<nettime> Re: Successor states seek UN ouster of Belgrade

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

Belgrade seems to continue to surprise the unprepared souls. So, 
what do we have new?
1) the scare tactics in Montenegro - seizing the airport, then letting 
it go, just to show who is still in power
2) continuing to threat the political opposition and independent 
media like criminals on parole - lucky to be let walking the streets
3) arresting a possible French spy and building a whole new 
mythology out of it: now France got included in the world-wide 
conspiracy against the Serbs (which so far include Vatican, 
masons, Osama Bin Laden, US, Albania, and myriad of other, 
otherwise incompatible choices)
4) they are still keeping POW-s from Kosovo even the war is long 
time over; sentencing of Brovina breaks too many conventions to 
be list them all: first she was not KLA, second she did not have a 
fair trial, third the court that sentenced her did not have jurisdiction 
over her, fourth she was basically a POW, and the war was over 
when NATO marched into Kosovo; UNMIK should demand 
amnesty for all Kosovo prisoners held in Serbia.

It is therefore sad to be reminded that there still is property held by 
Milosevic's regime abroad. Under no conditions can Milosevic's 
Yugoslavia be treated as a successor state to Tito's Yugoslavia.
1) it represents only 1/3 of the population; so if the representatives 
of the 2/3 of the population of the Tito's Yugoslavia, embodied in 
the four other countries that emerged from the Tito's Yugoslavia, 
are unified in their request to be treated as successors - they are in 
majority, and their request should be granted.
2) Milosevic was the first post-Tito leader to break all the 
fundamental principles on which the Tito's Yugoslavia was founded: 
Tito must be turning in his grave (still in Belgrade) hearing Milosevic 
claiming succession after Milosevic destroyed everything Tito built...
3) those actions against Milosevic's Yugoslavia (like permanently 
yanking their seat at the UN) should have been taken long time ago 
in lieu of other sanctions levied against that country.

Regards,
Ivo

Date sent:      	Thu, 9 Dec 1999 13:15:22 -0500
Send reply to:  	International Justice Watch Discussion List
             	<JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU>
From:           	Andras Riedlmayer <riedlmay@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject:        	Successor states seek UN ouster of Belgrade
To:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU

(cross-posting of comments only permitted)

After the Dayton Peace Accords ended the 1991-95 wars of the Yugoslav
succession, there were repeated efforts to achieve a peaceful, negotiated
settlement on the succession to the assets of the former SFR Yugoslavia.

After years of negotiations led nowhere, four of the successor states
-- Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia -- have launched
an open challenge to the right of the fifth successor state, Milosevic's
"Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (est. in 1992 by Serbia and Montenegro)
to hold on to the U.N. seat, embassies and other assets of the pre-1992
six-republic Yugoslav federal state.

The current Belgrade regime has been unable to fully participate in
international bodies for quite some time and is regarded as a pariah
by many U.N. members.  Nevertheless, even without formal recognition
of its claims, the Belgrade regime and its representatives have been
allowed to act as if they were in fact the sole legitimate successor
to Tito's Yugoslavia.

Milosevic's envoys still have control of the Yugoslav U.N. mission (even
if they can't vote on U.N. resolutions) and of Yugoslav embassies and
legations in dozens of countries (even in countries, such as the US, which
claim not to recognize Belgrade).  And although the EU and the US have
formally frozen Belgrade's financial assets abroad, they have done so
on the tacit assumption that Milosevic is the legitimate owner of
assets that belonged to the former six-republic Yugoslav federal state
(which in fact dissolved into five separate states in 1991-92).

Now the other four successor states want the UN and other international
bodies to put a stop to this tacit acceptance-by-default of Belgrade's
claims.  Whether they will succeed is another question

The problem, as usual, is the likely interference of countries like Russia
and Greece, always willing to come to Milosevic's defense ... and the
sad lack of political will in Western capitals, which seem to still
prefer the comfortable pretense that the Belgrade regime is a state
like any other to the nuisance of having to confront difficult choices.

Andras Riedlmayer
==========================================================================
The Independent (London)
December 8, 1999, Wednesday


BALKAN STATES ASK UN TO KICK OUT YUGOSLAVIA

Rupert Cornwell

The four breakaway successor states to the former Yugoslavia are
making another attempt at having the rump Yugoslavia thrown out of the
United Nations and forced to re-apply for membership on equal terms
with themselves.

Leading the drive is Slovenia, whose Deputy Foreign Minister, Ernest
Petric, was in London this week to press the case with the Foreign Office
minister Peter Hain. If successful, the campaign could see Slovenia,
Bosnia, Croatia and Macedonia gaining their share of $ 1bn or more of
assets held in the name of the old Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Since the General Assembly and Security Council resolutions of 1992 and
1993 declaring that Yugoslavia in its previous form had ceased to exist,
Belgrade has inhabited a diplomatic no-man's land in New York. Belgrade's
representatives are not allowed to sit or speak in the General Assembly.
The "mission of Yugoslavia" has to operate behind the scenes, enjoying
what amounts to observer status.

The Balkan states' actions follow fruitless years of trying to persuade
Belgrade to reach a settlement. Hopes were high after President Slobodan
Milosevic put his name to the 1995 Dayton accords, which ended the Bosnian
war, but with the Kosovo crisis and Mr Milosevic's indictment for war
crimes, Belgrade has lost interest. Its implicit contention is that the
four states illegally seceded from what remains Yugoslavia.

The breakaway states hope to persuade a majority of UN members to sponsor
an early General Assembly resolution calling for the old Yugoslavia's
removal, after which the pressure would be on Belgrade to re-apply for
membership as the explicit representative of Serbia and Montenegro alone.

But the plan does not have clear backing. The European Union in particular
is thought to be divided, with Greece opposed to the move. Russia's stance
is also unclear. Lukewarm support would make it harder for the four states
to press their claims for a share of the old Yugoslavia's assets,
including about $ 600m (pounds 370m) in the Bank for International
Settlements, frozen bank accounts in several countries and embassy
buildings and other properties abroad.


GRAPHIC: AP Photo: Men bringing in supplies in Haxhiaj, 60 miles west
of Pristina. The snow is an unwelcome complication for Kosovo villagers
trying to rebuild their homes

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