June 29
- Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov insists
on an overriding role for the United Nations in settling conflicts worldwide.
Recent events in the Balkans and in the Gulf, he said in Moscow today,
have shown great dangers from attempts to act unilaterally without proper
authorization by the UN Security Council. Such actions, the minister pointed
out, have soured relations between Russia and the United States, which
form the cornerstone of security in Europe. Mr Ivanov described NATO's
strategy to expand to the east as a blunder of historic proportions. He
also said this country would do everything in its power to build ties with
the European Union.
- Colonel General Georgy Shpak, in
charge of this country's Airborne Corps, says Russian peace-keepers will
be reaching Kosovo by sea as well as by air. Part of the Russian contingent
will probably depart from Novorossiysk on the coast of the Black Sea. The
operation is expected to involve ships of several Russian naval fleets.
This country is dispatching 36 hundred soldiers to Kosovo for deploying
them in the American-, the British-, the German- and the French-controlled
sectors there. They will be answering directly to Moscow while carrying
out tactical coordination with the NATO part of the Kosovo Force.
- In a letter to the UN today, the
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic asks the Security Council to
discuss how to provide for the normal existence of all people in Kosovo.
In a parallel development, the Serbian Orthodox Church has asked UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan to take immediate action to stop ethnic violence against
the Kosovo Serbs. If unchecked, this campaign of ethnic cleansing may drive
all the Serbs out and make the population of Kosovo 100 percent Albanian,
a letter to Mr Annan says.
- Commander Hashim Tachi of the outlawed
Kosovo Liberation Army continues to demand full independence for Kosovo.
In an interview with the Japanese daily MAINITI today, he says his campaign
may receive a significant boost from planned elections to form a self-rule
administration in the province. The international community remains opposed
to proposals to grant independence to Kosovo. The UN supports autonomy
for the region but only within the overall set-up of Federal Yugoslavia.
- Prime-Minister Sergey Stepashin
signed a decree on Monday on Russia's participation in the international
forces in Kosovo - the KFOR. According to a government information agency,
a number of ministries have been given instructions as to maintaining Russian
peace-keepers in Kosovo. The Russian military contingent will comprise
3600 men who will be deployed in the US, British, French and German sectors
but will take orders from the Russian command. Over 200 Russian servicemen
are currently deployed in Kosovo. The rest will arrive after the reconstruction
of the Russian-controlled airfield in Pristina.
- Yugoslavia has called on the United
Nations Security Council to discuss the situation in Kosovo. According
to the TANJUG news agency, in his letter to the Security Council the Yugoslav
Foreign Minister Zhivadin Jovanovic says his country has implemented in
full the UN resolution on Kosovo. Mr. Jovanovic reminded the Security Council
that the United Nations is responsible for normalizing life in the province.
Yugoslavia expects the UN mission in Kosovo to take drastic measures against
any signs of violence or terrorism in Kosovo.
- A curfew has been imposed in another
two towns in Kosovo - Gnilane and Vitina - because of continuing disturbances
there. A spokesman for the American contingent within the KFOR has said
the measure was taken on request from local Serbs and gypsies threatened
by Albanian looters. On Sunday a curfew was imposed in Prizren where the
German contingent is deployed. About forty Albanian looters were detained
by Italian soldiers near the city of Pec on Monday.
- Militants of the Kosovo Liberation
Army began to hand in heavy weapons to KFOR representatives on Monday,
just hours before the deadline ran out. Under the agreement signed on June
21st, heavy weapons must be handed in within a week and demilitarization
completed within 90 days. The militants are in no hurry to lay down weapons
acting on instructions from their commanders who want to turn the KLA into
regular armed units. The KFOR's slowness in disarming the KLA has resulted
in the exodus of 70 thousand Serbs.
- The Kosovo Liberation Army is involved
in drug trade and illegal financial operations. The announcement was made
on Monday night on the first channel of the German television. The program
said the Federal Agency in charge of criminal cases has been investigating
hundreds of cases connected with organized crime groups of ethnic Albanians
in Germany who control heroine imports and sales in the country's southern
regions.
