.
Drunk with their apparent success and anxious to take credit for it,
politicians from Washington to Berlin are now bragging about their
organized efforts to overturn the Milosevic government.
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:
"Oct. 7, 2000 (Reuters)--Germany said on Saturday it had supported the
Yugoslav opposition with millions of marks in financial aid.
"Norway also said it had helped fund the Yugoslav opposition's election
campaign, which led to victory by opposition candidate Vojislav
Kostunica
and soon afterwards to the overthrow of strongman President Slobodan
Milosevic.
"[The German weekly] Der Spiegel said around $30 million, mostly from
the
United States, was channeled through an office in Budapest.
"Another 45 million marks ($20 million) from Germany and other Western
states went to cities that were under opposition control. Der Spiegel
said
the Foreign Ministry sent around 17 million marks through 16 German
towns,
which also contributed."
"Oct. 9, 2000 (Agence France Presse)--The chairman of the U.S. Joint
Chiefs
of Staff, General Henry Shelton, praised Bulgaria on Monday for helping
bring about the downfall of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic."
Their tactics included pumping tens of millions of dollars into
opposition
parties in a starving economy distorted by eight years of sanctions.
Behind
this were open military threats to use NATO bombs and troops stationed
in
surrounding countries if Milosevic won, and well-advertised promises to
end
the sanctions and begin an era of peace and prosperity if Kostunica was
elected.
Kostunica is a minor anti-communist politician and professor of
constitutional law backed by 18 small and completely divergent parties
that
Washington cobbled together into the "Democratic Opposition of Serbia"
with
funds and arm- twisting. Kostunica ran on the economic program of the
Group
of 17, drafted by economists in Yugoslavia who work for the IMF and
World
Bank. Their "solutions" for Yugoslavia involve ending free medical care
and
all subsidies for rent, food and transportation.
They would transform the whole economy, with most industries rapidly
privatized and the profitable ones sold cheaply to foreign investors.
Even
in far more prosperous economies, this shock treatment has resulted in
massive layoffs.
One can look at how the living standards for the workers of
Yugoslavia's
neighbors, Romania and Bulgaria, plummeted after they opened their
economies to the imperialist banks and followed IMF rules.
But that seems to be exactly what Kostunica's forces have in mind.
Reuters
reported Oct. 10 that DOS economist Miroljub Labus said the IMF would
allow
Yugoslavia into the fold by Dec. 14 if the opposition forms its
government
soon.
ROLE OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY
Despite many concessions and compromises, Milosevic's Socialist Party
of
Serbia has struggled to maintain the independence of Yugoslavia. This
earned it the animosity of imperialist reaction worldwide. For 10 years
the
U.S. and European Union imperialists made every possible effort to
dismember the Yugoslav Socialist Federation and wipe out even the
memory of
this multinational state--while the SPS and its partner, the Yugoslav
United Left, resisted.
The corporate media demonized Milosevic, calling him a dictator. But he
and
his party were elected to their leadership role in Yugoslavia, won
respect
for leading the heroic Yugoslav people during the 11 weeks of fighting
NATO
aggression, and defended the Yugoslav economy from imperialist
penetration.
It's true that the SPS lost the active support of the working class,
its
original base. The party has so far been unable to mobilize street
demonstrations to defend itself while under attack. Still, Milosevic
won 2
million votes and the SPS still legally leads important parliamentary
bodies, including the Federal Yugoslav and Serb parliaments.
But it would be foolish to believe that Washington and its clients in
Yugoslavia will limit their tactics to parliamentary legality.
BATTLE FOR STATE POWER
In a period of peaceful competition and discussion, the 18 DOS parties
backing Kostunica would rapidly split apart. Kostunica is a monarchist
and
Serb nationalist, while other parties in the coalition are
anti-monarchist
and fight for independence for the provinces of Vojvodina and Sandja
from
Serbia.
In addition, any long period of peaceful political competition would
prove
Kostunica's economic program a bigger disaster for the Yugoslav workers
than the sanctions. And the inevitable evaporation of Yugoslav and Serb
sovereignty would outrage many of his current supporters.
That's why Washington and its agents are switching rapidly to
extralegal
methods to take over the whole state apparatus. They have targeted
essential government ministries, especially state security, police and
banking, and the entire media apparatus, while violently attacking the
SPS
and other left parties.
In the elections the Socialist Party and the United Left won control of
both houses of the Federal Parliament. Under the Yugoslav Constitution,
Parliament is legally more important than the presidency, a figurehead
position. Even more influential is the left-led Serb Parliament, which
the
DOS government has now maneuvered into calling new elections for
December.
The imperialist strategists are pushing to move quickly to command the
whole state, which also means purging the leadership of the police and
destroying the Yugoslav Army, which is rooted in the 1945 socialist
revolution and the anti-Nazi Partisan struggle.
Without an armed apparatus to defend themselves, the people and
especially
the workers of Yugoslavia will be at the mercy of the imperialist
bankers
and industrialists, who have NATO forces in Kosovo and surrounding
countries and their own agents in Belgrade.
IMPERIALISM'S EXTRALEGAL GANGS
The anti-Milosevic gangs have also attacked left parties and government
centers. Velimir Ilic, the mayor of Cacac and a deserter who refused to
cooperate with the Yugoslav Army during last year's resistance to NATO,
boa
sted to the New York Times that he organized anti-Milosevic commandos.
Ilic said: "We established a team of young professionals, paratroopers
from
the Yugoslav Army and young policemen, and we coordinated this with the
most elite units of the Interior Ministry Police in Belgrade. We got
martial arts experts and professional boxers to join us. We even had
plainclothes police coordinating with nearby towns."
