DATE=9/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S/EUROPE/YUGOSLAVIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-266419
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
INTRO: Foreign Ministers from the United States and
countries in Southeastern Europe are preparing for the
possibility that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
may try to disrupt his country's elections later this
month, perhaps by even attacking the independence-
minded republic of Montenegro. Correspondent Nick
Simeone reports from New York a senior U-S official
says Yugoslavia's neighbors have agreed they need to
be prepared for the worst.
TEXT: Yugoslavia is preparing to hold presidential,
parliamentary and local elections September 24th, a
vote that the foreign ministers from 12 Southeastern
European nations and the United States all agreed
Tuesday President Milosevic and his supporters will
try to steal.
A senior U-S official who asked to remain anonymous
tells reporters independent media reports from Serbia
show the Yugoslav leader is already preparing pre-
checked ballots, redrawing voting districts to his
favor, while suppressing independent media and
intimidating opposition activists.
We need to be prepared for anything, this official
says, including the possibility that President
Milosevic could stage an election-eve attack on
Montenegro where the ruling party is boycotting the
vote.
The European foreign ministers who took part in
Tuesday's meeting with U-S Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright (in New York)are not discussing it
on the record. But by the American account, all
agreed the day after the elections is going to be as
important as the vote itself. President Milosevic has
repeatedly been able to brand his opponents as being
in the pocket of NATO and the West.
After enduring last year's war with NATO over Kosovo
and the hardship of international sanctions, no one
knows how prepared the Yugoslav people may be to stand
up to an election if the Yugoslav leader wins it
through fraud. (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/PT
12-Sep-2000 18:52 PM EDT (12-Sep-2000 2252 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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