PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Events in Kosovo and Metohija were strictly an internal matter and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia opposed any attempts to internationalize it, Vladislav Jovanovic, Charge d'affaires of that country's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon. "We do not give any consent to the Security Council to debate that issue or to adopt any decision in this respect", he told correspondents.

Mr. Jovanovic said that his Government made a strict distinction between human rights and minority rights on the one hand and political aspects on the other hand on the question of Kosovo and Metohija. "The humanitarian dimension is one thing and we are fully open to cooperation with international organizations in the sense that political aspects, the status of Kosovo within Serbia and Yugoslavia is an internal matter and we do not share any intention to debate this with any other country or international institution."

He said that the crux of the matter was separatism, and, in its most recent form, terrorism. There was no problem with human and minority rights, as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its Republic of Serbia provided in their constitutions large amounts of minority rights. All the other 25 minorities there did exercise their rights, were satisfied with their position and had no serious problem with the State.

The only national minority causing a problem, he said, was the Albanian nationality in Kosovo and Metohija, a problem that stemmed from the separatist platform of some of its leaders who had publicly proclaimed their objective of independence from Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Some seven years ago they went even further by pronouncing a "phantom state" -- the so- called independent state of Kosovo-Metohija. That phantom state had not been recognized by any other State in the world except Albania. That had been done in contravention of basic principles of the United Nations Charter. Despite that gross violation of international law and its principles, Albania had never been invited to any international forum to explain its actions and face the consequences, he added.

Mr. Jovanovic said that because of the increase in terrorist activities in Kosovo and Metohija, especially over the last year and a half, the territorial integrity of Serbia and the Federal Republic had been directly menaced and the lives and property of all their citizens in the area, irrespective of nationality or religious orientation, had been endangered. Since 1991 there had been more than 200 terrorist acts throughout Kosovo and Metohija, whereas in the first two months of this year there had been 70 terrorist acts. "As a result, a number of policemen, public personalities and civilians -- both Serbs and Albanians -- have been killed", he added.

After a long period of patience, he continued, the security forces of Serbia had been compelled to take action to neutralize terrorist bases in two villages. Everything had been done to avoid collateral damage, but the Government of Serbia had expressed regret for any such damage and ordered an official investigation of police conduct in order to establish the truth. "According to the outcome of that investigation, other actions could follow", he added.

On the other hand, he said, because of the many accusations and allegations of torture and police brutality in the mass media, the Government of Serbia had invited the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to form a group of expert pathologists from different countries to establish the truth. If necessary, the dead bodies would be exhumed. "Our interest is the interest of everybody who has an objective view of the situation -- it is to establish the truth and to do anything in order to overcome the existing situation in Kosovo and Metohija."

He said that following the statement by the Contact Group (the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States) in London, the Federal Republic had repeated a long- standing offer to the leaders of Albanian political parties to start a dialogue with state authorities on any subject concerning Kosovo and Metohija. That offer had been repeated five times, he noted, but so far the representatives of the Albanian minority had not taken it up, while those of other national minorities -- including the Turkish minority, Muslims, Serbs converted to Islam during Ottoman rule and gypsies -- had attended meetings with the state authorities. Those minorities collectively amounted to about half a million people.

"This is also pertinent to bear in mind in order to confront the claim of the Albanian separatists that they are 90 per cent of Albanians living in that region", Mr. Jovanovic said. "They are still the most sizable national minority group there, but certainly their total number is much less than that. After all, they have consistently refused to take part in the official censuses because they prefer to play with figures, to inflate them according to their propaganda needs and they have consistently refused to take part in a number of democratic elections for both the parliaments of Serbia and Yugoslavia."

He said that yesterday, the Serbian President, Milan Milutinovic, had issued a declaration inviting the Albanian representatives to join the dialogue with the authorities in order to solve all problems affecting the inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohija. The President had also emphasized the readiness of the Serbian Government to allow the province's people to form a local government. He had also emphasized the need for all its inhabitants to enjoy equal rights as citizens in conformity with the constitution and without challenging the territorial integrity of Serbia and the Federal Republic. The

Kosovo Press Conference - 3 - 19 March 1998

President had also said that his Government viewed favourably the presence of the Red Cross in Kosovo and Metohija in order to perform its humanitarian duties.

The President, he said, had also "opened the door" to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in the context of the government's expectation that the Federal Republic's status within that organization would be normalized as part of the process of mutual opening and cooperation.

Asked whether his government saw any danger of conflict spreading beyond the borders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mr. Jovanovic said such fears had been artificially created in order to focus unprecedented international attention on Kosovo and the Federal Republic. There was no immediate or potential threat to peace and security in the region because the situation in Kosovo was under full control.

"We have terrorist groups which have been active, now much less, after the elimination of their main base and we have a separatist movement or separatist policy which is by itself a direct threat to the territorial integrity of the country. But our Albanian countrymen are free to begin exercising their rights, both civil and minority, whenever they wish", he said.

Albanians in Yugoslavia, he added, had been guaranteed their rights by the Constitution, while Albanians in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, who were more numerous compared to the population of that State, were offered fewer rights than those in the Federal Republic. For example, they had been granted the right to use their mother tongue as the language of instruction from kindergarten to university level. "The situation is normal in all Albanian elementary and almost all secondary schools. The only problem is education at the university level." That problem had not been created by the authorities but by the separatist leadership, because they did not want either the curriculum or school diplomas to be issued by Serbia or Yugoslavia but rather by the "phantom state" of Kosovo.

On the other hand, Mr. Jovanovic said, the threat to peace and security could come from Albania, which "does not control its own territory. The frontiers of Albania with us are not covered by frontier guards".

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