Ilic told Agence France-Presse he had 2,000 people and that some were
armed. "A number of us had bulletproof vests and arms," he said. "Our
goal
was very clear, take control of the key institutions of the regime,
including parliament and the television." He didn't say if they were
paid,
and if so, where he got the money. But he claimed his forces, dressed
in
police uniforms, opened Parliament and sowed confusion in the police
ranks.
Inside, he introduced his gang to Zoran Djindjic, Kostunica's campaign
manager.
According to Michel Collon, correspondent of the Belgian weekly
Solidaire
reporting from Belgrade, Djindjic coordinated the attacks on Parliament
and
Serbian television. Djindjic used threats and pressure against
journalists
to take over the major public television, radio and print media,
including
the daily newspaper Politika.
Djindjic's gangsters also vandalized and wrecked the Belgrade
headquarters
of the SPS and the smaller New Communist Party of Yugoslavia shortly
after
the seizure of Parliament. In addition, homes of SPS activists have
been
burned in and near Belgrade, and there have been even more serious
incidents in the provinces.
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
On Oct. 10, the DOS leadership made an agreement with the Socialist
People's Party of Montenegro to make that party's leader, Pedrag
Bulatovic,
the new premier in the Federal Parliament of Yugoslavia. Bulatovic said
his
party, which had been aligned with Milosevic's SPS, wanted to form a
government with the DOS which "balances political forces in the federal
parliament."
Another dozen paragraphs would be needed to explain all the possible
parliamentary maneuvering. But this is really secondary. Washington and
its
agents will use every kind of pressure on individuals, political
parties
and the population as a whole to keep peaceful democratic competition
from
reversing its counter-revolution.
Collon and other reporters in Belgrade have noted that the population
was
disgusted by the burning of Parliament and the other violence. "Even
the
Kostunica supporters say they voted for a better life, not for
revenge."
But if the police and army withdraw from keeping order, only the active
organization of the left can defend its positions.
Yugoslavia's defense minister, Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, urged the SPS to
rally. In an open letter, Ojdanic warned the Serbs might otherwise face
extinction as a people. He said that "disunity among the Serbs is
inciting
the plans of our proven enemies" to occupy the country, referring to
NATO's
ties to the DOS.
Here in the United States it's important first that the left understand
that what happened Oct. 5-6 was a setback for the workers and for
Yugoslavia's sovereignty. What is called for is active solidarity with
those in Yugoslavia who continue to resist these counter-revolu tionary
developments, whether they be in the SPS, the other left parties, the
unions, or the army and the police.
Imperialism has ripped and clawed its way into a position of
considerable
power in Yugoslavia today. But the struggle continues.
The writers were organizers of this year's June 10 International War
Crimes
Tribunal in New York that exposed U.S./NATO crimes during the 78-day
bombing of Yugoslavia.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
PRESIDENT KOSTUNICA FAVORS NAME SERBIAMONTENEGRO INSTEAD OF
YUGOSLAVIA
PARIS, Oct 14 (Tanjug). Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica
said
in an interview to FigaroMagazine that he would like to have the name
Yugoslavia replaced by SerbiaMontenegro.
"Back in 1992, when (former president Slobodan) Milosevic used
the
name Yugoslavia, I thought that name had become meaningless since the
Croats and Slovenes had left the community of South Slavs. If the
Serbian
and Montenegrin peoples want, we shall annul the name Yugoslavia",
Kostunica told the magazine's Saturday issue.
Kostunica himself favors the name SerbiaMontenegro. "It is a
rather long name, but it is shorter than the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland", he noted.
President Kostunica advocates amending the national
Constitution.
"All aspects of this should be examined keeping in mind the difficulties
in
organizing a community of two members of very different sizes. Perhaps
the
term confederation would be more appropriate", Kostunica said.
"The values of traditional relations between France and Serbia
have been reborn", Kostunica said, adding that "providence itself has
placed France at the head of the European Union precisely at this
decisive
moment for us and Europe".
---
GROUP17PLUS CAN ENTER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ONLY AS TEAM
BELGRADE, Oct 14 (Tanjug). The Group17plus can enter the future
federal government only as a team and this stance is not open to
negotiations, one of the leaders of this nongovernmental organization of
experts Miroljub Labus said.
Group17plus management board director and "acting" federal
prime
minister told Belgrade daily Blic that his thinktank would not bargain
on
this issue and that it would be no tragedy not to be a part of state
institutions.
"If we get an opportunity to form a government and take part in
reforms we shall do so as a team. If not, we shall continue to work
as a nongovernmental organization", Labus said.
According to Labus, the goal of the Group17plus is not to get
premiership or ministerial posts, but to open the country and create
normal
economic conditions as soon as possible to help people have a better
standard of living.
Labus described as rather successful the results the group has
achieved so far, adding that its present activities are geared for
maintaining a stable economic system. He underlined, however, that the
formation of a new government is a top priority, regardless of the
identity
of the future prime minister.
---
DS OFFICIAL SAYS YUGOSLAVIA, SERBIA NEED GOVERNMENTS OF EXPERTS
BELGRADE, Oct 13 (Tanjug) The Democratic Opposition of Serbia
(DOS) will not give up efforts to form governments of experts in Serbia
and
Yugoslavia capable of dealing with the accumulated problems, according
to a
DOS official on Friday.
"Yugoslavia must get a new government soon, if it is to be
included in international institutions, such as the International
Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the Balkan Stability Pact", Boris Tadic, vicepresident of
the Democratic Party (DS), which is a member of DOS, told a news
conference.
