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DATE=9/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S-MONTENEGRO (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-266249
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  The Clinton administration is implicitly 
warning Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic not to 
contemplate action against Montenegro  -- or its 
President Milo Djukanovic -- out of a mistaken notion 
that U-S authorities are distracted by the American 
presidential election. VOA's David Gollust reports 
from New York.
TEXT:  The unusual public expression of concern about 
Montenegro and its leader followed a meeting on the 
sidelines of the U-N Millennium Summit Thursday 
between Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Mr. 
Djukanovic - whose independent stance in the Yugoslav 
republic has long irritated authorities in Belgrade.
At a news conference here, Ms. Albright brushed aside 
a suggestion by a questioner that Mr. Djukanovic had 
expressed concern to her about a possible 
assassination attempt against him during the American 
election season and asked for U-S security guarantees. 
Ms. Albright said such a conversation never took 
place. But at the same time, she said the Montenegron 
leader is taking a lot of risks in advancing democracy 
in the republic and there is obviously "concern 
generally" about his security. She also said the 
Milosevic government should not be misled into 
thinking that the U-S administration is somehow 
distracted by the election campaign:
             /// ALBRIGHT ACTUALITY ///
      Milosevic and other people should not get it 
      into their heads that the United States is out 
      of business during the election period. We are 
      very much at work, harder than ever, paying 
      attention everywhere. And nobody should 
      miscalculate to think for some reason, because 
      some people are involved in the election process 
      -- most of us are not.
            /// END ACT ///
Ms Albright said the United States will have joint 
military exercises in the Adriatic area with Croatia 
under NATO's Partnership for Peace Program -- though 
she said the maneuvers had been planned for some time 
and declined to directly link them with the situation 
in Montenegro.
Tensions between Montenegro and Belgrade have 
increased in recent weeks in light of, among other 
things, Mr. Djukanovic's boycott of Yugoslav elections 
later this month. Mr. Djukanovic contends the 
elections for the federal presidency and parliament, 
and municipal governments, will be rigged by Belgrade 
and will only give legitimacy to and prolong Mr. 
Milosevic's rule.
The United States has been urging opposition forces in 
Yugoslavia to work together and contest the elections, 
and Ms. Albright said she told Mr. Djukanovic the 
Serbian democratic opposition, as she put it "deserves 
strong backing." (Signed)
NEB/DAG/TVM/PLM
07-Sep-2000 21:05 PM EDT (08-Sep-2000 0105 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.