PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT MISSION OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT MISSION OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

The "massive armed attack" by the Kosovo Force (KFOR) against the Trepca mines in the northern part of Kosovo was unprecedented, the interim Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the United Nations told correspondents this morning at a Headquarters press conference.

Vladislav Jovanovic said that the early morning "massive military action" reminded him of a "Hollywood Western-style" bank robbery. Because the Trepca mining operation belonged to the Yugoslav State and other foreign owners, the takeover of the Trepca complex had been a "typical case of armed robbery".

The sacred principle of the respect of property -- private or otherwise -- was the cornerstone of legality in any democratic State, Mr. Jovanovic continued. "The least which we expected from KFOR and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was to disrespect that principle and to act against the peaceful population and the peaceful management of that plant".

The Trepca plant, Mr. Jovanovic said, was a conglomeration of some 40 mines and factories used in the processing of smelt lead, zinc and other raw materials. He said that the reason given by the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Bernard Kouchner, for the military action was a high level of air pollution. The Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia rejected that reason, as daily air measurements corresponded to Yugoslav Government regulations.

Even if high air pollution had been the problem, it was not a sufficient justification for the "crude use of military force", Mr. Jovanovic continued. There were other cases of environmental pollution in the province that required more urgent attention and deployment of KFOR and UNMIK forces to protect the lives of citizens in the province. For example, some 30,000 bombs with depleted uranium had been dropped over Kosovo during the “NATO aggression". "Dr. Kouchner and the United Nations Secretariat never received from NATO a detailed explanation of those bombs -- their location and degree of danger for the population and others", he said.

Mr. Jovanovic went on to say that as a result of the "massive terrorist actions by Albanian extremists and terrorists", over 1,000 Serbs and other non- Albanian members of the population had been killed, the same number had been abducted and seriously wounded. In those instances, there had been no deployment of military strength to prevent such violence.

"It was more than evident that the action against the Serbian-owned Trepca smelter plant was aimed at intimidation and expulsion of the remaining Serbian population in Kosovo, and the extension of the control of that part of Kosovo by Albanian extremists", Mr. Jovanovic said. He said that further "Albanization" of Trepca complexes had been publicly announced as a goal by Hashim Thaci and other leaders of Albanian terrorists and separatists.

Some 6,000 Serbs were now jobless as a result of the military action, Mr. Jovanovic said. The solution for those unemployed, as Mr. Kouchner had "practically suggested", was to permanently leave Kosovo. "This is the strategic

Jovanovic Press Conference - 2 - 22 August 2000

goal that Dr. Kouchner and those behind him want to achieve", he said. He believed that it was not an exaggeration to say that Dr. Kouchner and the international presence in Kosovo was the right hand of Albanian separatists and terrorists, assisting them in achieving their final goal of secession of that province from Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia over time.

For that reason, his country had requested an urgent meeting of the Security Council as well as energetic measures to prevent further action of this kind by KFOR and UNMIK and to re-establish the smelter plant, Mr. Jovanovic said. Instead of protecting lives and property in the province, UNMIK was interested only in assisting the policy of Albanian extremists and separatists to further expel Serbs and other non-Albanians from Kosovo.

His country viewed the situation in Kosovo as alarming enough to call for the withdrawal of UNMIK and KFOR, Mr. Jovanovic said. "By failing to fulfil its mandate and to implement Security Council resolution 1244, they have made themselves useless and totally unnecessary in Kosovo and Mitrovica", he said. His Government expected the Security Council to start thinking and acting in that direction.

In that regard, Mr. Jovanovic had sent a letter to the President of the Security Council, which he expected would be issued shortly as an official document.

Asked to explain the status of a trial of detained foreigners who had been accused of spying, Mr. Jovanovic said that two groups of foreigners had tried to enter his country illegally. He said that they had either been in possession of prohibited material or had testified that their intention was to kill or abduct the Yugoslav President as well as others. For that reason, they were under arrest and an investigation was under way. In the case of Dutch detainees, a Belgrade court was following the investigation. In the case of two British and two Canadians, a military court was responsible for the investigation.

The final outcome would depend on the result of the investigations, Mr. Jovanovic said. The military prosecutor had already stated his intention to indict four people for committing criminal offenses according to the Yugoslav criminal code, including violation of the integrity of a sovereign State. The detainees were being well treated and had chosen their own attorneys to defend them.

