While it's nice to see that good things may be happening, let us not forget what the West considers to be the only important issue with regards to Serbia and its current status:
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's prime minister said resumption of pre-entry talks with the European Union would speed up the arrest of top U.N. war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.
Vojislav Kostunica told Serbian state television in an interview late Thursday the E.U. decision earlier this year to freeze the negotiations with Belgrade over Serbian failure to capture Mladic only made it harder for the country to hand him over. The fugitive general is wanted on genocide charges by the U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands.
"Had the talks continued, then the obligation to detain and transfer Ratko Mladic to The Hague would have been more easily fulfilled in an atmosphere of cooperation," Kostunica said.
Kostunica didn't explain how restarting E.U. talks would help in hunting down Mladic, insisting his government isn't aware of the general's whereabouts. He, however, said "it was very important not to suspend those talks."
There was no immediate comment from the E.U.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061229%5cACQDJON200612290649DOWJONESDJONLINE000336.htm&
Friday, December 29, 2006
Here's a link to some background on the Jugoremedija situation:
http://www.zmag.org/Sustainers/Content/2006-07/16grubacic.cfm
http://www.zmag.org/Sustainers/Content/2006-07/16grubacic.cfm
Major Victory for Worker Recovered Factory "Jugoremedija" in SerbiaAnonymous, Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 02:36 (Communiqués Solidarite internationale)
First paragraph (Teaser):
A major victory for worker's rights and struggles in Serbia has been won following a 9 month factory occupation and a 2 and a half year strike by the workers of Jugoremedija in Zrenjanin, Serbia. On December 14, 2006, the Belgrade Higher Economic Court reaffirmed the June 2006 ruling of the Zrenjanin Economic Court that the recapitalization of the Zrenjanin-based pharmaceutical factory Jugoremedija be repealed because it was carried out illegally through the illegitimate manoeuvres of businessman Jovica Stefanovic Nini to attempt to gain majority ownership. This means that the ownership of the workers has now been restored to their rightful 58% of the company shares. With this decision, Jugoremedija is set to become the first factory amongst the "transition" countries in Eastern Europe undergoing neoliberal privatization to be recovered and controlled by its workers.
http://www.cmaq.net/en/archive/2006/12/28
First paragraph (Teaser):
A major victory for worker's rights and struggles in Serbia has been won following a 9 month factory occupation and a 2 and a half year strike by the workers of Jugoremedija in Zrenjanin, Serbia. On December 14, 2006, the Belgrade Higher Economic Court reaffirmed the June 2006 ruling of the Zrenjanin Economic Court that the recapitalization of the Zrenjanin-based pharmaceutical factory Jugoremedija be repealed because it was carried out illegally through the illegitimate manoeuvres of businessman Jovica Stefanovic Nini to attempt to gain majority ownership. This means that the ownership of the workers has now been restored to their rightful 58% of the company shares. With this decision, Jugoremedija is set to become the first factory amongst the "transition" countries in Eastern Europe undergoing neoliberal privatization to be recovered and controlled by its workers.
http://www.cmaq.net/en/archive/2006/12/28
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
13 Dec 2006 14:01:28 GMT13 Dec 2006 14:01:28 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove-->
Source: Human Rights Watch
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
(New York, December 14, 2006) ? The trial of Slobodan Milosevic, which ended with his death before a verdict could be rendered, has provided important evidence about the role of Belgrade in pursuing the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. "Although Milosevic was never convicted, evidence exposed at his trial showed how Belgrade orchestrated the vicious wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo," said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel in the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "The Milosevic trial also shows how to manage ? or not ? future prosecutions of high-ranking officials for crimes of huge magnitude."
The 76-page report, "Weighing the Evidence: Lessons of the Slobodan Milosevic Trial," examines key evidence introduced at trial, the most comprehensive account to date of the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The report finds that the trial revealed how leaders in Belgrade and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia financed the wars; how they provided material to Croatian and Bosnian Serbs; and how they created administrative and personnel structures to support the Croatian Serb and Bosnian Serb armies. The report traces the mechanisms, some of which were previously secret, by which Belgrade fueled the conflicts.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/d873fa58ecad6778a58f96b5eade21e8.htm
Source: Human Rights Watch
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
(New York, December 14, 2006) ? The trial of Slobodan Milosevic, which ended with his death before a verdict could be rendered, has provided important evidence about the role of Belgrade in pursuing the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. "Although Milosevic was never convicted, evidence exposed at his trial showed how Belgrade orchestrated the vicious wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo," said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel in the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "The Milosevic trial also shows how to manage ? or not ? future prosecutions of high-ranking officials for crimes of huge magnitude."
The 76-page report, "Weighing the Evidence: Lessons of the Slobodan Milosevic Trial," examines key evidence introduced at trial, the most comprehensive account to date of the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The report finds that the trial revealed how leaders in Belgrade and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia financed the wars; how they provided material to Croatian and Bosnian Serbs; and how they created administrative and personnel structures to support the Croatian Serb and Bosnian Serb armies. The report traces the mechanisms, some of which were previously secret, by which Belgrade fueled the conflicts.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/d873fa58ecad6778a58f96b5eade21e8.htm
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
NEWSMAKER-Seselj 'ready to die' in name of Serbia
06 Dec 2006 17:41:52 GMT06 Dec 2006 17:41:52 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove-->
Source: Reuters
By Ellie Tzortzi
BELGRADE, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Firebrand Serb nationalist Vojislav Seselj says he is determined to take his defiance of the Hague war crimes tribunal to the bitter end by starving himself to death in detention....
The bespectacled, burly former politics lecturer has been an explosive figure in Serbian politics for over two decades.
He served two years in prison for anti-communist dissident activities in old socialist Yugoslavia in the 1980s, and went on hunger strike for 48 days.
In 1990 he was jailed twice, for organising volunteers to go fight with the rebel Serb minority in Croatia, and for selling books on the Chetniks, a World War Two Serb resistance group.
A prolific author of among others "The ideology of Serbian nationalism" and "Devil's apprentice: the criminal Roman Pope John Paul II", Seselj is known for passionate speeches, a short temper and aphorisms such as threatening Serb enemies he would "gouge out their eyes with rusty spoons".
He once brandished a gun threateningly outside Serbia's parliament, and spat on the speaker. He was expelled from Montenegro in 1994 for insulting its government, and had to be physically carried onto the plane back to Belgrade.
Seselj was close to the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Before Milosevic's death in detention at the Hague this March, the two men were frequent chess partners, and consulted each other on how to conduct their defence.
VOLUNTARY SURRENDER
Seselj voluntarily flew to the United Nations tribunal in 2003 to face charges of war crimes during the 1990s Balkan wars....
He stopped eating on Nov. 10 after the court assigned him a defence lawyer against his wishes. He has taken only water since and is now wasting away, confined to his prison bed.
At the weekend, he issued an edict to his Radical party in the form of a "last will and testament", ordering it to uphold the dream of "Greater Serbia" on Bosnian and Croatian land.
"I demand that you never give up our strong national ideology, and fight for the union of all Serb lands," he wrote.
"You should continue to vehemently oppose globalisation and all attempts to bring Serbia into NATO and the European Union, because all of Serbia's traditional enemies are gathered there."
His party, which bases its campaign for January elections on Seselj's plight, has said its leader would either beat the tribunal and defend himself, or fast to death.
Seselj later said he wanted no more visits, from friends or doctors, and was determined to fast to death in prison unless his demand to represent himself in court was recognised.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05669948.htm
06 Dec 2006 17:41:52 GMT06 Dec 2006 17:41:52 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove-->
Source: Reuters
By Ellie Tzortzi
BELGRADE, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Firebrand Serb nationalist Vojislav Seselj says he is determined to take his defiance of the Hague war crimes tribunal to the bitter end by starving himself to death in detention....
The bespectacled, burly former politics lecturer has been an explosive figure in Serbian politics for over two decades.
He served two years in prison for anti-communist dissident activities in old socialist Yugoslavia in the 1980s, and went on hunger strike for 48 days.
In 1990 he was jailed twice, for organising volunteers to go fight with the rebel Serb minority in Croatia, and for selling books on the Chetniks, a World War Two Serb resistance group.
A prolific author of among others "The ideology of Serbian nationalism" and "Devil's apprentice: the criminal Roman Pope John Paul II", Seselj is known for passionate speeches, a short temper and aphorisms such as threatening Serb enemies he would "gouge out their eyes with rusty spoons".
He once brandished a gun threateningly outside Serbia's parliament, and spat on the speaker. He was expelled from Montenegro in 1994 for insulting its government, and had to be physically carried onto the plane back to Belgrade.
Seselj was close to the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Before Milosevic's death in detention at the Hague this March, the two men were frequent chess partners, and consulted each other on how to conduct their defence.
VOLUNTARY SURRENDER
Seselj voluntarily flew to the United Nations tribunal in 2003 to face charges of war crimes during the 1990s Balkan wars....
He stopped eating on Nov. 10 after the court assigned him a defence lawyer against his wishes. He has taken only water since and is now wasting away, confined to his prison bed.
At the weekend, he issued an edict to his Radical party in the form of a "last will and testament", ordering it to uphold the dream of "Greater Serbia" on Bosnian and Croatian land.
"I demand that you never give up our strong national ideology, and fight for the union of all Serb lands," he wrote.
"You should continue to vehemently oppose globalisation and all attempts to bring Serbia into NATO and the European Union, because all of Serbia's traditional enemies are gathered there."
His party, which bases its campaign for January elections on Seselj's plight, has said its leader would either beat the tribunal and defend himself, or fast to death.
Seselj later said he wanted no more visits, from friends or doctors, and was determined to fast to death in prison unless his demand to represent himself in court was recognised.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05669948.htm
Report: Serbia's Gypsies have few rights
BELGRADE, Serbia, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Nearly half of Gypsies living in Serbia do not enjoy the rights to education, employment and healthcare, a minority rights official said Tuesday.
A recent survey among a group of 36,000 Gypsies, showed 46 percent of them could not register their residence addresses as they live in cardboard shanties, often without water or electricity. With no address they cannot get ID cards, which are needed in communications with any state body.
Petar Antic, of the Serbian Center for Minority Rights, said Gypsies live in a parallel world beyond Serbia's system, Belgrade's B92 radio reported. Antic warned if this problem is not solved, in the next 10 years Serbia will have the biggest security-threatening ghetto in Europe, the radio said.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061212-090947-7334r
BELGRADE, Serbia, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Nearly half of Gypsies living in Serbia do not enjoy the rights to education, employment and healthcare, a minority rights official said Tuesday.
A recent survey among a group of 36,000 Gypsies, showed 46 percent of them could not register their residence addresses as they live in cardboard shanties, often without water or electricity. With no address they cannot get ID cards, which are needed in communications with any state body.
Petar Antic, of the Serbian Center for Minority Rights, said Gypsies live in a parallel world beyond Serbia's system, Belgrade's B92 radio reported. Antic warned if this problem is not solved, in the next 10 years Serbia will have the biggest security-threatening ghetto in Europe, the radio said.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061212-090947-7334r
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Serbia invites dead Milosevic to vote
BELGRADE, Serbia, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Serbia's former President Slobodan Milosevic has been invited to vote in a referendum, although his March death in a U.N. detention cell was widely publicized.
Belgrade's Press daily reported a voting card was sent to Milosevic's villa in the Serbian capital inviting the late president to cast his ballot next weekend, the BBC said Monday.
Milosevic died of a heart attack in March while on trial at The Hague tribunal on genocide and crimes against humanity charges in the former Yugoslavia from 1991-95.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061023-011719-4820r
BELGRADE, Serbia, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Serbia's former President Slobodan Milosevic has been invited to vote in a referendum, although his March death in a U.N. detention cell was widely publicized.
Belgrade's Press daily reported a voting card was sent to Milosevic's villa in the Serbian capital inviting the late president to cast his ballot next weekend, the BBC said Monday.
Milosevic died of a heart attack in March while on trial at The Hague tribunal on genocide and crimes against humanity charges in the former Yugoslavia from 1991-95.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061023-011719-4820r
By NICHOLAS WOOD
Published: October 31, 2006
Voters have approved a new constitution reasserting Serbia’s claim to the mostly Albanian southern province of Kosovo, now in contentious United Nations-backed talks about possible independence, election officials said. They said that 54.19 percent of registered voters went to the polls over the weekend and that more than 96 percent of them backed the referendum. Under the new constitution, the federal government will have the right to remove locally elected officials and appoint replacements and Parliament’s control over judges will be increased.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/world/europe/31briefs-003.html
Published: October 31, 2006
Voters have approved a new constitution reasserting Serbia’s claim to the mostly Albanian southern province of Kosovo, now in contentious United Nations-backed talks about possible independence, election officials said. They said that 54.19 percent of registered voters went to the polls over the weekend and that more than 96 percent of them backed the referendum. Under the new constitution, the federal government will have the right to remove locally elected officials and appoint replacements and Parliament’s control over judges will be increased.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/world/europe/31briefs-003.html
Monday, October 16, 2006
Guess who has crawled out from under her rock to hurl more insults at Serbia for not having arrested Mladic yet....
Mon Oct 16, 2:09 PM ET
UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte lashed Serbia for failing to arrest former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, and urged the EU not to resume talks on closer ties with Belgrade.
"It is almost a smokescreen that they are describing and showing us, it is not real political will and investigative will to locate and arrest Mladic," she told journalists after talks with senior European Union officials.
"They have no strategy, they are not showing us the results of the work they are doing. It's an inquiry that heads off in all directions and achieves nothing," she said.
In May, Brussels suspended talks with Belgrade on a stabilisation and association agreement -- a first step toward joining the EU -- for failing to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.
The chief reason was that Serbia had not arrested Mladic, who has been indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. He was believed to have been hiding in Serbia.
"I hope the decision will be the confirmation of the suspension of negotiations," Del Ponte said, after talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061016/wl_afp/euenlargeserbia_061016180904
Mon Oct 16, 2:09 PM ET
UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte lashed Serbia for failing to arrest former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, and urged the EU not to resume talks on closer ties with Belgrade.
"It is almost a smokescreen that they are describing and showing us, it is not real political will and investigative will to locate and arrest Mladic," she told journalists after talks with senior European Union officials.
"They have no strategy, they are not showing us the results of the work they are doing. It's an inquiry that heads off in all directions and achieves nothing," she said.
In May, Brussels suspended talks with Belgrade on a stabilisation and association agreement -- a first step toward joining the EU -- for failing to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.
The chief reason was that Serbia had not arrested Mladic, who has been indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. He was believed to have been hiding in Serbia.
"I hope the decision will be the confirmation of the suspension of negotiations," Del Ponte said, after talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061016/wl_afp/euenlargeserbia_061016180904
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Serbian PM Urges Voters To Approve New Constitution
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica urged his country Friday to overwhelmingly approve a new constitution that declares independence- seeking Kosovo an integral part of Serb territory.
Kostunica said in an interview published in the pro-government daily, Politika, that Serbian voters approving the charter in a nationwide referendum slated for Oct. 28-29, was more important to him than winning early parliamentary elections, expected in December.
Parliament approved the draft constitution this month.
Kostunica's comments reflect the government's intensified pro-referendum campaign in the face of criticism by several political figures here who have urged a boycott of the balloting.
The new constitution also defines the country as independent for the first time since the bloody breakup of the former, six-republic federation of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
"I am convinced this constitution will get sweeping approval by the citizens," Kostunica said in the interview, dismissing criticism that his Cabinet hastily drew up the draft and that there was no nationwide debate on the issue.
"I stand ready to lose (my post), as long as Serbia gets a new constitution," said Kostunica, who has seen waning support in Serbia.
More than half of Serbia's 6 million voters must approve the draft in the referendum before the new constitution can take effect.
The charter is likely to set Belgrade on another collision course with the West, for declaring the ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo an inalienable part of Serbia.
It comes at a sensitive time, as U.N.-led negotiations between Belgrade and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders on Kosovo's final status are entering a critical phase.
Earlier this month, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey rejected the Serbian parliament's approval of the constitution, saying the future of the rebellious, U.N.-run province will not be "decided unilaterally" but through a " negotiated process."
Among the loudest criticism, parliament speaker Bojan Kostres in Serbia's northern Vojvodina province called this week for a referendum boycott, claiming the charter didn't grant sufficient autonomy to Vojvodina - Serbia's breadbasket and richest region.
Some political parties from the Hungarian minority, which lives predominantly in Vojvodina, also back a boycott, as do several liberal groups.
Ethnic Albanians living in southern Serbia close to Kosovo said they would stay away. Serbian officials have said Kosovo's 2 million ethnic Albanians won't be invited to vote on the draft constitution.
