Saturday March 27,1999

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic saw on Saturday Ukrainian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk and Defence Minister marshal Oleksandar Kuzmuk who conveyed to the him Ukrainian President Leonid Kutscma's best regards.

Decisive resistance being offered by Yugoslavia in the defence from the aggressor is supported by the entire freedom-loving world. It is of utmost importance for Ukraine strongly to condemn the US-led Nato aggression. The countries which oppose the use of force in international relations request that Nato immediately end its criminal air-strikes and aggression against FR Yugoslavia. A war has been imposed on this country in which our nation is defending its fatherland, freedom and national dignity. The citizens of Yugoslavia are unitedly determined not to allow the enemies to invade their country at any cost. The nation and armed forces are strongly united in the their efforts invested in deterring the aggressor from reaching its criminal objective. The just fight against the enemies cannot be fruitless. Unavoidable is the responsibility of all those who are on the aggressor's side, President Milosevic said. Nato's criminal attacks on the freedom-loving Yugoslavia is against freedom and peace in the entire world. It is the duty of all free countries to oppose the military self-will of Nato and the US which is violating the UN system and represents the most serious threat to international peace and security after World War Two. As an attacked country, Yugoslavia should be provided all necessary aid. President Milosevic thanked friendly nations and states in the world for their solidarity with and support for this country and nation which is a great encouragement for the just fight we are waging. The President said he was convinced that the forces of peace, fighting for freedom, independence and equality of sovereign states will win over the forces wishing to arrange the world by means of force and crimes against nations not willing to be conquered. The talks were also attended by the Ukrainian ministers' hosts - Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic and Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic as well as Ukrainian ambassador to FR Yugoslavia Vladimir Furkalo.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has addressed an urgent message to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, expressing the Russian leadership's support for the people of Yugoslavia and sharply condemning NATO's aggression, announced the Russian president's press service on Saturday.

The statement says that raised in the message were certain concrete issues concerning the situation in regard to Kosovo-Metohija, but nothing more specific was said.

At a special session, the Russian state Duma passed a resolution on Saturday severely condemning the Nato aggression against Yugoslavia and expressing solidarity with the Yugoslav citizens.

The resolution says that the aggression will destroy the entire system of international security and underlines that Yugoslavia, in compliance with the UN Charter, has the right to individual and collective self-defence. The Duma calls for the immediate cessation of attacks against Yugoslavia and calls on all parliaments in the world to see to it that the bombing stopped. It also seeks the convocation of an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly and an investigation into the Nato crimes by the International Hague Tribunal. The state Duma calls on the Russian president to raise the combat readiness of the Russian Army and to review whether it is sensible to maintain the Russia-Nato agreement.

US President Bill Clinton has ordered the dispatchment of a hundred armed marines to Macedonia, as additional protection for the US embassy in Skopje, which has been the target of demonstrators due to NATO's aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The marines will be dispatched from the "Nasau" ship, and their task, as Clinton explained in a letter to Congress on Saturday, will be "to step up the security of the American embassy and staff" in Skopje. They will stay there for as long as the situation requires it, stressed the US president. He has addressed yet another letter to Congress, informing it that "due to intensified threats", he decided to send reinforcement of the "military personnel" to Macedonia where NATO has built up over 10,000 troops.

Despite a veritable propaganda war, the British government and Prime Minister Tony Blair have not managed to persuade the British to support NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia, announced analysts in London on Saturday.

According to public opinion polls, an overwhelming majority of the British is resolutely against the aggression on Yugoslavia. The greatest opposition is in central and northern Britain, where the local press and radio stations are flooded with citizens' protest letters and telephone calls.

According to analyses of the local press, published by the London "Times", the citizens of Britain consider NATO's aggression to be "a big mistake and to be absolutely unjustified", believing also that the Kosmet crisis is Yugoslavia's internal affair.

The London "Guardian", Prime Minister Blair's faithful support, on Saturday brought into question the government's policy. In its editorial, the newspaper claims that Prime Minister Blair did not manage to convince the British and that "the most difficult" days for him are now approaching.

A commentator of the "Times" observes that, in Friday night's recorded video message, Prime Minister Blair looked like a paid for "advertisement of some humanitarian organization" and that the only thing missing at the end was a jiro account and telephone number for paying in contributions. He reiterated the old falsehoods and manipulation, but he achieved a completely adverse effect.

The leading western powers, headed by the United States, have done everything to prevent the Permanent OSCE Council from adopting a resolution calling on NATO urgently to cease its air strikes against Yugoslavia, the Itar Tass news agency reports on Saturday.

