KOSOVO: POLITICIANS EXPRESS OPPOSITION TO MILOSEVIC

(8 Jul 1999) English/Nat

Increasing protests against Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia show that ordinary Serbs are "waking up" to the horrors he incited in Kosovo, according to British Defence Secretary George Robertson.

Robertson is in the provincial capital Pristina to meet British troops deployed as part of the K-FOR peace-keeping force.

Meanwhile, a key opposition leader in Serbia, Zoran Djindjic of the Democratic Party arrived in Kosovo to seek support from Kosovo Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox church which has been the most outspoken critic of President Slobodan Milosevic.

British Defence Secretary George Robertson arrived in Kosovo on Thursday on his official visit to the province.

Upon his arrival he toured central Pristina and visited one of the city's main mosques, before holding a news conference.

This is Robertson's first visit to Kosovo since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign forced Milosevic to accept a peace plan requiring him to pull out all his troops and allow deployment of a NATO peacekeeping force.

At the news conference Robertson told Kosovo Serbs that NATO forces hadn't come to Kosovo to begin an ethnic cleansing operation. He urged them to remain in Kosovo where they still have a future.

SOUNDBITE (English):
" We have to give a clear and unmistakable message to the minority Kosovo - Serb population, hear that they have a future in this country and that we have not come here to participate or to acquiesce in another form of ethnic cleansing. We came here to create a safe environment for all those who call Kosovo their home"
SUPER CAPTION: George Robertson, British Defence Secretary

Robertson said that a series of demonstrations this week in the Serbian cities of Uzice and Leskovac, were a clear sign that the ordinary Serbs realised who their real enemy was.

SOUNDBITE (English):
"Sizeable spontaneous protests that have taken place in Serbia shows that the man responsible for the violence in this part of Europe is now being pinpointed even by his own people, the ordinary Serbs in whose name this horrifying violence took place are wakening up to what Milosevic did, and into their name as well. The message of NATO and the message of these demonstrators is very clear Milosevic is a loser"
SUPER CAPTION: George Robertson, British Defence Secretary

A key Serb opposition leader, Zoran Djindjic of the Democratic Party, was warmly welcomed by the Kosovo Serbian leader Momcilo Trajkovic as he arrived in town.

He said that there was no doubt that Milosevic's regime was coming to an end.

SOUNDBITE (English):
(When asked about future of the opposition)
"I think the right question is - what's the future of Milosevic. Opposition and democratic Serbia have the future, but Milosevic and the current government has not. When we talk about future of these government, we are talking about weeks, or months. But future of the opposition and of democratic Serbia is a real future of the region. That's the only way to avoid regional conflicts. The only way is to establish democratic structure in whole region, and the key part is Serbia"
SUPER CAPTION: Zoran Djindjic, Democratic Party leader

Later on Thursday Djindjic was due to seek the Serbian Orthodox Church's backing for the opposition movement. He planned to meet church leaders at the Gracanica monastery near Pristina.

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