Kostunica said it was important the constitution "clearly defines Kosovo...integral within Serbia" and that the Kosovo Albanians' demand for independence was an "unjustifiable wish." (END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-13-060659ET
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061013%5cACQDJON200610130659DOWJONESDJONLINE000536.htm&
BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica urged his country Friday to overwhelmingly approve a new constitution that declares independence- seeking Kosovo an integral part of Serb territory.
Kostunica said in an interview published in the pro-government daily, Politika, that Serbian voters approving the charter in a nationwide referendum slated for Oct. 28-29, was more important to him than winning early parliamentary elections, expected in December.
Parliament approved the draft constitution this month.
Kostunica's comments reflect the government's intensified pro-referendum campaign in the face of criticism by several political figures here who have urged a boycott of the balloting.
The new constitution also defines the country as independent for the first time since the bloody breakup of the former, six-republic federation of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
"I am convinced this constitution will get sweeping approval by the citizens," Kostunica said in the interview, dismissing criticism that his Cabinet hastily drew up the draft and that there was no nationwide debate on the issue.
"I stand ready to lose (my post), as long as Serbia gets a new constitution," said Kostunica, who has seen waning support in Serbia.
More than half of Serbia's 6 million voters must approve the draft in the referendum before the new constitution can take effect.
The charter is likely to set Belgrade on another collision course with the West, for declaring the ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo an inalienable part of Serbia.
It comes at a sensitive time, as U.N.-led negotiations between Belgrade and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders on Kosovo's final status are entering a critical phase.
Earlier this month, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey rejected the Serbian parliament's approval of the constitution, saying the future of the rebellious, U.N.-run province will not be "decided unilaterally" but through a " negotiated process."
Among the loudest criticism, parliament speaker Bojan Kostres in Serbia's northern Vojvodina province called this week for a referendum boycott, claiming the charter didn't grant sufficient autonomy to Vojvodina - Serbia's breadbasket and richest region.
Some political parties from the Hungarian minority, which lives predominantly in Vojvodina, also back a boycott, as do several liberal groups.
Ethnic Albanians living in southern Serbia close to Kosovo said they would stay away. Serbian officials have said Kosovo's 2 million ethnic Albanians won't be invited to vote on the draft constitution.
Kostunica said it was important the constitution "clearly defines Kosovo...integral within Serbia" and that the Kosovo Albanians' demand for independence was an "unjustifiable wish." (END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-13-060659ET
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061013%5cACQDJON200610130659DOWJONESDJONLINE000536.htm&
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
It will never end, it seems....
With Slobodan Milosevic dead and former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic on the run, the U.N. Yugoslav tribunal in The Hague is preparing to deliver its verdict on the highest-ranking remaining former politician awaiting judgment for alleged genocide in Bosnia.
The court will rule on Wednesday in the case of Momcilio Krajisnik, who was speaker of parliament in the breakaway Bosnian Serb Republic during the 1991-1995 Bosnian war, which left more than 200,000 dead on all sides.
Krajisnik, 61, has pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including genocide and plotting to commit genocide by "cleansing" parts of Bosnia of Muslims and Croats to create an ethnically pure "greater Serbia" together with Serbian President Milosevic, Karadzic, and others.
Prosecutors demanded a life sentence for Krajisnik, who they said was one of a troika of Bosnian Serb leaders bearing primary political responsibility for atrocities carried out by their troops from July 1991-December 1992, including civilian slaughters, and murder, torture and rape of detainees. The defense sought acquittal...
The U.N. tribunal is gradually winding down operations, with its final trial to begin by 2008 though it says it will always be ready to reopen if Karadzic or the Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic, are arrested.
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/26-09-2006/84694-crimes-0
With Slobodan Milosevic dead and former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic on the run, the U.N. Yugoslav tribunal in The Hague is preparing to deliver its verdict on the highest-ranking remaining former politician awaiting judgment for alleged genocide in Bosnia.
The court will rule on Wednesday in the case of Momcilio Krajisnik, who was speaker of parliament in the breakaway Bosnian Serb Republic during the 1991-1995 Bosnian war, which left more than 200,000 dead on all sides.
Krajisnik, 61, has pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including genocide and plotting to commit genocide by "cleansing" parts of Bosnia of Muslims and Croats to create an ethnically pure "greater Serbia" together with Serbian President Milosevic, Karadzic, and others.
Prosecutors demanded a life sentence for Krajisnik, who they said was one of a troika of Bosnian Serb leaders bearing primary political responsibility for atrocities carried out by their troops from July 1991-December 1992, including civilian slaughters, and murder, torture and rape of detainees. The defense sought acquittal...
The U.N. tribunal is gradually winding down operations, with its final trial to begin by 2008 though it says it will always be ready to reopen if Karadzic or the Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic, are arrested.
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/26-09-2006/84694-crimes-0
Mon Sep 25, 6:28 PM ET
Serbia's foreign minister has warned of possible renewed conflict in the Balkans if the province of Kosovo becomes independent without the Serbian government's approval, according to comments published Monday.
Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic suggested Kosovo should have full autonomy but not be allowed to hold separate membership in the United Nations and NATO.
"Kosovo's independence would produce trouble in the region, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia," Draskovic was quoted as saying in the Kosovo Albanian daily Epoka e Re.
"You know that no border in the Balkans has been changed with an agreement," he said. "Borders have always been changed with wars, and that (Kosovo's independence) would naturally bring such a trouble."...
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica reiterated Serbia's rejection of the possible secession of Kosovo.
Kosovo has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999 when NATO air raids forced Serbia to halt its crackdown on the separatists and pull its troops out.
"Kosovo has always been and will remain part of Serbia," Kostunica stressed in a statement. He reiterated Belgrade's proposal that Kosovo enjoy self-rule and broad autonomy, without a change of borders.
The chief U.N. envoy for Kosovo, Maarti Ahtisaari, said last week he had no "fixed deadlines" in the Kosovo status talks, though he is expected before the year's end to present the U.N. Security council with proposal for Kosovo's future.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060925/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_status_talks_1
Serbia's foreign minister has warned of possible renewed conflict in the Balkans if the province of Kosovo becomes independent without the Serbian government's approval, according to comments published Monday.
Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic suggested Kosovo should have full autonomy but not be allowed to hold separate membership in the United Nations and NATO.
"Kosovo's independence would produce trouble in the region, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia," Draskovic was quoted as saying in the Kosovo Albanian daily Epoka e Re.
"You know that no border in the Balkans has been changed with an agreement," he said. "Borders have always been changed with wars, and that (Kosovo's independence) would naturally bring such a trouble."...
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica reiterated Serbia's rejection of the possible secession of Kosovo.
Kosovo has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999 when NATO air raids forced Serbia to halt its crackdown on the separatists and pull its troops out.
"Kosovo has always been and will remain part of Serbia," Kostunica stressed in a statement. He reiterated Belgrade's proposal that Kosovo enjoy self-rule and broad autonomy, without a change of borders.
The chief U.N. envoy for Kosovo, Maarti Ahtisaari, said last week he had no "fixed deadlines" in the Kosovo status talks, though he is expected before the year's end to present the U.N. Security council with proposal for Kosovo's future.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060925/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_status_talks_1
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Well, wonder why Serbia was never given THIS option. Guess it's because they were never the "victims," only the "perpetrators"....if this tactic works, it will further reinforce the double-standard the Hague has used in prosecuting acts that occurred during the wars.
Croatia seeks to defend itself at Hague tribunal
3 September 2006 14:10 Source: Reuters
ZAGREB -- Croatia has asked to be a "friend of the court" at the United Nations war crimes tribunal.Croatia wants to combat what it says are unacceptable allegations about its military operations in the 1990s, state radio said on Friday.The government of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has asked for the 'amicus curiae' status in a letter sent to the tribunal, the radio reported after a cabinet session. "We shall thus try to refute the unacceptable allegations in the indictments, in cooperation with the tribunal," Sanader said, referring to the trials of three Croatian generals and six Bosnian Croats, all of whom are in the tribunal's custody. The friend of the court is not a party in the trial but seeks to take part in the proceedings, believing the trial and its outcome may affect its interests. The indictments against the three generals allege that top Croatian state and army leaders engaged in a "joint criminal enterprise" to drive out for good rebel minority Serbs in a 1995 offensive codenamed Operation Storm. Some 150,000 Serbs fled the Croatian army's advance. Croatia says the offensive was its legitimate right, to retake land captured by Serb rebels at the outset of the war in 1991 when Zagreb declared independence from communist Yugoslavia. The six former Bosnian Croat leaders are accused of leading another joint criminal enterprise aimed at ethnically cleansing Muslims from parts of southern Bosnia in 1993 and proclaiming a separate Croat state. Their indictment says Bosnian Croat forces had acted under supervision or in coordination with Croatian army, police and intelligence. Croatia says its troops were never engaged in Bosnia. Croatia has significantly improved cooperation with the tribunal since Sanader took office in late 2003. The last remaining Croatian fugitive, general Ante Gotovina, was arrested in Spain last December. His trial is due to start in 2008.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=09&dd=03&nav_category=123&nav_id=36473
Croatia seeks to defend itself at Hague tribunal
3 September 2006 14:10 Source: Reuters
ZAGREB -- Croatia has asked to be a "friend of the court" at the United Nations war crimes tribunal.Croatia wants to combat what it says are unacceptable allegations about its military operations in the 1990s, state radio said on Friday.The government of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has asked for the 'amicus curiae' status in a letter sent to the tribunal, the radio reported after a cabinet session. "We shall thus try to refute the unacceptable allegations in the indictments, in cooperation with the tribunal," Sanader said, referring to the trials of three Croatian generals and six Bosnian Croats, all of whom are in the tribunal's custody. The friend of the court is not a party in the trial but seeks to take part in the proceedings, believing the trial and its outcome may affect its interests. The indictments against the three generals allege that top Croatian state and army leaders engaged in a "joint criminal enterprise" to drive out for good rebel minority Serbs in a 1995 offensive codenamed Operation Storm. Some 150,000 Serbs fled the Croatian army's advance. Croatia says the offensive was its legitimate right, to retake land captured by Serb rebels at the outset of the war in 1991 when Zagreb declared independence from communist Yugoslavia. The six former Bosnian Croat leaders are accused of leading another joint criminal enterprise aimed at ethnically cleansing Muslims from parts of southern Bosnia in 1993 and proclaiming a separate Croat state. Their indictment says Bosnian Croat forces had acted under supervision or in coordination with Croatian army, police and intelligence. Croatia says its troops were never engaged in Bosnia. Croatia has significantly improved cooperation with the tribunal since Sanader took office in late 2003. The last remaining Croatian fugitive, general Ante Gotovina, was arrested in Spain last December. His trial is due to start in 2008.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=09&dd=03&nav_category=123&nav_id=36473
Lordy--loo, what will happen next?
Row over Milosevic street-naming
By Nick Hawton BBC News, Belgrade A dispute has broken out in Serbia over plans to name a street after former President Slobodan Milosevic.
Members of Milosevic's Socialist Party in the country's second largest city, Novi Sad, have put forward the plan.
But political opponents have condemned the move, describing it as a scandal and vowing to organise protests.
Milosevic died earlier this year while on trial in The Hague, accused among other things of genocide for his role during the Bosnian war.
Continuing divisions
Members of the Socialist Party in Novi Sad say their former leader should be recognised for his many achievements, including the rebuilding of two bridges in the city that were destroyed by Nato bombs in 1999.
Although the party is no longer the force it once was, it does share power with other nationalist parties in the city.
Milosevic, who led Serbia during the wars of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, died of a heart attack while on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal in March.
The street-naming dispute highlights the continuing divisions over his legacy.
While many people blame him for leading Serbia into political isolation and economic hardship, others still regard him as a hero who tried to do his best for his people.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/5309854.stmPublished: 2006/09/03 10:30:48 GMT
Row over Milosevic street-naming
By Nick Hawton BBC News, Belgrade A dispute has broken out in Serbia over plans to name a street after former President Slobodan Milosevic.
Members of Milosevic's Socialist Party in the country's second largest city, Novi Sad, have put forward the plan.
But political opponents have condemned the move, describing it as a scandal and vowing to organise protests.
Milosevic died earlier this year while on trial in The Hague, accused among other things of genocide for his role during the Bosnian war.
Continuing divisions
Members of the Socialist Party in Novi Sad say their former leader should be recognised for his many achievements, including the rebuilding of two bridges in the city that were destroyed by Nato bombs in 1999.
Although the party is no longer the force it once was, it does share power with other nationalist parties in the city.
Milosevic, who led Serbia during the wars of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, died of a heart attack while on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal in March.
The street-naming dispute highlights the continuing divisions over his legacy.
While many people blame him for leading Serbia into political isolation and economic hardship, others still regard him as a hero who tried to do his best for his people.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/5309854.stmPublished: 2006/09/03 10:30:48 GMT
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
A sad day for sports fans....
Serbia, Montenegro formally split in world basketball
Agence France-Presse
Posted date: August 29, 2006
TOKYO -- What had been left from the former Yugoslavia in the world of basketball ceased to exist on Tuesday as Serbia and Montenegro formally split after failing to defend the World Championship title.
World basketball governing body FIBA approved the Basketball Federation of Montenegro as its 213th member at a quadrennial world congress here.
The Basketball Federation of Serbia retains the place of the former Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro as a member, FIBA said in a press release.
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/sports/view_article.php?article_id=17838
Serbia, Montenegro formally split in world basketball
Agence France-Presse
Posted date: August 29, 2006
TOKYO -- What had been left from the former Yugoslavia in the world of basketball ceased to exist on Tuesday as Serbia and Montenegro formally split after failing to defend the World Championship title.
World basketball governing body FIBA approved the Basketball Federation of Montenegro as its 213th member at a quadrennial world congress here.
The Basketball Federation of Serbia retains the place of the former Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro as a member, FIBA said in a press release.
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/sports/view_article.php?article_id=17838
Serbia accuses U.N. envoy of bias
BELGRADE, Serbia, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday accused a U.N. envoy of bias in favor of ethnic Albanians in the disputed province of Kosovo....
Kostunica has blamed [U.N. Kosovo envoy Martti] Ahtisaari for saying, "the Serbs are guilty as a people," and therefore the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province should become independent of Belgrade.
Ahtisaari has also said it was important to take into account the historical legacy of the former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, whose security forces reportedly persecuted ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo.
"Every nation in the world has a burden for which it has to pay," Ahtisaari said last week....
So, why are the Serbs the only group that always seems to be paying?
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060829-120150-5124r
BELGRADE, Serbia, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday accused a U.N. envoy of bias in favor of ethnic Albanians in the disputed province of Kosovo....
Kostunica has blamed [U.N. Kosovo envoy Martti] Ahtisaari for saying, "the Serbs are guilty as a people," and therefore the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province should become independent of Belgrade.
Ahtisaari has also said it was important to take into account the historical legacy of the former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, whose security forces reportedly persecuted ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo.
"Every nation in the world has a burden for which it has to pay," Ahtisaari said last week....
So, why are the Serbs the only group that always seems to be paying?
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060829-120150-5124r
Friday, August 18, 2006
Sigh....Yet another negative Serb image....
I was all set to like James Hynes THE LECTURER'S TALE, a book about a failing academic at a prominent Midwestern research university (that sounds a great deal like my alma mater) who gets a new career boost when his reattached severed finger acquires the power to bend others' will to his own. I had read one of Hynes' earlier books, PUBLISH AND PERISH, in graduate school, and I loved his quick wit and his dead-on read of the petty, yet often brutal, politics of academe'. So, what's the problem? Should be a great read, right? Things were going along well, actually. Then, they introduced the character of Marko Kraljevic', intially, as a postmodern literary theorist who was in exile from Milosevic' regime. GREAT! I thought. Finally, someone is writing about those "other Serbs," the ones who did not support, condone or participate in Milosevic's policies and who paid steep penalties for their "lack of loyalty." Since I know such Serbs exist and have worked and studied with them, I was not shocked to see the character portrayed that way; it seemed a normal leap. My joy was not to be, however. Kraljevic' began acting more and more erratically as the book progressed, in homage, no doubt to his status as enfant terrible of pomo theory. THAT, I could have handled; I have known some weird theorists in my time, and some of them were European. What REALLY chapped my hide, though, was the ultimate, secret revelation: the man pretending to be Marko Kraljevic was really Slobodan Jamisovich, a Serbian war criminal known as Captain Dragan, the Butcher of Srebrenica. GIVE ME A BREAK, people!!! Is it just impossible for anyone in the Western hemisphere to admit that there is the slimmest possibility that maybe ONE Serb in the world was not directly responsible or a participant in the atrocities of the 1990's.? Must they ALL always be on Slobo's payroll, covertly or overtly? How many decades will have to pass before we can see "Serbs" as a diverse population of people, not a stereotype associated only with atrocities?