The draft resolution was submitted on Friday by the Russian delegation at an expanded session of the OSCE Council. Reacting to this request, western countries set out the stand that the NATO actions were legal and that it was the Yugoslav leadership, and not NATO, that had violated OSCE principles.

Since the OSCE takes all its decisions by consensus, the Russian delegation's proposal was rejected. Also, reporters were not permitted to hear the Russian delegation's statement.

When the Russian representative took the stand, reporters were ordered to leave the room.

Several hundred Yugoslavs spontaneously rallied in front of the Russian embassy in Paris on Saturday morning.

The rallying took place after the news about Friday night's severe bombing of numerous suburban parts of Belgrade. The rallied citizens were addressed by a representative of the Russian embassy who assured them that Russia strongly condemned the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. He said that the Russian embassy in Paris was following, hour after hour, what was happening in Yugoslavia. French writer and philosopher Daniel Schieffer, who took part in the protest, announced his hunger strike at that same place as of Saturday.

Around 500 people protested in Minsk on Friday night against NATO's criminal aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The demonstrators, primarily from the ranks of Byelorussian communists, chanted CLINTON MURDERER, requesting that Belarus sever diplomatic relations with the United States, to become one state with Russia, to have a unified army, as well as to offer military assistance to Yugoslavia.

At an extraordinary plenary session, the Russian State Duma will discuss the situation regarding the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.

A report will be submitted by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, and the session will be attended by Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov and Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev. The leaders of all factions have reached agreement to condemn, at the Duma's plenary session, NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia, said the leader of the MP group of Vladimir Ruzhkov's movement OUR HOME RUSSIA.

The acts of vandalism being carried out for three days and nights now by NATO forces, will inflict the greatest pain on Yugoslavia, but the victim of this aggression could become the whole world, it is assessed on Saturday in numerous commentaries of world media and analyses of west European experts.

Famous commentator of the International Herald Tribune, William Pfaf. recalls that, already three days ago, the NATO leaders persistently kept saying that the goal of the attack on Yugoslavia was to force Belgrade to sign an agreement with the Kosmet Albanians. Pfaf, however, reveals that the real goal is "to kill as many Serbs as possible and to destroy their war technology", which means to change the balance of forces in Kosmet in order to achieve what has actually long been desired - the secession of Kosmet from Serbia and Yugoslavia, and to enable the Albanian terrorists to be ready for this, primarily with weapons.

Everyone is noticing that NATO is concealing its losses, but that NATO bombs and missiles are also causing civilian casualties. According to the latest public opinion polls, as news agencies report, as many as 73% of the British are currently against NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia.

Numerous famous Britons are today publicly saying that they are ashamed of the policy being conducted by their prime minster. This shame was most concisely expressed by former NATO secretary general Lord Carrington who said " It is time for Great Britain to stop being the Americans' faithful puppy".

After the initial enthusiasm for entering the circles of the powerful NATO countries, the Hungarians seem to be starting to sober up. Under the heading "Risks of a decision" , in Saturday's commentary, the most influential Hungarian daily "Nepsabadsag" pointed to the western military alliance's double standards, implicitly criticizing their own government as well. The editorial says that there are more and more of those wondering "Why NATO has attacked Yugoslavia".

French military officials denied, in Paris on Saturday, the claims by certain NATO officials that Yugoslav forces had allegedly undertaken an offensive against Albanian terrorists in Kosovo-Metohija.

Citing their own intelligence sources and information, these officials say that there is no proof that what NATO officials and Albanian terrorists are trying to present to the world public is really happening in Kosmet. No one can say that an offensive is intensifying in Kosovo, said French General Xavier Delcour, adding that, according to information the French possess, nothing points to the conclusion that the nature of the operation in Kosovo has changed.

The essence of NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia is the US intention to establish hegemony in the Balkans which is to serve their strategic interests, said Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Lilic in an interview to the Chinese news agency Sinhua.

NATO's bombardment has nothing to do with the problems in Kosovo-Metohija. At issue are Washington's strategic interests in the region, said Lilic adding that NATO's attacks on Yugoslavia are much worse than Hitler's attacks half a century ago. He pointed out that, for the use of force, NATO does not have the approval of either the Security Council or the OSCE, stressing that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia must be preserved at any cost. The Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister said that US President Bill Clinton and NATO have made a big mistake in believing that the use of force can resolve the problems. They will pay the price of this delusion said Lilic, expressing satisfaction over the sharp international condemnation of the aggression against Yugoslavia, which is also being expressed through numerous protests and demonstrations, even in countries taking part in the aggression.

