nettime's_digestive_system on Fri, 17 Sep 1999 17:19:53 +0200 (CEST)


[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

<nettime> yugoslavia digest



 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 Subject: INDEPENDENT RADIO BREAK-IN AS MEDIA REPRESSION STEPS UP
    From: Vladislav Bjelic <wlad@xs4all.nl>
    Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 03:14:04 +0200

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ANEM press release

INDEPENDENT RADIO BREAK-IN AS MEDIA REPRESSION STEPS UP

BELGRADE, September 13 -- The Association of Independent Electronic Media
in Yugoslavia (ANEM) protests sternly at the theft of equipment from Radio
GLOBUS in Kraljevo. The equipment was taken from this ANEM member station
during a break-in on September 11. ANEM believes that this was intended to
hinder the independent work of the station and to deny local citizens
access to objective information in the coming period.

Radio GLOBUS was broken into early in the morning of September 11.  More
than five thousand Deutschmarks' worth of equipment was stolen.  This is
only the latest in a series of attacks, threats, thefts and sabotage
suffered by the station since October 1998 when the government intensified
its campaign against independent media.  These have included damage to
equipment, several bomb threats and frequent personal threats to
journalists employed by the station.

The political motive is underlined by the fact that nothing was stolen
from Radio PLUS, which is owned by the same company and located on the
same premises, but does not carry news programs.  It is also pertinent
that the attack occurred immediately after the launch of a media campaign
by local NGOs related to demands for the manager of Radio Kraljevo to be
replaced.

In addition to the direct damage caused by the loss of equipment, the
collateral damage includes loss of income while Radio GLOBUS is off the
air, and the enormous harm caused by depriving the citizens of Kraljevo
and the surrounding area of a reliable source of accurate and unbiased
information.  Despite difficult circumstances, ANEM will give Radio GLOBUS
every assistance possible in resuming broadcasting.  ANEM also demands
that those responsible for this attack are identified and dealt with
according to the law and that Radio GLOBUS receives compensation for the
damage suffered.

Veran Matic, Chairman,
ANEM



 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 Subject: [kcc-news] Albright Remarks to Kosovar Albanians at Peace Conference
    From: Kosova Crisis Center News and Information <mentor@alb-net.com>
    Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 10:37:11 -0400

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> READ  &  DISTRIBUTE FURTHER <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

---------------------------------------------------------------------
   Kosova Crisis Center (KCC) News Network: http://www.alb-net..com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
  Kosovapress                    http://www.kosovapress.com/
  Kosova Information Center      http://www.kosova.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------

***********************************************************
        KOSOVO - Official U.S. Government Documents
For more information regarding the latest policy statements
and other materials related to the Kosovo crisis, visit
http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/

***********************************************************

14 September 1999

Transcript: Albright Remarks to Kosovar Albanians at State Dept. Sept. 14

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says almost 800,000 Kosovar
Albanian refugees have returned to their homes.

In remarks September 14 in the State Department's Ben Franklin Room to
Kosovar Albanians who are in the Washington area attending a U.S.
Institute of Peace Conference at Lansdowne, Virginia, she said that
"UNMIK and KFOR are revising upward their estimates of Serbs and other
minorities choosing to remain in Kosovo."

"We hope many more will be able to return," she said.

Following is the transcript, as delivered:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

September 14, 1999

As Delivered

REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT TO KOSOVAR
ALBANIANS AT U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE CONFERENCE

WASHINGTON, DC

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much, Chet. Chet and I were
colleagues for a long time at Georgetown University and it's very nice
to be colleagues in this enterprise also.

Good morning to everybody and I'm so very, very pleased to be able to
welcome you to the Department of State. As you may know, I have just
come back from a rather long trip to the Middle East and to Asia and I
came back especially early because I did not want to miss the chance
to meet with all of you and to talk to you - the mothers and fathers
of a democratic Kosovo. I thank you all for changing your schedule to
make my participation possible.

And I also want to thank Dick Solomon and the United States Institute
of Peace for organizing this conference -- and for your dedication to
the cause of peace in Kosovo, throughout the Balkans, and around the
world.

I want to congratulate Vjosa Dobruna, Xheraldina Vula, Muhamet
Mustafa, and everyone -- every one of you -- for the encouraging
reports you have just presented. After all that has happened, there is
no better feeling than to see the people of Kosovo at peace, hard at
work, and planning for the future of what will always be your rightful
home.

I think it really is quite appropriate that you should have had your
meeting in Virginia - a state which for all Americans is deeply
identified with the creation of an American democracy and so it's very
nice that you met at Lansdowne. I'm only sorry that I wasn't here so
that you could meet at my farm so that this could be called the
Hillsborough declaration.

