PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

At a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, Vladislav Jovanovic, Charge d'Affairs of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the United Nations, appealed to the international community to call on Albania to stop aiding and abetting "terrorism" in the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija.

Citing recent developments in Kosovo and Metohija, Mr. Jovanovic accused Albania of undermining Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. He said that Albania had tolerated and supported terrorism by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, and that ethnic Albanian terrorists were being trained and armed in Albania. Huge quantities of arms were being transported from Albania with the knowledge, if not with direct support, of the Albanian officials.

He said Albania had officially recognized the "phantom state of the republic of Kosovo" as far back as November 1991 and had concluded bilateral agreements with that phantom state. On 16 January this year, the Albanian Minister of Culture and Education signed a "state-to-state agreement "with the so-called Minister of Culture and Education of the Kosovo government "in exile". Leading Albanians continued to campaign for the secession of Kosovo from Serbia. The leadership of the Albanian separatists had visited Albania to adopt a common platform for its dealings with Yugoslav authority. Albania was interfering in Serbia's internal affairs.

Saying that Yugoslavia was seriously concerned about the violation of its territorial integrity, Mr. Jovanovic called on Albania to fully respect the principles which guide relationships among Member States of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Both organizations should hold Albania accountable for the violation of those basic principles with regard to Yugoslavia.

He called on the international community to compel Albanian separatists and Albania to act with reason and restraint. It must put pressure on the leadership of Albanians in Kosovo to begin unconditional dialogue with Yugoslavia. Foreign mediation was not needed. Yugoslavia had a dozen times invited the representatives of the Albanian national minority for dialogue. The President of Serbia and members of his Government had been in Pristina many times. Unfortunately members of the Albanian minority continued to boycott dialogue under various pretexts.

He said that Serbian forces in Kosovo and Metohija had acted responsibly despite various provocations and that the police had allowed demonstrations to be held by ethnic Albanians in Pristina. However, separatist Albanians continued to insist on the independence of Kosovo. Its leadership refused to

condemn terrorism. Those terrorists continued to target loyal Albanians who did not believe in their cause. Some 5,000 Albanian Catholics had been forced to leave Kosovo to take refuge in other parts of Serbia and Montenegro. That showed that religion as well as ethnicity was fuelling the conflict.

Continuing, he said Albania often tried to raise tension in Kosovo on the eve of major international events, such as the Contact Group session or the European Parliament, to justify its claim for the internationalization of the issue. The final objective of such a policy was to provoke a situation which could make the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other international organizations request the presence of foreign troops in Yugoslavia.

He said that certain actions by the international community had unfortunately sent the wrong signals to ethnic to Albanians and to Albania. One of those actions was the one-sided, selective and pro-Albanian-separatism Security Council resolution. Terrorism, which was often condemned in other parts of the world, was being supported under various euphemisms.

He accused the international media of refusing to call terrorists in Kosovo by their real name, preferring "armed group", "guerrilla group" or "resistance movement" fighting against alleged Serbian repression. That kind of double-standard was dangerous and played into the hands of terrorists in Kosovo and their supporters in Albania.

Mr. Jovanovic said the international community had continued to use sanctions as a form of pressure on Yugoslavia. Serbia, which had exercised the most restraint, continued to be criticized and menaced with sanctions, while those aggravating the situation in Kosovo were being described as innocent. Such a policy was aimed at destabilizing Serbia under the pretext of addressing the situation in Kosovo. Some big Powers which had broader objectives in the region should not use Kosovo as an excuse.

He said terrorists continued to attack the police in Kosovo and to kill loyal Albanians. They were trying to involve the Yugoslav army in the conflict, in order to justify international military intervention.

Despite all that, Yugoslavia believed in a peaceful solution to the conflict, he said. That was why it proposed dialogue with sincerity. The President of Serbia had already announced new local government for Albanians and other populations living in Kosovo. He was ready to discuss other proposals within the existing constitutional order. The secession of Kosovo from Serbia was out of the question. No State in Europe today would like to lose part of its territory in order to please some great Powers. The Albanian minority could not be treated any different from other minorities in Europe.

Yugoslavia Press Conference - 3 - 24 April 1998

He said Yugoslavia was ready to go even beyond European standards to assure Albanians in Kosovo full cultural autonomy and local self-rule. National minorities were not entitled to territories. Albanians had Albania. It could not expect to have another State created, at least not at the expense of existing States such as Serbia and Yugoslavia. The international community must realize that using Albanian separatists against Serbia and Yugoslavia was dangerous, counter-productive and could only complicate the situation further. It would not help the cause of peace and stability in the region.

Mr. Jovanovic said that Serbia expected the Contact Group and other international groups to realize fully the complexity of the situation. They should not play into the hands of terrorists, because that would not help their publicly declared objective of ensuring peace and stability in the region.

He said that serious border incidents had occurred on 23 April, when 200 ethnic Albanian terrorists crossed from Albania into Kosovo and Metohija with huge quantities of arms. Yugoslav border forces tried to push them back, leading to the death of some terrorists. The arms seized from those terrorists were foreign made. A similar border incursion had also occurred on 20 April.

He said that such incursions would be considered an Albanian aggression against Yugoslavia if they continued. A protest had been lodged with the Charge d'Affairs of Albania in Belgrade, charging Albania with training, arming and aiding the infiltration of terrorists and arms into Yugoslavia. Albania had also been charged with creating a climate of tension in Kosovo and Metohija. Yugoslavia expected the Secretary-General to report that to the Security Council.

Mr. Jovanovic said the special police which were involved in anti- terrorist actions had been withdrawn and relocated to their original base. Humanitarian organizations, foreign diplomats and others wishing to visit the province had full access to it. A referendum had been organized in Serbia to find out if Serbian society supported foreign mediation. Although the complete results were not yet known, preliminary results indicated that the overwhelming majority backed the Government's determination to preserve the sovereignty and independence of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

Asked what he expected from the Security Council, he said the Council should take note of Albania's actions against Yugoslavia. It should act in accordance with its responsibility, which was the maintenance of peace and security -- now being threatened by Albania. Serbia was not the threat to regional peace and security.

Yugoslavia Press Conference - 4 - 24 April 1998

A correspondent asked why there was no movement towards developing a greater Balkan region for all the various entities there. Mr. Jovanovic said that Yugoslavia had always aspired to greater regional integration. It was up to other members in the region to join. Ethnic and border conflicts could be resolved much more easily through a Balkan regional mechanism.

Another correspondent asked if the situation in Kosovo could ever be resolved without international mediation, since ethnic Albanians were unwilling to dialogue with Serbia. Mr. Jovanovic said that Yugoslavia viewed all attempts to take Kosovo and Metohija out of Serbia as interference in its internal affairs. Kosovo and Metohija would remain in Serbia.

Asked whether the international community preferred an ethnically pure State to a multi-ethnic State, Mr. Jovanovic said that question should be addressed to those who singled out ethnic Albanians for special treatment. Yugoslavia was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious State. More than 100,000 Albanians lived in peace in Belgrade, enjoying all rights.

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