Tadic explained that, in this way, the state would regulate its
foreign indebtedness and obtain new credits necessary for
reconstruction.
"Foreign investors are showing great interest in the Yugoslav
economy. If we delay and procrastinate, they will turn away," he warned.
He added that those who are obstructing the formation of new
governments are blocking the start of economic reforms and of settling
numerous problems.
He went on to say that the deadline set by DOS to the Socialist
Party of Serbia (SPS) to resume talks on forming governments expires on
Friday, and warned that DOS would again organise protests "not to
destroy,
but to show that we have started building a civic society".
Speaking about cadre changes in the SPS, he said conservatives
and
hardliners had carried the day, as evident from Serbian Premier Mirko
Marjanovic's asking that the SPS, the leading party in this Yugoslav
republic's ruling coalition, keep its grip on the interior ministry.
He said that police officials with whom he had discussed
Marjanovic's request had dismissed it as "tragicomic", the Serbian
premier
having lost all political credibility.
---
YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT KOSTUNICA MEETS FRENCH PRESIDENT CHIRAC
BIARRITZ, Oct 14 (Tanjug). Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica
conferred with French President Jacques Chirac Saturday in Biarritz, on
the
sidelines of the European Union summit.
On his arrival in Biarritz, Kostunica was welcomed by French
Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, who currently chairs the EU.
The informal EU summit has ended with the postponement of a
debate
on key institutional reforms of the EU and amidst uncertain prospects
for
the Middle East peace process.
The arrival of President Kostunica to a working lunch with the
European heads of state or government is considered by the French media
to
be an outstanding event in the otherwise gloomy political atmosphere of
a
conference without any great ambitions or results.
The presence of the Yugoslav president in Biarritz at the
invitation of President Chirac constitutes the first true recognition by
the EU after the lifting of the antiYugoslav sanctions, the French media
said.
On Friday, the first day of the summit, the participants
released
a sum of 200 million euros as emergency aid to Yugoslavia.
---
YUGOSLAVIA -US
O'BRIEN: ENTIRE REGION CAN NOW MOVE FORWARD
PODGORICA, Oct 14 (Tanjug). The special advisor of the US
president for the Balkans James O'Brien said at the end of his brief
visit
to Montenegro that the recent changes in Serbia had removed the
principal
sources of problems and that the entire region can now move forward
towards
building democracy, economic prosperity and integration with Europe.
Following a visit to Belgrade and talks with Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica, O'Brien visited Montenegro's capital Podgorica late
Friday and conferred with President Milo Djukanovic on the current
developments after the change of power in Belgrade.
Djukanovic and O'Brien pointed to the importance of that change
for the transition process and democratization in Serbia, underlining
that
all this would have positive effects also on the reforms underway in
Montenegro and on the stability of the entire region.
It is now essential that the democratic authorities in
Montenegro
and the international community also contribute to the consolidation of
the
new authorities in Belgrade and to channelling the positive democratic
energy to the state institutions in Serbia, they said.
O'Brien said that the talks also focused on the prospects for
negotiating the future status of Montenegro and the future relations
between Serbia and Montenegro.
That process will take time and it will be carried out
simultaneously with the consolidation of democracy in Serbia. It is
essential that democratic Serbia play a role in that process too, he
said.
Asked by the press about a possible referendum on Montenegro's
independence, O'Brien said that Presidents Kostunica and Djukanovic had
both expressed readiness for talks and that both sides have shown
readiness
and will for examining all options for the future of the federation.
The US does not favour independence for Montenegro, as
possibilities exist for talks with the democratic forces in Belgrade,
which
are ready for an open and sincere dialogue. It will take time to iron
out
all differences, but democracy now exists on both sides, paving the way
for
resolving all problems in a democratic spirit, O'Brien said.
---
BULGARIA TODAY – YUGOSLAVIA TOMORROW!
“…and you will pick the fruit of grapevine and of olive tree you have
not
planted…”
The Old Testament
Today “SEGA”* screams from its first page: “EVERY SECOND BULGARIAN
MOTHER
BANISHES HER CHILD ABROAD”.
At one of his regular star-performances on the Bulgarian TV only some
days
ago, the USA deputy in Bulgaria, Governor Richard Miles, consoled
fatherly
the Bulgarians advising them not to cry about the young emigrants. “They
will come back, enriched with the experience, accumulated in the USA
when
life in Bulgaria gets better.”
Who drives the children of Bulgaria away?
The one who turned our life in hell the last ten years!
The young emigrants were the hope of our country, they are its
intellectual
treasure, created by their parents efforts and the efforts of the whole
society! That unique human potential has been built in the course of the
years through the Bulgarian social, health and educational systems –
deliberately and thouroughly annihilated today!
And now that same insatiate cannibal, who has plundered our country and
life, is most cynically consuming the children of Bulgaria without
having
invested even half a cent or a minimal effort to give them birth, to
raise
or educate them!
And later he will use them as janissaries for the full extermination of
their birth cradle – Bulgaria!
The cynicism of Governor Miles can be measured only with that of a rich
slave-owner from the South states – The United States now are acquiring
a
quality offspring raised in a foreign farm!
Why should Governor Miles “improve” life in the USA protectorate
Bulgaria?
And for whom, in fact, the USA Special Forces, IMF and WB, are
conducting
here their deadly “reforms” ruining both our people and Homeland?
After some years there will not be any young people here – there will
not be
children! And the old ones will be dead…
Don’t deceive yourselves: the rape of our Homeland is carried out only
and
solely in the interest of the Metropolis Beyond the Ocean and the
colonial
servants here, called a “political elite” – nobody knows why!
