April 19th, 1999

Interview - "Democratic changes are necessary for Serbia and Yugoslavia"

    Russian NTV showed last night an interview with Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic. I send its full text in English since I assume that reports on the Montenegrin position are biased or simply unavailble both in Serbia and in the West.
    Text of interview by Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic given on April 19 to Russian NTV's "Itogi":

    Q: [Presenter Yevgeniy Kiselev] It is known that Montenegro holds a special position that differs from Serbia's on the current Balkans events. We will talk about this today with Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic. Hello, Mr President. Thank you for agreeing to take part in today's programme and answer our questions. The first question I would like to ask is how do you assess President Milosevic's idea of Yugoslavia joining the Russia-Belarus union?

    A: [Djukanovic, talking Serbo-Croat, with Russian translation superimposed] Good day, it is very pleasant for me to talk to the Russian public in this way. I have already talked about President Milosevic's initiative, which he has formally turned into an initiative by the Yugoslav parliament.

    When I say this is an initiative by the so-called Yugoslav parliament, I want to draw your attention to the fact that no legal representatives of Montenegro took part in creating this initiative. Not because Montenegro has any reservations about the initiative to work with our traditional historical friend Russia, but because for a long time Yugoslavia's institutions have not functioned as envisaged in the constitution.

    This is because of Milosevic's clear wish to limit Montenegro's influence and exclude representatives of Montenegro's democratic authorities from the work of Yugoslav institutions.

    Talking about the Yugoslav parliament's initiative, which the parliament in this cut-down form sent to Moscow, I said that the initiative is both not serious and insincere. It is not serious because Montenegro, which constitutes half of the Yugoslav federation, was supposed to express its opinion about it in the first place. It is also not serious, because before it was proposed by the Yugoslav parliament, it was necessary to ask the opinion of the Russian and Belarusian authorities not in the sense that they are ready to study this initiative, but after they study it [as said].

    Apart from that I believe that this initiative is also insincere. I think that Mr Milosevic made this proposal at the time when Yugoslavia was in a state of war with NATO. I think that Milosevic wants to drag Russia into a war with NATO and to prove his statement about that World War III is starting in the Balkans.

    Q: You have just said that Milosevic would like to drag Russia into a conflict with NATO and to start World War III. Do you really think, as a person who has met the Serbian president [as said], that he is capable of doing that?

    A: I am absolutely sure that Milosevic has such ambitions and desires. He also believes that to reach his goals he can abuse the traditional friendship with Russia. But whether he is capable of doing that will depend on the Russian position in this situation. I think that the Russian position is quite balanced.

    Russia, through its official bodies, says constantly that it does not want to be dragged into this war in the Balkans and that it wants to help Yugoslavia otherwise - by its peace initiatives and by the participation of other countries in those initiatives.

    Q: If I understood you correctly, Mr Djukanovic, nobody consulted you as the president of Montenegro and the Serbian side did not in any way try to agree with you upon the decision to appeal to Russia and Belarus to admit Yugoslavia to this union?

    A: You understood me absolutely correctly. Nobody consulted me as the Montenegrin president, neither did they consult the Montenegrin government or parliament.

    Q: Mr President, we know that tens of thousands of refugees from Kosovo are arriving in Montenegro at the moment. What is your position regarding the issue of refugees from Kosovo and regarding what is going on in this region in general?

    A: We think that this issue should be resolved using political, not military, means. We warned Mr Milosevic and all our foreign counterparts that any kind of violence in Yugoslavia would be a mistake. It would be the wrong choice. We warned that if NATO starts using forces against FRY with the aim of punishing Mr Milosevic the outcome would be just the opposite. Milosevic's regime would be strengthened, enforced. It would also reduce the opportunities for democratic forces in Yugoslavia.

    Unfortunately they preferred not to listen to our voice of reason both in Belgrade and in the international community.

    Q: Do you think democratic changes are possible in Serbia while Milosevic is still in power?

    A: Democratic changes are necessary for Serbia and Yugoslavia. I think that Milosevic is a firm opponent of democracy. While he is on the Serbian political scene it is impossible to speak either about reforms or about Yugoslav participation in the European and international processes of integration.

    Q: And the last question I would like to ask. They say that the Belgrade authorities have great expectations as regards moderate Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova. They believe that negotiations with him could lead to the restoration of peace in Kosovo. Do you think that Rugova can represent all Kosovo Albanians?

    A: I think that, unfortunately, in the current situation it would not be possible. In previous years Milosevic many times showed that he does not understand the requirements of the time. Mr Rugova used to be real Kosovo Albanian leader once. At that time it was possible to negotiate with him. He spoke on behalf of the Albanians at that time. I think that Milosevic wasted the previous years.

    Now Rugova is not such an authoritative politician and he cannot represent the majority of the Kosovo Albanian people. I think that we need a broad international initiative. It would be very good if Russia played an active role in this initiative. I think [Russian president's special envoy] Mr [Viktor] Chernomyrdin is a very good choice. hope that this initiative appears soon and that it will lead to establishing peace in Yugoslavia. I would like to say that Montenegro will, as it did before, make its very valuable contribution in order to carry out this initiative.

    [Presenter] Thank you very much, Mr President. Thank you for taking part in our programme, for your answers.