June 28
- A senior officer of this country's
Airborne Corps says the Russian airlift to Kosovo is on hold until July
the 3rd when technicians are expected to complete urgent work to upgrade
the main airport of the provincial capital Pristina. The facility received
several Russian flights between Saturday and Monday with soldiers, technicians,
and equipment on board. The airfield is under guard by 2 hundred Russian
rangers who instantly redeployed from Bosnia on Saturday the 11th a few
hours before NATO troops started to pour in. Once upgraded, the airport
will be available for use by all contributors to the Kosovo Force. This
country contributes 36 hundred soldiers for deploying them in the American-,
British-, German- and French-controlled sectors of the southern Serbian
province. The Russian contingent will answer to superiors in Moscow while
carrying out tactical coordination with the NATO part of the Kosovo Force.
President Yeltsin has had words of high praise for the performance of the
Russian military in Kosovo. At a meeting with Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev
in the Kremlin today, he also issued instructions to work out a long-term
strategy with regard to Yugoslavia.
- Senior officers from the Russian
Defence Ministry are in Brussels to discuss coordination between the Russian
and NATO contingents in Kosovo. NATO, reports say, hopes this coordination
will help it resume full military cooperation with Russia, which this country
abruptly broke off following the start of the American-led aggression against
Federal Yugoslavia in late March. The joint patrolling of Kosovo is the
only NATO-Russia activity that President Yeltsin has allowed to take off
hold thus far.
- Three troop-carrying planes with
Russian peacekeepers, military and technical equipment, ammunition, foodstuffs
and medicaments on board will arrive in the Serbian province Kosovo later
today. The planes will also take to Kosovo several dozens technical experts
and guard units of the Tula airborne division. The first plane has already
taken off from the military air-field Dyagilevo, in Ryazan region, East
of Moscow. The ITAR-TASS news agency quotes the Russian Air Force press
service as saying that the other two planes are to take off at 10 and 12
o'clock Moscow Time. On Sunday Rumania temporarily closed its air space
for Russian planes after two Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft had flown over
Rumania to Kosovo at an interval that was less than 4 hours. And that's
precisely a 4-hour interval that had been earlier agreed. Following Moscow's
explanations Rumania opened an air corridor for Russian planes.
- The biggest problem before the
United Nations civilian administration in Kosovo is how to reverse the
exodus of the Kosovo Serbs. Press Secretary of the UN mission, Mrs Suzanne
Manuel, has told reporters her staff are trying to assure the Serbs they
can feel safe but the thinly-stretched Kosovo Force can in fact do little
to protect Serb civilians from hate attacks. The tension is compounded
by arbitrary seizure by ethnic Albanians of government jobs vacated by
fleeing Serbs.
- Today the United Nations High Commissioner's
Office for Refugees starts its operation to return Kosovo Albanians form
Macedonia back home in an organized way. The first group of 390 Albanians
will be brought to Pristina from a camp near Skopje by buses.
- A Russian Defence Ministry delegation
under Vice-Admiral Valentin Kuznetsov is to arrive at the NATO headquarters
in Brussels later today to discuss Russian and NATO interaction in Kosovo.
NATO leaders see the forthcoming visit as very important since it may lead
to the resumption of Russia-NATO relations, frozen after the alliance had
launched its air operation in Yugoslavia. By now the Russian President
Boris Yeltsin has unfrozen only one cooperation point, relating to joint
conducting of an operation in Kosovo.
June 27
- An advanced party of Russian peace-keepers
has arrived in Kosovo. According to General Ivashov, a high-ranking spokesman
for the Russian Defence Ministry, a cargo plane has delivered to Pristina
21 paratroopers and 18 air force technicians with technical equipment.
The peace-keepers will prepare the Pristina airfield to receive the rest
of the Russian troops and determine the routes for lorry columns. On Friday
the upper house of the Russian parliament approved a decision to sand 3
thousand 600 peace - keepers to Kosovo. The relevant decree was signed
by President Yeltsin. Russian servicemen will be deployed in the American,
German and French sectors and at Pristina's airport together with British
soldiers. About 200 Russian peace-keepers have been staying at the airport
since June 12th. According to General Ivashov, the Russian peace-keeping
contingent in Kosovo will be deployed in full within 40 to 45 days.
- A delegation of high-ranking Russian
army officers led by Admiral Valentin Kuznetsov is arriving at NATO headquarters
in Brussels today for talks on interaction between the Russian and NATO
peace-keeping troops in Kosovo. The talks will begin on Monday. A source
Brussels is reported as saying that NATO attaches great importance to the
visit which is seen as a possible signal for the resumption of relations
between Russia and the alliance.