Madlen Kircheva, Blagovesta Doncheva
October 9, 2000 - Sofia, Bulgaria
(We have sent it to ALL Bulgarian media.
It was not published.
Surely the Slave-merchant Miles has said: "No! No! No!")
> http://emperors-clothes.com/news/occupation2.htm
German Foreign Minister Calls for Permanent German Troop
Occupation of Yugoslavia
Fischer Warns: Yugoslavs Must Acquire Democratic Culture to Relate to
Germany
Prof. Chossudovsky Comments: US Accepts German Domination in Yugoslavia
Berlin (AP)Oct. 11, 2000
[Emperor's Clothes note: The following has been translated from the
printout of a German
language 'Associated Press' dispatch. For more details, see end of
article]
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, addressing Parliament on
Wednesday, expressed
his opinion that Germany should not only provide material help to
Yugoslavia but that the
Bundeswehr and non-military organizations should establish a permanent
presence there. He
declared that this was a unique chance to create a democracy in the
context of further
European unification.
Reunited Germany has a special responsibility for stabilizing democracy
in Serbia. Democracy,
said Mr. Fischer, is the basis for a lasting peace in the Balkans. But
the priority is for the
moment that the democratic changes be carried out peacefully and that
justice prevail. The
Western Balkans is a part of the European comprehensive responsibility.
It was truly correct at the time to stop Slobodan Milosevich's policy of
Greater Serbia and to
engage oneself on the side of the democratic opposition, says Joschka
Fischer. Now the bloody
murdering in the Balkans can be stopped. The Stability Pact has to be
used, among other things,
for the clearing of the Danube. Also democratic culture has to be built
up [in Serbia] to make
possible the normalization of relations between Germany and Serbia. The
first steps have been
taken through the lifting of the oil and the flight embargoes by the
European Union. Now
Serbia can be accompanied on its route toward Europe. In the words of
Fischer, all those who
have made themselves guilty of grave crimes have to be brought to
justice.
[Note: Original German text will be posted as soon as possible at
http://emperors-clothes.com/german/bundeswehr.htm ]
German Domination Slated for Yugoslavia
Interview with Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University
of
Ottawa. Prof. Chossudovsky studies and writes about the effects of
International Monetary
Fund/NATO penetration of countries in transition.
Interview conducted by Max Sinclair
Sinclair: Some supporters of Kostunica are arguing, or hoping, that
somehow he can maneuver
around the United States because he has ties to Europe. That Europe is
getting away from US
domination and wants to be independent.
Chossudovsky: I think they're very naïve in that belief. Berlin and
Washington are working
hand in hand in this situation. They coordinate their respective foreign
policy initiatives.
Germany's secret service, the Bbundesnachrichten Dienst (BND)
collaborated closely with the
CIA in the various stages of the 78 day bombing of Yugoslavia, and also
after the bombing.
Everything indicates that what they want is to transform Yugoslavia into
a German
protectorate with German troops (and the Deutschmark) stationed on
Yugoslav soil, within
Germany's "lebensraum". This has been the fate of the other former
republics of Yugoslavia
including Macedonia and Croatia.
In Montenegro and Kosovo the Deutschmark has been established as legal
tender. In Kosovo
Germany's Commerzbank controls the entire commercial banking system. At
the same time it
is the Washington Group, which is a US Transnational linked up with the
US defence industry,
which controls the Trepca mines in northern Kosovo.
The Americans and their British allies have their eyes on Central Asia;
that is the deal. The
Caspian Sea basin and Central Asia are American territory. BP-AMOCO and
ARCO, the
world's largest Anglo-American oil consortium, is the major player in
the Caspian oil fields.
NATO's role, through GUUAM, the NATO-sponsored military alliance in this
area, is to
protect the pipeline routes from the Caucasus through the Balkans.
Germany is not an important player in the oil business. In return for
the US and Britain getting
the Caspian Sea Basin and Central Asia, Germany gets the Balkans and
parts of Eastern
Europe. The US and Germany seem to have agreed on this division of
territory and their
respective spheres of influence.
Sinclair: So they are fully united?
Chossudovsky: United in some regards, divided in others. There is a
major split between
Germany and the US in the defence industry. We see two competing defence
conglomerates.
The powerful Deutsche Aerospace which is part of Daimler is now allied
with France's
Aerospatiale Matra. In turn, British Aerospace is integrated into the US
military industrial
complex. It is in close relationship with major US defence contractors.
In other words the Western defence industry is split in two; the
Anglo-American axis and the
Franco-German axis. Incidentally in the oil business the Anglo-Americans
are also
competing with the French-Belgian-Italian consortium,
El-Aquitaine-Petrofina-ENI, which
also has links to the Iranian and Russian Oil companies.
Dinkic Attempts to Control Central Bank for the IMF
Chossudovsky: With regard to Yugoslavia, what they want is to impose the
Deutschmark,
which means Germany would dominate the monetary system. This requires
controlling the
Central Bank.
I think the biggest stake in Yugoslavia right now is over who does
control the Central Bank.
It appears that Mr. Mladjan Dinkic of the G17 group of economists has
assumed control of the
Bank. He has done this on behalf of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF)
If Yugoslavia is to retain national sovereignty, it is absolutely
essential that it regains
sovereignty over its bank and therefore its monetary policy. If
Kostunica and Dinkic and the
G-17 can hand over the Central Bank to the IMF, then the German banks
will come in as they
did in Kosovo and Bosnia . The IMF then acquires de facto control and
then we have a colonial
situation regardless of what might happen in the arena of party
politics. In other words, if the
IMF, through the G-17 economists, has control of the Central Bank in the
person of Mr.
