Effects of sanctions in numbers



-Total measurable loses of the Yugoslav economy in the period of sanctions
between 1991 and 1997 were $97.451 billion.

-Rough estimates put immeasurable loses at $15 billion.

-Estimated delayed effects of the sanctions will result in the loss of GNP in the
period between 1998 and 2005 of $32.558 billion.

-Because of the sanctions, Yugoslav GNP will again reach the level of 1990 in
2005

---

http://www.gov.yu/sanctions/numbers.html

---

This without counting the damage from the bombing and the economic
consequences of it or the second wave of sanctions imposed in 1998.

---

Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-eastern
Europe Bodo Hombah said, today in Paris, that the shift of power in Belgrade caused great
interests of businessmen for Balkan region. "I have had more telephone calls of big companies,
banks and unions, in last three weeks than in first 14 months", Hombah said after talks in Paris in
the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development headquarters.

http://www2.inet.co.yu/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_963000/963491.stm

Yugo army says Kosovo border situation worsening


BELGRADE, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Yugoslav army said on Wednesday
the security situation in a tense region of Serbia bordering Kosovo was
worsening and the number of ethnic Albanian guerrillas there had tripled.

Army spokesman Colonel Svetozar Radisic said mortar attacks had
intensified and Serb police had suffered casualties.

"The number of terrorists has tripled in the last month... and that is linked
to the policies of Albanian parties after the municipal elections in the
province," Radisic told a news conference, without elaborating.

Western diplomatic sources said there had been an increase in attacks in
recent weeks, with mines being laid in local roads, but doubted that
Albanian guerrilla numbers had tripled, putting their strength at "a few
score."

A NATO source said the Kosovo peacekeeping force was as active as
ever in seeking to prevent material support reaching the guerrillas -- who
did not appear to have much backing among the local Albanian
population.

Radisic was referring to last month's local polls in Kosovo, a de facto
international protectorate after the NATO bombing campaign from March
to June 1999.

Kosovo's first free democratic elections on October 28 were won by the
Democratic League of Kosovo of moderate ethnic Albanian leader
Ibrahim Rugova, defeating the more radical party of former guerrilla
commander Hashim Thaci.

It was not immediately clear which parties Radisic was referring to at his
news conference, nor how this had influenced the situation in the
boundary area.

POLICE TARGETTED BY MINES

An ethnic Albanian group calling itself the Liberation Army for Presevo,
Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB), named after three municipalities in
the region, is believed to have been involved in several clashes with Serb
police over the last year.

The area is predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians, who have
complained about police harassment and intimidation.

Last week, a policeman was killed when his car hit an anti-tank mine and
two others died in an incident on the same

road on October 13.

The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo has tried to cut
supply lines of the UCPMB, which is based in the village of Dobrosin.

Radisic said relations between the Yugoslav Third Army and KFOR and
U.N. police in a five km (three mile) security zone along the administrative
border were correct.

"We meet regularly once a week and the cooperation is correct, in a spirit
of the military-technical agreement," he said.

KFOR and the U.N.-led civilian administration took control of Kosovo
under the 1999 agreement following NATO's bombing campaign to halt
Yugoslavia's repression of ethnic Albanian majority in the province.

14:09 11-15-00

Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited.




http://www.serbianna.com/news/index.html


Copyright serbianna.com 2000

Is it too early to lift sanctions
against Yugoslavia?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/newsid_963000/963349.stm


...

Of course the Western officials are not going to lift
sanctions. The real goal of the West was to subdue
this proud Nation, to make it a part of NATO and
Modern Europe. Before these goals are achieved the
sanctions will remain.
Andrey, USSR/Russia

NATO has practicaly taken over what was left of
Yugoslavia: its media. And is has put its people in key
positions. Now it is only a short time before the the
'freed' Serbs will start beg for the blessings of the IMF
and World Bank. Then they join the happy queue of
Romania and Bulgaria.
Attila, France

Sanctions never should
have been imposed in the
first place. Their imposition
was actually reconsidered
in 1992 in light of
documents which proved
that it was not the
Yugoslavs but rather the
Croats that had refused to pull out their troops from
inside Bosnia. The two major opposition rallies and
demonstrations against Milosevic - in 1991 and in
1996-7 came respectively prior to and after the
sanctions (most of them in 1996) were lifted. During
the NATO bombing and during the sanctions,
Milosevic's popularity was higher than ever. Sanctions
have provided for nothing more than profiteering
(among the ruling clique in Yugoslavia and among
neighbouring countries). Maybe some day the majority
of the journalists will realize that they are cheering the
wrong achiever. It was not the sanctions but
Kostunica's popularity which beat Milosevic.
Igor, Canada

...

well, um, well

what i said re: one not being supposed to notice that the 'states were doing as they pleased, in so many words....um no, it wasnt to be accepted straight faced...i wouldnt have said such a thing to begin with,
and certainly not to you. you above all.