I thought about burning the book, but I have added it to my all-too-large collection of Serb stereotypes. I am thinking about cancelling my outstanding order for Hynes latest book in protest. A small gesture, but a fitting one, IMO; why reward him for continuing the work I am trying to undo?
I was all set to like James Hynes THE LECTURER'S TALE, a book about a failing academic at a prominent Midwestern research university (that sounds a great deal like my alma mater) who gets a new career boost when his reattached severed finger acquires the power to bend others' will to his own. I had read one of Hynes' earlier books, PUBLISH AND PERISH, in graduate school, and I loved his quick wit and his dead-on read of the petty, yet often brutal, politics of academe'. So, what's the problem? Should be a great read, right? Things were going along well, actually. Then, they introduced the character of Marko Kraljevic', intially, as a postmodern literary theorist who was in exile from Milosevic' regime. GREAT! I thought. Finally, someone is writing about those "other Serbs," the ones who did not support, condone or participate in Milosevic's policies and who paid steep penalties for their "lack of loyalty." Since I know such Serbs exist and have worked and studied with them, I was not shocked to see the character portrayed that way; it seemed a normal leap. My joy was not to be, however. Kraljevic' began acting more and more erratically as the book progressed, in homage, no doubt to his status as enfant terrible of pomo theory. THAT, I could have handled; I have known some weird theorists in my time, and some of them were European. What REALLY chapped my hide, though, was the ultimate, secret revelation: the man pretending to be Marko Kraljevic was really Slobodan Jamisovich, a Serbian war criminal known as Captain Dragan, the Butcher of Srebrenica. GIVE ME A BREAK, people!!! Is it just impossible for anyone in the Western hemisphere to admit that there is the slimmest possibility that maybe ONE Serb in the world was not directly responsible or a participant in the atrocities of the 1990's.? Must they ALL always be on Slobo's payroll, covertly or overtly? How many decades will have to pass before we can see "Serbs" as a diverse population of people, not a stereotype associated only with atrocities?
I thought about burning the book, but I have added it to my all-too-large collection of Serb stereotypes. I am thinking about cancelling my outstanding order for Hynes latest book in protest. A small gesture, but a fitting one, IMO; why reward him for continuing the work I am trying to undo?
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Once again, it's okay if THEY do it, but always suspect if the SERBS do it....why does nothing have an ulterior motive until Serbia tries it?
US warns against exploiting new warcrime claims in ex-Yugoslavia
Wed Aug 16, 6:10 PM ET
The United States warned against attempts to politically exploit newly surfaced allegations of warcrimes committed against Serbs in the former Yugoslavia.
The allegations relate to amateur video footage that emerged this month purportedly showing Bosnian Muslim and Croatian forces killing or harassing Serbs in August and September 1995.
Serb and Bosnian Serb leaders have demanded action against Bosnian Muslims and Croatians allegedly involved in atrocities committed during "Operation Storm", an offensive aimed at regaining territory held by Serb rebels during the 1992-1995 war.
The United States, which has been critical of Serbia for failing to hand over key Serb warcrimes suspects, welcomed the fact that Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian prosecutors had met last week to discuss the latest allegations.
"The United States condemns all war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, regardless of the ethnic or religious identity of the victim or perpetrator," a State Department spokesman said Wednesday.
"Atrocities were committed by all sides of the conflicts with varying levels of planning and organization, and we condemn any attempts to exploit these tragedies for political advantage," said the spokesman, Gonzalo Gallegos.
"Holding individuals accountable for these crimes, and moving beyond collectivization of guilt of entire groups, is vital to ensuring stability, security and reconciliation in the region," he said.
One of the videos, which surfaced last week, allegedly showed Atif Dudakovic, the former commander of the Bosnian Muslim army's 5th Corps, telling his troops to "torch" Serb villages in September 1995.
A separate video released days earlier allegedly depicts members of the Croatian army's Black Mamba unit and Bosnian Muslim forces killing and harassing Serb refugees in August 1995.
Dudakovic denied the allegations and Croatian President Stipe Mesic accused the Serbian government of exploiting the footage to deflect attention from war crimes committed by Serbs and its failure to track down the two top fugitives, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, Ratko Mladic.
The emergence of the videos, Mesic said, was Belgrade's "attempt, probably for the Serbian public, to share the guilt and crimes".
Sulejman Tihic, the current holder of Bosnia's rotating presidency, also accused Serb leaders of seeking political gain from the issue.
"If they are truly committed to processing war criminals, let them prove so by arresting Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, because they have been hiding and financing them for 11 years," said Tihic.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060816/pl_afp/warcrimesbosniaserbia_060816221031
US warns against exploiting new warcrime claims in ex-Yugoslavia
Wed Aug 16, 6:10 PM ET
The United States warned against attempts to politically exploit newly surfaced allegations of warcrimes committed against Serbs in the former Yugoslavia.
The allegations relate to amateur video footage that emerged this month purportedly showing Bosnian Muslim and Croatian forces killing or harassing Serbs in August and September 1995.
Serb and Bosnian Serb leaders have demanded action against Bosnian Muslims and Croatians allegedly involved in atrocities committed during "Operation Storm", an offensive aimed at regaining territory held by Serb rebels during the 1992-1995 war.
The United States, which has been critical of Serbia for failing to hand over key Serb warcrimes suspects, welcomed the fact that Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian prosecutors had met last week to discuss the latest allegations.
"The United States condemns all war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, regardless of the ethnic or religious identity of the victim or perpetrator," a State Department spokesman said Wednesday.
"Atrocities were committed by all sides of the conflicts with varying levels of planning and organization, and we condemn any attempts to exploit these tragedies for political advantage," said the spokesman, Gonzalo Gallegos.
"Holding individuals accountable for these crimes, and moving beyond collectivization of guilt of entire groups, is vital to ensuring stability, security and reconciliation in the region," he said.
One of the videos, which surfaced last week, allegedly showed Atif Dudakovic, the former commander of the Bosnian Muslim army's 5th Corps, telling his troops to "torch" Serb villages in September 1995.
A separate video released days earlier allegedly depicts members of the Croatian army's Black Mamba unit and Bosnian Muslim forces killing and harassing Serb refugees in August 1995.
Dudakovic denied the allegations and Croatian President Stipe Mesic accused the Serbian government of exploiting the footage to deflect attention from war crimes committed by Serbs and its failure to track down the two top fugitives, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, Ratko Mladic.
The emergence of the videos, Mesic said, was Belgrade's "attempt, probably for the Serbian public, to share the guilt and crimes".
Sulejman Tihic, the current holder of Bosnia's rotating presidency, also accused Serb leaders of seeking political gain from the issue.
"If they are truly committed to processing war criminals, let them prove so by arresting Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, because they have been hiding and financing them for 11 years," said Tihic.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060816/pl_afp/warcrimesbosniaserbia_060816221031
Monday, August 14, 2006
Milosevic's millions remain unclaimed
Belgrade - Serbia's former ruler Slobodan Milosevic was worth about R78-million, but no heir has yet laid claim to his assets, it was reported today. Milosevic owned property in an elite area of Belgrade and his combined property is worth slightly over d9-million.However, none of Milosevic's inheritors have appeared to claim the riches, a court in Belgrade said, according to the daily Press.None of Milosevic's close family members reside in Serbia. His wife, Mirjana Markovic, is wanted by the Serbian judiciary in connection with an abuse of power case and is believed to be in Russia.Milosevic's son, Marko, also reputed to have accumulated great wealth during the rule of his father, is also believed to be in Russia.His daughter, Marija, lives in Montenegro.Milosevic, on trial for war crimes at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, died in March of heart failure while in the detention unit of the court.- Sapa-DPA Published on the web by Star on August 14, 2006.
© Star 2006. All rights reserved.
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3390399
Belgrade - Serbia's former ruler Slobodan Milosevic was worth about R78-million, but no heir has yet laid claim to his assets, it was reported today. Milosevic owned property in an elite area of Belgrade and his combined property is worth slightly over d9-million.However, none of Milosevic's inheritors have appeared to claim the riches, a court in Belgrade said, according to the daily Press.None of Milosevic's close family members reside in Serbia. His wife, Mirjana Markovic, is wanted by the Serbian judiciary in connection with an abuse of power case and is believed to be in Russia.Milosevic's son, Marko, also reputed to have accumulated great wealth during the rule of his father, is also believed to be in Russia.His daughter, Marija, lives in Montenegro.Milosevic, on trial for war crimes at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, died in March of heart failure while in the detention unit of the court.- Sapa-DPA Published on the web by Star on August 14, 2006.
© Star 2006. All rights reserved.
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3390399
Time to re-think
14 August 2006 William Montgomery
In late 1989 or early 1990, the Central Intelligence Agency produced an analysis of the former Yugoslavia which was in retrospect, exactly on target. It predicted that the country would break up into different states, almost certainly accompanied by significant violence.
This was not welcome news in Washington. Former President Bush strongly believed that Mikhail Gorbachov was a vital positive force that needed to remain in full control of the Soviet Union. He believed that the breakup of the Soviet Union would unleash forces of anarchy and the potential for significant proliferation of nuclear weapons. He and those around him believed that the breakup of the former Yugoslavia would set a bad precedent for the Soviet Union. Secondly, they were legitimately worried about the potential of violence in any breakup. They had no stomach and no interest in any military actions in Europe in the period before the November, 1992 Presidential elections. The strong position emanating from the White House and senior State Department circles was that we did not want the breakup to happen. This coincided exactly with the views of the American Embassy in Belgrade, which not only did not want it to happen, they believed it could be prevented. The Embassy at the time put all of its “eggs” in one basket, the government of Prime Minister Ante Markovic. The Embassy believed that with our support, he could overcome the growing nationalistic tensions. So the CIA analysis was disregarded and the far more optimistic views and policy initiatives of the Embassy accepted. Consequently, all of the efforts of the United States government for the critical period in which the fate of Yugoslavia was sealed were directed at preventing its breakup. Having just arrived in Washington from serving in the Region and knowing the strength of the various independence and nationalist forces, it was clear to me that we were “betting on a losing horse.” It would have been far better to have accepted the inevitability of the breakup and focus all of our efforts on ensuring that it would happen peacefully. This was the best and perhaps only chance to prevent the whirlwind of violence which subsequently engulfed this region.
http://www.b92.net/eng/insight/opinions.php?nav_id=36126
14 August 2006 William Montgomery
In late 1989 or early 1990, the Central Intelligence Agency produced an analysis of the former Yugoslavia which was in retrospect, exactly on target. It predicted that the country would break up into different states, almost certainly accompanied by significant violence.
This was not welcome news in Washington. Former President Bush strongly believed that Mikhail Gorbachov was a vital positive force that needed to remain in full control of the Soviet Union. He believed that the breakup of the Soviet Union would unleash forces of anarchy and the potential for significant proliferation of nuclear weapons. He and those around him believed that the breakup of the former Yugoslavia would set a bad precedent for the Soviet Union. Secondly, they were legitimately worried about the potential of violence in any breakup. They had no stomach and no interest in any military actions in Europe in the period before the November, 1992 Presidential elections. The strong position emanating from the White House and senior State Department circles was that we did not want the breakup to happen. This coincided exactly with the views of the American Embassy in Belgrade, which not only did not want it to happen, they believed it could be prevented. The Embassy at the time put all of its “eggs” in one basket, the government of Prime Minister Ante Markovic. The Embassy believed that with our support, he could overcome the growing nationalistic tensions. So the CIA analysis was disregarded and the far more optimistic views and policy initiatives of the Embassy accepted. Consequently, all of the efforts of the United States government for the critical period in which the fate of Yugoslavia was sealed were directed at preventing its breakup. Having just arrived in Washington from serving in the Region and knowing the strength of the various independence and nationalist forces, it was clear to me that we were “betting on a losing horse.” It would have been far better to have accepted the inevitability of the breakup and focus all of our efforts on ensuring that it would happen peacefully. This was the best and perhaps only chance to prevent the whirlwind of violence which subsequently engulfed this region.
http://www.b92.net/eng/insight/opinions.php?nav_id=36126
So, it hasn't been proven, but it's okay to use it in the headline....
Bosnian president 'threatened' by US-based Serbs
Mon Aug 14, 10:32 AM ET
The Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Sulejman Tihic, has received a death threat in a letter allegedly from US-based Serb nationalists, his cabinet said.
The threat to assassinate Tihic, Bosnian Muslim war crimes convict Naser Oric, and both their children was contained in a letter bearing a postage stamp from the US city of Chicago, Tihic's cabinet said in a statement.
"You will be executed, both you and Naser Oric, and your children," the statement quoted the letter as saying.
It alleged the letter had been sent "by Serb nationalists", adding that Bosnian security services had been alerted about the matter.
On June 30, Oric, a former Muslim military chief, was sentenced to two years in prison by the UN war crimes court for failing to prevent his forces from mistreating and killing Serb prisoners.
But he was immediately released because he had already been in custody for more than three years.
UN war crimes prosecutors have since appealed against the sentence, saying it was insufficient.
Tensions have risen in Bosnia after the broadcast of footage last week showing another wartime Muslim commander, Atif Dudakovic, ordering his troops to burn down Serb villages during the country's 1992-1995 war.
The leaders of Bosnia's Serb entity, Republika Srpska, have since filed war crimes charges against Dudakovic, who lives in the other half of the country, the Muslim-Croat Federation.
Last Friday, the grave containing former Bosnian Muslim president Alija Izetbegovic was severely damaged in an explosion.
Izetbegovic, who died at the age of 78 in October 2003, is seen as a hero by most Muslims for leading Bosnia to independence in 1992, a move that triggered the three-and-a-half year conflict between Muslims, Serbs and Croats.
Upon his death, the UN war crimes tribunal said it had been investigating Serb allegations that Izetbegovic had committed war crimes during the Bosnian conflict, but no charges were ever pressed against him.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060814/pl_afp/bosniapoliticsus_060814143211
Bosnian president 'threatened' by US-based Serbs
Mon Aug 14, 10:32 AM ET
The Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Sulejman Tihic, has received a death threat in a letter allegedly from US-based Serb nationalists, his cabinet said.
The threat to assassinate Tihic, Bosnian Muslim war crimes convict Naser Oric, and both their children was contained in a letter bearing a postage stamp from the US city of Chicago, Tihic's cabinet said in a statement.
"You will be executed, both you and Naser Oric, and your children," the statement quoted the letter as saying.
It alleged the letter had been sent "by Serb nationalists", adding that Bosnian security services had been alerted about the matter.
On June 30, Oric, a former Muslim military chief, was sentenced to two years in prison by the UN war crimes court for failing to prevent his forces from mistreating and killing Serb prisoners.
But he was immediately released because he had already been in custody for more than three years.
UN war crimes prosecutors have since appealed against the sentence, saying it was insufficient.
Tensions have risen in Bosnia after the broadcast of footage last week showing another wartime Muslim commander, Atif Dudakovic, ordering his troops to burn down Serb villages during the country's 1992-1995 war.
The leaders of Bosnia's Serb entity, Republika Srpska, have since filed war crimes charges against Dudakovic, who lives in the other half of the country, the Muslim-Croat Federation.
Last Friday, the grave containing former Bosnian Muslim president Alija Izetbegovic was severely damaged in an explosion.
Izetbegovic, who died at the age of 78 in October 2003, is seen as a hero by most Muslims for leading Bosnia to independence in 1992, a move that triggered the three-and-a-half year conflict between Muslims, Serbs and Croats.
Upon his death, the UN war crimes tribunal said it had been investigating Serb allegations that Izetbegovic had committed war crimes during the Bosnian conflict, but no charges were ever pressed against him.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060814/pl_afp/bosniapoliticsus_060814143211
Thursday, August 10, 2006
And this is a shock WHY, exactly?
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=12778
- The Radical Party (SRS) is the top political organization in Serbia, according to a poll by Medijum Galup. 30.7 per cent of respondents would vote for the SRS in the next legislative ballot.
The Democratic Party (DS) is second with 23.7 per cent, followed by the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) with 14.7 per cent, New Serbia (NS) with 5.5 per cent, and the G-17 Plus with five per cent. Support is lower for the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Serbia Renewal Movement (SPO), the Strength of Serbia Movement (SS) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
The remnants of the Yugoslav Federation were transformed into Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003. On May 21, Montenegro voted to establish "an independent state with full international and legal subjectivity" in a referendum.
