Yugoslav Ambassador to Germany
"We want political accord but won't surrender to NATO"
Following are excerpts from an interview with the
Yugoslav Ambassador to Germany, Zoran Jeremic, held in Bonn by
Rüdiger Göbel and published in the March 20-21 issue
of the Berlin daily newspaper, Junge Welt, and translated by
Workers World.
On Thursday evening [March 18] the Kosovo-Albanian
delegation signed in Paris the Balkans Contact Group Plan. Why
has the Serbian delegation declined to sign it, when even
Russia has pressed to have this done?
First what was being discussed was no accord but a diktat
that the U.S. had worked out with the Albanian side. It did not
correspond to the 10 principles of the Contact Group and it
violated the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty
of Serbia and Yugoslavia.
In addition it did not recognize equal rights for all the
ethnic groups that live in Kosovo, but favored solely the
Albanian part of the population. It tried to turn a
multicultural, multiethnic and multi-religious society into a
nationalist one under the domination of the Albanian
community.
Some 250,000 Serbs, 150,000 Moslems, 150,000 Roma, plus
Turks, Egyptians and others also live in Kosovo. They all don't
consider themselves Albanian.
What alternatives do you propose to the Contact
Group?
We have already proposed one that we gave to the mediator
team in Paris. Of course we received no answer. We also had no
answer to our proposal to negotiate directly with the
Albanians. ...
Does that mean there were no direct talks in Rambouillet
and Paris?
In Paris not one. The Albanian delegation refused and the
U.S. representatives backed them up. In Rambouillet there were
also no direct negotiations except for the 20-minute TV show
when Madam Albright came. There were no negotiations, no talks
and no meeting. ...In principle we had to negotiate with the
U.S. representatives, not with the Albanian.
In reality there is also no "Contact Group Plan." They
quickly added parts 2, 5 and 7, that is, the police and
military components. These were never discussed. They arose not
from a decision of the Contact Group, but of the U.S., which at
the last moment outmaneuvered all the others in
Rambouillet.
For that reason one cannot say the Albanian delegation
signed the "Contact Group Plan." It was the U.S. plan. The
Russian negotiator Boris Majorski also refused to sign the plan
last Thursday. Of course no one speaks of that. ...
With the threat of a NATO attack against Yugoslavia in
the background are there still any realistic chances that an
understanding can result, a compromise be reached, which both
sides, representatives of the Kosovo Albanians and the Yugoslav
and Serbian leadership can live with?
First we have to look at who the Albanian delegation
represents and who leads it. They are terrorists, who are
attempting to achieve their political goals through violence.
They have succeeded in ousting those who are against
violence.
If we consider this together with the threats from NATO it
becomes clear that these threats only support and embolden the
terrorists to go further. In today's world it seems that
political goals can be furthered by force--of course only when
they coincide with the interests of the USA. ...
Is there anything to the U.S. State Department statement
that Yugoslavia is preparing for a war against NATO and has put
roughly 16,000 to 21,000 troops near Kosovo and stationed
14,000 to 18,000 troops in the province itself?
That is a mockery. No one mentions that the U.S. and NATO
have stationed their war machinery--tanks, airplanes and tens
of thousands of troops--in our neighboring countries with the
clear goal of attacking Yugoslavia. This attack will come. In
this situation to say that we are preparing for war, when what
we are doing is taking precautionary measures, is nothing other
than cynicism.
I would like to stress here: We are ready. Yugoslavia is
preparing for its self-defense. No matter who attacks us, it is
an aggression. We will combat this aggression with all that we
have.
What does that mean concretely? Can Yugoslavia stand up
to the NATO military alliance?
We have means of defense and we will use them. There is no
sense in speculating further about it. We defend our land and
our freedom. We defend Kosovo. It is not important who attacks
us. It is only important that we will defend our territory.
[With war threatening] does your country still have a
choice, or are the days before the beginning of war
numbered?
That doesn't depend on us but on NATO's plans. We have a
clear and simple answer: We want a political agreement. If this
is good and honorable, no NATO troops are needed. For the
simple reason: if the Albanians sign to what they will
guarantee then no one needs NATO to enforce them.
Of course also in play are NATO's plans to give itself a
50th birthday gift: the right to worldwide military
intervention. We will not sacrifice Kosovo for this gift.
Has Russia promised aid to Yugoslavia in case of a NATO
attack on Yugoslavia?
We'll find that out if an attack takes place.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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