[ALBSA-Info] TOP RUSSIAN MP SLAMS WEST'S "CRUDE INTERFERENCE" IN YUGOSLAVIA ITAR-TASS-From JRL

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

The following article was published on Johnson's Russia List on on October 2, 
2000

TOP RUSSIAN MP SLAMS WEST'S "CRUDE INTERFERENCE" IN YUGOSLAVIA

ITAR-TASS 


Moscow, 2nd October, ITAR-TASS correspondent Aleksey Kravchenko: The crude 

interference of the West in the Yugoslav electoral contest may make Slobodan 

Milosevic "ultimately the only possible candidate in the eyes of the majority 

of the population". 


The chairman of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, Dmitriy 

Rogozin, said this today in an interview for ITAR-TASS. He said Russia was 

adhering to a principled position of non-interference in the internal affairs 

of Yugoslavia, thereby contributing to the establishment of a dialogue 

between the sides. This was precisely the aim of the proposal by the Russian 

president "to receive in Moscow in the next few days both candidates who have 

gone into the second round of the elections", he stressed. 


Dmitriy Rogozin considers that in the current situation it is worthwhile for 

the opposition to take part in the second round. "Kostunica has nothing to 

fear. After all, judging by the results of the first round he got at least 49 

per cent of the votes, and even if one takes into account the various claims 

of possible rigging there is still a need to agree to a second round, while 

at the same time stepping up control over the work of the electoral 

commissions," the Russian parliamentarian said. "The only way to put a stop 

to the crisis in the Balkans is with the participation of a strong, united, 

democratically developing Yugoslavia." 


"In order for this to become possible, Belgrade must have a president who has 

been legitimately elected and who will come to power not thanks to foreign 

bayonets nor as a result of a counter-revolutionary coup by the governing 

regime," Rogozin stressed. At the same time it is necessary to insist that 

the further development of the situation in Yugoslavia should pass off 

exclusively in conformity with the country's constitution, laws and decisions 

by the supreme judicial bodies, Rogozin said.