Belgrade votes to join Russian alliance
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Tuesday, April 13, 1999
BELGRADE [MENL] -- Yugoslavia's parliament, in an apparent effort for
military aid, voted on Monday to join an alliance with Belarus and
Russia.
"It is yet another way to resist NATO aggression," Serbian Premier
Mirko Marjanovic said.
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic requested membership in the
alliance in a letter delivered to Russian President Boris Yeltsin on
Sunday. Russian officials welcomed the request but said defense aid
would not be immediately offered.
"Moscow positively regards the idea of Yugoslavia's membership in the
union of Russia and Belarus, and corresponding orders have been given to
study this issue," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters
in Moscow.
Ivanov said membership for Yugoslavia would take time and Belgrade
would not be formally accepted until after NATO operations ends. The
union calls for military cooperation as well as extensive economic and
political ties. So far, the treaty between Moscow and Minsk remains
largely on paper.
In Moscow, Yugoslavia's ambassador to Russia told a news conference
that his government would not negotiate a political solution to the
crisis directly with NATO or the six-nation Contact Group until the
fighting ends.
"Stop the bombings and then ways can be found of going back to the
political process," Borislav Milosevic, the president's brother, said.
"But not with the aggressors, not with the now-defunct Contact Group.
Other mediation mechanisms can be found and we see Russia playing a very
major role in this."
Tuesday, April 13, 1999
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