You have heard new voices and different views. And with the Lansdowne
Declaration you have drafted, you have taken responsibility for
building Kosovo's institutions -- and with them, a better future.

What is more, I see that you have achieved a new appreciation for the
importance of women's full participation in political life -- and I
understand that several wives in Pristina are going to be pleasantly
surprised when their newly-enlightened husbands return.

You have done an inspiring job at Lansdowne of bridging differences
and creating the common ground upon which a democratic Kosovo may be
built. And already, you have accomplished much in Kosovo as well.

Almost 800,000 Kosovar Albanian refugees have returned to their homes.
UNMIK and KFOR are revising upward their estimates of Serbs and other
minorities choosing to remain in Kosovo. We hope many more will be
able to return. Great progress has been made toward rebuilding homes
and preparing for the winter.

The economy is rapidly reviving, as factories reopen and new
businesses appear daily.

Schools have opened, and ethnic Albanian children are receiving the
public Albanian-language education they were so long denied.

Judges and prosecutors appointed by the UN Mission in Kosovo have
begun to hear cases, laying the foundation for a system of justice
administered for Kosovars by Kosovars. The Kosovar Police Academy
opened last week with its first class of 168 students.

And Kosovo's independent media are vigorous and expanding, thanks in
no small part to the efforts of many in this room.

This remarkable progress is a testament to the determination of the
people of Kosovo to build lives better than what they have known
before - and to the desire of the international community to support
all of you in doing that.

After months of violence, ten years of Belgrade's repression, and more
than fifty years of Communist centralization, it would be wrong and
foolish to expect one summer to cure all of Kosovo's troubles and
problems. I believe that most Kosovars are trying, as fast as you can,
to tackle their difficulties honestly. In short, I believe in you.

But after all that the people of Kosovo have suffered and lost, they
-- and you -- should not accept anything less than true democracy and
lasting peace. And neither democracy nor peace is sustainable without
respect for human rights. If everyone is not safe in Kosovo,
ultimately no one will be safe; and if all are not equal under the
law, ultimately no one will be able to count on the law for
protection.

And that is why, as your friend, I will say plainly that you must
combat the temptations of revenge, corruption and criminality.
Evidence of unchecked criminality would lose you the support of the
international community, and the trust of your people.

And you must do everything you can to prevent the killing, terrorizing
and expulsion of Serbs and other minorities. Acts of terror harm your
own interests. They discourage international humanitarian support and
investment, and they give aid and comfort to your enemies. They are
seen by some to validate Milosevic's claim that Serbs cannot be safe
where ethnic Albanians have power. And by teaching Kosovo's children
to hate, they prepare not peace, but discord.

Already, some in the international community have concluded that you
cannot build a peaceful, multi-ethnic democracy. And they expect you
to fail -- and, as Senator Dole told you, they are waiting to be
proven right. You have heard the stories. You have been described as
prisoners of Balkan history, interested only in doing to the Serbs
what they have already done to you.

I can't tell you how to feel. No one can. But I hope and believe that
you will aim higher and achieve more than the cynics and bigots
expect.

And I pledge that the United States will stand with you in those
efforts. Today I can announce three steps the United States is taking
to do our part to support peace, democracy and renewal in Kosovo.

First, after consultations with Congress, the United States has
officially opened the U.S. Office in Pristina, to represent American
interests and serve as a platform for all our efforts in Kosovo. The
head of the office, Larry Rossin, is a distinguished Foreign Service
Officer -- and he is with us today. And we are all very grateful to
him and he's a great friend. Larry, thanks for already doing a great
job.

Second, we have begun consultations with Congress toward amending our
budget request for fiscal year 2000 -- which begins next month -- to
provide substantial additional support for Kosovo and Southeast
Europe. These new resources will promote Kosovo's democratic
development, including the holding of elections, the development of a
free media, and the rule of law. And they will help stand up a Kosovo
police force. And they will sustain our own commitment to KFOR.

Third, the United States will support the development of a new civil
emergency response organization -- the Kosovo Corps. The Kosovo Corps
will deal with floods, fires, land mines and unexploded munitions, as
well as assisting with Kosovo's reconstruction.

We expect that many members of the KLA will join the Kosovo Corps.
Others have joined the new Kosovo police. With other donors, the
United States will support programs for vocational training,
scholarships and other assistance for KLA veterans. Their energy,
skills and resources are needed to build the peace. It is vital that
the KLA carry out fully and faithfully its undertaking to demilitarize
by next Sunday, September 19.

