Tuesday April 13,1999

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Tuesday saw a delegation of the youth of seven Greek political parties including the presidents and secretaries general of the youth of leading Greek political parties: PASOK, New Democracy Party, the Coalition of the Left and Progress, the Communist Party, the Political Spring Party, the Social-Democratic Party and EDIK headed by the chairman of the Greek youth committee, Agamemnon Tazis.

The guests conveyed the expression of support, friendship and admiration of young Greek to Yugoslav youngsters who are boldly and in a dignified manner resisting NATO's criminal aggression. The Greek youth and nation joined en mass the resistance of the Yugoslav nation and youngsters at their rallies across Greece at which they have strongly condemned the criminal aggression and called for an end to mindless onslaughts on the friendly nation of Yugoslavia. Paying tribute to the youth and citizens of Greece, President Milosevic emphasized that the future, in which the younger generations were mostly interested in, belonged to the forces of peace and policy of equality, openness, integrations and understanding among states and nations. The decisive defence of our nation and condemnation of NATO aggressors by the entire freedom-loving world shows that the policy of force and hegemonism, from which not only the freedom of our nation but Europe as a whole is being defended, has no future. With their joint efforts, progressive forces should deter the forces which, by means of war and aggression, wish to create the world of submission, slavery and discrimination. Younger generations should live freely and peacefully, establish versatile ties and co-operation, enjoy the benefits of material and cultural development. They are turned to the new century and have the vision of a better, more advanced and humane world, President Milosevic said at the meeting with the representatives of the Greek youth.

***

NATO aggressors targeted, in Pristina on Tuesday, the monument in Gazimestan, a TV relay and Slatina airport. In Monday night's attack with 6 missiles, hit were the storehouses of JUGOPETROL, the PLASTIKA plastic mass factory and the administrative building of the bus station. One missile also fell on the DARDANIJA housing district, where there are no police or military facilities. According to the Public Information Center of Kosovo Polje, the Yugoslav Army's anti-aircraft defense downed 5 enemy missiles in the region of this municipality. On Monday night, Pristina and Podujevo were targeted with over 30 cluster bombs and over 5 missiles. Tanjug reports that, using the darkness and NATO attacks as a cover, in the course of the night, Albanian terrorists on several occasions opened fire on positions of the defense forces and all the attacks were repelled.

The enemy NATO aviation on Tuesday morning targeted Belgrade in the region of Banjica and one missile was hit over New Belgrade. Sixteen patients of the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade were injured in the detonation of the NATO missiles. The material damage and the damage inflicted on the hospital is enormous. The great damage in the patients' rooms shows that the true target of Monday night's attack by the NATO aggressor was the Military Medical Academy, said the head of this medical institution, General Aco Jovicic. On Monday night, the Oil Refinery in Pancevo was hit several times. The Yugoslav Army's anti-aircraft defense fiercely responded to the attack and, according to eye-witnesses, it downed 2 missiles over Pancevo. On Tuesday morning, the aggressor NATO aviation also bombed facilities of JUGOPETROL in Smederevo, the oil refinery in Novi Sad and the fuel storage of NAFTAGAS between the villages of Conoplja and Kljajicevo, near Sombor.

Around midnight, for the fifth successive time, NATO bombed the SLOBODA factory of Cacak, and it also acted in the broader region of Uzice and Kraljevo where they targeted the Ladjevci airport. The Public Information Center in Gornji Milanovac has confirmed that several enemy missiles fell on Monday night, so that Interior Ministry services are searching the field. The NATO aviation targeted civilian facilities at the Kopaonik tourist resort and completely destroyed Hotel Baciste. The aggressor aviation also acted in the regions of Smederevska Palanka, Kragujevac and Krusevac, where the Old Iron Bridge across the Rasina River was razed, while the protective equipment has been damaged on the new one. The waterworks and sewage network have been damaged. There were no casualties but the material damage is enormous.

***

A delegation of the Yugoslav group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) departed for Brussels on Tuesday to the 101st IPU Conference, the federal assembly's information service announced.

The chairman of the Yugoslav Parliament's Chamber of Republics an head of the Yugoslav delegation, Srdja Bozovic, will participate in the general debate.

