YUGOSLAVIA: GREEK PREMIER MITSOTAKIS MEETS MILOSEVIC скачать в хорошем качестве

YUGOSLAVIA: GREEK PREMIER MITSOTAKIS MEETS MILOSEVIC

(27 May 1999) Eng/Serbo-Croat/Nat On the heels of his indictment by an international war crimes tribunal, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has reiterated his support for United Nations efforts to find a political solution to the Kosovo crisis. Meeting in Belgrade with former Greek Premier Constantine Mitsotakis, Milosevic said his country was in favour of a diplomatic solution and that only the U-N had the power to find one. The indictment charges him and four of his aides with the murder and expulsion of Kosovar Albanians during the current crisis. A spokesman for Milosevic reacted with outrage to the news, accusing the West of practicing genocide against Yugoslavia and blaming it for the conflict. And in Geneva, Yugoslavia's ambassador to the U-N said his country would not recognise the arrest warrant since it does not consider the war crimes tribunal a legitimate world court. Hours after an international war crimes tribunal indicted Slobodan Milosevic for alleged atrocities in Kosovo, the Yugoslav president was reiterating calls for the United Nations to take the lead in solving the crisis. Milosevic was meeting on Thursday with former Greek Premier Constantine Mitsotakis in Belgrade. Mitsotakis was also greeted by Serbian president, Milan Milutinovic, who along with three others was also indicted in the international court's indictment issued from The Hague in the Netherlands. Earlier in the day, Milosevic and his aides were indicted by the Hague tribunal on charges of murder and expulsion during this year's Kosovo crisis. But Milosevic was going about his daily routine of official meetings, seemingly unconcerned by the historic decision, the first charging a sitting head of state with such crimes. No mention was made of the arrest warrants, but the court's announcement may have encouraged Milosevic to reiterate his hopes for a peaceful outcome in Kosovo. In repeating his support for a U-N-brokered solution, Milosevic said Yugoslavia was behind efforts to solve the Balkans conflict by political rather than military means. According to the Tanjug news agency, Greece's former premier is on a three-day private visit to Belgrade to promote a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis. He expressed his 'personal' support for Milosevic and said he hoped a political compromise over the Balkans crisis was imminent for the sake of the Yugoslav people. While serving as Greek premier from 1990-1993, Mitsotakis had close ties with Milosevic and helped diplomatic efforts over the war in Bosnia. Speaking in Geneva, Branko Brankovic, Yugoslavia's chief envoy to the United Nations' European headquarters in Geneva, denounced the court ruling. He said since Yugoslavia did not recognise the tribunal as a legitimate court, the indictments - as far as his country was concerned - had no effect. SOUNDBITE: (English) "First and foremost, this is an indictment of a non-existent court by non-existent Madame Arbour. She exists, but whatever she has a duty to do does not exist. This court for us does not exist, so the indictment as well does not exist. Second point I would like to mention as far as this is concerned, this so-called indictment is, I think, the last attempt by the NATO countries to avoid what is obviously inevitable, and that is a total collapse of the policy of aggression by NATO against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." SUPER CAPTION: Branko Brankovic, Yugoslavia's chief envoy to the UN's European HQ in Geneva SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat) SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat) Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...