Dinkic, then they control part of the key power in the country. If they
also get the position of
Finance Minister they have it all.
Mr. Dinkic appears to have assumed the functions of a Central Bank
governor without the
legally required parliamentary assent. There is evidence, publicly
available, that the IMF has
already begun wrecking the monetary system. For Yugoslavia to retain
sovereignty, its
monetary policy must be controlled by those answerable to parliament,
not to the IMF. This
means removing the Central Bank from Dinkic and his associates.
With regard to Yugoslavia the US, Germany and France collaborate.
Sinclair: The other day I read an article which suggested that Kostunica
has the backing of
France and so he can therefore play an independent role.
Chossudovsky: France and German go together. As I mentioned, their
defense industries are
fully integrated now. There's very close collaboration between the two.
That is the new axis.
France, Germany and Italy, on one side, and Britain and America on the
other.
Sinclair: So does this mean there is hope that the Serbs will be
protected from the U.S. by
France and Germany?
Chossudovsky: They won't; no no, they won't. Of course, there are many
disagreements and
conflicts between Germany and the US. In Albania, the Germans supported
the Democrats
and the US supported the Socialists. The Germans lost out. Germany's
giant mining
consortium Preussag, lost out to an Anglo-American mining company when
the Socialists
came in. Albania is one of the world's largest producers of chrome, you
see.
But with regard to Yugoslavia the US and German sides fully collaborate.
And mind you, the International Monetary Fund is run by a German now.
Let's be clear: in the
Balkans and Eastern Europe, the IMF is just as much an instrument of
German domination as
it is of American domination.
And then of course there are the historical implications of Germany once
more occupying
Yugoslavia. This of course has been an established goal of the German
Empire, including
during W.W.II.
Sinclair: Before we conclude could you talk a bit more about United
States and Central Asia?
Chossudovsky: Well the United States has extended into the Caucasus and
the Central Asian
Republics of the former Soviet Union; it also has its eyes on China.
Since the Asian crisis and
the IMF bailout in 1997, South Korea is becoming into a full fledged
colony of the US. The
powerful Korean business conglomerates (Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo, Kia)
are being taken
over by U.S. financial interests. The Germans, including Deutsche Bank
and Commerzbank,
are also present in Korea, picking up the pieces. The US has 38,000
troops in Korea. The
Korean economy is being ransacked.
***
The Case of the Reluctant News Report
As far as we know, the 'AP' dispatch posted above was only distributed
in German. A reader
spotted it at Yahoo.com's German language site and emailed us his
English translation of an
excerpt as well as the web address where he'd found it. Following his
instructions we went to
http://de.news.yahoo.com/4/ and did a search for "Fischer will
Jugoslawien mit Bundeswehr
helfen" [Fischer wants Army to help Yugoslavia]. This took us to the web
address
"http://de.news.yahoo.com/001011/12/14aun.html" The url we there had the
right title, but the
link didn't work. The other links on the page worked fine. We contacted
a friend in Germany
who has access to 'AP' . He got a printout of the actual news dispatch
and sent us the text in
German and translated it to English. We will post the original German
soon.
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Thanks for reading Emperor's Clothes. And thanks for helping. It's a
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www.tenc.net
[Emperor's Clothes]
Further Reading
'U.S. Arrogance and Yugoslav Elections' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm
'The International Monetary Fund And The Yugoslav Elections' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm
'Yugoslav Coup Unravels' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/szamuely/unravels.htm
Two interviews relate first hand experience with the DOS terror:
* These Dindjic people are brown shirts' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/djindjic.htm
An interview conducted after the Oct. 5 coup
* 'On the list, they had me marked as a nationalist' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/onthelist.htm
Interview conducted before the Oct. 5 coup
---
COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTS IN YUGOSLAVIA: STRUGGLE CONTINUES
DESPITE
SETBACK IN BELGRADE
By Sara Flounders and John Catalinotto
11 Oct 2000--Faced with enormous pressure from the United States and its
NATO allies, a demonstration of 200,000 people in Belgrade demanding
that
he step down, and violent attacks by smaller organized paramilitary
units,
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic resigned Oct. 6.
These events pose two questions of vital importance for the
working-class,
anti-war and progressive movements around the world.
The first is: Which side are you on? Was this a people's victory, as
the
corporate media claim, or a setback for the working class in Yugoslavia
and
worldwide?
The second question determines the outcome of this ongoing struggle:
Which
class will control the state--that is, the army, the police, the laws
and
the courts? Will the international capitalist class that controls the
World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the big investment banks and
the
multinational corporations also control all the levers of economic and
political life in Yugoslavia?
The mass demonstration gave the developments the appearance of a
revolutionary uprising. But it was a false appearance, for the event
was a
NATO-backed counter-revolutionary coup that is still incomplete and can
be
resisted.
NATO LEADERS CHEER KOSTUNICA
The most obvious indication of the character of what happened came from
the
leaders of the NATO countries that carried out the brutal 11-week
bombing
campaign against Yugoslavia last year. The wild cheering by U.S.
President
Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, British Prime
Minister
Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Green Party
Foreign
Minister Joshka Fischer should clarify the significance of last week's
events for anyone who thought that the vote for Vojislav Kostunica or
the
upheaval in Belgrade was a victory for democracy.
Drunk with their apparent success and anxious to take credit for it,
politicians from Washington to Berlin are now bragging about their
organized efforts to overturn the Milosevic government.
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:
"Oct. 7, 2000 (Reuters)--Germany said on Saturday it had supported the
Yugoslav opposition with millions of marks in financial aid.
