This Week

Thursday, October 22
Pristina – After a meeting with Christopher Hill, Ibrahim Rugova said he supported the Milosevic-Holbrooke agreement and appealed to Kosovo’s citizens to do the same. He asked “groups of armed ethnic Albanians” to restrain themselves from military action. The KLA’s ‘military police spokesman” said that Tanjug’s two reporters abducted by the KLA would be handed over to the Red Cross soon.
Belgrade – Police stopped professors suspended from the Electro technical university from going to class.
Ibrahim Rugova gets this year’s Sakharov prize from the European Parliament, for advocating a peaceful solution to the Kosovo conflict.

Friday, October 23
Belgrade – The price of health care goes up by 40 percent in Serbia
The founder, the editor-in-chief and the founder of the Belgrade periodical Evropljanin go to trial after a complaint filed by The Patriotic League of Belgrade.
Thesaloniki – Marko Bulatovic, a graduate of a Belgrade high school, is killed while touring Greece with his class-mates during a school excursion.
Podgorica – Milica Pejanovic–Djurisic, the president of Montenegro’s Democratic Party of Socialists, confirms she won’t go for another mandate. The only other candidate for the position at the upcoming party congress is Milo Djukanovic, the Montenegrin president.

Saturday, October 24
Belgrade – Slavko Curuvija, the owner of the weekly Evropljanin, the weekly’s editor-in-chief and founder are fined a total of 2.4 million dinars.
New York – The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1203 demanding Yugoslavia’s immediate and full compliance with the Milosevic-Holbrooke agreement. Russia and China abstained while the 13 other members voted for the Resolution. The USA and Britain warned that NATO was prepared to take military action, if necessary, to protect the verifying mission in Kosovo.
The Security Council condemned the Belgrade regime for lashing out at Serbia’s independent media.
Prague – Adem Demaqi, the political representative of the illegal Kosovo Liberation Army, said freedom and death were the only two options for ethnic Albanians living in Serbia’s southern province. “There is no other choice for us”, he said in the Czech capital.
 
Sunday, October 25
Belgrade – A financial inspector and his police escort barged into the premises of the Belgrade daily Dnevni Telegraf at around 9 p.m. and started confiscating the daily’s property, pending the 2.4 million-dinar fine.

Monday, October 26
Pristina – Yugoslav army and police troops start withdrawing to their garrison barracks. The verifying mission in Kosovo confirms that the troops are withdrawing to their bases.
Strasbourg – The European Council’s human rights court to be inaugurated in the European Palace on November 3, as the first court where an individual will be able to sue the state for violating human rights.

Tuesday, October 27
Brussels – The NATO Council decides to suspend the activation order for a military intervention against Serbia.
Belgrade –Jovica Stanisic, the head of Serbia’s secret police, is sacked and replaced by Radomir Markovic.
Goran Paskaljevic’s “Powder Keg” (Bure Baruta) is nominated Yugoslavia’s Oscar candidate, says the Film and Art Academy.

Wednesday, October 28
Pristina – The first 13 OSCE verifiers arrive in Kosovo.
 
 

The Margin

Tito Was Better
According to a public survey conducted by the Medium organization, 15 percent of Serbia’s population have a highly favourable opinion about Slobodan Milosevic while 35 percent deplore the Yugoslav president. Most of the polled believe that the late Josip Broz Tito was a better ruler than Milosevic.