***

In regard to the false information that the Yugoslav Army has entered the territory of northern Albania in the region of the village of Kamenica, the head of the information service of the Yugoslav Army's Supreme Command Headquarters, Colonel Milivoje Novkovic, has said that at issue is a malicious lie created by leading world news agencies.

This unscrupulous fabrication was, in no way by chance, launched soon after Monday's criminal bombardment of the international passenger train on the bridge in the Grdelica gorge and right in the middle of important diplomatic initiatives aimed at preventing an escalation of the war in the Balkans, Novkovic stressed. He added that the constant attempts by Albanian terrorist groups to cross into Yugoslav territory, keep being twisted around by NATO and presented as an alleged invasion by the Yugoslav Army against Albania. The Albanian chaos provoked by western sponsors has never given impetus for any interference, let alone for an aggression by the Yugoslav side. The Yugoslav Army's border units will continue most energetically to prevent incursions by terrorists, said Novkovic, stressing that we do not need anyone else's territories, but no one will take away ours.

***

Russian President Boris Yeltsin spoke on the phone on Tuesday to the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, prior to his visit to Yugoslavia, stated the Russian head-of-state's press service.

In the course of the talks, exchanged were estimates of the situation concerning Kosmet, as well as opinions on the range of efforts necessary to be invested in order to pave the way for peaceful negotiations.

***

Russia has called on the International Court of Justice to assess the legal basis for NATO's air strikes against Yugoslavia, which are in breach of international law.

The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Sergei Lavrov has set out this proposal in a draft resolution submitted to the UN General Assembly's Commission for strengthening the role of the United Nations and the consistent implementation of the UN Charter.

***

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright agreed in Oslo to continue diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the Kosmet crisis, news agency report.

After four-hour talks, twice the length of the planned ones, Ivanov told the press that a step forward had been made, "although not as big as we hoped for". The end of the aggression against FR of Yugoslavia can make easier the settlement of the Kosmet problem, he said. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that the meeting concluded concord in respect to "many basic principles" of the solution for the Kosmet crisis, but not as regards the form of international presence in the southern Serbian province.

***

The Oslo meeting of US State Secretary Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is described in the first London reactions "as an extremely important initial step" in overcoming the crisis caused by NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia.

Although the Oslo meeting did not bring any concrete result, it is of extreme significance that contact has been established between Russia and America, which is estimated to be able to reach an agreement on ending the crisis in the further development of events. The former political director of the British Foreign Office, Pauline Neville Jones, said that the Ivanov-Albright talks primarily meant that seeking a solution to the Kosmet crisis has been taken seriously.

***

The Yugoslav ambassador to Skopje, Zoran Janackovic, on Tuesday pointed out that the United States and NATO had long since planned the creation of a wave of refugees in Kosmet, in order artificially to create an alleged humanitarian catastrophe, and then to blame the Serbs for this.

Citizens of Kosmet have been leaving their homes since March 25, when NATO started its aggression against Yugoslavia. The refugees, apart from Albanians, also include Serbs, Romanies, Gorancies and members of all nations and ethnic groups living in the southern Serbian province. This war, Janackovic stressed, will be remembered by a double aggression - with weapons and lies, and all this with the goal of destroying Yugoslavia and concealing the true reasons for this crime.

***

Austrian Chancellor Victor Klima announced on Tuesday that at Wednesday's European Union summit in Brussels, Austria would insist on an urgent working out of a so-called Balkan strategy and pact on stability.

The German foreign minister explained that the Balkan strategy ought to contain measures which would make possible lasting peaceful co-existence in Kosovo-Metohija.

According to Klima, it is also very important to place the responsibility for peaceful development in the region in the hands of Europe.

The Austrian Chancellor was categorical in his claim that drawing new borders in the Balkans was not even given thought.

***

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was outraged by the attack on an international passenger train in Yugoslavia, killing a number of completely innocent civilians.

A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry calls for an immediate cessation of the aggressor bombing of Yugoslavia and a political solution to the Kosmet problems.

***

The pilot of the US aggressor warplane which fired a missile on an international passenger train near Leskovac on Monday killing at least 10 persons, including one boy, could see the train and prevent the tragedy, a Pentagon report published by CNN reveals.