"Norway also said it had helped fund the Yugoslav opposition's election
campaign, which led to victory by opposition candidate Vojislav
Kostunica
and soon afterwards to the overthrow of strongman President Slobodan
Milosevic.
"[The German weekly] Der Spiegel said around $30 million, mostly from
the
United States, was channeled through an office in Budapest.
"Another 45 million marks ($20 million) from Germany and other Western
states went to cities that were under opposition control. Der Spiegel
said
the Foreign Ministry sent around 17 million marks through 16 German
towns,
which also contributed."
"Oct. 9, 2000 (Agence France Presse)--The chairman of the U.S. Joint
Chiefs
of Staff, General Henry Shelton, praised Bulgaria on Monday for helping
bring about the downfall of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic."
Their tactics included pumping tens of millions of dollars into
opposition
parties in a starving economy distorted by eight years of sanctions.
Behind
this were open military threats to use NATO bombs and troops stationed
in
surrounding countries if Milosevic won, and well-advertised promises to
end
the sanctions and begin an era of peace and prosperity if Kostunica was
elected.
Kostunica is a minor anti-communist politician and professor of
constitutional law backed by 18 small and completely divergent parties
that
Washington cobbled together into the "Democratic Opposition of Serbia"
with
funds and arm- twisting. Kostunica ran on the economic program of the
Group
of 17, drafted by economists in Yugoslavia who work for the IMF and
World
Bank. Their "solutions" for Yugoslavia involve ending free medical care
and
all subsidies for rent, food and transportation.
They would transform the whole economy, with most industries rapidly
privatized and the profitable ones sold cheaply to foreign investors.
Even
in far more prosperous economies, this shock treatment has resulted in
massive layoffs.
One can look at how the living standards for the workers of
Yugoslavia's
neighbors, Romania and Bulgaria, plummeted after they opened their
economies to the imperialist banks and followed IMF rules.
But that seems to be exactly what Kostunica's forces have in mind.
Reuters
reported Oct. 10 that DOS economist Miroljub Labus said the IMF would
allow
Yugoslavia into the fold by Dec. 14 if the opposition forms its
government
soon.
ROLE OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY
Despite many concessions and compromises, Milosevic's Socialist Party
of
Serbia has struggled to maintain the independence of Yugoslavia. This
earned it the animosity of imperialist reaction worldwide. For 10 years
the
U.S. and European Union imperialists made every possible effort to
dismember the Yugoslav Socialist Federation and wipe out even the
memory of
this multinational state--while the SPS and its partner, the Yugoslav
United Left, resisted.
The corporate media demonized Milosevic, calling him a dictator. But he
and
his party were elected to their leadership role in Yugoslavia, won
respect
for leading the heroic Yugoslav people during the 11 weeks of fighting
NATO
aggression, and defended the Yugoslav economy from imperialist
penetration.
It's true that the SPS lost the active support of the working class,
its
original base. The party has so far been unable to mobilize street
demonstrations to defend itself while under attack. Still, Milosevic
won 2
million votes and the SPS still legally leads important parliamentary
bodies, including the Federal Yugoslav and Serb parliaments.
But it would be foolish to believe that Washington and its clients in
Yugoslavia will limit their tactics to parliamentary legality.
BATTLE FOR STATE POWER
In a period of peaceful competition and discussion, the 18 DOS parties
backing Kostunica would rapidly split apart. Kostunica is a monarchist
and
Serb nationalist, while other parties in the coalition are
anti-monarchist
and fight for independence for the provinces of Vojvodina and Sandja
from
Serbia.
In addition, any long period of peaceful political competition would
prove
Kostunica's economic program a bigger disaster for the Yugoslav workers
than the sanctions. And the inevitable evaporation of Yugoslav and Serb
sovereignty would outrage many of his current supporters.
That's why Washington and its agents are switching rapidly to
extralegal
methods to take over the whole state apparatus. They have targeted
essential government ministries, especially state security, police and
banking, and the entire media apparatus, while violently attacking the
SPS
and other left parties.
In the elections the Socialist Party and the United Left won control of
both houses of the Federal Parliament. Under the Yugoslav Constitution,
Parliament is legally more important than the presidency, a figurehead
position. Even more influential is the left-led Serb Parliament, which
the
DOS government has now maneuvered into calling new elections for
December.
The imperialist strategists are pushing to move quickly to command the
whole state, which also means purging the leadership of the police and
destroying the Yugoslav Army, which is rooted in the 1945 socialist
revolution and the anti-Nazi Partisan struggle.
Without an armed apparatus to defend themselves, the people and
especially
the workers of Yugoslavia will be at the mercy of the imperialist
bankers
and industrialists, who have NATO forces in Kosovo and surrounding
countries and their own agents in Belgrade.
IMPERIALISM'S EXTRALEGAL GANGS
The anti-Milosevic gangs have also attacked left parties and government
centers. Velimir Ilic, the mayor of Cacac and a deserter who refused to
cooperate with the Yugoslav Army during last year's resistance to NATO,
boa
sted to the New York Times that he organized anti-Milosevic commandos.
Ilic said: "We established a team of young professionals, paratroopers
from
the Yugoslav Army and young policemen, and we coordinated this with the
most elite units of the Interior Ministry Police in Belgrade. We got
martial arts experts and professional boxers to join us. We even had
plainclothes police coordinating with nearby towns."
Ilic told Agence France-Presse he had 2,000 people and that some were
armed. "A number of us had bulletproof vests and arms," he said. "Our
goal
was very clear, take control of the key institutions of the regime,
including parliament and the television." He didn't say if they were
paid,
and if so, where he got the money. But he claimed his forces, dressed
in
police uniforms, opened Parliament and sowed confusion in the police
ranks.