The participation of planes has been suspended in the aggression against Yugoslavia, British Defence Secretary George Robertson said on Saturday.

Giving as an explanation "bad weather", he intimated that the aggression could continue only with cruise missiles.

As of Saturday, the Macedonian government is in permanent session, it was stated in Skopje after the news coming from NATO Headquarters in Brussels that the units of this military alliance which are stationed in this area can be used only for ground operations in Kosovo-Metohija.

Strong police forces are concentrated around the government, parliament and embassy buildings of the US, Great Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and US diplomats have called to aid NATO soldiers securing the building they are occupying. Strong police forces are concentrated in the streets and squares, in order to prevent anti-NATO protests, such as the one of two days ago, in which several tens of thousands of Macedonians took part. Whereas Skopje is completely blocked, in the country's interior, citizens still manage to express support to the people of Yugoslavia in Kumanovo, Negotin, along river Vardar and in Kocani.

The federal ministry of development, science and environment on Saturday appealed to all international organizations and institutions, the governments of countries, competent political factors and the entire world public urgently to put an end to the insane act of war aggression against FR of Yugoslavia.

In the appeal carried by the federal ministry of information it is said that the NATO bombing of FR of Yugoslavia jeopardizes the lives and health of its citizens and the environment as a whole. Targets are especially storehouses of dangerous and radio-active waste, as well as facilities whose destruction would have as a consequence industrial incidents. The continuation of such destructive actions and war aggression could reach disastrous proportions with unforeseeable consequences for FRY's environment and the wider region of southeastern Europe.

At a large meeting held on Saturday in front of the US embassy in Moscow, the most prominent leader of the leftist and patriotic parliamentary parties of Russia condemned in the sternest of terms NATO barbarian aggression against sovereign Yugoslavia.

The leader of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, addressed over 10,000 participants in the rally, saying, among other things, that "Russia will give Yugoslavia all forms of aid, from humanitarian to military and technical". The leader of the communists also said that, after the aggression against Yugoslavia, Russia had essentially, "stepped out of the sanction regime" against Yugoslavia. Zyuganov also spoke in favour of abolishing the Contact Group,as it had not provided a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the Kosmet problem. The US embassy is on Saturday protected by strong militia units, which this time again, did not prevent the demonstrators from hurling bottles and bags full of paint on the US diplomatic representation building. The meeting will continue on Saturday until late into the night, since it was only prior to the ending of the rally that large organized groups of people started flowing in from other cities to Moscow to give support to Yugoslavia.

The head of the Yugoslav Army General Staff's information service, Colonel Milivoje Novakovic told the press in Belgrade on Saturday that the NATO aggression was of an aggressive nature and that targeted in the air-strikes were citizens and civilian targets. Novkovic specified that, bearing in mind to the proclaimed goal - the neutralization of FRY's military power, as well as the fact that Yugoslavia is a sovereign and independent state, which did not attack anyone or compromise anyone's territory and security, the scope and the nature of operations undoubtedly indicate its criminal nature aimed against the entire Serb nation. The aggression, according to him, is carried out by synchronized air-strikes of cruise missiles, missiles aviation force actions against military and civilian targets in the entire territory of FRY. Thus, the inappropriate pressures, which have been exerted constantly in the past years by the US and some NATO members against Yugoslavia under the pretext of resolving the Kosmet crisis, have been realized.

Despite the true propaganda war, the British government and Prime Minister Tony Blair have not succeeded in convincing the British to support NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia, analysts in London stated on Saturday.

The vast majority of Britons, according to al public opinion polls, is resolutely against the aggression against Yugoslavia. Greatest opposition comes from the Midlands and northern Britain, where local press and radio stations are flooded with protest letters and citizens' phone calls. According to the analyses of the local press published in Saturday's London "Times", the citizens of Britain believe that NATO's aggression is a "great mistake and absolutely unjustified", and that the Kosmet issue is Yugoslavia's internal affair. The London "Guardian", which is Prime Minister Blair's loyal stronghold, on Saturday brings into question the government policy. In its editorial, the paper claims that PM Blair has not succeeded in convincing the British that NATO air -strikes against FRY are justified, and that his "hardest days" are yet to come.

In the course of last night, Nato criminals attacked FR Yugoslavia on several occasions. Targeted were Belgrade, Podgorica, Novi Sad, Pristina and a number of other cities throughout the country.