The Radicals are currently the biggest party in the Serbian National Assembly with 82 lawmakers, but were unable to form a government after the parliamentary ballot. In March 2004, a coalition administration headed by Vojislav Kostunica of the DSS was established with the support of 130 legislators. In the June 2004 presidential election, DS candidate Boris Tadic defeated SRS nominee Tomislav Nikolic in a run-off.
Last month, Kostunica said Serbia would oppose Kosovo’s independence, even if this stance proves counterproductive for the country’s European Union (EU) membership aspirations, adding, "Serbia will reject a solution that takes Kosovo away from Serbia and, very importantly, will continue to consider Kosovo part of its territory."
Polling Data
Which party would you vote?
Serbian Radical Party (SRS)
30.7%
Democratic Party (DS)
23.7%
Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS)
14.7%
New Serbia (NS)
5.5%
G-17 Plus
5.0%
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS)
4.6%
Serbia Renewal Movement (SPO)
2.9%
Strength of Serbia Movement (SS)
2.1%
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
2.0%
Source: Medijum GalupMethodology: Interviews with 1,000 Serb adults, conducted from Jul. 16 to Jul. 21, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=12778
- The Radical Party (SRS) is the top political organization in Serbia, according to a poll by Medijum Galup. 30.7 per cent of respondents would vote for the SRS in the next legislative ballot.
The Democratic Party (DS) is second with 23.7 per cent, followed by the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) with 14.7 per cent, New Serbia (NS) with 5.5 per cent, and the G-17 Plus with five per cent. Support is lower for the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Serbia Renewal Movement (SPO), the Strength of Serbia Movement (SS) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
The remnants of the Yugoslav Federation were transformed into Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003. On May 21, Montenegro voted to establish "an independent state with full international and legal subjectivity" in a referendum.
The Radicals are currently the biggest party in the Serbian National Assembly with 82 lawmakers, but were unable to form a government after the parliamentary ballot. In March 2004, a coalition administration headed by Vojislav Kostunica of the DSS was established with the support of 130 legislators. In the June 2004 presidential election, DS candidate Boris Tadic defeated SRS nominee Tomislav Nikolic in a run-off.
Last month, Kostunica said Serbia would oppose Kosovo’s independence, even if this stance proves counterproductive for the country’s European Union (EU) membership aspirations, adding, "Serbia will reject a solution that takes Kosovo away from Serbia and, very importantly, will continue to consider Kosovo part of its territory."
Polling Data
Which party would you vote?
Serbian Radical Party (SRS)
30.7%
Democratic Party (DS)
23.7%
Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS)
14.7%
New Serbia (NS)
5.5%
G-17 Plus
5.0%
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS)
4.6%
Serbia Renewal Movement (SPO)
2.9%
Strength of Serbia Movement (SS)
2.1%
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
2.0%
Source: Medijum GalupMethodology: Interviews with 1,000 Serb adults, conducted from Jul. 16 to Jul. 21, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
The GUARDIAN ran the same article, but look at THEIR headline:
New Bosnian war footage shows 'crimes' against Serbs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/yugo/article/0,,1840836,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
nice, huh? If it's Serbs, it can't really be true....
New Bosnian war footage shows 'crimes' against Serbs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/yugo/article/0,,1840836,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
nice, huh? If it's Serbs, it can't really be true....
Bosnian Muslim commander charged
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -- Bosnian Serb leaders filed criminal charges Thursday against a wartime Muslim commander who allegedly appears in a video ordering the destruction of Serb homes in 1995 in western Bosnia in.
The Bosnian Serb ministate's President Dragan Cavic and Prime Minister Milorad Dodik jointly pressed criminal charges against Atif Dudakovic and submitted them to prosecutors in their half of the country, the state of Bosnia and in neighboring Croatia, the men said in a statement.
Footage -- first aired by Belgrade-based B92 television, then by Serbia's state television -- purportedly shows Bosnian Muslim and Croatian soldiers harassing and attacking Serb refugees fleeing a Croatian military offensive launched in August 1995 to retake contested territories from Serb rebels.
A man, who accused of being retired Bosnian Army Gen. Dudakovic, can be seen in the video ordering the destruction of Serb homes. Dudakovic said the footage was fabricated and accused Serbian TV stations of attributing false statements to him.
More than 200,000 Serbs fled during the offensive -- the biggest single exodus in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Many of them crossed through parts of western Bosnia in search of safety, and more than a hundred were killed.
The footage outraged many Serbs, who often accuse the U.N. tribunal of bias against them and unwilling to investigate cases in which Serbs were victims.
"I can say with full moral responsibility that members of the Fifth Corps did not commit crimes. There may have been individual cases, but only individual," Dudakovic told Bosnian media.
Bosnian President Sulejman Tihic on Wednesday rejected accusations that a wartime Muslim commander committed atrocities against Serbs.
Bosnia's state prosecutors office said it was examining the tape.
The peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war left the country divided into a Bosnian Serb ministate and a Muslim Croat Federation.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/10/bosnia.charges.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -- Bosnian Serb leaders filed criminal charges Thursday against a wartime Muslim commander who allegedly appears in a video ordering the destruction of Serb homes in 1995 in western Bosnia in.
The Bosnian Serb ministate's President Dragan Cavic and Prime Minister Milorad Dodik jointly pressed criminal charges against Atif Dudakovic and submitted them to prosecutors in their half of the country, the state of Bosnia and in neighboring Croatia, the men said in a statement.
Footage -- first aired by Belgrade-based B92 television, then by Serbia's state television -- purportedly shows Bosnian Muslim and Croatian soldiers harassing and attacking Serb refugees fleeing a Croatian military offensive launched in August 1995 to retake contested territories from Serb rebels.
A man, who accused of being retired Bosnian Army Gen. Dudakovic, can be seen in the video ordering the destruction of Serb homes. Dudakovic said the footage was fabricated and accused Serbian TV stations of attributing false statements to him.
More than 200,000 Serbs fled during the offensive -- the biggest single exodus in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Many of them crossed through parts of western Bosnia in search of safety, and more than a hundred were killed.
The footage outraged many Serbs, who often accuse the U.N. tribunal of bias against them and unwilling to investigate cases in which Serbs were victims.
"I can say with full moral responsibility that members of the Fifth Corps did not commit crimes. There may have been individual cases, but only individual," Dudakovic told Bosnian media.
Bosnian President Sulejman Tihic on Wednesday rejected accusations that a wartime Muslim commander committed atrocities against Serbs.
Bosnia's state prosecutors office said it was examining the tape.
The peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war left the country divided into a Bosnian Serb ministate and a Muslim Croat Federation.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/10/bosnia.charges.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest
How is it that, even when Serbs were the victims, the press still makes them sound as if they were guity of something?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-serbia-nazi-suspects,1,6320657.story
Serbia Urged to Extradite Nazi SuspectsBy MISHA SAVICAssociated Press Writer9:49 PM PDT, August 9, 2006BELGRADE, Serbia — A director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center urged Serbian authorities on Wednesday to seek the extradition of two Croatia-born men and try them for alleged World War II atrocities against Jews, Serbs and Gypsies. Efraim Zuroff, the Los Angeles-based center's chief Nazi hunter, met in Belgrade with President Boris Tadic and Justice Ministry officials, advising them to join efforts to bring to justice Ivo Rojnica and Milivoj Asner. The men served in Croatia's World War II Nazi puppet regime and allegedly took part in the prosecution and death camp deportations of hundreds of Jews, Serbs and Gypsies, Zuroff said. Although the men are not Serbian citizens and their alleged crimes were committed in the territory of present-day Croatia, the ethnicity of some of the victims "entitles Serbia to seek extradition" of Rojnica and Asner, living in Argentina and Austria, respectively, Zuroff said. Last year, Croatia indicted Asner for crimes against humanity and war crimes, but Austrian authorities failed to arrest the 92-year-old man. Croatia has since shown little resolve to press for the handover of Asner, or to seek extradition of Rojnica, 90, who is believed to be living in Buenos Aires, Zuroff said. "When it comes to the Second World War cases, in our attempts to see justice done it has always been important to consider the victim's origins and identity," he said. There was no immediate comment from Serbian officials. Rojnica is allegedly responsible for crimes committed against hundreds of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies in the southern city of Dubrovnik. Asner allegedly sent victims from the town of Slavonska Poega to a Croat-run death camp where most of them later died. "The passing of time does not diminish what those men did. If someone committed a war crime in 1941 or 1942 and if 60 years have passed and they were not brought to justice, it does not mean that person's responsibility is not the same today as it was then," said Zuroff, who spearheads "Operation: Last Chance," an effort to get Nazi suspects arrested and tried before they die. Tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and Gypsies perished during the so-called Independent State of Croatia, which the Nazis set up when they invaded the former Yugoslavia in 1941 and encouraged ethnic violence among the country's diverse population. * __
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-serbia-nazi-suspects,1,6320657.story
Serbia Urged to Extradite Nazi SuspectsBy MISHA SAVICAssociated Press Writer9:49 PM PDT, August 9, 2006BELGRADE, Serbia — A director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center urged Serbian authorities on Wednesday to seek the extradition of two Croatia-born men and try them for alleged World War II atrocities against Jews, Serbs and Gypsies. Efraim Zuroff, the Los Angeles-based center's chief Nazi hunter, met in Belgrade with President Boris Tadic and Justice Ministry officials, advising them to join efforts to bring to justice Ivo Rojnica and Milivoj Asner. The men served in Croatia's World War II Nazi puppet regime and allegedly took part in the prosecution and death camp deportations of hundreds of Jews, Serbs and Gypsies, Zuroff said. Although the men are not Serbian citizens and their alleged crimes were committed in the territory of present-day Croatia, the ethnicity of some of the victims "entitles Serbia to seek extradition" of Rojnica and Asner, living in Argentina and Austria, respectively, Zuroff said. Last year, Croatia indicted Asner for crimes against humanity and war crimes, but Austrian authorities failed to arrest the 92-year-old man. Croatia has since shown little resolve to press for the handover of Asner, or to seek extradition of Rojnica, 90, who is believed to be living in Buenos Aires, Zuroff said. "When it comes to the Second World War cases, in our attempts to see justice done it has always been important to consider the victim's origins and identity," he said. There was no immediate comment from Serbian officials. Rojnica is allegedly responsible for crimes committed against hundreds of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies in the southern city of Dubrovnik. Asner allegedly sent victims from the town of Slavonska Poega to a Croat-run death camp where most of them later died. "The passing of time does not diminish what those men did. If someone committed a war crime in 1941 or 1942 and if 60 years have passed and they were not brought to justice, it does not mean that person's responsibility is not the same today as it was then," said Zuroff, who spearheads "Operation: Last Chance," an effort to get Nazi suspects arrested and tried before they die. Tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and Gypsies perished during the so-called Independent State of Croatia, which the Nazis set up when they invaded the former Yugoslavia in 1941 and encouraged ethnic violence among the country's diverse population. * __
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Article about currency solvency in the FRY during the 1990s--what is doing on a Zimbabwe website, I have no idea....points up how the catastrophic inflation in the country was poorly managed by the government....
What happens when a paper currency fails
Zimbabwe Independent
Date posted:Sat 5-Aug-2006
Date published:Sat 5-Aug-2006
By the early 1990s the government used up all of its own hard currency reserves and proceeded to loot the hard currency savings of private citizensBy Thayer WatkinsUnder Tito, Yugoslavia ran a budget deficit that was financed by printing money. This led to a rate of inflation of 15 to 25% per year. After Tito, the Communist Party pursued progressively more irrational economic policies. These policies and the breakup of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia now consists of only Serbia and Montenegro) led to heavier reliance upon printing or otherwise creating money to finance the operation of the government and the socialist economy. This created the hyperinflation. By the early 1990s the government used up all of its own hard currency reserves and proceeded to loot the hard currency savings of private citizens. It did this by imposing more and more difficult restrictions on private citizens’ access to their hard currency savings in government banks. The government operated a network of stores at which goods were supposed to be available at artificially low prices. In practice these stores seldom had anything to sell and goods were only available at free markets where the prices were far above the official prices that goods were supposed to sell at in government stores. All of the government fuel stations eventually were closed and petrol was available only from roadside dealers whose operation consisted of a car parked with a plastic can of petrol sitting on the hood. The market price was the equivalent of US$8 per gallon. Most car owners gave up driving and relied upon public transportation. But the Belgrade transit authority (GSP) did not have the funds necessary for keeping its fleet of 1 200 buses operating. Instead it ran fewer than 500 buses. These buses were overcrowded and the ticket collectors could not get aboard to collect fares. Thus GSP could not collect fares even though it was desperately short of funds. Delivery trucks, ambulances, fire trucks and garbage trucks were also short of fuel. The government announced that fuel would not be sold to farmers for fall harvests and planting. Despite the government’s desperate printing of money it still did not have the funds to keep the infrastructure in operation. Potholes developed in the streets, elevators stopped functioning, and construction projects were closed down. The unemployment rate exceeded 30%. The government tried to counter the inflation by imposing price controls. But when inflation continued, the government price controls made the price producers were getting so ridiculously low that they simply stopped producing. In October of 1993 the bakers stopped making bread and Belgrade was without bread for a week. The slaughter houses refused to sell meat to the state stores and this meant meat became unavailable for many sectors of the population. Other stores closed down for inventory rather than sell their goods at the government mandated prices. When farmers refused to sell to the government at the artificially low prices the government dictated, government irrationally used hard currency to buy food from foreign sources rather than remove the price controls. The Ministry of Agriculture also risked creating a famine by selling farmers only 30% of the fuel they needed for planting and harvesting. Later the government tried to curb inflation by requiring stores to file paperwork every time they raised a price. This meant that many store employees had to devote their time to filling out these government forms. Instead of curbing inflation this policy actually increased inflation because the stores tended to increase prices by larger increments so they would not have file forms for another price increase so soon. In October of 1993 they created a new currency unit. One new dinar was worth one million of the "old" dinars. In effect, the government simply removed six zeros from the paper money. This, of course, did not stop the inflation.In November of 1993 the government postponed turning on the heat in the state apartment buildings in which most of the population lived. The residents reacted to this by using electrical space heaters which were inefficient and overloaded the electrical system. The government power company then had to order blackouts to conserve electricity. In a large psychiatric hospital 87 patients died in November of 1994. The hospital had no heat, there was no food or medicine and the patients were wandering around naked. Between October 1 1993 and January 24 1995 prices increased by five quadrillion percent. This number is a five with 15 zeros after it. The social structure began to collapse. Thieves robbed hospitals and clinics of scarce pharmaceuticals and then sold them in front of the same places they robbed. The railway workers went on strike and closed down Yugoslavia’s rail system. The government set the level of pensions. The pensions were to be paid at the post office but the government did not give the post offices enough funds to pay these pensions. The pensioners lined up in long lines outside the post office. When the post office ran out of state funds to pay the pensions the employees would pay the next pensioner in line whatever money they received when someone came in to mail a letter or package. With inflation being what it was, the value of the pension would decrease drastically if the pensioners went home and came back the next day. So they waited in line knowing that the value of their pension payment was decreasing with each minute they had to wait. Many Yugoslav businesses refused to take the Yugoslav currency, and the German deutsche mark effectively became the currency of Yugoslavia. But government organisations, government employees and pensioners still got paid in Yugoslav dinars so there was still an active exchange in dinars. On November 12 1993 the exchange rate was 1 DM: 1 million new dinars. Thirteen days later the exchange rate was 1 DM: 6,5 million new dinars and by the end of November it was 1 DM: 37 million new dinars. At the beginning of December the bus workers went on strike because their pay for two weeks was equivalent to only 4 DM when it cost a family of four 230 DM per month to live. By December 11 the exchange rate was 1 DM: 800 million and on December 15 it was 1 DM: 3,7 billion new dinars.The average daily rate of inflation was nearly 100%. When farmers selling in the free markets refused to sell food for Yugoslav dinars the government closed down the free markets. On December 29 the exchange rate was 1 DM: 950 billion new dinars. About this time there occurred a tragic incident. As usual, pensioners were waiting in line. Someone passed by the line carrying bags of groceries from the free market. Two pensioners got so upset at their situation and the sight of someone else with groceries that they had heart attacks and died right there. At the end of December the exchange rate was 1 DM: 3 trillion dinars and on January 4 1994 it was 1 DM: 6 trillion dinars. On January 6 the government declared that the German deutsche was an official currency of Yugoslavia. About this time the government announced a new "new" dinar which was equal to one billion of the old "new" dinars. This meant that the exchange rate was 1 DM: 6 000 new new dinars. By January 11 the exchange rate had reached a level of 1 DM: 80 000 new new dinars. On January 13 the rate was 1 DM: 700 000 new new dinars and six days later it was 1 DM: 10 million new new dinars.The telephone bills for the government operated phone system were collected by the postmen. People postponed paying these bills as much as possible and inflation reduced their real value to next to nothing. One postman found that after trying to collect on 780 phone bills he got nothing so the next day he stayed home and paid all of the phone bills himself for the equivalent of a few American pennies. Here is another illustration of the irrationality of the government’s policies: James Lyon, a journalist, made 20 hours of international telephone calls from Belgrade in December 1993. The bill for these calls was 1 000 new new dinars and it arrived on January 11. At the exchange rate for January 11 of 1 DM: 150 000 dinars it would have cost less than one German pfennig to pay the bill. But the bill was not due until January 17 and by that time the exchange rate reached 1 DM: 30 million dinars. Yet the free market value of those 20 hours of international telephone calls was about US$5 000. So despite being strapped for hard currency, the government gave Lyon US$5 000 worth of phone calls essentially for nothing. It was against the law to refuse to accept personal cheques. Some people wrote personal cheques knowing that in the few days it took for the cheques to clear, inflation would wipe out as much as 90% of the cost of covering those cheques. On January 24 1994 the government introduced the "super" dinar equal to 10 million of the new new dinars. The Yugoslav government’s official position was that the hyperinflation occurred "because of the unjustly implemented sanctions against the Serbian people and state".