Inside, he introduced his gang to Zoran Djindjic, Kostunica's campaign
manager.
According to Michel Collon, correspondent of the Belgian weekly
Solidaire
reporting from Belgrade, Djindjic coordinated the attacks on Parliament
and
Serbian television. Djindjic used threats and pressure against
journalists
to take over the major public television, radio and print media,
including
the daily newspaper Politika.
Djindjic's gangsters also vandalized and wrecked the Belgrade
headquarters
of the SPS and the smaller New Communist Party of Yugoslavia shortly
after
the seizure of Parliament. In addition, homes of SPS activists have
been
burned in and near Belgrade, and there have been even more serious
incidents in the provinces.
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
On Oct. 10, the DOS leadership made an agreement with the Socialist
People's Party of Montenegro to make that party's leader, Pedrag
Bulatovic,
the new premier in the Federal Parliament of Yugoslavia. Bulatovic said
his
party, which had been aligned with Milosevic's SPS, wanted to form a
government with the DOS which "balances political forces in the federal
parliament."
Another dozen paragraphs would be needed to explain all the possible
parliamentary maneuvering. But this is really secondary. Washington and
its
agents will use every kind of pressure on individuals, political
parties
and the population as a whole to keep peaceful democratic competition
from
reversing its counter-revolution.
Collon and other reporters in Belgrade have noted that the population
was
disgusted by the burning of Parliament and the other violence. "Even
the
Kostunica supporters say they voted for a better life, not for
revenge."
But if the police and army withdraw from keeping order, only the active
organization of the left can defend its positions.
Yugoslavia's defense minister, Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, urged the SPS to
rally. In an open letter, Ojdanic warned the Serbs might otherwise face
extinction as a people. He said that "disunity among the Serbs is
inciting
the plans of our proven enemies" to occupy the country, referring to
NATO's
ties to the DOS.
Here in the United States it's important first that the left understand
that what happened Oct. 5-6 was a setback for the workers and for
Yugoslavia's sovereignty. What is called for is active solidarity with
those in Yugoslavia who continue to resist these counter-revolu tionary
developments, whether they be in the SPS, the other left parties, the
unions, or the army and the police.
Imperialism has ripped and clawed its way into a position of
considerable
power in Yugoslavia today. But the struggle continues.
The writers were organizers of this year's June 10 International War
Crimes
Tribunal in New York that exposed U.S./NATO crimes during the 78-day
bombing of Yugoslavia.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
PRESIDENT KOSTUNICA FAVORS NAME SERBIAMONTENEGRO INSTEAD OF
YUGOSLAVIA
PARIS, Oct 14 (Tanjug). Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica
said
in an interview to FigaroMagazine that he would like to have the name
Yugoslavia replaced by SerbiaMontenegro.
"Back in 1992, when (former president Slobodan) Milosevic used
the
name Yugoslavia, I thought that name had become meaningless since the
Croats and Slovenes had left the community of South Slavs. If the
Serbian
and Montenegrin peoples want, we shall annul the name Yugoslavia",
Kostunica told the magazine's Saturday issue.
Kostunica himself favors the name SerbiaMontenegro. "It is a
rather long name, but it is shorter than the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland", he noted.
President Kostunica advocates amending the national
Constitution.
"All aspects of this should be examined keeping in mind the difficulties
in
organizing a community of two members of very different sizes. Perhaps
the
term confederation would be more appropriate", Kostunica said.
"The values of traditional relations between France and Serbia
have been reborn", Kostunica said, adding that "providence itself has
placed France at the head of the European Union precisely at this
decisive
moment for us and Europe".
---
GROUP17PLUS CAN ENTER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ONLY AS TEAM
BELGRADE, Oct 14 (Tanjug). The Group17plus can enter the future
federal government only as a team and this stance is not open to
negotiations, one of the leaders of this nongovernmental organization of
experts Miroljub Labus said.
Group17plus management board director and "acting" federal
prime
minister told Belgrade daily Blic that his thinktank would not bargain
on
this issue and that it would be no tragedy not to be a part of state
institutions.
"If we get an opportunity to form a government and take part in
reforms we shall do so as a team. If not, we shall continue to work
as a nongovernmental organization", Labus said.
According to Labus, the goal of the Group17plus is not to get
premiership or ministerial posts, but to open the country and create
normal
economic conditions as soon as possible to help people have a better
standard of living.
Labus described as rather successful the results the group has
achieved so far, adding that its present activities are geared for
maintaining a stable economic system. He underlined, however, that the
formation of a new government is a top priority, regardless of the
identity
of the future prime minister.
---
DS OFFICIAL SAYS YUGOSLAVIA, SERBIA NEED GOVERNMENTS OF EXPERTS
BELGRADE, Oct 13 (Tanjug) The Democratic Opposition of Serbia
(DOS) will not give up efforts to form governments of experts in Serbia
and
Yugoslavia capable of dealing with the accumulated problems, according
to a
DOS official on Friday.
"Yugoslavia must get a new government soon, if it is to be
included in international institutions, such as the International
Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the Balkan Stability Pact", Boris Tadic, vicepresident of
the Democratic Party (DS), which is a member of DOS, told a news
conference.
Tadic explained that, in this way, the state would regulate its
foreign indebtedness and obtain new credits necessary for
reconstruction.
"Foreign investors are showing great interest in the Yugoslav
economy. If we delay and procrastinate, they will turn away," he warned.