Your courage sustained you through times of bitter suffering and
hardship. Your courage won you the support of NATO and many others
around the world. And now, your courage is needed to win the peace.

Over the past four days, you have shown not only courage, but also
initiative and wisdom.

You have taken the initiative to move Kosovo's political process
forward - by acknowledging problems with the transition and by
establishing a forum for political leaders to meet regularly in
Pristina. You have identified economic priorities and the need for
transparent and reliable economic structures. And you have already
built the foundations for a strong civil society, from a vibrant free
press to women's groups to the Mother Teresa Society.

As a former professor, I can tell you that there are as many different
ways to run a democracy as there are democracies; and as a long-time
resident of one, I can tell you that they are always and everywhere a
work in progress.

As someone whose family fled Central Europe in search of freedom, I
can tell you that your institutions must be strong enough to protect
the twin foundations of democracy -- individual liberties and the rule
of law.

And as someone who believes in you, I can tell you that your work will
put you on track toward a Kosovo that will be admired for the justice
it extends to all its people, not only some; for the peace it
maintains by settling differences through laws, not force; and for the
freedom it preserves by choosing leaders with ballots, and not guns.

It will be my privilege to stand with you as you work to put the
vision you have melded here into practice -- and secure the blessings
of liberty for the people of Kosovo.

Thank you.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list send a message to majordomo@alb-net.com
In the body of the message include: UNSUBSCRIBE KCC-NEWS



 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 Subject: CYBERREX NA ZIVO 6 // CYBERREX IN VIVO 6
    From: Sinisa & Katarina <shile@infosky.net>
    Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 11:41:29 +0200

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CYBERREX NA ZIVO 6 // CYBERREX IN VIVO 6

FreeB92 vas poziva na // FreeB92 invites you to the
Predstavljanje ASOCIJACIJE NEZAVISNIH TEATARA // Promotion of the
ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT THEATRES

13/09 16:00 - 18:30, Atelje 212 "Strategije opstanka - " RAZGOVOR SA
EUDJENIJOM BARBOM // Conversation with Eugenio Barba, ODIN Teatret, Denmark
- THE STRATEGY OF SURVIVAL
22/09 20:00, Bitef teatar - "Putovanje - Journey" ISTER TEATAR
23/09 20:00, Bitef teatar - "Under The Sky - Ispod neba" BORIS CAKSIRAN
24/09 20:00, Narodni muzej - "Dokumenti vremena - Documents of Time" DAH
TEATAR
25/09 20:00, Bitef teatar - "Neverovatni duel - The Incredible Duel" PLAVO
POZORISTE
26/09 20:00, Bitef teatar - "Prica o mladicu i hiljadu andjela - Story
about a Young Man and a Thousand Angels" OMEN
27/09 20:00, Bitef teatar - Tribina: "Razliciti aspekti rada i postojanja
nezavisne pozori{ne scene u Beogradu"

http://www.cyberrex.org/asocijacija
http://www.cyberrex.org



 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 Subject: NetAid 5 - the final NetAid
    From: Gordan Paunovic <gordan@residence.aec.at>
    Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 11:49:09 +0200

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Free B92 announces the final Net Aid event

Net Aid 5
15 September 1999, 00.00-24.00h CET (GMT+2)
http://www.freeb92.net/netaid/index.html

The First Net Aid event took place on May 15, 1999. It was a 24-hour
Internet party organised by the original B92 team from Belgrade, with the
assistance of friends all over the world. This event was held during the
war in Yugoslavia in order to draw the attention of international music
lovers to the Free B92 campaign and to raise voices against violence as a
tool for solving political problems anytime and anywhere.

Participants in the project have donated music - live recordings, DJ mixes
and other original material. Net Aid thus became a monthly gathering place
for friends of the original B92, the musicians, DJs and media activists
who together created a virtual B92 at the time it was banned.

The Free B92 team announces the Net Aid cycle has now been completed and
that Net Radio Free B92 will begin by the end of this month. Net Aid 5
will recall some of the high points of previous events as well as
presenting some exclusive new musical donations.

The complete Net Aid Archives, including all the original music material,
will soon be available at the Free B92 Music Department Web site.

http://www.freeb92.net/jukebox.html

Please continue to send music contributions to our address (Susanne Simon,
Net Aid, Rakoczi Ut. 8b/111/8, 1072 Budapest, Hungary).

Stay tuned for the latest Net events and the latest adventures of your radio
and music heroes on www.freeb92.net.

We thank all of you for making Net Aid possible.