However, the Pentagon report, considerably covering up the crime and playing down on the disastrous consequences, practically confirms that after having seen the train, the pilot could have changed the course of the missile and direct it towards the canyon. CNN says that the pilot of the F-15 plane fired two missiles and that the train came to a halt after the first missile had hit the metal construction of the bridge.

***

The Russian foreign ministry has sharply warned the United States and the NATO member countries that their attempts at politically justifying their offering of assistance to the terrorists of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, represents once again the undermining of the international legal order.

The Russian ministry's statement says that, lately, numerous western newspapers have been writing about the launching of talks between the United States and the leaders of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army on delivering special weaponry for combat against the Yugoslav forces in Kosovo-Metohija. If the mentioned facts prove to be true, this would represent a serious violation of the Security Council ban, warned the Russian foreign ministry.

***

The terrorist so-called Kosovo Liberation Army is publicly recruiting volunteers in Austria, although the law on the country's neutrality bans its citizens from taking part in armed conflicts in other states, as well as activities on the territory of Austria serving war purposes.

The Austrian state radio OE-3 has reported that 50 volunteers are setting off from Gratz and 100 from Vienna towards Italy, from where they are to leave for the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army's training centers in western Albania.

***

The Chinese Army's chief-of-staff, Fu Chuanjou, on Tuesday called on NATO immediately to halt its aggression against Yugoslavia in order for the resolution of the problems in Kosovo-Metohija to be returned to political tracks.

Speaking to the chief of the Portuguese air force headquarters, Manuel Hose de Sosa Santos, who is visiting Beijing, Fu pointed out that the irresponsible and non-selective bombardment of Yugoslavia by NATO is causing concern among all the peace-loving nations and countries in the world.

***

Central American countries have appealed for the cessation of the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO criminals, which has been going on for three weeks now, and for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Kosovo-Metohija, news agencies report.

The Central American Parliament, comprising six countries - Honduras, Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Panama - on Monday condemned the use of force which NATO has resorted to without the UN Security Council's support and appealed to the UN to set out new initiatives in order for the conflict in Yugoslavia to be resolved by peaceful means.

***

The decision of the Yugoslav Parliament on FR of Yugoslavia joining the Alliance of Russia and Belarus has met with great attention in the world media.

Reporters of foreign news agencies from Russia, Bulgaria, China, Slovakia and the Czech Republic carry Belgrade's estimation that in question is a historical document, adding that the decision was passed without a single vote against. The prevailing view in the Associated Press and Agence France Press reports is that Yugoslav Parliament has taken this step in order to put a halt on NATO's criminal air strikes against sovereign Yugoslavia.

***

Three million children in our country are jeopardized by the consequences of the NATo villains' bombardment, said the chairperson of the federal government's commission for cooperation with UNICEF and the promotion of the women's position, Margit Savovic.

The International Red Cross, UNHCR and other organizations have left Yugoslavia. The only remaining active organization is the UNICEF representation, she said.

***

Humanitarian relief from Russia and Belarus to the people of Yugoslavia arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday, after a several-days' delay in Hungary.

Greeting friends from Russia and Belarus, Federal Deputy Prime Minister Danilo Vuksanovic thanked for the help and support, pointing out that NATO bombed hospitals, factories, schools and bridges, but that it could never raze the bridge connecting the peoples of Slavic countries. The arrived humanitarian aid will be distributed across the country in line with the needs of the affected civilians - the NATO aggression's victims, Tanjug reports.

21st DAY OF AGGRESSION

This Tuesday marks the 21st day from the beginning of the barbaric US-led Nato aggression against sovereign Yugoslavia. For the three full weeks the people of this small, proud, and freedom-loving country have been exposed to the incomprehensible sufferings. Nato's bombs and missiles are killing children, men and women, razing bridges, residential buildings, schools, kindergartens, destroying international trains, killing their passengers as was the case on Monday, the day after Easter, on the Belgrade-Thessaloniki railway line, in the Grdelicka gorge. The people of Yugoslavia, determined to stay and live freely on their own territory are defending themselves in a courageous and creative manner. Full of positive energy, they gather on the endangered bridges and town squares from which through music, song and poetic words they send messages of ipeace to the world. Also, they address the words of gratitude to all the progressive countries and famous personalities who condemn the Nato aggression on sovereign Yugoslavia, a country which has attacked no one, but strives to exterminate terrorism on its own territory employing the same means as the other countries which are faced with this problem.