[hundreds and hundreds of miles from my machine]

Author: The Centre For Peace In The Balkans (Ca)

Publisher/Date: February 11, 2000

Title: Press Release: Putting one over on the public -- Thursday's witnesses before the Standing
Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) hearings in Ottawa shamelessly distort
truth about Canada's activities in Kosovo and Metohija, pre and post bombardment


TORONTO -- Yesterday's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) hearings on
Kosovo in Ottawa opened with several government witnesses giving testimony. The most prominent was Mr. James N.
Wright, Director General for Central East and South Europe, Department of External Affairs and International Trade.
His lengthy (7 page) address gave the official version of events, and presumably set the tone for other government
witnesses. The testimony given by Mr. Wright can only be termed as a shameless distortion of the truth and blatant
spin-doctoring. A sample of key distortions:

Mr. Wright said: "The international community gave diplomacy every chance to succeed. Yugoslavia, however,
ultimately rejected dialogue and a peaceful solution."

The facts are that the Yugoslav and Albanian delegations were kept apart throughout the Rambouillet process. During
several weeks of "negotiations," the delegations had one face-to-face meeting. The Yugoslav delegation agreed to most
of the demands placed on it by the "international community." The one part of the so-called Rambouillet peace plan they
could not accept was the infamous Appendix B, which called for NATO's occupation of all of Yugoslavia. The
Yugoslav delegation refused to sign the document even under the threat of bombardment and, on March 24, 1999,
NATO launched an unprecedented, illegal and immoral air assault on Yugoslavia. A number of prominent analysts and
statesmen, including Henry Kissinger, have called Rambouillet a "coercion" process as opposed to negotiations and
diplomacy.

Mr. Wright said: "...before NATO acted, a humanitarian disaster was already unfolding and an entire region was being
destabilized." Mr. Wright scores a triple with this one sentence.

Roland Keith, a 30-year veteran of the Canadian Military and the OSCE Monitoring Mission director in Kosovo Polje,
an impartial eye-witness, said there was no humanitarian tragedy and that 90% the hostilities were initiated by the
Albanians (Mr. Keith's assertions were backed up by a number of OSCE monitors). The Yugoslav authorities were
prevented from carrying out their duties by the very same mission Mr. Keith was a part of. As for NATO acting out of
"humanitarian" grounds, let us put that canard to rest once and for all. NATO gave several reasons for the air assault on
Yugoslavia:

1.Get Milosevic to sign on to the Rambouillet "peace plan,"
2.Prevent a humanitarian catastrophe,
3.Prevent a wider war,
4.Preserve the credibility of NATO.


Eventually, the reason became the return of Albanian refugees, but only after the NATO bombardment caused a refugee
crisis.

Mr. Wright said: "(UN) Resolution 1244 set out the framework for the international community to assist in constructing
a lasting peace. It authorized the establishment of internal civilian and security missions, UNMIK and KFOR, to meet
that challenge. The resolution is the basis for everything we are doing now." Almost every single clause of UN Security
Council Resolution 1244 has been violated. A few examples:

1.The basic principle of the Resolution 1244 is to provide a secure and stable environment for ALL citizens in
Kosovo and Metohija. Since NATO's occupation on June 10, 1999, over 350,000 non-Albanians have been
expelled from the region
2.Failure to provide freedom of movement
3.Introduction of a new currency
4.Failure to police the FR of Yugoslavia borders under NATO occupation and control
5.Issuance of documents.


Obviously the resolution is not "the basis for everything we are doing now," thus begging the question, What exactly are
we doing and under what auspices! ?

The biased nature of Mr. Wright's address is evident throughout. The most blatant is Mr. Wright's continuous referral of
Albanians as "Kosovars." The same propaganda technique was employed by U.S. spin-doctors during the civil war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnian Muslims were called "Bosniacs," suggesting territorial ownership while Serbs, and on
occasion the Croats, were portrayed as interlopers coveting territory. The same technique is being in Kosovo and
Metohija with an implication that the Albanians are rightful owners of the territory, which is a blatant falsehood.