The Free B92 Team, Belgrade
September 1999



 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 Subject: NATO, Yugoslavia and not so blue Danube
    From: Ivo Skoric <ivo@reporters.net>
    Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 16:14:46 -0400

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ROMANIA'S DANUBE RIVER PROTEST

Romanian shippers blockaded the Danube last week in protest against trade
losses incurred as a result of the war in Kosovo.

By Marian Chiriac in Bucharest

Last week the Danube attracted the attention of the world's media after
Romanian shippers blockaded the river.

Four tugs and several barges were moored across the Danube near Calarasi, a
port opposite Bulgaria, and river traffic brought to a halt in protest
against at trade losses incurred as a result of the war in Kosovo.

"This is a fight for survival", said Nicolae Tutuianu, unshaven and
bleary-eyed after three days of protest. Tutuianu is the manager of the
Romanian Shippers' Association which is demanding the resumption of
international traffic on the Danube.

"We have lost up to $50 million in trade and from the oil embargo against
Yugoslavia, "he says. "More than 3,500 people working on the river have
lost their jobs this year."

Romanian shipping companies also want the government to help repatriate
some 174 vessels marooned in Austrian and Hungarian ports.

The shippers, who were later joined by their Bulgarian colleagues, also
demand that the Yugoslav authorities remove all obstacles to traffic on the
Danube. At present, Belgrade only allows Russian and Ukrainian ships to use
the river in its territory, navigating around the wreckage of bombed
bridges, via an old canal that, before the war, had not been used for many
years.

Yugoslavia is insisting that neighbouring states with an interest in the
reopening of the Danube help pay an estimated $100 million bill required
for clearing debris, caused by the NATO bombing campaign, out of the river.
Some of the planes that bombed and destroyed the Danube bridges entered
Yugoslavia from Bulgarian and Romanian airspace.

In retaliation for Belgrade's restrictions on Danube shipping, Bucharest
decided to ban Yugoslav ships from Romanian rivers and maritime waters, the
day after the shippers' protests.

However, Bucharest also feels let down by the West and is almost as
resentful of NATO and the European Union as it is of Belgrade.

"Romania fulfilled its obligations 100 per cent, in terms of the oil
embargo as well as other factors, including the list of undesirable
persons, established by the European Union," Prime Minister Radu Vasile
says. "Despite this, Romania has not yet experienced any benefits."

The Transport and Trade and Industry Ministers also lent their weight to
the shippers' protest, insisting that the international community must
ensure resumption of traffic on the Danube and lift the oil embargo against
Yugoslavia.

Although the bombing campaign has ended, the Romanian economy remains dazed
by the war in Yugoslavia. According to official estimates, direct losses
from the Kosovo conflict will amount to $915 million by the end of the
year.

Hence Romania's dilemma. Although the country aspires to membership of NATO
and the European Union, it is disappointed that it has nothing to show for
its pro-Western stance, and fears that unless it can come to some sort of
rapprochement with Belgrade it faces further economic and political losses.

** The World Wide Fund for Nature, which sent a six-strong team to
Yugoslavia for three days at the end of July called reported on September
14 that toxic pollutants released close to places hit by NATO bombing may
now be spreading into surrounding areas via the Danube.

Soil and water samples it took "showed the presence of notable quantities
of mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ethylene dichloride
(EDC), and other highly toxic substances, including dioxins". The WWF says
the pollution is now "threatening groundwater drinking supplies and natural
resources in several countries of the area".

And Pekka Haavisto, the chairman of the United Nations Balkan Task Force,
said this week that there was a possibility that rising water levels could
push mercury, dioxins and petrochemical waste into the Danube.

Marian Chiriac is news editor of the MediaFax News Agency in  Bucharest and
editor of Foreign Policy, a quarterly published by the Romanian Academic
Society.

IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 75
http://www.iwpr.net



 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 Subject: Adona
    From: Ivo Skoric <ivo@reporters.net>
    Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 02:47:31 -0400

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The high school student that used internet to communicate with
her pen-pal in California from Prishtina while NATO was bombing
and Serbs were looting - bringing unique and unforgettable angle,
that was later aired by NPR and CNN, is now in the U.S. along with
three friends from the Postpessimist organization. The
Postpessimists are a Post-Yugoslav fenomenon: youth that moved
beyond pessimism. They had members in all new countries
(check: http://galeb.etf.bg.ac.yu/~becha/Bijela/report.html). The
foursome are helped to graduate high school in the U.S. (i.e.
putting them on the fast track) by the Kosovo/a Refugee Student
Support Project (http://home.earthlink.net/~zinman/).

ivo




#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net