Thayer Watkins, PhD, is an instructor and graduate adviser in the economics department of San Jose State University
http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=14924
What happens when a paper currency fails
Zimbabwe Independent
Date posted:Sat 5-Aug-2006
Date published:Sat 5-Aug-2006
By the early 1990s the government used up all of its own hard currency reserves and proceeded to loot the hard currency savings of private citizensBy Thayer WatkinsUnder Tito, Yugoslavia ran a budget deficit that was financed by printing money. This led to a rate of inflation of 15 to 25% per year. After Tito, the Communist Party pursued progressively more irrational economic policies. These policies and the breakup of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia now consists of only Serbia and Montenegro) led to heavier reliance upon printing or otherwise creating money to finance the operation of the government and the socialist economy. This created the hyperinflation. By the early 1990s the government used up all of its own hard currency reserves and proceeded to loot the hard currency savings of private citizens. It did this by imposing more and more difficult restrictions on private citizens’ access to their hard currency savings in government banks. The government operated a network of stores at which goods were supposed to be available at artificially low prices. In practice these stores seldom had anything to sell and goods were only available at free markets where the prices were far above the official prices that goods were supposed to sell at in government stores. All of the government fuel stations eventually were closed and petrol was available only from roadside dealers whose operation consisted of a car parked with a plastic can of petrol sitting on the hood. The market price was the equivalent of US$8 per gallon. Most car owners gave up driving and relied upon public transportation. But the Belgrade transit authority (GSP) did not have the funds necessary for keeping its fleet of 1 200 buses operating. Instead it ran fewer than 500 buses. These buses were overcrowded and the ticket collectors could not get aboard to collect fares. Thus GSP could not collect fares even though it was desperately short of funds. Delivery trucks, ambulances, fire trucks and garbage trucks were also short of fuel. The government announced that fuel would not be sold to farmers for fall harvests and planting. Despite the government’s desperate printing of money it still did not have the funds to keep the infrastructure in operation. Potholes developed in the streets, elevators stopped functioning, and construction projects were closed down. The unemployment rate exceeded 30%. The government tried to counter the inflation by imposing price controls. But when inflation continued, the government price controls made the price producers were getting so ridiculously low that they simply stopped producing. In October of 1993 the bakers stopped making bread and Belgrade was without bread for a week. The slaughter houses refused to sell meat to the state stores and this meant meat became unavailable for many sectors of the population. Other stores closed down for inventory rather than sell their goods at the government mandated prices. When farmers refused to sell to the government at the artificially low prices the government dictated, government irrationally used hard currency to buy food from foreign sources rather than remove the price controls. The Ministry of Agriculture also risked creating a famine by selling farmers only 30% of the fuel they needed for planting and harvesting. Later the government tried to curb inflation by requiring stores to file paperwork every time they raised a price. This meant that many store employees had to devote their time to filling out these government forms. Instead of curbing inflation this policy actually increased inflation because the stores tended to increase prices by larger increments so they would not have file forms for another price increase so soon. In October of 1993 they created a new currency unit. One new dinar was worth one million of the "old" dinars. In effect, the government simply removed six zeros from the paper money. This, of course, did not stop the inflation.In November of 1993 the government postponed turning on the heat in the state apartment buildings in which most of the population lived. The residents reacted to this by using electrical space heaters which were inefficient and overloaded the electrical system. The government power company then had to order blackouts to conserve electricity. In a large psychiatric hospital 87 patients died in November of 1994. The hospital had no heat, there was no food or medicine and the patients were wandering around naked. Between October 1 1993 and January 24 1995 prices increased by five quadrillion percent. This number is a five with 15 zeros after it. The social structure began to collapse. Thieves robbed hospitals and clinics of scarce pharmaceuticals and then sold them in front of the same places they robbed. The railway workers went on strike and closed down Yugoslavia’s rail system. The government set the level of pensions. The pensions were to be paid at the post office but the government did not give the post offices enough funds to pay these pensions. The pensioners lined up in long lines outside the post office. When the post office ran out of state funds to pay the pensions the employees would pay the next pensioner in line whatever money they received when someone came in to mail a letter or package. With inflation being what it was, the value of the pension would decrease drastically if the pensioners went home and came back the next day. So they waited in line knowing that the value of their pension payment was decreasing with each minute they had to wait. Many Yugoslav businesses refused to take the Yugoslav currency, and the German deutsche mark effectively became the currency of Yugoslavia. But government organisations, government employees and pensioners still got paid in Yugoslav dinars so there was still an active exchange in dinars. On November 12 1993 the exchange rate was 1 DM: 1 million new dinars. Thirteen days later the exchange rate was 1 DM: 6,5 million new dinars and by the end of November it was 1 DM: 37 million new dinars. At the beginning of December the bus workers went on strike because their pay for two weeks was equivalent to only 4 DM when it cost a family of four 230 DM per month to live. By December 11 the exchange rate was 1 DM: 800 million and on December 15 it was 1 DM: 3,7 billion new dinars.The average daily rate of inflation was nearly 100%. When farmers selling in the free markets refused to sell food for Yugoslav dinars the government closed down the free markets. On December 29 the exchange rate was 1 DM: 950 billion new dinars. About this time there occurred a tragic incident. As usual, pensioners were waiting in line. Someone passed by the line carrying bags of groceries from the free market. Two pensioners got so upset at their situation and the sight of someone else with groceries that they had heart attacks and died right there. At the end of December the exchange rate was 1 DM: 3 trillion dinars and on January 4 1994 it was 1 DM: 6 trillion dinars. On January 6 the government declared that the German deutsche was an official currency of Yugoslavia. About this time the government announced a new "new" dinar which was equal to one billion of the old "new" dinars. This meant that the exchange rate was 1 DM: 6 000 new new dinars. By January 11 the exchange rate had reached a level of 1 DM: 80 000 new new dinars. On January 13 the rate was 1 DM: 700 000 new new dinars and six days later it was 1 DM: 10 million new new dinars.The telephone bills for the government operated phone system were collected by the postmen. People postponed paying these bills as much as possible and inflation reduced their real value to next to nothing. One postman found that after trying to collect on 780 phone bills he got nothing so the next day he stayed home and paid all of the phone bills himself for the equivalent of a few American pennies. Here is another illustration of the irrationality of the government’s policies: James Lyon, a journalist, made 20 hours of international telephone calls from Belgrade in December 1993. The bill for these calls was 1 000 new new dinars and it arrived on January 11. At the exchange rate for January 11 of 1 DM: 150 000 dinars it would have cost less than one German pfennig to pay the bill. But the bill was not due until January 17 and by that time the exchange rate reached 1 DM: 30 million dinars. Yet the free market value of those 20 hours of international telephone calls was about US$5 000. So despite being strapped for hard currency, the government gave Lyon US$5 000 worth of phone calls essentially for nothing. It was against the law to refuse to accept personal cheques. Some people wrote personal cheques knowing that in the few days it took for the cheques to clear, inflation would wipe out as much as 90% of the cost of covering those cheques. On January 24 1994 the government introduced the "super" dinar equal to 10 million of the new new dinars. The Yugoslav government’s official position was that the hyperinflation occurred "because of the unjustly implemented sanctions against the Serbian people and state".
Thayer Watkins, PhD, is an instructor and graduate adviser in the economics department of San Jose State University
http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=14924
Now, Montenegro has its own ambassador--an excellent opportunity for the NYT to compare/contrast poor, victimized, innocent Montenegro with big, bad brother Serbia. I don't see what the point is of such rhetoric, except to further drive home the image of Serbs as "bad":
As ambassador for Serbia and Montenegro, Mr. Kaludjerovic faced the United Nations Security Council on two thorny issues for Serbia: the potential independence of the Serbian province of Kosovo, and war crimes proceedings against Serbian officials at The Hague.
Serbia has been widely criticized as uncooperative with the trials. Though Mr. Kaludjerovic describes himself as a strong believer in full cooperation with the proceedings at The Hague, he said he stuck to the script provided by his superiors on the matter. “Being a professional and an ambassador, I asked for clear instructions from Belgrade and delivered those statements,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/world/europe/05kalud.html
As ambassador for Serbia and Montenegro, Mr. Kaludjerovic faced the United Nations Security Council on two thorny issues for Serbia: the potential independence of the Serbian province of Kosovo, and war crimes proceedings against Serbian officials at The Hague.
Serbia has been widely criticized as uncooperative with the trials. Though Mr. Kaludjerovic describes himself as a strong believer in full cooperation with the proceedings at The Hague, he said he stuck to the script provided by his superiors on the matter. “Being a professional and an ambassador, I asked for clear instructions from Belgrade and delivered those statements,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/world/europe/05kalud.html
Saturday, July 29, 2006
If this witch would just shut up and let things happen, there would be a lot less trouble....
Sat Jul 29, 12:24 PM ET
Serbia is finally showing the political will to arrest Bosnian Serb fugitive Ratko Mladic after years of delays and false starts, the chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague said on Saturday.
Carla del Ponte has been calling for Mladic's handover since her court indicted him in 1995 on two counts of genocide for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnia war. She told the Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti that Belgrade had been dithering for years. WTF???
"I personally think that Serbian authorities were not searching for Mladic to arrest him but to have him surrender," del Ponte told Novosti in an interview. "They were trying to disable his helpers and send him the message he should surrender."
The Serbian government shies away from talk of arresting Mladic, using instead the term "cooperation with The Hague." It is an open secret in Belgrade that officials long hoped to persuade him to surrender to avoid public ire at the humiliation of a man many Serbs see as a hero.
But there are signs that attitude is giving way to more pragmatic political calculations.
In May, the European Union took del Ponte's advice and froze talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, a first step toward EU membership, citing Serbia's failure to hand over the former general.
Facing pariah status, Serbia presented EU officials with an "action plan" for Mladic's arrest earlier this month, hoping that a serious show of effort would placate del Ponte and persuade the EU to restart talks.
"Since the action plan was adopted, I think the political will to arrest Mladic exists for the first time," del Ponte said. "I would like to see the operational plan and be involved."
She said she was still "grateful" to Brussels for putting pressure on Serbia by freezing the talks. "I hope the EU will keep that condition -- no resuming talks without full cooperation with us, which means Mladic in The Hague." In other words, another hurdle to be overcome; what next, I wonder: each and every Serb held personally accountable for what others have done supposedly in his/her name?
The plan has not been made public but it is said to include a media campaign to convince Serbs that it is necessary to arrest Mladic, who is accused of orchestrating the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
A government survey published on Thursday showed 51 percent of those polled opposed Mladic's extradition, 34 percent supported it and 15 percent were undecided.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060729/wl_nm/warcrimes_serbia_delponte_dc_1
Sat Jul 29, 12:24 PM ET
Serbia is finally showing the political will to arrest Bosnian Serb fugitive Ratko Mladic after years of delays and false starts, the chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague said on Saturday.
Carla del Ponte has been calling for Mladic's handover since her court indicted him in 1995 on two counts of genocide for his role in the 1992-95 Bosnia war. She told the Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti that Belgrade had been dithering for years. WTF???
"I personally think that Serbian authorities were not searching for Mladic to arrest him but to have him surrender," del Ponte told Novosti in an interview. "They were trying to disable his helpers and send him the message he should surrender."
The Serbian government shies away from talk of arresting Mladic, using instead the term "cooperation with The Hague." It is an open secret in Belgrade that officials long hoped to persuade him to surrender to avoid public ire at the humiliation of a man many Serbs see as a hero.
But there are signs that attitude is giving way to more pragmatic political calculations.
In May, the European Union took del Ponte's advice and froze talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, a first step toward EU membership, citing Serbia's failure to hand over the former general.
Facing pariah status, Serbia presented EU officials with an "action plan" for Mladic's arrest earlier this month, hoping that a serious show of effort would placate del Ponte and persuade the EU to restart talks.
"Since the action plan was adopted, I think the political will to arrest Mladic exists for the first time," del Ponte said. "I would like to see the operational plan and be involved."
She said she was still "grateful" to Brussels for putting pressure on Serbia by freezing the talks. "I hope the EU will keep that condition -- no resuming talks without full cooperation with us, which means Mladic in The Hague." In other words, another hurdle to be overcome; what next, I wonder: each and every Serb held personally accountable for what others have done supposedly in his/her name?
The plan has not been made public but it is said to include a media campaign to convince Serbs that it is necessary to arrest Mladic, who is accused of orchestrating the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
A government survey published on Thursday showed 51 percent of those polled opposed Mladic's extradition, 34 percent supported it and 15 percent were undecided.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060729/wl_nm/warcrimes_serbia_delponte_dc_1
Friday, July 28, 2006
SERBIA: Position in Kosovo Talks Depends on The Hague, Says PM
2006-07-28 17:18:48
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stated on July 27 that the completion of cooperation with the Hague tribunal would enable Serbia to have a different position in the negotiations on the future status of Kosovo. Speaking at a news conference after a government session held in Krusevac, Kostunica said that, coupled with the resumption of talks with the European Union, this cooperation would be very important "in this complex time, when the future status of Kosovo is being discussed - the part of Serbia that has been and always will remain Serbia." Commenting on a statement by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic, who said that a plan was not needed for the arrest of Ratko Mladic, but primarily political good will, Kostunica said Draskovic wanted to point out that what was important was the end result, with which, as he said, he also agreed. Kostunica said the Serbian negotiating team would agree on its further activities on July 28. He said much time has been lost during the talks on concrete issues in Kosovo, to which, in his words, the insufficiently skillful conducting of the negotiations by U.S. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari and his deputy Albert Rohan contributed. Source: BETA News Agency
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=62297&LangID=1
2006-07-28 17:18:48
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stated on July 27 that the completion of cooperation with the Hague tribunal would enable Serbia to have a different position in the negotiations on the future status of Kosovo. Speaking at a news conference after a government session held in Krusevac, Kostunica said that, coupled with the resumption of talks with the European Union, this cooperation would be very important "in this complex time, when the future status of Kosovo is being discussed - the part of Serbia that has been and always will remain Serbia." Commenting on a statement by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic, who said that a plan was not needed for the arrest of Ratko Mladic, but primarily political good will, Kostunica said Draskovic wanted to point out that what was important was the end result, with which, as he said, he also agreed. Kostunica said the Serbian negotiating team would agree on its further activities on July 28. He said much time has been lost during the talks on concrete issues in Kosovo, to which, in his words, the insufficiently skillful conducting of the negotiations by U.S. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari and his deputy Albert Rohan contributed. Source: BETA News Agency
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=62297&LangID=1
Some good news, for a change....
Article Last Updated: 7/28/2006 03:39 AM
NBA all-stars help needy Serbs
Fremont fundraiser will buy medical equipment
By Angela Woodall, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area
FREMONT — Some of Serbia's hospitals still are struggling to get the medical equipment they need, more than a decade after warfare tore Yugoslavia apart.
That is why the Niles Rotary Club is lending a helping hand by hosting the Majestic Evening of Hope fundraiser today at the Fremont Marriott.
The club is getting a boost from some high-profile figures: NBA all-stars Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac; Kenneth Behring, founder of Blackhawk and the Wheelchair Foundation; and Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine of Serbia, whose titles are honorary....
Serbs are trying to cope with a frail, cash-strapped health system in which much of the medical equipment is either broken or decades old. Wheelchairs in particular are "desperately needed," said the Serbian government's coordinator for humanitarian aid.