- The state of war was officially
lifted in Yugoslavia on Saturday. The state of war lasted for three months
and two days. State control of radio and television is stopped and the
people of Yugoslavia can again enjoy civil liberties. The decision on lifting
the state of war was made following the vote in parliament on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the ban on rallies and demonstrations introduced by the government
of Serbia remains in force.
- A column of vehicles of the Russian
Ministry for Emergency Situations with supplies of food, medicines, cigarettes
and fuel for the Russian paratroops deployed at Slatina airport is to arrive
in the Kosovo capital-Pristina later today. The column left Belgrade on
Saturday.
- French peacekeeping troops in Kosovo
on Saturday prevented an attack by some five hundred angry ethnic Albanians
on the Serbian quarter of the city of Kosovska Mitrovica. The French troops
blocked the bridge leading to the Serbian quarter. The Yugoslav news agency,
Tanjug, reports the UN special envoy for Kosovo, Sergio Vieira di Mello,
managed to calm down the group of ethnic Albanians.
- A demonstration organized by a
coalition of 11 pacifist and religious groups has been held in Washington
in protest at the policy of the United States towards Yugoslavia. The demonstrators
stressed that NATO air strikes on civilian sites in Yugoslavia and other
accusations against NATO and the United States must be considered at the
International War Crimes Tribunal. The demonstrators pointed out that bombing
of the Serbian television centre in which several journalists died was
an example of the attacks on civilian sites.
- A statement of the international
human rights group - Human rights Watch- received by the New York bureau
of the Russian News agency ITAR - TASS says the group has evidence of acts
of violence against Serbs and in some cases against ethnic Albanians and
Gypsies committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army. The statement, calls on
the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army to stop the atrocities, to establish
strict discipline and to punish those responsible for violence.
- The well- known British violinist
- Nigel Kennedy - is to take part in a concert by the symphony orchestra
of the philharmonic society of Belgrade. In an interview with Reuters news
agency on Saturday he said that he regarded his participation in the concert
as a gesture of friendship to the country which had severe suffering because
of NATO aggression. Earlier, Kennedy praised the Belgrade musicians who
continued rehearsals even during the 11 weeks of NATO air strikes. The
British musician traveled to Belgrade at his own expense and refused to
be paid for his participation in the concert.
June 26
- The first group of Russian peacekeepers
has left for Kosovo. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the operations
paratrooper group should decide on the ground just how many Russian peacekeepers
should be sent to Kosovo and where they should be deployed. On Friday the
Russian Parliament's upper house - Federation Council - approved the President's
proposal for sending 3 600 peacekeepers to the Serbian province. The troops
are planned to be deployed in the American, German and French sectors,
and also at the Pristina airport in the British sector. Some 200 Russian
peacekeepers arrived at the airport from Bosnia on the 12th of this month
and have since been staying there. Meanwhile the Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov has said that in the Balkans Russia pursues two ends, namely,
to achieve peace and stability and to secure its own interests, which this
country "had, has and will continue to have in this region".
- According to the NATO Commander-in-Chief
Europe, US General Wesley Clark, by now the alliance has deployed in Kosovo
16 battalions totaling 21 000. This, according to the General, makes up
60% of the troop strength NATO needs in the province. At the same time
Clark points out that NATO troops can't be seen as a police force, capable
of stabilizing the situation in Kosovo. He feels that a police force under
the UN aegis should be formed in the Serbian province.
- "It is too early to trumped
triumphs … People still die", said Viktor Chernomyrdin in his comments
on the situation around the Serbian province Kosovo, when addressing a
full-scale meeting of an international forum in Cran-Montanad, Switzerland,
on Friday. The Russian President's special envoy to the Balkans suggested
that the international community should concentrate on preventing conflicts,
like the one in the Balkans, and on economic restoration of the region
in the run-up to winter. According to him, what should be done is to set
up an "economic commission on Yugoslavia". Chernomyrdin feels
that neither NATO's bombings, nor "ethnic cleansing" can ever
be justified.
- On Friday a large group of Kosovo
Albanians forced their way into the building of Parliament in Kosovo's
administrative centre Pristina and demanded that all Serb workers present
should leave at once. The Albanians stripped the Serb workers of all office
car keys. The British peacekeepers that from part of NATO's KFOR and that
bore witness to the incident chose to ignore the occurrence. The kept conniving
at the Albanians when some time later the latter occupied the building
of the provincial branch of the republican tax service department and some
other agencies.
