INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUPS WORRIES ABOUT REFORMS IN YUGOSLAVIA

BRUSSELS/ZAGREB, March 8 (Hina) - The International Crisis Group (ICG), in a report on Yugoslavia issued on Friday, warns there remain serious obstacles to the establishment of regional stability in the Balkans even after former President Slobodan Milosevic was ousted. The ICG says in the report there is no civil control over the Yugoslav Army (VJ), and that organised crime is present at all levels of VJ and the Interior Ministry. According to the report, the Yugoslav government refuses to cooperate with the Hague war crimes tribunal, violates the Dayton Agreement by financing the Bosnian Serb army, maintains illegal parallel police in Kosovo, and keeps 78 Albanian political prisoners in detention. NATO, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United States must harmonise their actions towards Yugoslavia and reject each attempt of alleviating international standards to Belgrade's advantage, ICG says. The international community must insist that the Yugoslav government correct the said omissions before it is admitted to the NATO's Partnership for Peace and the Council of Europe, starts negotiations on the stabilisation and association with the EU, and before it receives further US assistance. (hina) np sb