Aware of the fact that the powerful western media, especially American, are putting forward a distorted picture of the events taking place in Yugoslavia, as well as lame excuses in an attempt to justify this aggression, people of Yugoslavia pay much attention to the appeals of the famous personalities and commentators who speak the truth on what is really going on. Many of these analysts say that the Balkans, and the whole of Europe and even perhaps the whole world is at the crossroads - either they will take the path leading to peace or else they will end up in the inferno of an all-out world war. With such a conclusion in mind many of the western European commentators await the results of the ensuing events and diplomatic initiatives, which, as is believed, could affect not only the destiny of the criminal Nato aggression against Yugoslavia, but also the fate of the entire Old Continent. Impartial analysts admit that FR Yugoslavia, although attacked without a previous declaration of war, has nevertheless made the first step by announcing a unilateral cessation of all anti-terrorist activities in Kosovo-Metohija. On top of that, there have been talks with representative of Kosmet Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, which can be seen as the initiation of a new peace process.

The General Director of UNESCO, Federico Mayor has called for the return of the UN to the process of solving international problem adding: 'One cannot have democracy on the national and autocracy in the international plain'. Frantz Weber, world famous ecologist, has addressed an appeal to the French Internal Affairs Minister, Jean-Pierre ?Seavenmenne, in which he condemned Nato's aggression on Yugoslavia. 'Considering the fact that the Atlantic Alliance is in its spirit and aims clearly a remnant of the Cold-War era, it is obvious that this alliance cannot in any way secure peace on our continent either today or in the future. As could be expected, the current aggression against Yugoslavia not only did not bring peace to Kosovo-Metohija, as Nato representatives resolutely claimed on the eve of the aggression, but drastically worsened the situation and has given rise to a large number of refugees. That is why this famous expert is calling on the French minister to raise his voice in favor of replacing Nato with a new world peace alliance.

INTERVIEW WITH Z. JOVANOVIC

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic on Easter day gave an interview to the Italian paper Giornale. Radio Yugoslavia carries excerpts from the interview along with Italian journalist Renato Farina's comments.

The air raid alert siren is sounded. Missiles and planes are in the sky. 15 winding and roaring sounds are heard, lasting one minute and frightening children, birds, dogs... Everyone thinks: " I must run away!" Minister Jovanovic is watching me as if he wants to see whether I will flee. He certainly will not. I am under the impression that he almost wishes to die in glory. I have observed the same defiant calmness in young men singing on a bridge, in people on Liberty Square and in Easter services in churches. If one has to die, at least one should die for a cause, like ancient heroes. That is the look in the Serbs' eyes, Farina writes. He notices that bombs have united Serbian leaders with their people and drawn them back to the tradition of glorious defeats from which the nation is reborn. They lost the war against the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, but those empires are gone and the Serbs are still around, the Italian journalist asserts. In the immediate vicinity of the building in which the interview is taking place, cruise missiles razed the Yugoslav and Serbian government administrative buildings. Windows of the Foreign Minster's office were broken. Farina writes: "Jovanovic sarcastically told me - Perhaps your bombs and your diplomacy thus created a path towards peace. The Italian journalist has talked about refugees and shown some photos to minister Jovanovic. Propaganda, photomontage, Jovanovic responded presenting other photos and other data - arguments at Yugoslavia's disposal. We are exposed to aggression. Write about the casualties caused by your bombs. Write who is leaving our people without running water, without medicaments. Does anybody mention our children who are not well. Who has given abybody the right to bomb my people. Two million people lost their jobs because of bombing raids, a million Yugoslav children have not attended school for three weeks already. Are these your human rights and civilization? The Italian journalist cites these words of minister Jovanovic, stating that the minister has raised his voice and drawn up his chair to look him in the eye. That is the reality, Jovanovic says, and not CNN productions broadcasting statements by the terrorists pretending to be poor Albanians. It was not us who have caused the suffering, but the bombing and the so-called KLA. That is the same old story. Remember the Sarajevo market: the Serbs were accused of a massacre and later it turned out that the Muslims had committed it. Jovanovic points out that UN reports show that the refugees' exodus from Kosovo-Metohija started on March 24, the day the NATO aggression started, and each day their numbers increase by the thousand. The centre of Pristina has been razed to the ground. Should the citizens of this town have stayed to wait for the bombs with their hands raised towards the sky, minister Jovanovic wonders and says: Of course they went away. Two days prior to the bombing 1,400 OSCE monitors fled. They have run awaz, so why should not the rest of the people too?