June 25
- The Upper House of the Russian
parliament has overwhelmingly approved the sending of 3600 Russian peace-keeping
troops to Kosovo for deploying them in the American, German and French
sectors and around the main airport of the provincial capital Pristina.
According to Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, the vote greatly facilitates
the work of the Russian Foreign and Defense Ministries in the Balkans and
demonstrates full parliamentary support of the line taken by President
Boris Yeltsin. This country wants peace and stability in the Balkans, Mr
Ivanov says, and will do everything in its powers to defend its legitimate
long-term interests in the region.
- The Kosovo operation will cost
this country 60 million roubles plus 69 million dollars each year. The
rouble sum will come from the defense budget and the dollar supplement,
from the foreign policy budget and emergency reserves. The dollar disbursement
this year may reach 36 million. The figures were given by First Deputy
Prime Minister Victor Khristenko.
- The Kosovo Liberation Army is stepping
up its brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing as the NATO-led Kosovo Force
stands idly by. The separatists have now turned to expelling Gypsies after
driving out most of the Kosovo Serbs. Reports say as many as 3 thousand
Gypsies may have already fled Pristina. Before the latest Balkan war, the
Gypsies in Kosovo numbered around 150 thousand, and their mass exodus may
trigger another humanitarian catastrophe in the region, international aid
workers warn. Such an exodus is a real possibility if the Kosovo Force
continues to turn a blind eye to ethnic persecution unleashed by the KLA.
Pristina meanwhile has been the scene of mass looting of houses and businesses
owned by Serbs. According to the BBC, British and Canadian soldiers nearby
have so far done nothing to stop the pillage.
- NATO Secretary General Javier Solana
has cast doubt on the wisdom of a decision by the US State Department to
offer 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrest and the handover
to the War Crime Tribunal of top Serbian and Yugoslav leaders including
President Slobodan Milosevic. In an interview with the French radio station
EUROPE-1 today, he said its up to the Serbs to decide the fate of their
country and their President.
- The Upper House of Russia's parliament
today discusses the sending of a peace-keeping contingent to Kosovo. It
appears that members of the House have different views on this. Many are
concerned about the financial aspect of the mission. However, the speaker
of the House, Egor Stroyev told a correspondent of the ITAR-TASS news agency
that Russia's strategic interests are more important than any all everyday
differences.
- According to a high-ranking official
of the Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky, Russia may send its contingent
to Kosovo as early as today if the Russian Parliament's Upper House - the
Council of the Federation approves a corresponding resolution. The 3,600
- strong contingent is to be deployed in the American, British, French
and German sectors and will stay there under full political and military
control of Moscow, where officials will be represented in all structures
of the international peacekeeping force command.
- In Yugoslavia parliament has abolished
martial law introduced in the country when NATO warplanes began bombing
raids on March 24th. Prime-minister of Yugoslavia Momir Bulatovic who spoke
before the voting took place - said that the approval of the UN Security
Council resolution on Kosovo means actually ending the aggression and the
implementation of its provision created conditions for the country emerging
from martial law. He stressed the importance of the fact that Kosovo remains
part of Yugoslavia.
- Planes of the Aeroflot air lines
today resume flights from Moscow to Belgrade after an almost three months
long pause. There will be four flights a week. Direct regular flights between
Moscow and Belgrade were suspended because of NATO's military action against
Yugoslavia.
- There was a life attempt on Italy's
foreign minister Lamberto Dini during his stay in Kosovo on June 23rd.
This has been reported by Serbian television. The news cast said fighters
of the so called Kosovo Liberation Army opened fire on the Italian minister
who was in Pristina together with his counterparts from Great Britain,
Germany and France. And as proof of that a TV-shot of the American CNN
was shown. Body-guards and servicemen of the peace-keeping force were seen
protecting Dini with their own bodies.
June 24
- Boris Yeltsin has said that Russia
will be active in both the pace keeping operation in Kosovo and in restoring
the Yugoslav economy. He's said this at a recent meeting with the UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan in Moscow. The restoration part is to be discussed at
length at the forthcoming international conferences due to involve donor-countries,
Russia included. Boris Yeltsin and Kofi Annan also discussed the enhancing
of the UN role in resolving world conflicts and the problems that humanity
will face in the 21st century. They stressed that the only correct way
to guarantee security of big and small countries was to build a multipolar
world. The parties to the meeting pointed out that new world order should
be built on the basis of respect for international law and of strengthening
the UN role.
