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| LAST CHANCE | |
 March 22, 1999 
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President Clinton issued a warning to Yugoslavia today, saying that NATO and the U.S. are strongly united in taking military action against the Serbian forces in Kosovo. After a background report, Vladislav Jovanovich, Yugoslav ambassador to the United Nations, responds to the White House's statement.
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JIM LEHRER: Now, the other side in this conflict. It comes from Vladislav
Jovanovic, the Yugoslav Ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Ambassador, welcome. Do you have any late information, sir, on this meeting today between your president, Mr. Milosevic, and Richard Holbrooke? |
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The Serbian view. |
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VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC, UN Ambassador, Yugoslavia: Not yet. My understanding is that the talks are going to be extended, and it is too early to say anything concrete about its outcome. JIM LEHRER: As you know, Secretary of State Albright, as well as Mr. Holbrooke, himself, going into -- before the meetings were very pessimistic about the possibility that something could be worked out. Do you share that pessimism at this point?
JIM LEHRER: And so your country is never going to sign that document? VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC: Our country has been open and is open now to grants to our Albanian countrymen whom respect the same way as all other citizens a very wide, very substantive autonomy - but autonomy and not a quasi-state, not to allow them the possibilities to get away from Yugoslavia in three years and to join Albania, and thus, to create a great Albania. JIM LEHRER: What is the purpose, then, of this new |
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VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC: First of all, the point of those -- this information - rumors -- is to make excuse for manufacturing one crisis and justifying a foreign military intervention. There is not any offensive -- even less aggression of Serbs in Kosovo. After all, it is nonsense to speak about aggression of a country within its own country. There is countermeasures against a consistent and accelerated actions and attacks by terrorist KLA. JIM LEHRER: So -- but you see that as an internal police matter, not as one -- as your folks invading another obviously, correct?
JIM LEHRER: In other words, you are prepared, you and your countrymen are prepared to be bombed by NATO airplanes, beginning in the next day or two, is that correct? VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC: If NATO decides to bomb us, to invade us, it would act against the principle of international law; it would act against its own treaty -- against the charter of UN. It would outmaneuver Security Council, which never authorized NATO to enforce any action against Yugoslavia. So it will be the beginning of the end of the United Nations, the whole system with Russia relations. Much greater stakes -- things are at stake, not only to invade Yugoslavia, or to compel Yugoslavia to giving a part of its territory to a greater Albania. JIM LEHRER: But do you question NATO's determination to go ahead with the air strikes if President Milosevic does not agree to certain things with Mr. Holbrooke? VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC: You know, throughout our history we have resisted
any foreign invaders. We have JIM LEHRER: So that's how you see this, as an invasion of your country by NATO, including the United States? VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC: Unfortunately, the United States is very vocal in such aggressive policy of NATO against our country, and I'm very surprised not to see more American liberal-minded politicians and public personalities to resist that policy. This is something which is really a turning point. If NATO acts against one sovereign state, which doesn't represent any threat to its neighbors, which doesn't commit any aggression against anybody, it would be one precedent which could be an alarm for the rest of the -- JIM LEHRER: What about -- excuse me -- what about President Clinton's point -- and others have made the same point -- that if NATO does not act against your forces, that thousands and thousands of people are going to die, your people, as well as ethnic Albanians? |
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JIM LEHRER: All right. VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC: But if behind the scenes there are some designs to provide our Albanians a state -- within a state -- later on the independent state, then it is not fair play; it is not a sound policy; it is a policy against the peace and stability in the region. JIM LEHRER: All right. Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much. VLADISLAV JOVANOVIC: You are welcome, sir. |
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VLADISLAV
JOVANOVIC: No. The fact is that the document which is portrayed in the
Western press and political statesmen, the document signed in Paris,
this peace agreement, it is not a peace agreement because that document
has never been discussed with Yugoslav side, and there is not any peace
agreement achieved through negotiations. We have signed another document
guaranteeing full autonomy, a Serb government to this province; we signed
it with the representatives of the Albanians who are loyal to Yugoslavia
and other national communities. That agreement, that document is fully
in line with the highest standard -- Europeans and both standards of
human rights, democracy, national minority rights and equality of all
citizens and nationalities living in that region. So portraying Yugoslavia
as a side, as a country opposing peace is totally wrong, if not intentioned.
We are a sovereign country, and we are under attack of both separatism
and terrorism. We are defending the Holy Land of Kosovo -- which has
always been our -- and never belonged to any state of Albania. So terrorists
and separatists are not entitled to request the right to a state. The
agreement or peace of document -- which was signed in Paris aimed at
robbing Yugoslavia from that sovereign part of our territory through
-- by representing it as a contribution to the peace. It is a contribution
to the realization of the objective of separatism and terrorism and
not at all to the peace.
offensive
-- the President talked about it today -- many reporters on the scene
have talked about the -- your forces going in there, some of them with
black masks, taking young men out and executing them, 250,000 ethnic
Albanians are now refugees. What is the point of this exercise at this
point, the military part of it?
VLADISLAV
JOVANOVIC: We don't invade anybody. We defend our country. If terrorist
KLA is a legitimate side, which is not to be disturbed in its stronghold,
it is another thing, but it is not -- in our international law terrorists
cannot be entitled to any right to keep its territory for themselves.
We have a legitimate right to re-conquer this territory and to establish
peace in order as America can do it in its own country if the case need
be -- or any other country. So what we are -- we are peaceful country,
we want peace, we want very just, very correct, very generous political
settlement, providing our Albanian countrymen real autonomous rights,
but we don't want to accept any disguise of accepting any quasi-state.
done
it very resiliently against Ottoman Empire. We have done it against
also Hungarian Empire. We have done it against Nazi Germany and fascist
Italy. If NATO would like to be in the rank of those invaders, then
it can have a chance to test our resistance; we're ready to defend our
country.
VLADISLAV
JOVANOVIC: First of all, if President Clinton, whom I appreciate very
much, really wants peace, the best thing is to tell our Albanian nationality
that they are fully entitled to the nationality rights and autonomy,
but they are not entitled to any state. If America -- if United States
takes that stand, the road to peaceful settlement will be very open
- largely open, and we can easily achieve one agreement.