The Yugoslav authorities had every right to combat Albanian terrorism. Anytime an official says that the Yugoslav
security forces used disproportionate force, the interlocutor should ask for a proportionality comparison with U.S.
security forces in Waco, Texas. Anytime a military man raises a question of military proportionality, the interlocutor
should ask how that squares with the U.S. assault on Grenada or Panama, or the coalition force against Iraq, or
NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia. Maybe then the inane "proportionality" discussion could be put to rest.

Our government has not only deceived us about reasons and motives for participating in an unprecedented aggression
against Yugoslavia, it has also cooked the books on the cost. Canada has admitted to flying 10% of the missions and
claims the cost was $500 million Canadian. Britain flew 4% of the missions and claims to have spent £800 million (or
$1.888 billion Canadian) on munitions alone. How is it possible for Canada to fly 2½ times the missions of British pilots
at less than 1/3 of the cost? According to CIDA representatives' testimony, Canada has spent over $100 million in
post-war Kosovo-Metohija on aid alone. And what is the cost of keeping troops and support personnel on the ground?
And where is the money coming from and which domestic programs are cut in order to pay the costs of being a valued
member of the "international community?" Canada's participation in NATO's aggression on the FR of Yugoslavia has
far-reaching consequences not only for this country, but interna! tional security in general. The peacekeeping legacy
established by Lester Pearson is permanently destroyed. The UN is no longer a factor in the international
decision-making process.

National Defence Act is directly tied to a UN Security Council Resolution in our ability to wage war. There was no
Security Council Resolution, there was no Parliamentary assent, and most of all the Canadian public was not consulted
(not even polled). And Mr. Wright, on behalf of External Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, has the temerity to preach
about democracy!?


For additional information please call the Centre for Peace in the Balkans at 416.201.9729. Website:
www.balkanpeace.org
To read the entire Rambouillet proposal, please visit: www.monde-diplomatique.fr/dossiers/koso ... uillet.htm
For analysis of the Rambouillet proposal, please visit: www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR0401699.htm


Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources

http://www.iacenter.org/yugo_portu.htm


NATO-member Portugal wants to withdraw troops from Kosovo
Allegedly because its troops' health are endangered by DU ammunition

While this article is not directly concerned with the recent change in the Yugoslav government, we thought those following the
situation there might be interested in it.—IAC staff

By Rainer Rupp (junge Welt, Oct. 24, 2000)

Last week (Oct 14-20) the French government followed its Italian counterpart and launched an investigation of the effects of spent
depleted uranium shells on its soldiers in Kosovo. Two Italian K-FOR (occupation) soldiers who were stricken with cancer and who
showed symptoms similar to those with Gulf War Syndrome are to be flown from Kosovo to Rome in the near future.

The Rome military prosecutor followed his colleagues in Milan, Turin and Venice and set underway an investigation of the effects of
DU-shells on Italian troops in Kosovo. With this in the background the Portuguese defense minister has decided to withdraw the
Portuguese troop contingent from Kosovo.

Last month Yugoslav Ambassador to the Czech Republic Djoko Stojicic explained to the press that the K-FOR soldiers in Kosovo have
had health problems for a long time, which have the great probability of being due to the massive use of DU munitions. The Belgian and
Dutch governments instructed their troops to avoid eating local products. Clothing must be destroyed when the troops leave Kosovo and
vehicles decontaminated. Even drinking water will ostensibly be flown in.

According to an article in the Lisbon daily newspaper, Diario de Noticias, which quotes unnamed government officials, Portuguese
Defense Minister Júlio de Lemos de Castro Caldas regrets not having made the decision sooner. In addition, it appears as if the
Portuguese armed forces’ participation in NATO’s 78-day war aggression will now be under question again in Lisbon.

Last year the German Defense Ministry answered a letter from a concerned citizen about the dangers of DU in Kosovo. From the answer
it could be documented that the German government and NATO were well aware of the acute dangers in Kosovo from the overall
massively used, highly toxic DU munitions, as junge Welt reported earlier.

According to Diario de Noticias the Portuguese Defense Minister Castro Caldas complained that he had not been warned by the NATO
general secretary before he sent his troops into the region of Kosovo that had been especially contaminated by DU shells. Apparently the
Portuguese were not the only ones to criticize. Other countries are also concerned about the health of their soldiers in Kosovo.