- According to a high-ranking official
of the Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky, Russia may send its contingent
to Kosovo as early as this coming Friday. 0n Friday the Russian Parliament's
upper house - the Council of the Federation - is to approve in keeping
with the Constitution President Yeltsin's request for sending the troops
in question to the Serbian province. The 3,600 strong contingent is to
be deployed in the American, British, French and German sectors and will
stay there under full political and military control of Moscow. Moscow
military officials will form part of all structures of the international
peacekeeping force command.
- The dead bodies of three Pristina
University workers were discovered on University premises in Kosovo today.
The Serbs died of fire arms wounds and beating. Police have been conducting
investigation. Meanwhile fighters of the Albanian "Kosovo Liberation
Army" continue to drive Serbs away from the province. The fighters
ignore the presence of western peace- keepers and continue to plunder and
burn down Serbian homes and often go as far as killing Serbs. The dead
bodies of six Serbs were discovered in various parts of Kosovo yesterday.
The number of Serbian refugees from Kosovo has reached 80,000.
- The first joint bodies of government
to include both Serbs and Albanians are to be set up in Kosovo in the next
few days. Agreement to this end was reached at a meeting yesterday between
Kosovo's Serbian administration and the United Nations Kosovo mission.
In compliance with the UN-approved peace plan for a Kosovo settlement a
provisional administration is to be set up in Kosovo to guarantee all of
the province residents peaceful and normal life.
- President Yeltsin is meeting later
in the day with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The two men
will focus on the Yugoslav developments, the leading role of the United
Nations in the search for global peace and the preservation of the post-war
system of international relations. Kofi Annan, who met Wednesday with Russian
Prime Minister Sergey Stepashin and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, appreciates
what Moscow is doing in a bid to settle the Yugoslav crisis. But for the
Russian efforts, he said, the political accommodation would probably have
stood no chance.
- A checkpoint manned by US Marines,
south of the Yugoslav city of Gnilane, came under fire Wednesday night.
The Marines returned fire and one of the attackers was shot down dead and
two others wounded. The Marines suffered no losses. It remained unknown,
US General John Craddock said, what ethnic community the attackers belonged
to. A US patrol came under fire Wednesday night in the city of Vitina,
in southern Kosovo.
- Albanian extremists have killed
two ethnic Serbs - a father and his son - in the city of Uroshevats in
southern Kosovo. The independent news agency BETA said Wednesday night
there remained seven ethnic Serbs in that city. There are more than 700
Greek peacekeepers in Uroshevats but even their presence fails to keep
Kosovo Liberation Army fighters from combat action. French peacekeepers
found the bodies of four ethnic Serbs in the city of Kosovska Mitrovitsa
Wednesday.
- The Yugoslav lawmakers are about
to discuss the government's suggestion for lifting the state of martial
law, introduced on the 24th of last March, when the North Atlantic Alliance
started bombing Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav government is acting on the strength
of the Alliance's decision to halt the combat action. The Yugoslav lawmakers
are also planning to amend a number of laws with a view to eliminate the
aftereffects of the Allied aggression.
- The Swiss authorities have, in
answer to a request from the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,
issued orders for freezing the Swiss bank deposits of Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian President, a Yugoslav deputy Prime Minister,
the Yugoslav Minister of internal affairs and the chief-of-general staff
of the Yugoslav armed forces. It remains to be found out, though, whether
the five Yugoslavs do keep money in Swiss banks.
June 23
- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov
and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan met in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss
the situation in Kosovo, Iraq and the Middle East. Mr Annan is in Russia
on an official visit started on Monday. During his talks with Russian leaders
he stressed that Moscow had played a crucial role in settling the crisis
around Kosovo.
- On Monday Russia's peacekeeping
contingent may start moving into Kosovo. Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev
is expected to make reports on the issue in the upper and lower houses
of parliament before the end of the week. On Friday the upper house will
hold an emergency meeting on President Yeltsin's proposal to send 3600
peacekeepers to Kosovo. Under an agreement reached in Helsinki, they will
be deployed in the US, French and German sectors. The 200 Russian paratroopers
who had occupied Pristina airport before NATO troops entered Kosovo will
remain there, but the rest of the international peacekeeping force will
have free access to the airport. The Russian contingent will be under a
separate command exercised from Moscow.
- Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia
Alexiy II has called for an end to massacres against ethnic Serbs in Kosovo
and the destruction of orthodox churches and monasteries in the mainly
Albanian province. In a statement issued on Wednesday he said both Kosovo
Albanians and Serbs must be guaranteed security and a peaceful life. The
Patriarch voiced deep concern that anti-Serb actions by ethnic Albanian
militants hadn't met with a due rebuff from the international peacekeepers.
- Meanwhile, according to a Serb
press-center based in the Kosovo capital Pristina, at least 140 local Serbs
and Montenegrins have been taken prisoner by ethnic Albanian terrorists.
But the figure may be even higher as in the majority of cases there are
no witnesses to confirm the kidnappings. A report issued by the center
says chaos and anarchy are reigning Kosovo.
- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan,
now on an official visit to Russia, today meets with Prime-Minister Sergey
Stepashin, speakers of the Upper and Lower Houses of parliament, Egor Stroev
and Gennady Seleznev and also Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Attention will
be given to pressing international problems, including the role of the
United Nations in overcoming the Kosovo crisis, and also peace-keeping
action under the aegis of the United Nations in other conflict situations.
Speaking earlier at an international conference in St.Petersburg, Kofi
Annan said Russia played a key role in ending military operations in the
Balkans. In his opinion, Russia's efforts helped to approve a Security
Council resolution on Kosovo which marked the beginning of an international
peace-keeping operations in that Serbian province.
- No international problems could
today be solved without Russia and without its national interests being
taken into account. Russia's Foreign Minister expressed those views on
Tuesday when addressing the first World Russian Press Congress in Moscow.
The crisis in the Balkans, he said, hit a heavy blow at Russia's relations
with NATO. Moscow at present is giving much thought to the future of the
Russia-NATO Founding Act. Igor Ivanov also expressed concern about the
United States putting into practice the deployment of the national ABM
system. That is dangerous, said the Minister, and could undermine the basis
of strategic stability and the entire disarmament process. At the same
time the Russian Foreign Minister noted that Moscow will press for a speedy
ratification of START-2.
- Russia will take part in restoring
Yugoslavia. However, the expenses should be borne by those who damaged
it so enormously. The special envoy of the Russian President for the Balkans,
Viktor Chernomyrdin, expressed such an opinion in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
He arrived in the French city to attend the session of the parliamentary
assembly of the Council of Europe. Meanwhile, a delegation of Moscow architects
and building designers visited Belgrade and Novi Sad. They studied what
amount of work has to be done to restore some of the sites destroyed by
NATO bombing raids and build a subway in Belgrade.
- The Kosovo Liberation Army does
not intend to end its existence. Such a statement was made in Pristina
on Tuesday by one of its commanders, Rustem Mustafa. In his opinion, the
agreement on demilitarizing the Kosovo Liberation Army signed recently
by its leadership and the command of the peace-keeping forces in Kosovo
does not mean its disarmament. Mustafa believes that the Kosovo Liberation
Army will soon be transformed into a regular army.
- When visiting Macedonia, US president
Bill Clinton said in Skopje that NATO could repeat the operation similar
to the Yugoslavia one at any time. This has been reported by Radio France
Internationale. Clinton pointed out that if necessary NATO could do that
in any place, whether Africa or Central Europe.
- China has accused the United States
of conducting a policy aimed at establishing world domination. The newspaper
of the ruling Communist party Jenmin Jipao pointed out on Tuesday that
the enormous military budget and the barbarous bombing of Yugoslavia, without
a UN sanction, show Washington's hegemonistic designs. In the opinion of
the Chinese newspaper, NATO's aggression in the Balkans has shown the expansionist
objectives of the alliance and the wish of the United States to spread
its influence over Europe.
June 22
- President Boris Yeltsin has signed
an address to the Federation Council, the upper parliamentary chamber,
urging them to discuss the issue of sending Russian peacekeepers to Kosovo.
The head of the upper house's press-service Yuri Algunov said the deputies
were planning to do it on Friday, the 25th. According to Vice-Premier Victor
Khristenko, 50 million dollars will be set aside for the Kosovo peacekeeping
contingent until the end of the year.
- Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Alexiy II has expressed hope that the international peacekeeping force
brought into Kosovo will protect ethnic Serbs from militants of the Kosovo
Liberation Army and save Serbian shrines from destruction. We are happy,
he said, that the barbaric bombings that lasted more than 7 weeks have
finally been stopped. At the same time his Holiness voiced deep regret
that the pendulum had swung to the other side and that it was now Serbs
who were fleeing Kosovo. We have evidence, the Patriarch said, that Albanian
militants destroyed a number of Orthodox monasteries dated between the
13th and 14th centuries, and desecrated a shrine containing the relics
of a Serb saint.