In this interview, minister Jovanovic stressed that the aim of the aggression on Yugoslavia is to realize American domination in Europe. I hope that this madness would stop and that Europe would realize what its own interests are. By endorsing America and its infamous interests, Europe is undermining itself. At issue is the bombardment of Europe, and not only of Serbia, minister Jovanovic said. At the end of the interview he underlined that he is an optimist and that the political solution for Kosovo-Metohija is possible, but only within Serbia and Yugoslavia and without the arrival of foreign troops in the territory of this sovereign state. We can solve our problems but you must do a lot more - respect this country and people. You must stop the aggression, says Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic in the interview to the Italian paper Giornale.

REACTIONS OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES

Yugoslav political parties are unanimous in their condemnation of the criminal Nato aggression on Yugoslavia and they fully support FR Yugoslavia's joining the Russian-Belorussian Union.

The Serbian Socialist Party supports the Federal Assembly's decision that FR Yugoslavia should join the Russian-Belorussian Union. This decision is an expression of the people’s will and expectations to strengthen the friendly ties with the nations with whom we are already historically and spiritually closely connected, and also to intensify economic cooperation with them and increase the defense capabilities of FR Yugoslavia. The Nato criminals take vengeance for the daily military failures by incessant bombing raids primarily on civilian targets - schools, hospitals, industrial plants, bridges, roads, and now even international trains, tourist and religious facilities. By air-strikes against the most sacred values the aggressor attempts to destroy Yugoslavia, annihilate the spirit of resistance, disintegrate the nation which defies occupation. No bombing can break up the heroism of our army and police forces, and unity of the Yugoslav nation in our fight against the barbarians of the new world order. Life in Serbia will not stop. Defence of the country is our primary interest and the most important task, says a statement from the Serbian Socialist Party.

For three weeks now FR Yugoslavia has been exposed to air-strikes in which many people lost their lives and in which massive destruction of facilities took place, says the Yugoslav Left's Directorate in a statement. At the end of the century which can be rightly called the century of science and technology, the same science and technology are used in merciless killing of children instead of securing their happy childhood, said the statement from the Yugoslav Left's Directorate.

The Yugoslav Left sees the Federal Assembly's decision that FR Yugoslavia should join the Russian-Belorussian Union as the beginning of the process of free-world countries joining forces against the Nato Axis forces, said the Information Secretary and spokesman of the Yugoslav Left, Ivan Markovic. This decision marks the first step which should be seen as a desire of the free world to jointly oppose the forces of the Nato Axis, Markovic stressed.

The Serbian Radical Party believes that the Federal Assembly's decision that FR Yugoslavia should join the Russian-Belorussian Union marks the most important event in the recent history of Yugoslavia. Through this act an ancient longing of the fraternal Slav peoples would be realized, to form together with indestructible spiritual and historical ties a united defence concept which would enable unhindered development and freedom of self-government for internal economic and social relations, a statement from the Serbian Radical Party says.

The decision that FR Yugoslavia should join the Russian-Belorussian Union is very important for the cessation of the Nato aggression against our country and achieving peace in the whole region, assesses the President of the Montenegrin Socialist Peoples' Party, Predrag Bulatovic. According to him, this decision opens the door for the diplomatic serttlement of the Kosovo-Metohija crisis.

The President of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Vuk Draskovic, has said that judging by its latest statements, the aggressive Alliance have given up on the demands it has insisted on during the talks in France and which had served as an excuse for a brutal attack on FR Yugoslavia. Under the current monstrous aggression, joining the Russian-Belorussian Union represents a chance to defend our country, Draskovic said.

Bombing of a passenger train served to show once again that Clinton does not care either about peace in the Balkans, or the rights of the Kosmet Albanians. All he cares about is domination over this region, killing innocent people, and destroying economic goods, says a statement from the Democratic Party of Serbia.

Copyright (C.) Radio Yugoslavia