Nato criminals bombed military facilities on the outskirts of Belgrade. The effects of the bombing are still being established and the fire that broke out in the Lipovicka forest in the immediate vicinity of Belgrade, has successfully been extinguished. In the Belgrade district of Batajnica, an electric station was hit so that this part of Belgrade remained without electric power supplies but the damage was repaired in the morning. The blasts were heard in the vicinity of the Galenika pharmaceutical factory. Enemy Nato aircraft targeted the Yugoslav Army barracks in Aleksinac in southern Serbia causing great material damage. Nato criminals on Friday night launched two missile attacks. Two missiles fell west of Pristina in the immediate vicinity of the city. Nato also launched two highly destructive missiles on Gnjilane, a town in Kosovo-Metohija of which one fell in the yard between the Kosmet prevoz transport company and the Mladost agricultural combine whereas the other hit the school ammunition depot of the Yugoslav Army's Knez Lazar garrison and caused fire. During the aggressor's attack on Djakovica in Kosovo-Metohija, two missiles hit the barracks in the old part of the town whereas the third one hit a privately-owned petrol station causing fire. In both parts of the district, great fire broke out and there is a large number of killed and wounded civilians. In the Nato aviation's aggression on Friday night, the TV and radio transmitters of the local media of Loznica in western Serbia were hit. On two occasions, military facilities in the Kosmet town of Prizren were bombed but both missiles missed the target. In the course of the night, Nato aggressors bombed the region of Sombor in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina.

The BBC's correspondent in Nato's headquarters in Brussels on Saturday denied Defence Minister George Robertson's statement saying that Yugoslav forces are carrying out an offensive and committing violence against the Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija.

Immediately after Robertson's press conference, BBC's correspondent said that such allegations could not be confirmed. He said those allegations were an expression of Nato's wish and conjecture. Despite the British government's propaganda war, the truth obviously cannot be concealed.

Russia must offer all necessary aid, including military and technical, to Yugoslavia against which an aggression has been carried out, the leader of the Russian Communists Genadiy Zyuganov said at Saturday's session of the State Duma.

The attack against Yugoslavia is primarily a lesson for us, Zyuganov said resolutely condemning the US and Nato aggression against FR Yugoslavia as a war aimed at eradicating the entire nation. Zyuganov believes that the State Duma should call on all parliaments and all nations to influence the aggressors and called for an end to barbarity. It is also necessary to hold an extraordinary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Zyuganov said.

In the course of last night, Belgrade was the greatest victim of the attack of Nato aggressors who systematically and blindly bombed FR Yugoslavia and its capital, Yugoslav Information Minister Milan Komnenic said.

The effects of the destruction are being established and the wounded civilians are being counted, Komnenic said and added that the barbarian and criminal acts of Nato forces were only strengthening the unity of the nation and outrage at the aggressor, particularly the military and political protagonists of the invasion.

The Yugoslav Red Cross on Saturday announced it had obtained information that in the attacks by the Nato aggressor's forces, hit had been civilian targets and cultural facilities which, under these conditions, must be exempt from the attack.

Likewise, on several occasions, non-military facilities containing dangerous substances were endangered. If they were hit it would cause disastrous consequences for the civilian population and the environment, a statement said. The Yugoslav Red Cross warned at issue was a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov has called on Bill Clinton to see to it that Nato launches no attacks from Macedonia's territory against the neighbouring Yugoslavia.

Gligorov underlined that the future of the Macedonians was linked to the future of its neighbours. The way out of the crisis in Kosmet is of vital interest both for the Republic of Macedonia and our nation, Gligorov told the US president. In a lengthy letter, Gligorov said that the risks Macedonia was exposed to were really great.

The Yugoslav embassy in Madrid has received letters and telegrams of support for our nation encouraging it to sustain the Nato aggression. A large number of telephone calls has simply clogged the embassy's telephone line.

A lengthy letter of the citizens of Catalonia said the following: "We wish to tell the courageous Serbian nation that the largest part of Catalonia is with you". Protest rallies against the Nato aggression against FR Yugoslavia are scheduled for Sunday in Madrid and Barcelona.

More than 20 thousand Italians, members of various parties, trade unions and our citizens living in Italy, staged a protest rally against the Nato aggression on FR Yugoslavia in Rome on Saturday.

The protesters set off from Republic Square, along Cavur street, via Venice Square with the wish to express their protest against the Nato aggression in front of the UN headquarters.

However, the police prevented them from doing so and even minor riots took place in which the police used tear gas. During the protest march which lasted more than two hours, the protesters shouted slogans "Clinton murderer", "Kosovo is Serbian", "Enough with Bombs". It was also planned that the procession pass by the US embassy in Rome but the police prevented this.

The president of Greece Kostis Stefanopulos said on Saturday that the Greek people felt great sympathies and warm feelings towards the proud Serbian people, bravely fighting for their rights.