For that reason, writes Diario de Noticias, Defense Minister Castro Caldas intended shortly to inform NATO headquarters in Brussels
that Portugal intended to withdraw its troops from Kosovo.

Contradicting this, a high official of the Portuguese NATO delegation in Brussels informed junge Welt that Portugal certainly intended to
pull its troops out of Kosovo, but that this had nothing to do with the Portuguese defense minister’s written announcement in the article in
Diario de Noticias. The reason for the withdrawal from Kosovo has much more to do with the rapidly deteriorating security conditions in
the former Portuguese colony East Timor.

Because of Portugal’s limited military potential Lisbon would have to pull its troops out of Kosovo in order to send them to East Timor. In
the framework of a reassessment then will Portugal in the near future officially inform NATO of its plans to withdraw, according to the
official from the Portuguese NATO delegation in Brussels.

This latter comment is without doubt an astute explanation by the Portuguese made to avoid angering the big powers in NATO. Despite
this the withdrawal of Portuguese troops from Washington’s and NATO’s sight would send undesirable signals. Because of the conditions
in Kosovo the already long-feared erosion process could begin in earnest and lead to a broad movement by other countries to withdraw.

In addition, conflicts within the alliance that until now have been hidden behind closed doors could be dragged out in public and do
permanent damage to the image of the self-described Western “community of values.” For this reason it can be expected that the U.S.
and NATO will do everything it their power to keep the Portuguese from taking this step.

Saarburg, Oct. 24, 2000

NATO expert Rainer Rupp was released from prison August in Germany where he was sentenced for his alleged role as the most
highly placed NATO official reporting information to the socialist German Democratic Republic.



Liberally translated from German by John Catalinotto



International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@iacenter.org
web: www.iacenter.org

more to read...
=
the first one, confirming in words already understood, the brand of doubt and concern i was not surprised to cultivate here last year.

the second can be better seen upon my return home.

merci

"Political violence flared up in Kosovo this week with two deadly attacks, while
separatist ethnic Albanians killed more Serb policemen just outside the province.

Kostunica cannot afford too many more policemen coming home in bodybags.
Serbia warned on Friday it would step in if NATO troops in Kosovo could not
stop the attacks."

http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=224115

If ever...

---

EU No Longer Supports Kosovo Election, Kouchner Says

ZAGREB, Nov 25, 2000 -- (Reuters) Western powers no longer support
proposals to hold a general election in Kosovo next spring, the province's United
Nations administrator said on Friday.

Bernard Kouchner said he had warned EU leaders at their summit in Zagreb with
Balkan states that there was a risk of a return to conflict unless
independence-seeking Kosovo Albanians were given the chance to choose their
leaders.

"If they are cornered they will fight," he said.

Kouchner said United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which made the
Yugoslav province a protectorate, called for general elections and he urged they
should happen soon.

Looking tired and speaking with emotion, Kouchner suggested EU leaders were
trying to ignore 1244, the only legal basis for the international presence in
Kosovo, and force the pace towards new regional agreements.

Resolution 1244 was a solemn agreement, he said. "If we do not have an
agreement, tell us the truth," demanded Kouchner, who has told the United
Nations he would like to be replaced.

"It was not a warning, but sort of... it was certainly not a threat," said Kouchner.

This week has seen a resurgence of political violence in Kosovo and attacks by
separatist Albanians in a neighboring slice of southern Serbia where Albanians
also live.

The attacks have killed several policemen, prompting Serbia to warn on Friday it
would re-impose order there if NATO peacekeepers could not keep the
guerrillas inside Kosovo.

END-OF-MILOSEVIC EFFECT

Earlier in the year, the election proposal appeared to have the general backing of
the EU and NATO allies. That was while Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic
still held power.

Now that he has been ousted by reformist Vojislav Kostunica, the EU is doing its
utmost to ensure the change is irreversible. That includes appeasing Serbian
claims on Kosovo and if necessary justifying a crackdown on the separatist
gunmen.

Analysts said an internationally sponsored general election in Kosovo would
infuriate some sections of Serbian opinion. "There is no opposition to the principle
of these elections, but there is some caution and a spectrum of views, particularly
concerning the timing," an EU diplomatic source told Reuters.

Some countries, such as France and Italy, were not in favor of a Kosovo general
election in the first half of the year, while Britain was less opposed to the idea and
Germany somewhere in between, he added.

