What I Told Milosevic

Less than a half hour following the conclusion of the special session of the People's Assembly, the Vice- President of the Government of Serbia and Leader of the Radical Party, Vojislav Seselj, held a press conference in the Belgrade suburb of Zemun.  In a jam-packed room, faced by seventy foreign and domestic journalists, in sweltering heat, but with refreshments ready at hand, Vojislav Seselj began the press conference by saying that the Radicals were ready to accept "the fundamental outlines of Chrenomirdin's plan, the so-called Russian plan which Chernomirding brought to Belgrade in his last visit," but that according to his assessment the Russian plan had been abandoned and that this time Chernomirdin came with the plan put forth by NATO, the Americans and the European Union.  "This plan is completely unacceptable for the Serbian Radical Party," stated Seselj, adding that the SRS voted against the adoption of this plan in the Serbian Parliament.  In his explanation Vojislav Seselj noted that the position of his Party is that all Yugoslav troupes cannot withdraw from Kosovo and Metohija and that "we must maintain there at least a normal peacetime military and police presence, which means 15,000 soldiers and 10,000 policemen."  The Radicals believe that NATO troupes must not come to Kosmet.  "We will never accept the troupes of aggressors in any part of Serbia," stressed Seselj, noting that SRS "certainly cannot accept that eventual UN troupes should be under NATO command."  According to him, not even a temporary administration in Kosmet "should be allowed to replace our authorities there, as has been accepted in these principles."  For him "it is unacceptable for our Army to begin withdrawal before the bombing stops, and before NATO stops its aggressive methods against the FRY," and that "it is unacceptable for our Army to serve some foreign army in clearing mine fields or to perform any such activities in the service of NATO."

Along with his assessment that Kosovo and Metohija are only one phase, as he put it, in the aggressor's attacks on the Serbian people and on all Serbian territories, and conjecture that following Krajina, Republika Srpska and Kosovo, Montenegro will be next in line, followed by Sandzak, Vojvodina, and who knows what else, Vojslav Seselj did not fail to attack "those politicians who are offering to be the occupier's sycophants."  This time, along with Zoran Djindjic, he made special mention of Vuk Draskovic who, as he put it, "is simply blissful because of this ultimatum with which Chernomirdin came to Belgrade," although he expressed the conviction that the people will not allow "candidates for a new Milan Nedic" (Serbian General who cooperated with Hitler during W.W.II) to rule this country.

Understandably the principal issue which interested journalists was whether the after this the Radicals will remain in the Government.  The answer: "We will certainly not remain in the Government long enough to see the coming of troupes from aggressor's countries, principally American troupes to Kosovo and Metohija."  Poor Tim Marshal from Sky News came without a translator so that he was immediately given a lecture on the fact that the official language of this country is Serbian.  His colleagues jumped to his aide so that an incident of sorts was quickly smoothed over, with journalists learning that further actions on the part of the SRS will depend on concrete military, political and other developments.  Vojislav Seselj expressed regret at the fact that his coalition partners from the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) voted for accepting this plan, but he directed journalists to ask the President of that party for everything they wish to know about the SPS.  He also refused to comment the behavior of Russian politicians, not forgetting to comment that Russian help is not in keeping with his expectations, but that "Russia is still helping in a certain way, if only because it is not participating itself in the bombing."  When asked what would be his advice to NATO troupes, he answered that his advice would be "to stay as far away as possible from Kosovo and Metohija, for regardless of which formation they end up coming in, they will not feel secure."

When asked about the status of Kosmet and eventual changes to the Serbian Constitution, Vojislav Seselj noted that any changes to the Constitution require a two thirds majority in the Serbian Parliament and that this would be impossible without the SRS, for the remaining MP "would need to be in absolute agreement in order for this to be achieved."  "We have 83 MP in Parliament and we need only one more mandate to prevent this absolute unity," stated Seselj with the observation that a similar balance between parties exists in the federal parliament.  According to him, "in it generality" the offered document can be compared to the ten principles of the Contact Group leading into Rambouillet and that a more extensive document is being expected, a document which could be "less advantageous than the Rambouillet document."  With an affirmative answer to the question whether this peace agreement will undergo further discussion in the Serbian Government, Vojislav Seselj confirmed that on Wednesday evening he spoke with the Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for two and a half hours   from 10 p.m. to a half-hour past midnight   telling him the same thing that he told journalists, "that this plan should not be accepted."  When asked whether he expects resistence to the coming of foreign troupes to Kosmet, he answered: "We'll see."

As far as the elections are concerned, the Leader of the Radicals noted that in the coming year regular federal and local elections should be held, and as far as the SRS is concerned, he stated that his Party would wish for an early election at all levels.  Because of general formulations regarding the peace plan which invite different interpretations, Vojislav Seselj did not accept to call its adoption as capitulation, but expressed concern that the Americans might "skillfully exploit its every generality in realizing their own interests."

The final question posed caused general laughter among those present: will the Government drop the mandatory TV tax for state television, included on the monthly electricity bill, given the fact that Radio Television Serbia programs can only be seen on other television station frequencies.  The answer, of course, was no.

Uros Komlenovic