Fremont is home to a Serbian Orthodox monastery and there are sizable Serb communities in Northern California, including Sacramento.
The two have founded charities aimed at helping needy children in their former homeland, the Group Seven Children's Foundation and the Predrag Stojakovic Children's Foundation.
The princess said all of her country's ethnic and religious groups will benefit from the equipment that the fundraiser will make accessible to Serbian hospitals.
"I believe we are all God's children. This planet is very small," she said.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_4106920
Article Last Updated: 7/28/2006 03:39 AM
NBA all-stars help needy Serbs
Fremont fundraiser will buy medical equipment
By Angela Woodall, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area
FREMONT — Some of Serbia's hospitals still are struggling to get the medical equipment they need, more than a decade after warfare tore Yugoslavia apart.
That is why the Niles Rotary Club is lending a helping hand by hosting the Majestic Evening of Hope fundraiser today at the Fremont Marriott.
The club is getting a boost from some high-profile figures: NBA all-stars Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac; Kenneth Behring, founder of Blackhawk and the Wheelchair Foundation; and Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine of Serbia, whose titles are honorary....
Serbs are trying to cope with a frail, cash-strapped health system in which much of the medical equipment is either broken or decades old. Wheelchairs in particular are "desperately needed," said the Serbian government's coordinator for humanitarian aid.
Fremont is home to a Serbian Orthodox monastery and there are sizable Serb communities in Northern California, including Sacramento.
The two have founded charities aimed at helping needy children in their former homeland, the Group Seven Children's Foundation and the Predrag Stojakovic Children's Foundation.
The princess said all of her country's ethnic and religious groups will benefit from the equipment that the fundraiser will make accessible to Serbian hospitals.
"I believe we are all God's children. This planet is very small," she said.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_4106920
Uh-oh, this doesn't sound promising....
Serbia extremist: Armed option for Kosovo
BELGRADE, Serbia, July 28 (UPI) -- A nationalist leader says Serbia will go to war to take the predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo should the province declare independence.
"We shall never accept an independent Kosovo. We shall take up arms to fight forever to keep Kosovo within Serbia," Tomislav Nikolic, deputy leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, said on the state-controlled, nationwide RTS Serbian Radio-Television Thursday night.
Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the extremist Radical party, has been detained in the U.N. tribunal in The Hague awaiting trial on war crimes charges in the former Yugoslavia from 1991-95.
In the past three years, Seselj's radicals have enjoyed the support between 30-40 percent of Serbs in public surveys. The Radical party is the strongest group in Serbia's parliament, but it is in opposition to a coalition of the ruling Serbian Democratic party of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.
In ongoing talks, led by U.N. envoys, to decide to will govern Kosovo, the Serbian government offers a high degree of autonomy for its province, while ethnic-Albanian leaders insist on Kosovo being independent of Belgrade.
LICENSE© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060728-092640-2442r
Serbia extremist: Armed option for Kosovo
BELGRADE, Serbia, July 28 (UPI) -- A nationalist leader says Serbia will go to war to take the predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo should the province declare independence.
"We shall never accept an independent Kosovo. We shall take up arms to fight forever to keep Kosovo within Serbia," Tomislav Nikolic, deputy leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, said on the state-controlled, nationwide RTS Serbian Radio-Television Thursday night.
Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the extremist Radical party, has been detained in the U.N. tribunal in The Hague awaiting trial on war crimes charges in the former Yugoslavia from 1991-95.
In the past three years, Seselj's radicals have enjoyed the support between 30-40 percent of Serbs in public surveys. The Radical party is the strongest group in Serbia's parliament, but it is in opposition to a coalition of the ruling Serbian Democratic party of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.
In ongoing talks, led by U.N. envoys, to decide to will govern Kosovo, the Serbian government offers a high degree of autonomy for its province, while ethnic-Albanian leaders insist on Kosovo being independent of Belgrade.
LICENSE© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060728-092640-2442r
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Funny, when Israel says this, it's a GOOD thing....
Kosovo Makes Bid to Split from Serbia
by Emily Harris
All Things Considered, July 24, 2006 · Kosovo formally stakes its claim to independence from Serbia at a meeting held in Vienna. The session, which brought together the president and prime minister of Serbia and their interim counterparts from Kosovo, formally puts the international status of Kosovo on the agenda of U.N.-led final status talks.
Diplomats say concrete results from Kosovo's statement are unlikely, citing an apparently unbridgeable chasm between the two sides. Most ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's two million people, reject any return to Serbian rule. But Serbia says Kosovo is its "Jerusalem."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5579032&ft=1&f=1001
Kosovo Makes Bid to Split from Serbia
by Emily Harris
All Things Considered, July 24, 2006 · Kosovo formally stakes its claim to independence from Serbia at a meeting held in Vienna. The session, which brought together the president and prime minister of Serbia and their interim counterparts from Kosovo, formally puts the international status of Kosovo on the agenda of U.N.-led final status talks.
Diplomats say concrete results from Kosovo's statement are unlikely, citing an apparently unbridgeable chasm between the two sides. Most ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's two million people, reject any return to Serbian rule. But Serbia says Kosovo is its "Jerusalem."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5579032&ft=1&f=1001
Wonder who will have to bend over and flex more....
The U.N.-brokered talks are aimed at steering both sides toward a solution by year's end.
The six-nation Contact Group — the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia — supervising the process urged both sides to engage constructively and show flexibility and willingness to reach "realistic compromised-based solutions."
The group has set guidelines for the talks, however, including rejections of the province's return to Belgrade's control or of its partition or unification with other regional countries. It also has said the solution should be acceptable to Kosovo's people.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-25-kosovo-talks_x.htm?csp=34
The U.N.-brokered talks are aimed at steering both sides toward a solution by year's end.
The six-nation Contact Group — the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia — supervising the process urged both sides to engage constructively and show flexibility and willingness to reach "realistic compromised-based solutions."
The group has set guidelines for the talks, however, including rejections of the province's return to Belgrade's control or of its partition or unification with other regional countries. It also has said the solution should be acceptable to Kosovo's people.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-25-kosovo-talks_x.htm?csp=34
Apparently, now Croatia and Serbia are trying to become buddies, even though isn't C suing S for reparations--or is that only Bosnia?
REGION: Press Points Out Sanader’s Support To Serbia’s EU Aspirations
2006-07-24 20:58:48
The Serbian press on Saturday extensively reported about Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's visit to Belgrade on Friday and underlined his support to Serbia's efforts to integrate with Europe. The front-pages of dailies 'Politika and 'Danas' carried headlines "Sanader's Thumbs Up for Serbia", and the papers quoted the Croatian premier's statement about his country's being supportive of Serbia's efforts to carry out its plans and sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union by the end of this year. Politika cited a statement that Serbia and Croatia "share a belief in a united Europe" adding that Sanader and his Serbian host, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, "expressed firm commitment to European values". Danas reported about Sanader's visit to the ethnic Croat community living in the northern city of Subotica in the province of Vojvodina. According to the daily, Sanader congratulated "the Serb minority in Croatia and the Croat minority in Serbia for their mutual cooperation". The "Vecernje Novosti" daily ran a headline "Now Together To Europe" and cited Sanader as saying that a solution for (the UN-administered province of) Kosovo cannot be imposed. The newspaper assessed that the relations between Serbia and Croatia were growing better. The most important thing for the paper are conclusions from the talks of the two premiers that Serbia and Croatia share a joint future in a united Europe and that the past must not be forgotten but the future must be built on stable foundations of mutual respect and cooperation. The Blic paper carried a short news item headlined "Sanader in Belgrade" on its second page. It also quoted Sanader as saying "'we are keeping our fingers crossed for Serbia that it signs agreement over stabilization and association with EU until the end of the year. The "Glas Javnosti" paper carried a front-page article about the joint inauguration of the renovated border crossing Bajakovo-Batkovci under the headline "The Border-Crossing for Cooperation without Borders" A former ambassador of Serbia-Montenegro in Zagreb, Milan Simurdic, wrote an article in his column in the Danas, commenting on Sanader's visit. Recalling the days when he started his ambassadorial term in late 2001, Simurdic wrote about visa requirements which were in place at the time and rare traffic at the joint border. "Our (Belgrade's) decision to abolish visas and the initial 'restrained' suspension of visas by the Croatian side were a decisive step forward in the bilateral relations," the diplomat wrote. Commenting on the chronology of recent visits and meetings by officials of the two countries, Simurdic added that "it is nice to see how the relations are being promoted... A test for our foreign policy is our relations with the neighbours." The same ambitions about Euro-Atkantic integrations and the identical goals of Belgrade and Zagreb in foreign affairs are a framework guaranteeing that the relations will be further fostered, Simurdic wrote. He commended Sanader for having visited the ethnic Croat community in Subotica, but added that he also expected a visit to refugees who left Croatia and are now living in Serbia. Source: Hina
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=62089&LangID=1
REGION: Press Points Out Sanader’s Support To Serbia’s EU Aspirations
2006-07-24 20:58:48
The Serbian press on Saturday extensively reported about Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's visit to Belgrade on Friday and underlined his support to Serbia's efforts to integrate with Europe. The front-pages of dailies 'Politika and 'Danas' carried headlines "Sanader's Thumbs Up for Serbia", and the papers quoted the Croatian premier's statement about his country's being supportive of Serbia's efforts to carry out its plans and sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union by the end of this year. Politika cited a statement that Serbia and Croatia "share a belief in a united Europe" adding that Sanader and his Serbian host, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, "expressed firm commitment to European values". Danas reported about Sanader's visit to the ethnic Croat community living in the northern city of Subotica in the province of Vojvodina. According to the daily, Sanader congratulated "the Serb minority in Croatia and the Croat minority in Serbia for their mutual cooperation". The "Vecernje Novosti" daily ran a headline "Now Together To Europe" and cited Sanader as saying that a solution for (the UN-administered province of) Kosovo cannot be imposed. The newspaper assessed that the relations between Serbia and Croatia were growing better. The most important thing for the paper are conclusions from the talks of the two premiers that Serbia and Croatia share a joint future in a united Europe and that the past must not be forgotten but the future must be built on stable foundations of mutual respect and cooperation. The Blic paper carried a short news item headlined "Sanader in Belgrade" on its second page. It also quoted Sanader as saying "'we are keeping our fingers crossed for Serbia that it signs agreement over stabilization and association with EU until the end of the year. The "Glas Javnosti" paper carried a front-page article about the joint inauguration of the renovated border crossing Bajakovo-Batkovci under the headline "The Border-Crossing for Cooperation without Borders" A former ambassador of Serbia-Montenegro in Zagreb, Milan Simurdic, wrote an article in his column in the Danas, commenting on Sanader's visit. Recalling the days when he started his ambassadorial term in late 2001, Simurdic wrote about visa requirements which were in place at the time and rare traffic at the joint border. "Our (Belgrade's) decision to abolish visas and the initial 'restrained' suspension of visas by the Croatian side were a decisive step forward in the bilateral relations," the diplomat wrote. Commenting on the chronology of recent visits and meetings by officials of the two countries, Simurdic added that "it is nice to see how the relations are being promoted... A test for our foreign policy is our relations with the neighbours." The same ambitions about Euro-Atkantic integrations and the identical goals of Belgrade and Zagreb in foreign affairs are a framework guaranteeing that the relations will be further fostered, Simurdic wrote. He commended Sanader for having visited the ethnic Croat community in Subotica, but added that he also expected a visit to refugees who left Croatia and are now living in Serbia. Source: Hina
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=62089&LangID=1
SERBIA: Tadic, Kostunica and Draskovic To Participate in Kosovo Talks
2006-07-24 17:15:51
Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic will participate in their first direct talks on Kosovo's future status, due to be held in Vienna on Monday (24 July), a government spokesman said at the weekend. Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Agim Ceku are expected to represent Pristina in the talks. In other news, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was in Belgrade Friday for meetings with Kostunica and Tadic. He said bilateral co-operation has stepped up significantly over the past year, expressed confidence that Serbia's action plan for co-operation with the UN tribunal would bring results, and reiterated his government's position on Kosovo -- namely, that any solution must involve Belgrade, and should not be unilaterally imposed. On Friday, Sanader and Kostunica also opened the modernised border checkpoint at Batrovci-Bajakovo, which was co-financed by the EU. Source:www.setimes.com
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=62052&LangID=1
2006-07-24 17:15:51
Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic will participate in their first direct talks on Kosovo's future status, due to be held in Vienna on Monday (24 July), a government spokesman said at the weekend. Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Agim Ceku are expected to represent Pristina in the talks. In other news, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was in Belgrade Friday for meetings with Kostunica and Tadic. He said bilateral co-operation has stepped up significantly over the past year, expressed confidence that Serbia's action plan for co-operation with the UN tribunal would bring results, and reiterated his government's position on Kosovo -- namely, that any solution must involve Belgrade, and should not be unilaterally imposed. On Friday, Sanader and Kostunica also opened the modernised border checkpoint at Batrovci-Bajakovo, which was co-financed by the EU. Source:www.setimes.com
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=62052&LangID=1
Sunday, July 23, 2006
On this day in history....
Austria Ready to Invade Servia, Sends Ultimatum
Demands by 6 P.M. Tomorrow Disavowal of Anti-Austrian Propaganda
Suppression of Societies
Also Punishment of All Accomplices in Murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and Wife
Servia May Not Comply
Will Resist Requirements for the Suppression of Political Organization, Berlin Hears
7 Army Corps at Temesvar
Fleet of Danube Monitors Gathering at Semlin, Opposite the City of Belgrade
Germany and Italy to Aid
Prepared to Prevent at All Cost Interferences on Behalf of the Little Kingdom
Special Cable to The New York Times
Berlin, July 23 -- A note from Austria couched in the peremptory terms of an ultimatum and demanding a reply by 6 o'clock Saturday evening was delivered to the Servian Government at Belgrade this evening at 6 o'clock. It demands the punishment of all accomplices in the murder of the archduke Francis Ferdinand and the [text unreadable] fomented rebellion in Bosnia. The Servian Government must publish on Sunday an official disavowel of its connection with the anti-Austrian propaganda. It is understood here that Belgrade will refuse to comply with the demands for the suppression of the societies. Grave importance is attached to the fact that Baron Hoetzendorf, Chief of the Austrian army would invade Servia. Seven corps have been ordered to be held in readiness and several monitors have proceeded to Semlin. In case of Servia's non-compliance with the ultimatum the army will invade the kingdom without further parley. Germany and Italy have expressed full approval of the Austrian programme and announced their readiness to go to extremes to "keep the ring" for their ally in case interference in support of Servia is offered from any quarter. German officers, it is learned from an authoritative quarter, have been able to obtain leave during the last few days only on condition that they will return instantly to their posts on telegraphic notice.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0723.html#article
Austria Ready to Invade Servia, Sends Ultimatum
Demands by 6 P.M. Tomorrow Disavowal of Anti-Austrian Propaganda
Suppression of Societies
Also Punishment of All Accomplices in Murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and Wife
Servia May Not Comply
Will Resist Requirements for the Suppression of Political Organization, Berlin Hears
7 Army Corps at Temesvar
Fleet of Danube Monitors Gathering at Semlin, Opposite the City of Belgrade
Germany and Italy to Aid
Prepared to Prevent at All Cost Interferences on Behalf of the Little Kingdom
Special Cable to The New York Times
Berlin, July 23 -- A note from Austria couched in the peremptory terms of an ultimatum and demanding a reply by 6 o'clock Saturday evening was delivered to the Servian Government at Belgrade this evening at 6 o'clock. It demands the punishment of all accomplices in the murder of the archduke Francis Ferdinand and the [text unreadable] fomented rebellion in Bosnia. The Servian Government must publish on Sunday an official disavowel of its connection with the anti-Austrian propaganda. It is understood here that Belgrade will refuse to comply with the demands for the suppression of the societies. Grave importance is attached to the fact that Baron Hoetzendorf, Chief of the Austrian army would invade Servia. Seven corps have been ordered to be held in readiness and several monitors have proceeded to Semlin. In case of Servia's non-compliance with the ultimatum the army will invade the kingdom without further parley. Germany and Italy have expressed full approval of the Austrian programme and announced their readiness to go to extremes to "keep the ring" for their ally in case interference in support of Servia is offered from any quarter. German officers, it is learned from an authoritative quarter, have been able to obtain leave during the last few days only on condition that they will return instantly to their posts on telegraphic notice.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0723.html#article
While most people may think Kosovo is the big problem of the moment, there are other worries in Serbia of a more pressing and immediate nature....
