Subject: Kostunica to seek Russian support over Kosovo in Moscow talks
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 10:30:13 PDT
From: C-afp@... (AFP / Francoise Michel)
Organization: Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
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MOSCOW, Oct 23 (AFP) - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica
will travel this week to Moscow, his country's traditional ally, in
what is seen here as a bid to obtain Russia's support against the
West over Kosovo.
"We have a programme to develop ties with Yugoslavia in a number
of different areas," Russian President Vladimir Putin said as he
announced the talks, which will probably take place Friday according
to the Moscow media.
The visit is symbolic of the privileged ties between Russia and
Yugoslavia. Kostunica has only left Belgrade twice since he was
sworn in as president on October 7.
He went to Biarritz, southwestern France in mid-October to meet
leaders of the European Union and on Sunday travelled to the
Serb-run part of Bosnia and the troubled Balkan state's capital,
Sarajevo.
Russia initially held back from recognising Kostunica's victory
against ousted Belgrade strongman Slobodan Milosevic in the
September 24 presidential elections, despite strong pressure from
the West.
Kostunica criticised the Russians for being "too cautious" in
the conflict between the Serb opposition and Milosevic, who was
toppled in a popular uprising.
An offer by Putin to host talks in Moscow between Kostunica and
Milosevic to try and defuse the crisis was snubbed by both parties.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was nonetheless the first
high-ranking foreign envoy to visit Belgrade on October 6 to meet
Kostunica and Milosevic.
Within hours of the meeting Milosevic appeared on national
television to announce he was giving up power and recognised his
rival's victory.
Russian experts Monday were unanimous about the main objective
of Kostunica's visit: to ensure Moscow's backing against the West
over the issue of the UN-administered province of Kosovo, where
Belgrade wants to re-establish its sovereignty.
Kostunica has notably said he wants to redeploy Serb police in
the majority ethnic Albanian province by the end of this year.
"Kostunica is going to use Russia to settle the problem of
Kosovo," said Timofei Bordachev of the Carnegie Endowment think-tank
in Moscow.
Russia, which for several months froze its relations with NATO
after the Alliance's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia in spring 1999,
has repeatedly denounced for West for violating Yugoslav
sovereignty.
Kostunica's visit is of particular significance as it comes just
ahead of municipal elections on October 28 organised by the United
Nations in Kosovo.
Ivanov on Friday reiterated Moscow's opposition to the ballot,
saying the "necessary conditions" for the holding of democratic
elections in Kosovo "do not exist."
Kostunica, a moderate Serbian nationalist, criticised the
holding of the vote as "inopportune and wrong," in an interview
Thursday with Spanish daily El Mundo.
Moscow and Belgrade also share hostility towards the
international warcrimes tribunal, the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, which they
accuse of lacking objectivity.
Kostunica has said handing over Milosevic to the international
tribunal, which would inflame nationalist sentiment at home, was not
a priority for his fledgling administration.
Apart from diplomatic issues, the two leaders may also discuss
economic ties. Russian natural gas giant Gazprom suspended gas
deliveries to Yugoslavia on June 1 because of unpaid bills owed by
Belgrade amounting to more than 300 millions dollars.
And the talks could touch on the fate of Milosevic's son, Marko,
who was reported by Yugoslav media to have taken refuge in Russia,
something never confirmed by the authorities here.
Slobodan Milosevic's brother, Borislav Milosevic, is currently
Yugoslav ambassador to Russia.