RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 4, No. 220, Part II, 13 November 2000
KOSTUNICA AGAIN RULES OUT PURGE OF MILITARY, POLICE...
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said on 12 November
that a large-scale purge of the military and police in Serbia
would destroy those institutions, Reuters reported. Kostunica
said in an interview with the daily "Politika" that "I am
sure that it is not the will of the people at this moment to
destroy institutions such as the army and the police." He
added that "nor is it the will of the people to replace
everybody in various institutions just because they were
members of [former President Slobodan Milosevic's] Socialist
Party of Serbia." Officials in Kostunica's Democratic
Opposition of Serbia (DOS) are upset with the president's
stance. DOS officials want Kostunica to remove army chief of
staff General Nebojsa Pavkovic and Serbian state security
head Rade Markovic and have refused to work with the
transitional Serbian government until those two officials
have been sacked or resign. Zarko Korac, a DOS leader, said
"these people will destroy these institutions. People are
watching this and wondering what the DOS is doing now." PB
...SAYS TOP PRIORITY IS RETURN OF SERBS TO KOSOVA. Yugoslav
President Kostunica said in an interview with the German
magazine "Der Spiegel" that the return of Serbs to the
province of Kosova is his top goal, AP reported. Kostunica
said that first "security must be established in Kosovo....
Then the displaced Serbs should return, that is our main
goal." He said he welcomed last month's election win by the
party of moderate Kosovar Albanian Ibrahim Rugova but ruled
out independence for the province because it would
"destabilize" neighboring countries with large ethnic-
Albanian populations. Kostunica said a political solution
whereby Serbs and ethnic Albanians have substantial autonomy
"must be found." But he added that he will respect the result
of referendums, both in Montenegro or Kosova, saying "we will
respect the people's decision." Kostunica said Russia's
presence in Kosova is very important "as a counterweight to
America, which has installed itself too deeply in this
region." PB
Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
http://www.rferl.org
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