Asked at a news conference which countries now opposed the idea, a frustrated
Kouchner replied that the question was more like: "Who is in favor?"

Kouchner said he had proposed an election to the UN Security Council, "But no
one answered me". United States UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke was
supportive but that did not necessarily mean the Clinton administration backed the
idea.

"Others are very reluctant, and I think this is a big mistake," the UN envoy added,
arguing that far from undermining Kostunica, an election in Kosovo would bolster
him.

"For the peace process this is absolutely necessary. It will give Kostunica and the
Serbian authorities responsible people to talk with."

Kouchner said he welcomed the replacement of Milosevic by Kostunica last
month but complained that "political movements are going too fast for the peace
process" because the wounds inflicted on Kosovo Albanians by Serbs last year
are too fresh.

He denied having warned EU leaders eager for an overall settlement in former
Yugoslavia against pushing Kosovo Albanians back into the arms of Serbia,
saying his message had been "much more positive than that".

(C)2000 Copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or
redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the
prior written consent of Reuters Limited.
http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=224116

"Group of thirty high ranked officers of KFOR sent a letter to American president Bill Clinton in
which they criticized him because he misrepresented situation at Kosovo."

I've found only this sentence. Wolud it be possible to find out more about the matter...

Yugoslavia Losing Patience


BELGRADE, Nov. 26, 2000

AP
Photo: Yugoslav army tanks patrol in the ethnic Albanian village of Veliki Trnovac


(AP) Yugoslavia's army sent tanks and reinforcements Sunday near the U.S.-patrolled boundary with Kosovo one day before Belgrade's deadline for
NATO to curb ethnic Albanian militants who killed four Serb police in southern Serbia.

Otherwise, Yugoslav authorities threaten to launch counterattacks after the 5 p.m. (11 a.m. Eastern Time) Monday deadline to clear the militants who
also seized positions in attacks Tuesday in the strategic Presevo Valley of southern Serbia.

In Kosovo, the local television station reported one ethnic Albanian fighter was wounded in the contested area Sunday but gave no further details.

The crisis erupted Tuesday when ethnic Albanian militants believed operating from Kosovo killed four Serb policemen and seized key positions just
across the boundary from the NATO-patrolled province.

About 500 civilians from the contested area crossed the border into Macedonia on Sunday to avoid any new fighting, the government television station in
the neighboring country reported.

The new conflict between Serbs and ethnic Albanians has provoked a major crisis for the new government of President Vojislav Kostunica, which took
power last month after the collapse of Slobodan Milosevic. The crisis also cast doubt on NATO's ability to control Kosovo, which the Yugoslav authorities
believe was used as a staging area for the ethnic Albanian attacks.

Kostunica told a national television audience Sunday that NATO-led Kosovo Force bears a responsibility to curb the militants because "they excluded
the Yugoslav army" from Kosovo "and limited our police to carrying only light weapons."

"It is clearly the task of KFOR to secure law and order," Kostunica said. He also noted that the new government must avoid "an episode like Racak,"
referring to the 1998 killing of dozens of ethnic Albanian civilians during an operation against ethnic Albanian militants.

The "Racak massacre" was one of the incidents that led to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia the following year.

The attacks were carried out by the so-called "Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac," known by its Albanian-language acronym UCPMB.
The rebels want to drive Serb forces from the Presevo Valley and unite it with Kosovo.

Although the area has a substantial ethnic Albanian population, the valley was not considered part of Kosovo province and therefore was not included in
the June 1999 agreement, which sent NATO peacekeepers into Kosovo.

On Sunday, Yugoslav army T55 battle tanks and armored personnel carriers could be seen maneuvering near the 3-mile buffer zone separating Kosovo
from the rest of Serbia, Yugoslavia's main republic.

The reinforcements were kept away from the zone, under terms of a June 1999 agreement between NATO and the Milosevic government, which bars
heavy weapons from the buffer area. American troops patrol the Kosovo side of the zone.

Nevertheless, the presence of additional tanks, armored personnel carriers and infantry was seen as a demonstration of Belgrade's resolve to prevent
ethnic Albanian rebels from seizing and holding Serbian territory.

"Police and the army are coordinating activities," said Vladan Batic, a leading Kostunica ally who visited the area Sunday. "They need all support
because it is obvious that they are confronting sheer terrorism, undisguised separatism. They are terrorists and bandits and will be treated as such. It is
the task of every responsible state to protect its citizens."

