PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

At a Headquarters press conference this morning, Vladislav Jovanovic, Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the United Nations, told correspondents that the United States Government had denied a visa to the Speaker of his National Parliament and his deputies for participation in the Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments. The Conference, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), is currently under way at Headquarters.

Such an action by the United States Government was a “dangerous precedent” and a “flagrant violation” of the Headquarters Agreement, signed by the United States and the United Nations, he continued. The United States was, in effect, determining who could and could not participate in the Conference. It was also a violation of the statute of the IPU, which was very clear in stating that Member States should be invited to the meetings of the IPU and be issued the necessary entry visas by the host country.

By its disregard of those agreements, in order to promote its own political interest, the United States had put the international community in a very sensitive situation, he said. Worse, it had happened on the eve of the Millenium Summit, where the international community expected to promote high ideals leading to a better, peaceful world. It was a sign that at the eve of the twenty-first century, the policies and practices of the nineteenth century were still being exercised, and the United States was primarily responsible for that.

It was not the first time the United States had shown a disregard for international law, he said. Last year’s aggression by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had been a good example of such disregard. By denying a visa to Yugoslavia and Cuba, the United States confirmed its intention to act against international law and ignore the obligations it had under various international agreements. The United States had dealt a very serious blow to the authority of both the United Nations and the IPU.

His Government had sent an official letter to the IPU, requesting that the address of its representative be circulated in written form, as an official document of the meeting, he said. In that address, he empasized the importance at having all members of the Conference condemn the unlawful act by the United States taken to prevent the participation of Yugoslavia and Cuba. It was not up to the United States or any other country to determine which country could attend. The letter also emphasized that the international community needed to develop a new model of globalism, to oppose the globalism promoted by just a few rich countries. Also, the international community needed to oppose any attempt to legalize the idea of “interventionism” and “limited sovereignty”. Such ideas were in direct opposition to the United Nations Charter.

He hoped Conference participants would strongly condemn the denial of participation and empahsize the importance of developing international relations in accordance with the Charter.

Yugoslav Press Conference - 2 - 31 August 2000

He said that the Secretariat, the Committee on Relations with the Host Country and the Steering Committee of the IPU had been alerted. Both Committees had taken steps and requested the United States Mission and the State Department to resolve the problem. The IPU had even set a deadline, after which it announced its intention to publish a statement. The United States had not met the deadline. Thus, the President of the IPU had read the statement at the end of her address yesterday.

In response to a question, he said the United States had not given any particular reason for denying the visa, except to say that they did not feel they were bound by the Agreement, because, strictly speaking, it was not a United Nations conference. That was not very convincing, since it was co-organized by the United Nations and the Secretary-General gave the main address. That was also the view of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country and the IPU

Asked if any further action had been taken in response to the statement of the Host Country Committee, he said latest information was that the visa was still being denied in Budapest.

Was there any mechanism for enforcing such findings from the Host Country Committee, such as sanctions? a correspondent asked. One could not enforce sanctions against the mightiest country in the world, he said. One could blame it and propose resolutions that would remind it of its obligations.

Asked if any countries were taking the initiative to introduce a resolution to deplore the act, he said he expected such a step would be taken. Cuba, certainly, might sponsor such a resolution. Many countries were very embarrassed by the incident. If such tactics spread, the participation of many smaller countries in such forums would depend on the goodwill of one big country.

* *** *