Heat wave still grips Serbia
23 July 2006 16:31 Source: B92
BELGRADE -- Serbia is, like much of Europe, in a heat wave.
Except up in the mountains, there isn’t a single location where the temperature stands at below 30 degrees.Similar weather conditions are expected to continue in the coming days, while a drop in the temperatures is expected at the end of July and the beginning of August. Emergency medical services have had their work cut out for them in the past couple of days. The doctors warn that everyone, even those in perfect health, should be mindful of the liquid intake – an adult needs between four and six liters a day in these weather conditions. This liquid quota can be made up of juices or fruit, but doctors stress that sodas and alcoholic beverages only create an illusion of quenched thirst. Advice to those who start feeling poorly: go to your doctor immediately – call the emergency medical services only if you absolutely must. Swimmers, either in pools, rivers or lakes, should also take care not to go into the water right after a meal. The Belgrade city emergency services say that the heat did not cause an increase in the number of calls yesterday. Nevena Ćirović, meteorologist, explains that the heat is generated in cloudless conditions, when the earth’s surface absorbs a huge amount of heat. “As the air is not heated by the sun, but by the surface, so the earth radiates heat vertically and upwards, and this whole mechanism makes Serbia very hot indeed”, Ćirović said. If the temperature reaches 40 degrees Centigrade, the government will have to declare a estate of emergency, something that already took place in Poland. The whole of central Europe suffers just like Serbia.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=07&dd=23&nav_category=111&nav_id=35779
Heat wave still grips Serbia
23 July 2006 16:31 Source: B92
BELGRADE -- Serbia is, like much of Europe, in a heat wave.
Except up in the mountains, there isn’t a single location where the temperature stands at below 30 degrees.Similar weather conditions are expected to continue in the coming days, while a drop in the temperatures is expected at the end of July and the beginning of August. Emergency medical services have had their work cut out for them in the past couple of days. The doctors warn that everyone, even those in perfect health, should be mindful of the liquid intake – an adult needs between four and six liters a day in these weather conditions. This liquid quota can be made up of juices or fruit, but doctors stress that sodas and alcoholic beverages only create an illusion of quenched thirst. Advice to those who start feeling poorly: go to your doctor immediately – call the emergency medical services only if you absolutely must. Swimmers, either in pools, rivers or lakes, should also take care not to go into the water right after a meal. The Belgrade city emergency services say that the heat did not cause an increase in the number of calls yesterday. Nevena Ćirović, meteorologist, explains that the heat is generated in cloudless conditions, when the earth’s surface absorbs a huge amount of heat. “As the air is not heated by the sun, but by the surface, so the earth radiates heat vertically and upwards, and this whole mechanism makes Serbia very hot indeed”, Ćirović said. If the temperature reaches 40 degrees Centigrade, the government will have to declare a estate of emergency, something that already took place in Poland. The whole of central Europe suffers just like Serbia.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=07&dd=23&nav_category=111&nav_id=35779
Friday, July 21, 2006
One of the big guns himself--that should be interesting....
Fri Jul 21, 6:19 AM ET
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica will attend top-level talks with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders on the fate of the breakaway province next week in Vienna, the government said on Friday.
Kostunica had kept U.N. mediators guessing as to whether he would turn up at the meeting on Monday, the first time the presidents and prime ministers of both sides will hold face-to-face talks since their 1998-99 war.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060721/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo_dc_1
Fri Jul 21, 6:19 AM ET
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica will attend top-level talks with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders on the fate of the breakaway province next week in Vienna, the government said on Friday.
Kostunica had kept U.N. mediators guessing as to whether he would turn up at the meeting on Monday, the first time the presidents and prime ministers of both sides will hold face-to-face talks since their 1998-99 war.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060721/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo_dc_1
Thursday, July 20, 2006
At least it's good they are planning to show up....
July 20, 2006
World Briefing Europe
Serbia to Attend High-level Talks on Kosovo
By REUTERS
Serbia will take part in talks in Vienna on Monday with ethnic Albanian leaders on the future of Kosovo after all, said the Serbian president, Boris Tadic. The talks will be the highest-level meeting between the sides since NATO drove Serbian forces from the province in 1999 and the first to address Kosovo’s final status, with independence or autonomy as options. Kosovo said on Monday that it would demand independence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/world/europe/20briefs-008.html
July 20, 2006
World Briefing Europe
Serbia to Attend High-level Talks on Kosovo
By REUTERS
Serbia will take part in talks in Vienna on Monday with ethnic Albanian leaders on the future of Kosovo after all, said the Serbian president, Boris Tadic. The talks will be the highest-level meeting between the sides since NATO drove Serbian forces from the province in 1999 and the first to address Kosovo’s final status, with independence or autonomy as options. Kosovo said on Monday that it would demand independence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/world/europe/20briefs-008.html
Sunday, July 16, 2006
From a DER SPIEGEL interview with Vuk Draskovic
SPIEGEL ONLINE: How would Belgrade react if Kosovo should indeed become independent?
Draskovic: If an internationally recognized Albanian state should be formed on Serbian territory, we wouldn't recognize it.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What consequences would an independent Kosovo have for the region?
Draskovic: This criminal solution would turn the entire region into a dangerous flash point and cause political earthquakes in the neighboring countries. No authority in the world could then explain to the Serbs in Bosnia why they don't have a right to an autonomous state, while the Albanians do.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,426607,00.html
SPIEGEL ONLINE: How would Belgrade react if Kosovo should indeed become independent?
Draskovic: If an internationally recognized Albanian state should be formed on Serbian territory, we wouldn't recognize it.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What consequences would an independent Kosovo have for the region?
Draskovic: This criminal solution would turn the entire region into a dangerous flash point and cause political earthquakes in the neighboring countries. No authority in the world could then explain to the Serbs in Bosnia why they don't have a right to an autonomous state, while the Albanians do.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,426607,00.html
Friday, July 14, 2006
The NYT is back at it again...nothing on Kostunica's visit to US this week to talk about Kosovo, but plenty about the new trials....
July 14, 2006
7 Serbs Go on Trial Before War Crime Tribunal
By MARLISE SIMONS
PARIS, July 14 — They lined up in the courtroom dock this morning, seven men, once officers in the Bosnian Serb forces, now having to account for their presence at Srebrenica, a place of cold-blooded killing in July 1995. Taking their seats behind a phalanx of defense lawyers, they were flanked by an array of United Nations guards. On the dais, a panel of four international judges faced a courtroom that had never been this packed. For the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, it is the largest group trial in its history.
Five of the accused are facing charges of genocide, the highest crime. The trial will probe their role during Europe’s worst massacre since World War II. Srebrenica was a United Nations safe haven in Bosnia, but nearly 8,000 unarmed men and boys were systematically executed there. So far, almost 60 mass graves have been found in the area.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/world/europe/14cnd-hague.html
July 14, 2006
7 Serbs Go on Trial Before War Crime Tribunal
By MARLISE SIMONS
PARIS, July 14 — They lined up in the courtroom dock this morning, seven men, once officers in the Bosnian Serb forces, now having to account for their presence at Srebrenica, a place of cold-blooded killing in July 1995. Taking their seats behind a phalanx of defense lawyers, they were flanked by an array of United Nations guards. On the dais, a panel of four international judges faced a courtroom that had never been this packed. For the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, it is the largest group trial in its history.
Five of the accused are facing charges of genocide, the highest crime. The trial will probe their role during Europe’s worst massacre since World War II. Srebrenica was a United Nations safe haven in Bosnia, but nearly 8,000 unarmed men and boys were systematically executed there. So far, almost 60 mass graves have been found in the area.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/world/europe/14cnd-hague.html
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Bosnia Serbs honor own Srebrenica victims
SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina, July 12 (UPI) -- Thousands of Bosnian Serbs on Wednesday observed the 14th anniversary of the deaths of 3,262 Bosnian Serbs in the eastern town of Srebrenica....Serbia's government-controlled RTS radio-television said Bosnian Muslim units under command of Naser Oric killed Bosnian Serbs in villages around Srebrenica from May to December in 1992.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060712-105555-3970r
SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina, July 12 (UPI) -- Thousands of Bosnian Serbs on Wednesday observed the 14th anniversary of the deaths of 3,262 Bosnian Serbs in the eastern town of Srebrenica....Serbia's government-controlled RTS radio-television said Bosnian Muslim units under command of Naser Oric killed Bosnian Serbs in villages around Srebrenica from May to December in 1992.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060712-105555-3970r
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
July 11, 2006
War Crimes Trial Begins for 6 Milosevic Aides
By MARLISE SIMONS
PARIS, July 10 — Four months after the death of Slobodan Milosevic, the trial of six of his top aides opened Monday, beginning a process that may finally render a verdict on the sweep of Serbia’s actions during the 1999 war in Kosovo...
Much of the evidence the prosecution will present is believed to be similar to that already used in the Milosevic trial. But to obtain a verdict, prosecutors must demonstrate to the panel of three judges — from Britain, Pakistan and Bulgaria — that Belgrade had a “criminal plan” to permanently expel a large portion of the Kosovo Albanians and, as prosecutors put it, “to change the ethnic balance of Kosovo.”
The world has seen many images of Kosovo refugees flooding into Albania and Macedonia, of caravans of bedraggled, frightened people on tractors, trailers, buses and trucks.
But lawyers familiar with the tribunal proceedings said prosecutors must prove there was a Serbian plan to expel them. Prosecutors may resort to insiders or documents, but admit that they have few. They may try to make their case by “inference,” one of the lawyers said in an interview on Monday, by using the facts on the ground. The lawyer insisted on not being identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
In his opening statement on Monday, the lead prosecutor, Thomas Hannis, said “there was a clear plan directed from the top” to drive out ethnic Albanians. The people were not combatants; many were women, children and older people, and their identity cards and vehicle licenses were destroyed to make sure they could not return, he said. To hide their actions, prosecutors said, Serbian forces buried their civilian victims in secret mass graves, often many miles outside Kosovo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/11/world/europe/11serbia.html
War Crimes Trial Begins for 6 Milosevic Aides
By MARLISE SIMONS
PARIS, July 10 — Four months after the death of Slobodan Milosevic, the trial of six of his top aides opened Monday, beginning a process that may finally render a verdict on the sweep of Serbia’s actions during the 1999 war in Kosovo...
Much of the evidence the prosecution will present is believed to be similar to that already used in the Milosevic trial. But to obtain a verdict, prosecutors must demonstrate to the panel of three judges — from Britain, Pakistan and Bulgaria — that Belgrade had a “criminal plan” to permanently expel a large portion of the Kosovo Albanians and, as prosecutors put it, “to change the ethnic balance of Kosovo.”
The world has seen many images of Kosovo refugees flooding into Albania and Macedonia, of caravans of bedraggled, frightened people on tractors, trailers, buses and trucks.
But lawyers familiar with the tribunal proceedings said prosecutors must prove there was a Serbian plan to expel them. Prosecutors may resort to insiders or documents, but admit that they have few. They may try to make their case by “inference,” one of the lawyers said in an interview on Monday, by using the facts on the ground. The lawyer insisted on not being identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
In his opening statement on Monday, the lead prosecutor, Thomas Hannis, said “there was a clear plan directed from the top” to drive out ethnic Albanians. The people were not combatants; many were women, children and older people, and their identity cards and vehicle licenses were destroyed to make sure they could not return, he said. To hide their actions, prosecutors said, Serbian forces buried their civilian victims in secret mass graves, often many miles outside Kosovo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/11/world/europe/11serbia.html
Sunday, July 09, 2006
They can't get Slobo, so they move to the next link on the food chain--
By Nicola LeskeSun Jul 9, 12:42 PM ET
Four months after the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, his closest ally, Milan Milutinovic, and five others also accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 will stand trial at the U.N. tribunal on Monday.
Milutinovic, 63, and his co-accused are charged with the persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians by Serb forces.
Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic, who died at the U.N. jail on March 11, as president of Serbia in 1997.
He and former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, former army chief and defense minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and army commander Vladimir Lazarevic returned from provisional release to The Hague last week.
The four are indicted with army commander Nebojsa Pavkovic and security chief Sreten Lukic, also released on bail, as well as former chief of public security Vlastimir Dordevic, who is still at large.
Prosecutors allege Milutinovic had at least formal control ????? over the Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060709/wl_nm/warcrimes_milutinovic_dc_1
By Nicola LeskeSun Jul 9, 12:42 PM ET
Four months after the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, his closest ally, Milan Milutinovic, and five others also accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 will stand trial at the U.N. tribunal on Monday.
Milutinovic, 63, and his co-accused are charged with the persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the forcible deportation of about 800,000 civilians and the murder of hundreds of civilians by Serb forces.
Milutinovic succeeded Milosevic, who died at the U.N. jail on March 11, as president of Serbia in 1997.
He and former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, former army chief and defense minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and army commander Vladimir Lazarevic returned from provisional release to The Hague last week.
The four are indicted with army commander Nebojsa Pavkovic and security chief Sreten Lukic, also released on bail, as well as former chief of public security Vlastimir Dordevic, who is still at large.
Prosecutors allege Milutinovic had at least formal control ????? over the Serb forces who killed hundreds of ethnic Albanians and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060709/wl_nm/warcrimes_milutinovic_dc_1
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Hope that old VK isn't being prophetic....
SERBIA: Kostunica Urges Accelerated EU Integration, Compromise on Kosovo to Prevent Radicalisation
2006-07-05 19:40:41
Speaking on national TV RTS, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica warned that democratic forces would not be able to prevent radicalisation if there are further delays in negotiations with the EU and if Kosovo becomes independent. He also said the idea of preparing an action plan for co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal should have been raised with the EU before talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement were halted.
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=61481&LangID=1
SERBIA: Kostunica Urges Accelerated EU Integration, Compromise on Kosovo to Prevent Radicalisation
2006-07-05 19:40:41
Speaking on national TV RTS, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica warned that democratic forces would not be able to prevent radicalisation if there are further delays in negotiations with the EU and if Kosovo becomes independent. He also said the idea of preparing an action plan for co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal should have been raised with the EU before talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement were halted.
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=61481&LangID=1
Sunday, July 02, 2006
I guess it's all in how you spin it....]
Thousands Welcome Commander of Srebrenica
By AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer2:43 PM PDT, July 1, 2006
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Cheering crowds on Saturday welcomed home the Muslim commander set free by the U.N. war crimes tribunal after his conviction for failing to prevent murder and torture of Serb captives....
This is our birthday," said Safet Omerovic, who served under Oric. "All these years we have been listening to accusations that the Muslims in Srebrenica are almost as guilty for the war there as the Serbs. Now it's official: we defended ourselves, they committed genocide."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-bosnia-srebrenica,1,7764828.story
Thousands Welcome Commander of Srebrenica
By AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer2:43 PM PDT, July 1, 2006
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Cheering crowds on Saturday welcomed home the Muslim commander set free by the U.N. war crimes tribunal after his conviction for failing to prevent murder and torture of Serb captives....
This is our birthday," said Safet Omerovic, who served under Oric. "All these years we have been listening to accusations that the Muslims in Srebrenica are almost as guilty for the war there as the Serbs. Now it's official: we defended ourselves, they committed genocide."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-bosnia-srebrenica,1,7764828.story
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Now, this type of talk is just petty....
BY DEJAN ANASTASIJEVIC
Posted Saturday, Jul 1, 2006There couldn't be a clearer admission of their inability to bring accused war criminals to justice: the Serbian government has issued a plea for foreign spies to join the hunt for the former Bosnian Serb military leader General Ratko Mladic, who was indicted by the UN war-crimes tribunal in 1994 and is presumably hiding on Serbian soil.
http://www.time.com/time/europe/eu/article/0,13716,1209904,00.html?promoid=rss_world
Oh, well, I guess it's okay if THEY do it....
