9 March Meeting of Contact Group on former Yugoslavia

Date: 12/03/1998

FIVE members of the six-nation Contact Group of powerful countries agreed to halt financial aid to Serbia, impose an arms embargo, ban sales of equipment which could be used for repression, and deny visas to senior Yugoslav officials. They also demanded that Belgrade start talks on self rule with the Albanian-dominated province of Kosovo within ten days, or face a freeze on Yugoslav assets abroad. Russia agreed to halt sales of arms and deny visas, but held off imposing financial sanctions until the next Contact Group meeting at the end of this month.

“THE violent repression of non-violent expression of political views is completely indefensible,” said ministers from the United States, Russia, the UK, France, Germany and Italy. British Foreign Minister Robin Cook, current holder of the EU presidency, added: “The situation in Kosovo cannot be resolved by heavy-handed policing activity, and the international community will not tolerate the use of police in such a repressive way as we have seen over the past week, with so many deaths.”

DESPITE Russia's reluctance to impose financial sanctions, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she was satisfied with the agreement. “We need to remember that the only kind of pressure President Milosevic understands is the kind which imposes a real price on his unacceptable behaviour,” she said. Critics point out, however, that most Serbian assets abroad are already frozen, and aid has already been halted. Responding to Serbian claims that Kosovo was an internal affair, Albright added: “We must first acknowledge that this crisis is not an internal affair of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The violence is an affront to the universal standards of human rights we are pledged to uphold.”

MINISTERS agreed that a United Nations peace-keeping force should remain in the neighbouring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to stop the conflict from spreading across borders and igniting a new Balkan-wide struggle. There was no immediate reaction from Belgrade to the announcement, which followed a Serbian attack on alleged terrorists in which up to 80 people were killed, including women and children. The six powers will meet again on 25 March to review the situation.