- Russian's special envoy to the
Balkans Victor Chernomyrdin has criticized an agreement on the KLA's disarmament
signed between the KLA leadership and NATO peacekeeping command. Speaking
on Tuesday he said all KLA military units should be disarmed and disbanded.
Later in the day he set out for Strasbourg to take part in debates on Yugoslavia
in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Before leaving he met
Prime Minister Sergey Stepashin to discuss a peace settlement in Kosovo.
- China has emphasized that it is
necessary to include Yugoslavia in the program providing for the restoration
of the Balkan countries. A statement on that score was made by the Chinese
foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing Chzhan Ziuye earlier today. She has
denied any attempts by the NATO countries' leaders to make the restoration
of Yugoslavia dependent on the dismissal from his post of Yugoslavia's
President Slobodan Milosevic. It is exactly NATO's attack on Yugoslavia
that has caused a humanitarian disaster there that, in its turn, has not
only absolutely destroyed Yugoslavia's economy but has also inflicted serious
damage on the economies of the neighboring countries, said Chzhan Ziyue.
Earlier Beijing assessed the West's demands to start the court proceedings
against Slobodan Milosevic for the Kosovo events as a propaganda campaign,
having for an object to justify NATO's aggression in the Balkans.
- The Commander of the International
peace-keeping contingent in Kosovo General Michael Jackson has expressed
his indignation with numerous cases of robbery and violence committed by
Kosovo Albanians and militants of the Kosovo Liberation Army in Pristina.
Mr Jackson said in a televised interview with the BBC that Kosovo Albanians
and the militants attack Serbs who did not leave Pristina as well as Serbian
refugees who had returned to Kosovo. Mr Jackson also admitted that the
Kosovo Liberation Army could hardly surrender all its weapons. On Monday
night it signed an agreement with the international peace-keeping contingent
in Kosovo on a complete demilitarisation, yet the bulk of the weapons that
are being surrendered remains in the army's depots.
- After a wreath-laying ceremony
to the Grave of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall the Russian President
Boris Yeltsin held a conversation with war veterans. He, notably, discussed
the results of the recent G-8 summit in Cologne and his meeting with the
US President Bill Clinton. President Yeltsin said the leaders of the Western
countries were unanimous in the opinion that they would have failed to
resolve the Kosovo problem without Russia. According to the president's
press-secretary Dmitry Yakushkin, Boris Yeltsin highly appreciated the
work of Russian diplomats and military men to resolve the Balkan crisis.
During a meeting with his American counterpart in Cologne the Russian President
discussed bilateral relations which had been strained by different approaches
to a peace settlement in the Balkans.
- On Monday the international peace-keeping
contingent in Kosovo sustained the first losses. During the defusion of
mines in a school building in the village of the Negrovtsa 30 kilometers
to the west of Pristina an explosion killed two British sappers and two
local Albanians. The two servicemen belonged to the elite British unit
of the Nepalese extraction.
- The BBC has reported that the two
British peace-keepers have been killed not by a mine explosion but by a
shrapnel shell of a NATO air bomb that suddenly went off. British military
experts say this is most likely. In addition to 800 mine fields left by
the Serbs and Albanian separatists a great amount of NATO air shells that
did not explode have remained in Kosovo. Up to 8 years may be required
to defuse them all.
- The Russian Foreign Ministry sees
as positive the end of the war in the Balkans, yet Russia's attitude to
the NATO military operation against Yugoslavia has not changed. The Russian
Foreign Ministry has reported that NATO has committed the action that runs
counter to the norms of the international law. The consequences of the
NATO military operation, the Russian Foreign Ministry says, are disastrous.
The damage caused to the Yugoslav national economy exceeds the damage in
the years of the Second World War. Much should be done to restore the Yugoslav
economy and Russia, the message of the Russian Foreign Ministry says, will
take an active part in the restoration work.
- Russia's participation in resolving
the conflict in Yugoslavia was crucial for the peace deal. The announcement
was made by Russia's Balkans envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin who today will take
part in the debates on Kosovo and the situation in Yugoslavia at a session
of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg. Mr. Chernomyrdin
will represent the three-man group of international mediators on Yugoslavia
which besides himself also comprises the American Deputy Secretary of State
Strobe Talbott and the Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
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