July 1, 2006
World Briefing | Europe
The Hague: Muslim Freed After Conviction
By MARLISE SIMONS
The International War Crimes Tribunal sentenced Naser Oric, the wartime commander of the Muslim force at Srebrenica, to two years imprisonment for failing to prevent the cruel treatment and killing of Serbian prisoners during Bosnia's 1992-95 civil war. He was immediately released because he had already spent three years in detention. Prosecutors had asked for an 18-year sentence, for the looting and burning of Serb villages by the poorly trained volunteer force under his command. But the judges said the "abysmal conditions" of the town — surrounded by Serbian troops and overwhelmed with refugees, many of them starving — had led to a such breakdown of law and order that Mr. Oric, just 25 when he was appointed commander, could not be held accountable for crimes by his irregular defense force. He left the area two months before the infamous Serbian execution of some 8,000 unarmed men and boys in 1995.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/01/world/europe/01briefs-003.html
July 1, 2006
World Briefing | Europe
The Hague: Muslim Freed After Conviction
By MARLISE SIMONS
The International War Crimes Tribunal sentenced Naser Oric, the wartime commander of the Muslim force at Srebrenica, to two years imprisonment for failing to prevent the cruel treatment and killing of Serbian prisoners during Bosnia's 1992-95 civil war. He was immediately released because he had already spent three years in detention. Prosecutors had asked for an 18-year sentence, for the looting and burning of Serb villages by the poorly trained volunteer force under his command. But the judges said the "abysmal conditions" of the town — surrounded by Serbian troops and overwhelmed with refugees, many of them starving — had led to a such breakdown of law and order that Mr. Oric, just 25 when he was appointed commander, could not be held accountable for crimes by his irregular defense force. He left the area two months before the infamous Serbian execution of some 8,000 unarmed men and boys in 1995.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/01/world/europe/01briefs-003.html
Friday, June 30, 2006
Serbia warns of break with west over Kosovo
By Daniel Dombey in London and Neil Macdonald in Pristina
Published: June 28 2006 03:00 | Last updated: June 28 2006 03:00
Serbia yesterday warned it could break with the west unless the international community took a more conciliatory approach over the issues of Kosovo and the apprehension of an indicted war criminal.
By Daniel Dombey in London and Neil Macdonald in Pristina
Published: June 28 2006 03:00 | Last updated: June 28 2006 03:00
Serbia yesterday warned it could break with the west unless the international community took a more conciliatory approach over the issues of Kosovo and the apprehension of an indicted war criminal.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Of course, this kind of rhetoric doesn't help the situation....
Serbia PM: Kosovo will be Serbian for ever
PRISTINA, Serbia, June 28 (UPI) -- Serbia's prime minister said Wednesday the predominantly Albanian Kosovo province has been, and will remain part of Serbia forever.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060628-112159-4517r
Serbia PM: Kosovo will be Serbian for ever
PRISTINA, Serbia, June 28 (UPI) -- Serbia's prime minister said Wednesday the predominantly Albanian Kosovo province has been, and will remain part of Serbia forever.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060628-112159-4517r
Thursday, June 22, 2006
I haven't said much about the World Cup because, as most of you know, there is nothing to say...
MUNICH, Germany -- Serbia-Montenegro existed only at the World Cup.
With the team's humiliating exit from the tournament -- three defeats in three matches -- the final vestige of old unified Yugoslavia came to an end.
Playing its last match as a national team on Wednesday, Serbia-Montenegro ended with another loss, this time after squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat to Ivory Coast.
"We should feel happy that we were at the World Cup at all," coach Ilija Petkovic said. "I'm only sorry that our last appearance didn't go the way we planned."
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=102519
MUNICH, Germany -- Serbia-Montenegro existed only at the World Cup.
With the team's humiliating exit from the tournament -- three defeats in three matches -- the final vestige of old unified Yugoslavia came to an end.
Playing its last match as a national team on Wednesday, Serbia-Montenegro ended with another loss, this time after squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat to Ivory Coast.
"We should feel happy that we were at the World Cup at all," coach Ilija Petkovic said. "I'm only sorry that our last appearance didn't go the way we planned."
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=102519
Thu Jun 22, 11:28 AM ET
Two US F-16 fighter jets landed for the first time at a military airbase in Serbia, seven years after similar planes took part in a NATO-led bombing campaign on the country.
Serbia's defence ministry said the two jets had touched down at the Batajnica military airport on a "visit that is a part of the process of increasing military cooperation between Serbia and the United States."
The ministry described the visit as a "historic event" as it was the first time that American fighter planes had landed at a Serbian military base.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060622/pl_afp/serbiausmilitary_060622152855
Two US F-16 fighter jets landed for the first time at a military airbase in Serbia, seven years after similar planes took part in a NATO-led bombing campaign on the country.
Serbia's defence ministry said the two jets had touched down at the Batajnica military airport on a "visit that is a part of the process of increasing military cooperation between Serbia and the United States."
The ministry described the visit as a "historic event" as it was the first time that American fighter planes had landed at a Serbian military base.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060622/pl_afp/serbiausmilitary_060622152855
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Serbs no closer to arresting war fugitive despite aid cut
By Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune June 18, 2006
BELGRADE, Serbia -- The general still has his admirers.
In the musty headquarters of the Center for the Investigation of War Crimes Against Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, his portrait is prominently displayed on the wall behind Ljubisa Ristic's desk.
``My personal opinion is that he is a true soldier and a hero of the Serbian people," Ristic said.
It is not clear how many other Serbs feel that way about General Ratko Mladic, the wartime commander of the Bosnian Serb army and chief executor of its ethnic cleansing campaign.
``I'd say 75 percent of the Serbs see him as a war hero," said Aleksandar Tijanic, who heads the state-run television network in Serbia. ``But if you ask them if he should he go to The Hague to save the Serbs from more suffering, 75 percent would say yes."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/06/18/serbs_no_closer_to_arresting_war_fugitive_despite_aid_cut/
By Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune June 18, 2006
BELGRADE, Serbia -- The general still has his admirers.
In the musty headquarters of the Center for the Investigation of War Crimes Against Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, his portrait is prominently displayed on the wall behind Ljubisa Ristic's desk.
``My personal opinion is that he is a true soldier and a hero of the Serbian people," Ristic said.
It is not clear how many other Serbs feel that way about General Ratko Mladic, the wartime commander of the Bosnian Serb army and chief executor of its ethnic cleansing campaign.
``I'd say 75 percent of the Serbs see him as a war hero," said Aleksandar Tijanic, who heads the state-run television network in Serbia. ``But if you ask them if he should he go to The Hague to save the Serbs from more suffering, 75 percent would say yes."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/06/18/serbs_no_closer_to_arresting_war_fugitive_despite_aid_cut/
THE HAGUE Among the unfinished business left by the death of Slobodan Milosevic is the central question of whether he was guilty, as charged, of genocide in Bosnia.
But while his death brought a sudden end to his trial at the UN war crimes tribunal here, the genocide issue is very much alive. It may well be decided by another UN court based in The Hague: the International Court of Justice.
That court, also known as the World Court, recently finished nine weeks of hearings on a case filed 13 years ago, in the middle of the Bosnian war.
With Muslim villages under attack and civilians driven into detention camps, Bosnia's lawyers turned to the court, accusing Yugoslavia of violations "on all counts" of the UN Convention on Genocide. The case was held back by the slow-paced institution and by repeated legal moves from Belgrade to block it. In the meantime, Yugoslavia became Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, and in May simply Serbia...
Should the court rule in Bosnia's favor, the Serbian state will suffer the stigma of having committed genocide, an outcome that would implicate the entire Milosevic government.
For Serb citizens and their fledgling economy, that could mean also being saddled with hefty war reparations. Bosnia has asked the court to award damages for the loss of life and property.
During the war, 100,000 people died, the majority of them Muslims, and entire Muslim towns and villages were destroyed, including their mosques and monuments. No figure was set.
Serbia has argued that there were excesses of war but no genocidal campaign, that Belgrade did not control events in Bosnia and that a verdict favoring Bosnia will make reconciliation even more difficult. Bosnia says the opposite, and argues it needs "recognition of Serb guilt" even more than reparations.
But while his death brought a sudden end to his trial at the UN war crimes tribunal here, the genocide issue is very much alive. It may well be decided by another UN court based in The Hague: the International Court of Justice.
That court, also known as the World Court, recently finished nine weeks of hearings on a case filed 13 years ago, in the middle of the Bosnian war.
With Muslim villages under attack and civilians driven into detention camps, Bosnia's lawyers turned to the court, accusing Yugoslavia of violations "on all counts" of the UN Convention on Genocide. The case was held back by the slow-paced institution and by repeated legal moves from Belgrade to block it. In the meantime, Yugoslavia became Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, and in May simply Serbia...
Should the court rule in Bosnia's favor, the Serbian state will suffer the stigma of having committed genocide, an outcome that would implicate the entire Milosevic government.
For Serb citizens and their fledgling economy, that could mean also being saddled with hefty war reparations. Bosnia has asked the court to award damages for the loss of life and property.
During the war, 100,000 people died, the majority of them Muslims, and entire Muslim towns and villages were destroyed, including their mosques and monuments. No figure was set.
Serbia has argued that there were excesses of war but no genocidal campaign, that Belgrade did not control events in Bosnia and that a verdict favoring Bosnia will make reconciliation even more difficult. Bosnia says the opposite, and argues it needs "recognition of Serb guilt" even more than reparations.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Boy, this doesn't sound good at all....
June 13, 2006
For Albanians in Kosovo, Hope for Independence From Serbia
By NICHOLAS WOOD
BELGRADE, Serbia, June 8 — Seven years after Kosovo was placed under United Nations control, it appears increasingly likely that the province will be allowed to break away from Serbia formally and become an independent nation.
Members of the United Nations Security Council appear to be leaning toward permitting Kosovo to go its own way. The Council is expected to vote on Kosovo's fate by the end of the year, unless the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, who have been negotiating unsuccessfully for months, reach a resolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/world/europe/13kosovo.html
June 13, 2006
For Albanians in Kosovo, Hope for Independence From Serbia
By NICHOLAS WOOD
BELGRADE, Serbia, June 8 — Seven years after Kosovo was placed under United Nations control, it appears increasingly likely that the province will be allowed to break away from Serbia formally and become an independent nation.
Members of the United Nations Security Council appear to be leaning toward permitting Kosovo to go its own way. The Council is expected to vote on Kosovo's fate by the end of the year, unless the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, who have been negotiating unsuccessfully for months, reach a resolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/world/europe/13kosovo.html
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Lord, what won't they blame them for!!!!!
Serbia told to drop "negative" influence on Kosovo
Thu Jun 8, 8:05 AM ET
Serbia must drop its "negative" influence on Serbs in Kosovo and tell them to re-engage with the ethnic Albanian majority, the major powers said on Thursday, as a decision nears on the province's fate.
The West holds Belgrade responsible for a Serb boycott of political life in the United Nations-run province, which it says is complicating efforts to decide Kosovo's future this year in U.N.-led talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo_dc_1
Serbia told to drop "negative" influence on Kosovo
Thu Jun 8, 8:05 AM ET
Serbia must drop its "negative" influence on Serbs in Kosovo and tell them to re-engage with the ethnic Albanian majority, the major powers said on Thursday, as a decision nears on the province's fate.
The West holds Belgrade responsible for a Serb boycott of political life in the United Nations-run province, which it says is complicating efforts to decide Kosovo's future this year in U.N.-led talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo_dc_1
Monday, June 05, 2006
Well, I guess it's better to just accept the situation than allow the hardliners to use it to their advantage....
Left alone, Serbia declares its independence too
by Filip RodicMon Jun 5, 10:39 AM ET
Serbia sealed the final act of Yugoslavia's turbulent history when it proclaimed independence after Montenegro, its last ally, abandoned its formal 88-year association with Belgrade.
After an extraordinary session of parliament, officials lowered the flag of the defunct federation of Serbia and Montenegro from the building in Belgrade and raised the Serbian standard in its place.
Lawmakers proclaimed independence before transferring solely onto Belgrade the international status of the federation, including its seat on bodies such as the United Nations.
Serbian President Boris Tadic wrote to Svetozar Marovic, a Montenegrin who had headed the federation, saying he considered the break-up to be a "personal loss."
But he insisted that he was "ready to lead my country along democratic and European path that would bring better life to its citizens."
Serbia effectively became a sovereign state after all 126 deputies present in the 250-seat assembly backed an order to the government and state bodies to complete all formalities about the succession and resolve all disputed issues with Montenegro within next 45 days.
It follows Montenegro's own formal independence declaration Saturday after the tiny Balkan state voted on May 21 to secede from the union that had bound together the last remnants of the former Yugoslavia.
Neither Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica nor Tadic was present as deputies gathered in gloomy mood.
"Montenegro's separation is a sad reality for me," said Milos Aligrudic of Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia.
He added: "I urge you that we continue considering all the people who live in Montenegro as our brothers and not to have hard feelings towards them."
The move by Montenegro, sandwiched between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea with a population of just 650,000, ended the painful, 15-year dissolution of former communist Yugoslavia, after Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia went their separate ways in the early 1990s.
Yugoslavia has existed in three separate forms during the 20th century.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, created in 1918, was renamed as Yugoslavia in 1929 and existed in that form until it was invaded in 1941.
A communist Yugoslavia emerged after the end of World War II in 1945, but it, too, crumbled amid conflict in the early 1990s.
Federal Yugoslavia then came into being, although it was effectively just Serbia and Montenegro, and that union was renamed as a federation in 2003 when the name Yugoslavia was discarded.
Under the constitution of Serbia-Montenegro, Serbia inherits its membership in the United Nations and all other international and financial organizations.
The former union's ambassadors would now represent solely Serbia, Beta news agency reported, quoting foreign ministry officials.
Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party -- the biggest group in parliament -- said he was "really sorry that Montenegro, with enormous help from the European Union, gained so-called independence and many members of our people were left out of our borders."
It was under EU pressure that Serbia and Montenegro formed their union with the proviso that each republic could leave the federation if that was the wish of their majority.
Brussels also helped Podgorica's push for a referendum -- stipulating, for instance, the minimum 55-percent threshold for the vote to be validated -- and persuaded all sides to accept the result.
"It is not the time for sorrow," said Dusan Petrovic, of Serbia's opposition Democratic Party. "The citizens of Montenegro decided to live separately from Serbia ... I congratulate them.
After Monday's ceremonies, the flags of Serbia-Montenegro will be sent to a museum, officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060605/ts_afp/serbiamontenegropolitics_060605143411
Left alone, Serbia declares its independence too
by Filip RodicMon Jun 5, 10:39 AM ET
Serbia sealed the final act of Yugoslavia's turbulent history when it proclaimed independence after Montenegro, its last ally, abandoned its formal 88-year association with Belgrade.
After an extraordinary session of parliament, officials lowered the flag of the defunct federation of Serbia and Montenegro from the building in Belgrade and raised the Serbian standard in its place.
Lawmakers proclaimed independence before transferring solely onto Belgrade the international status of the federation, including its seat on bodies such as the United Nations.
Serbian President Boris Tadic wrote to Svetozar Marovic, a Montenegrin who had headed the federation, saying he considered the break-up to be a "personal loss."
But he insisted that he was "ready to lead my country along democratic and European path that would bring better life to its citizens."
Serbia effectively became a sovereign state after all 126 deputies present in the 250-seat assembly backed an order to the government and state bodies to complete all formalities about the succession and resolve all disputed issues with Montenegro within next 45 days.
It follows Montenegro's own formal independence declaration Saturday after the tiny Balkan state voted on May 21 to secede from the union that had bound together the last remnants of the former Yugoslavia.
Neither Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica nor Tadic was present as deputies gathered in gloomy mood.
"Montenegro's separation is a sad reality for me," said Milos Aligrudic of Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia.
He added: "I urge you that we continue considering all the people who live in Montenegro as our brothers and not to have hard feelings towards them."
The move by Montenegro, sandwiched between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea with a population of just 650,000, ended the painful, 15-year dissolution of former communist Yugoslavia, after Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia went their separate ways in the early 1990s.
Yugoslavia has existed in three separate forms during the 20th century.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, created in 1918, was renamed as Yugoslavia in 1929 and existed in that form until it was invaded in 1941.
A communist Yugoslavia emerged after the end of World War II in 1945, but it, too, crumbled amid conflict in the early 1990s.
Federal Yugoslavia then came into being, although it was effectively just Serbia and Montenegro, and that union was renamed as a federation in 2003 when the name Yugoslavia was discarded.
Under the constitution of Serbia-Montenegro, Serbia inherits its membership in the United Nations and all other international and financial organizations.
The former union's ambassadors would now represent solely Serbia, Beta news agency reported, quoting foreign ministry officials.
Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party -- the biggest group in parliament -- said he was "really sorry that Montenegro, with enormous help from the European Union, gained so-called independence and many members of our people were left out of our borders."
It was under EU pressure that Serbia and Montenegro formed their union with the proviso that each republic could leave the federation if that was the wish of their majority.
Brussels also helped Podgorica's push for a referendum -- stipulating, for instance, the minimum 55-percent threshold for the vote to be validated -- and persuaded all sides to accept the result.
"It is not the time for sorrow," said Dusan Petrovic, of Serbia's opposition Democratic Party. "The citizens of Montenegro decided to live separately from Serbia ... I congratulate them.
After Monday's ceremonies, the flags of Serbia-Montenegro will be sent to a museum, officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060605/ts_afp/serbiamontenegropolitics_060605143411
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