Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    Odraz B92 vesti (by 10 PM), December 26, 1996

    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1996 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    POLICE BLOCK THE WALKABOUT
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    MILOSEVIC REFUSED TO RECEIVE MILES

    President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic today refused to receive of
    the ranking diplomat of the American embassy in Belgrade, Richard
    Miles. This afternoon, Miles spoke to Yugoslav Foreign Minister
    Milan Milutinovic about the possible intervention of the police in
    the Zajedno opposition demonstrations.


    WE ARE NOT IN CONFLICT WITH POLICE BUT WITH MILOSEVIC

    Another Zajedno coalition protest was held today in Belgrade,
    attended by several tens of thousands of people. Due to the severe
    frost and heavy snowfall in the capital, but also due to the
    unusually strong police forces in the surrounding streets, the
    usual walk was canceled, reports FoNet. About 10,000 riot police
    were on stand-by, ready to prevent the protesters from their
    walkabout through downtown Belgrade. The beginning of the rally
    was marked by a minute of silence in homage to Predrag Starcevic,
    the demonstrator who died due to the injuries he sustained during
    a protest on December 24.

    Head of the Democratic Party Zoran Djindjic said that ``Serbs are
    world champions in street protesting, because they have the worst
    Government in the world,'' and added that for the sake of
    remaining in power, Milosevic has gone as far as to try to spark
    off civil war in Serbia.

    Head of the Civil Alliance of Serbia Vesna Pesic said that
    Milosevic lost the abortive civil war on December 24 after ``his
    Party's troops lost against the democratic Serbia. After all the
    stories about treason and foreign agents, Milosevic reduced the
    problem to the question of traffic. We are 'bad' because we are
    blocking the flow of traffic in the city,'' Vesna Pesic added,
    getting a roar of laughter from the crowd. She appealed to the
    police not to meddle in politics or try to solve issues of
    politics themselves.

    Head of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) Vuk Draskovic
    congratulated the protesters on their persistence and endurance,
    but above all, on their wisdom, ``because there is no political
    cause which is as valuable as human life itself.''  He said that
    the massive protests have chipped off the first bits from the top
    of the pyramid of ``an irresponsible, anti-human government.''  He
    also said that Montenegro is on the verge of separation from
    Yugoslavia, because it does not want to be kept out of Europe and
    live in isolation. Saying that, Draskovic stressed that no one
    should be happy when his own house is crumbling, and that Serbia
    is being pushed into a disaster by a mere handful people, who must
    be stopped.


    WASHINGTON: NO NEW COMMENTS

    US State Department did not comment today on the new developments
    regarding the protests in Serbia. US officials said that a
    statement may be expected later today, and repeated that the USA
    had already called on Milosevic not to use force against the
    demonstrators and to start a dialogue with the opposition.


    KINKEL WARNS MILOSEVIC

    German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel today warned Serbian
    President Slobodan Milosevic to let the opposition protest freely,
    reports FoNet. Kinkel emphasized that the world will not stand
    aside if the Serbian authorities ban opposition rallies. Using
    extremely curt terms, Kinkel emphasized that the international
    community will not stand by idly if Milosevic fails to heed these
    warnings.


    FRANCE DEMANDS THE END OF CONFLICTS

    Today France officially demanded from the relevant parties in
    Serbia to stop violent street clashes and urged Serbian
    authorities to respect the citizens' freedom of speech and
    assembly.


    RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT AGAINST FOREIGN INTERFERENCE

    Russian Parliament has, after a long debate, made an official
    statement on the current events in Serbia. The statement says that
    Russia is against any foreign interference and any unilateral
    moves regarding the events in Yugoslavia, because they would only
    harm the basic interests of Yugoslavia, reports FoNet.


    GONZALEZ TO SUBMIT HIS REPORT TOMORROW

    Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez will submit tomorrow
    his report on the current crisis in Serbia. Gonzales led the OSCE
    delegation to Belgrade, whose mandate was to examine the post-
    electoral political crisis in Serbia and offer recommendations for
    overcoming the present impasse.

    Prepared by: Aleksandra Scepanovic
    Edited by: Vaska Andjelkovic (Tumir)

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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