Greek president expressed his country's great solidarity with everything that Yugoslav people are going through. The Athens daily TA NEA wrote on Saturday that the Greek government persevered in its efforts to make the air strikes on Yugoslavia cease immediately, so that a political dialogue which is the only manner of solving problems in Kosovo may commence.

On Friday night, NATO aggressors' airplanes acted on the village of Besnik near Rozaj at the north of Montenegro, in whose vicinity there are no military facilities or units, says the statement of the command of the Yugoslav Army's Second army.

One person was killed and two wounded in this abominable attack. In this way, the aggressor is demonstrating all his unscrupulousness towards the Serbian people, the statement says. During the night, NATO's airplanes bombed Montenegro for the third time since the aggression started. Five missiles hit the area around Podgorica. Three missiles fell in the vicinity of a military airport in Golubovci, and two fell on the military test ground in Radovac, near Montenegrin capital.

Russia is trying to stop the aggression against Yugoslavia by political means, and if that fails, all necessary measures will be discussed, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Saturday, at an extraordinary plenary session of the State Duma devoted to NATO's aggression against FR Yugoslavia.

For the time being, at issue are deliveries of humanitarian aid to Yugoslavia, and the subsequent forms of aid would depend on the development of the situation, Ivanov emphasized. He warned that, by all standards of the international law, an act of aggression has been performed against Yugoslavia, and, by this act, all those who performed it, including three permanent members of the UN Security Council, have annulled the international organization's resolutions on Yugoslavia brought in the past. NATO's strike on Yugoslavia is one of the blackest moments in the European history after the World War II, Ivanov said, adding that this aggression was a threat to the international peace. If the aggression against Yugoslavia does not cease, Russia will demand the convening of UN General Assembly's extraordinary session, Ivanov said. He expressed his belief that Russia's task was to protect the world from a new form of neo-colonialism: a NATO-colonialism.

Yugoslav prime minister Momir Bulatovic congratulated Serbian president Milan Milutinovic on the occasion of the Republic of Serbia's Statehood Day, on March 27.

The federal prime minister pointed out that NATO's aggression has been carried out against our country. Our people and armed forces responded to this unprecedented crime with dignity, determined to defend the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of our county. The resulting national and political unity, as well as the motivation and alertness of armed and security forces are the best guarantee that even this time, Yugoslavia will not yield to any enemy, the statement of Yugoslav prime minister Momir Bulatovic says.

The Italian parliament entrusted Massimo D'Alema with the assignment to intercede with the allies in favor of an urgent cessation of NATO's bombardments in FR Yugoslavia, and beginning of a political-diplomatic initiative for the alleviation of the dramatic situation caused by the aggression against Yugoslavia.

That is the essence of the Italian ruling coalition's proposal, which was on Friday evening adopted in the Italian parliament after the hours-long discussion. Since the beginning of the crisis in Kosovo-Metohija, Italy has been advocating a peaceful solution and it is not abandoning it even in these moments. We are convinced that every space should be taken advantage of to continue the talks, prime-minister Massimo D'Alema told MP's at the beginning of the discussion.

Citizens' protests against NATO's barbarian aggression against Yugoslavia have continued on Saturday throughout the world.

In London, near the residence of British Prime Minister and the Foreign Office, a rally of citizens from the entire Great Britain has been scheduled. Large demonstrations will be held in Wienna, in front of the Austrian Parliament and in front of the American embassy. Patriotic parties of Romania and the Association of Serbs in Romania will organize a protest rally in Bucharest, and citizens of Norway will gather in Oslo, in front of the Parliament and the American embassy.

Several thousand Yugoslavs living in France, as well as French friends of Yugoslavia, rallied in Paris Trocadero Square on Saturday afternoon to voice their protest against NATO's aggression against our country and to support peace.

The idea for the rally in the Paris square was initiated by women from a movement in the phase of forming entitled "Women for peace", who, dressed in black and carrying a huge black cloth in sign of mourning, wished to draw the attention of the local public to the disastrous consequences of the bombardment.

Just like on March 27 58 years ago when the aviation of Nazi Germany bombed Belgrade, the protestors shouted the slogan:" Better grave than slave".

"Hitler 1941. NATO 1999." a slogan said.

At the moment when the news of yet another bombing of Belgrade spread throught the crowd, the protestors left the plateau at which they rallied and stopped the traffic on the square. A huge Yugoslav flag was spread and the cries:" Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia" were heard.

The "Women for peace" movement has announced that it will keep organizing peace-loving activities fighting for the cessation of bombardment, preservation of human lives and cessation of destructions of FR Yugoslavia.