Did Mr. Jovanovic intend to speak to the Security Council and ask KFOR and UNMIK to leave? a correspondent asked. Mr. Jovanovic said that he was always ready to address the Security Council. Whenever an issue concerning his country was on the agenda, he would accept a request to provide to Council members necessary information and explain Yugoslavia's position. First, however, Yugoslavia expected the Security Council to convene an urgent meeting following its request. He still did not know whether the Security Council would proceed with that request.

What did Mr. Jovanovic expect from the Security Council discussion scheduled for Thursday on Kosovo? Was there any hope that the blockade imposed by some countries, especially the United States, could be overcome? another correspondent asked.

Mr. Jovanovic said that as a result of the overwhelming presence and influence of the United States in the world and the Security Council itself, the Council preferred to "sink its head in the sand" and pretend not to see the real picture in Kosovo. The real picture was catastrophic for a peacekeeping mission because under the watch of the United Nations, some 1,000 innocent and defenceless people had been murdered and 1,000 had been abducted. Eighty-six Christian churches had been destroyed and over 50,000 private homes had been burned. Dr. Kouchner had tried to explain it as Albanians seeking revenge for what had happened to them during the war. That was neither a real explanation nor an excuse for international presence to allow acts of revenge.

It was high time, he said, for the international community to admit that Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) had not been implemented -- it had even been betrayed. The real control of Dr. Kouchner, UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo did not belong to the United Nations and Security Council but to one outside Power -- the United States.

The United Nations and the Security Council should be more concerned about their own authority and act as soon as possible, he said. Without action, the situation would further deteriorate. Instead of achieving the declared goals of strengthening peace and stability and multi-ethnic coexistence in Kosovo, an even more destabilized situation would prevail in the province and the invitation to foreign countries wishing to "fish in trouble waters" would continue.

Asked to comment on upcoming elections in his country, Mr. Jovanovic said that the elections would be regular and fair. Even the opposition leaders did not object to electoral law and other agreements reached in common with the parties in the Government. While it would difficult to predict the outcome of the elections, for the time being the position of the parties in the coalition was stronger than that of the parties in the opposition.

One month remained, however, before the elections, he said. Foreign observers had been invited and would participate. This would not included countries from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the major countries that had been aggressors against his country. Representatives of the opposition parties would be present in the bodies charged with supervision of the preparation for the elections and the process itself.

"The fact is that a great number of the leaders of opposition compromised their own chances by intensifying their own contacts and cooperation with the United States and leading NATO countries", Mr. Jovanovic continued. That kind of political activity did not improve their chances in the Federal Republic. The current estimate was that parties in the coalition were in a better position to win the elections.

Regarding the participation of foreign observers, a correspondent asked whether the United Nations had been invited. Mr. Jovanovic said that the United Nations had been informed and many countries had been invited to participate, except for countries of the OSCE. Major NATO countries had also been excluded.

How did Mr. Jovanovic view the upcoming local elections in Kosovo and the later general elections? He said that local elections in Kosovo were a farce and an attempt to hide the total failure of UNMIK to fulfil its mandate. It was also a transparent attempt to legalize the process of "Albanization" of Kosovo and the achievement of Albanian extremists and separatists through their policy of ethnic cleansing of Serbs and other non-Albanians.

"The real masters in Kosovo are Albanian extremists and separatists, not Dr. Kouchner. He is only an assistant in that process", he said. They had been behind the scenes pushing Dr. Kouchner to militarily occupy the Trepca smelter plant. It was a long-term plan of Albanian separatists and extremists to establish full control over all parts of Kosovo.

He said that the elections would be counterproductive and could only contribute to the further deepening of the problems of Kosovo and Mitrovica. His Government was not opposed to the elections. On the contrary, it believed that local and general elections were an indispensable part of the political solution. Before proceeding, however, elementary conditions must be created, including a respect for law and order and absence of terror and intimidation. Such conditions were nonexistent.

It was also necessary to know something about the final political settlement, he said. That should be the result of direct dialogue between official representatives of Serbia and Yugoslavia and official representatives of all people living in Kosovo, not only of Albanians. There had been no move, however, on the part of those endorsing the policy of separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia and Serbia and the creation of conditions for its independence or annexation by neighbouring Albania.

Asked whether he considered himself "blacklisted" from the Security Council, Mr. Jovanovic said he did not know why he should consider himself blacklisted. He had sent letters to the Security Council because the situation on the ground in Kosovo and Mitrovica required him to do so. There had been a steady deterioration of that situation. He had done what was necessary to apprise the Security Council. It was up to the Council to act.

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