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Yugoslav Asks for U.S. Respect By Nora Boustany Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic is young, confident and eager to convey to U.S. officials and other agenda-setters in Washington that it is time to stop treating his country like a rogue state. "This theme has been exhausted, and it is about time to change the attitude toward Yugoslavia to one respecting the difficulties we are facing and the progress we have made," he told Washington Post reporters and editors on Tuesday. He said Yugoslavia had advanced in its efforts to realign itself within a broader European framework and was seeking membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace. He said that if new U.S. aid to Yugoslavia had conditions attached, he hoped they would take into account Yugoslavia's new laws and bilateral treaties with neighboring countries aimed at encouraging trade and the free movement of individuals. He noted that legislators in Belgrade were about to formally ratify the 1995 Dayton accords that ended the war in Bosnia. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell certified in May that Belgrade had met U.S. conditions for cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague. That allowed $40 million in aid to be released and enabled Washington to support loans to Yugoslavia from such international lending bodies as the World Bank. Although Yugoslavia appeared to be experiencing an internal struggle over its cooperation with the tribunal, 14 people, including senior political and military officials, have been transferred there in 15 months, Svilanovic pointed out. He noted that former president Zoran Lilic went to The Hague in connection with the genocide and war crimes proceedings against ousted strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Prosecutors hope to call Lilic as a witness in the next phase of the trial. "Politically, this was very challenging," Svilanovic said of the internal opposition to such cooperation. Svilanovic met with Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage and other administration officials, as well as lawmakers, while he was here. On the bright side, the minister said the Yugoslav economy grew by 5.5 percent last year because of investments in agriculture and energy, and was expected to wind up this year with 3.8 percent to 4 percent growth. He attributed the drop from last year to dips in construction activity and the industrial sector. "Where I see a problem is in foreign investments," Svilanovic said. "We did not manage to attract such investments, and we appreciate any aid we can get. We are in need of foreign aid." Yugoslavia is trying to negotiate landing rights in the United States for Yugoslav Airlines, its national carrier, and Svilanovic said a team from the Federal Aviation Administration would visit Belgrade soon for discussions. © 2002 The Washington Post Company
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