He added that those who are obstructing the formation of new
governments are blocking the start of economic reforms and of settling
numerous problems.
He went on to say that the deadline set by DOS to the Socialist
Party of Serbia (SPS) to resume talks on forming governments expires on
Friday, and warned that DOS would again organise protests "not to
destroy,
but to show that we have started building a civic society".
Speaking about cadre changes in the SPS, he said conservatives
and
hardliners had carried the day, as evident from Serbian Premier Mirko
Marjanovic's asking that the SPS, the leading party in this Yugoslav
republic's ruling coalition, keep its grip on the interior ministry.
He said that police officials with whom he had discussed
Marjanovic's request had dismissed it as "tragicomic", the Serbian
premier
having lost all political credibility.
---
YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT KOSTUNICA MEETS FRENCH PRESIDENT CHIRAC
BIARRITZ, Oct 14 (Tanjug). Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica
conferred with French President Jacques Chirac Saturday in Biarritz, on
the
sidelines of the European Union summit.
On his arrival in Biarritz, Kostunica was welcomed by French
Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, who currently chairs the EU.
The informal EU summit has ended with the postponement of a
debate
on key institutional reforms of the EU and amidst uncertain prospects
for
the Middle East peace process.
The arrival of President Kostunica to a working lunch with the
European heads of state or government is considered by the French media
to
be an outstanding event in the otherwise gloomy political atmosphere of
a
conference without any great ambitions or results.
The presence of the Yugoslav president in Biarritz at the
invitation of President Chirac constitutes the first true recognition by
the EU after the lifting of the antiYugoslav sanctions, the French media
said.
On Friday, the first day of the summit, the participants
released
a sum of 200 million euros as emergency aid to Yugoslavia.
---
YUGOSLAVIA -US
O'BRIEN: ENTIRE REGION CAN NOW MOVE FORWARD
PODGORICA, Oct 14 (Tanjug). The special advisor of the US
president for the Balkans James O'Brien said at the end of his brief
visit
to Montenegro that the recent changes in Serbia had removed the
principal
sources of problems and that the entire region can now move forward
towards
building democracy, economic prosperity and integration with Europe.
Following a visit to Belgrade and talks with Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica, O'Brien visited Montenegro's capital Podgorica late
Friday and conferred with President Milo Djukanovic on the current
developments after the change of power in Belgrade.
Djukanovic and O'Brien pointed to the importance of that change
for the transition process and democratization in Serbia, underlining
that
all this would have positive effects also on the reforms underway in
Montenegro and on the stability of the entire region.
It is now essential that the democratic authorities in
Montenegro
and the international community also contribute to the consolidation of
the
new authorities in Belgrade and to channelling the positive democratic
energy to the state institutions in Serbia, they said.
O'Brien said that the talks also focused on the prospects for
negotiating the future status of Montenegro and the future relations
between Serbia and Montenegro.
That process will take time and it will be carried out
simultaneously with the consolidation of democracy in Serbia. It is
essential that democratic Serbia play a role in that process too, he
said.
Asked by the press about a possible referendum on Montenegro's
independence, O'Brien said that Presidents Kostunica and Djukanovic had
both expressed readiness for talks and that both sides have shown
readiness
and will for examining all options for the future of the federation.
The US does not favour independence for Montenegro, as
possibilities exist for talks with the democratic forces in Belgrade,
which
are ready for an open and sincere dialogue. It will take time to iron
out
all differences, but democracy now exists on both sides, paving the way
for
resolving all problems in a democratic spirit, O'Brien said.
---
BULGARIA TODAY – YUGOSLAVIA TOMORROW!
“…and you will pick the fruit of grapevine and of olive tree you have
not
planted…”
The Old Testament
Today “SEGA”* screams from its first page: “EVERY SECOND BULGARIAN
MOTHER
BANISHES HER CHILD ABROAD”.
At one of his regular star-performances on the Bulgarian TV only some
days
ago, the USA deputy in Bulgaria, Governor Richard Miles, consoled
fatherly
the Bulgarians advising them not to cry about the young emigrants. “They
will come back, enriched with the experience, accumulated in the USA
when
life in Bulgaria gets better.”
Who drives the children of Bulgaria away?
The one who turned our life in hell the last ten years!
The young emigrants were the hope of our country, they are its
intellectual
treasure, created by their parents efforts and the efforts of the whole
society! That unique human potential has been built in the course of the
years through the Bulgarian social, health and educational systems –
deliberately and thouroughly annihilated today!
And now that same insatiate cannibal, who has plundered our country and
life, is most cynically consuming the children of Bulgaria without
having
invested even half a cent or a minimal effort to give them birth, to
raise
or educate them!
And later he will use them as janissaries for the full extermination of
their birth cradle – Bulgaria!
The cynicism of Governor Miles can be measured only with that of a rich
slave-owner from the South states – The United States now are acquiring
a
quality offspring raised in a foreign farm!
Why should Governor Miles “improve” life in the USA protectorate
Bulgaria?
And for whom, in fact, the USA Special Forces, IMF and WB, are
conducting
here their deadly “reforms” ruining both our people and Homeland?
After some years there will not be any young people here – there will
not be
children! And the old ones will be dead…
Don’t deceive yourselves: the rape of our Homeland is carried out only
and
solely in the interest of the Metropolis Beyond the Ocean and the
colonial
servants here, called a “political elite” – nobody knows why!
Madlen Kircheva, Blagovesta Doncheva
October 9, 2000 - Sofia, Bulgaria
(We have sent it to ALL Bulgarian media.
It was not published.
Surely the Slave-merchant Miles has said: "No! No! No!")