In a report obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, the Yugoslav interior Ministry estimated that about 1,000 ethnic Albanians were involved in the
recent attacks and were receiving support from ethnic Albanian sympathizers in nine villages on Serb-controlled territory.

Yugoslav officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants had smuggled small artillery pieces and more than 100 small mortars across
the U.S.-patrolled boundary into positions on the Yugoslav side of the demilitarized zone.

According to the interior ministry report, ethnic Albanian militants were sending out nighttime patrols from sympathetic villages to gather intelligence
information about positions in the area still held by Serb forces.

The interior ministry report said Serb police "cannot hold out long unless they receive reinforcements from Serbia proper." The report recommended
mobilizing Serb men of military age and using them to augment police units already in the area.

In Bujanovac, one of the towns in the contested area, Mayor Stojanca Arsic blamed the attacks on the Kosovo Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian
rebel group which fought Yugoslav forces in Kosovo last year but which NATO gave assurances had been disbanded.

He urged NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo to "really disarm the supposedly demilitarized Kosovo Liberation Army."

By Aleksandar Vasovic

©2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.nwc.navy.mil/balkans/

Kostunica snubs Albright in Austria

By MELISSA EDDY, Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria (November 27, 2000 1:48 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com ) - A handshake and a short exchange of words were all that Yugoslavia's new leader
granted Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at a meeting Monday of foreign ministers of Europe's leading security organization.

President Vojislav Kostunica had little to gain by cozying up to the Western official most closely identified with last year's NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.
Despite a U.S. pledge of $100 million in aid to Yugoslavia, the outgoing Clinton administration - and Albright in particular - is highly unpopular in Yugoslavia because of the
78 days of bombing.

Albright, Yugoslav sources said, met briefly with Yugoslavia's foreign minister, Goran Svilanovic, following a ceremony in which Belgrade joined the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Kostunica, who succeeded Slobodan Milosevic after an uprising last month, said he didn't have time to meet the emissary of the world's only superpower because of
fighting between Serb police and ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia.

"I will have to leave earlier than expected and return straight to south Serbia," Kostunica told reporters. But Kostunica found time to attend a luncheon given in his honor by
Austrian President Thomas Klestil. Guests included Austria's controversial right-wing politician, Joerg Haider.

The message was clear: Efforts to improve U.S.-Yugoslav relations can wait until a new administration takes office in January.

Albright kept a low profile in her final visit as secretary of state to a meeting of the security organization, praising the group for helping spread democracy to southeastern
Europe and singling out Kostunica.

"I congratulate President Kostunica on his election and I congratulate the Serbian people for being able to call him president," she said.

Albright, however, did not mention the recent ethnic Albanian attacks along the boundary between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia, Yugoslavia's main republic.

NATO's Attack on Serbia: Anomaly or Emerging Doctrine?


RONALD SCOTT MANGUM
© 2000 Ronald Scott Mangum

---

From Parameters, Winter 2000-01, pp. 40-52.
http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/00winter/mangum.htm

---

Dateline Belgrade, 30 March 1999: At 0400, Greenwich Mean Time, NATO bombs began falling on this capital city of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (FRY). War has not been declared, and in fact, neither the FRY nor Serbia[1] has attacked or even threatened to attack any NATO country
or ally. So why has NATO unleashed the dogs of war on Serbia?

This article does not attempt to assess right or wrong in the NATO attack on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It does, however, examine the factual
background and legal arguments for and against that action. And it raises questions which the international community should address in resolving the
appropriateness of the use of force in humanitarian crises. Finally, it proposes guidelines which NATO and the United States, if they are to be the moral
leaders of the free world, can take to formalize a doctrine of humanitarian intervention.

Each NATO member and the FRY are signatories to the United Nations Charter. Article 2(4) of the Charter prohibits member states from "the threat or
use of force against the territorial integrity . . . of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."[2] The only
recognized exception to this prohibition is contained in Article 51, which recognizes the "inherent right" of a member state to use force in self defense if
"an armed attack occurs" against it, until the Security Council acts.[3] As a matter of international law, a treaty between states is a contract, and in
most cases specifically becomes the law of the contracting states. Even if a treaty is not the supreme law of the land, as it is in the United States, a
treaty is recognized in international relations as a binding obligation on the parties to the treaty,[4] and the United Nations Charter itself specifically
states that "in the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under
any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail."[5] As a treaty binding its members, including nearly every
state in the world, the Charter is, then, supreme international law.
...

etc