HOW READY IS YUGOSLAVIA FOR NATO - AND VICE VERSA?

BELGRADE, Sept 30 (Hina) - The doors are wide open for Yugoslavia to enter NATO' Partnership for Peace programme, A NATO senior official said in Belgrade, adding it is questionable how much readiness there is within Yugoslavia itself to join the PFP, despite the declarative opting for such a security position of the FRY. NATO official Robert Serry stressed the change in the government structure in Yugoslavia fulfilled an important precondition for joining the programme, but also recalled some obstacles such as the undefined relations between the FRY and the international criminal court, and military relations between Belgrade and the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Serry repeated his statements several times during a three-day conference in Belgrade on the subject of Yugoslavia's joining the PFP and the Euro-Atlantic community, which was attended by home military experts, Yugoslav army senior officers and representatives of the NATO and EU. All participants supported FRY's entry into the Partnership for Peace, but also pointed out several problems. Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic requested the army be put under strict civilian supervision, and that the Yugoslav government in the future appoint the army's general staff commissioners. According to the current Constitution, President Vojislav Kostunica has the authority to appoint the general staff commissioners. Svilanovic asked that this be changed, so the army is under control of the government, not the president. The foreign minister admitted "many in the country" opposed the idea. It is assumed that the top military echelons would oppose Yugoslavia's entry into the PFP, more specifically, from the former "Kosovo hero" who claims to have in 1999 "won over the NATO aggressor", the hard-line general Nebojsa Pavkovic, the current Yugoslav Army Chief-of-Staff, whose mandate is the cause of frequent conflicts within the ruling coalition DOS. Asked whether Pavkovic was a hindrance to FRY's joining the NATO programme, Serry replied it was up to the Yugoslav government to decide about his fate. President Kostunica's advisor, Predrag Simic, however, announced "undergoing political changes" concerning the issue. Simic agreed that Yugoslavia "should in any case enter the PFP", and cited some of the reasons: the country is under reforms, so the security sector cannot be circumvented. Moreover, Yugoslavia is facing threats from Kosovo, the South of Serbia and Macedonia, hence FRY's joining the programme could render security operations more effective. And finally, all countries in Yugoslavia's neighbourhood have already joined the NATO programme, or are "one foot in" the PFP. Simic believes his country should also "adjust to the new circumstances". The Yugoslav participants of the conference said they believed the relations between Serbia and Montenegro should be redefined first, and this would give the answer what Yugoslavia is, should it persevere. At their surprise, the NATO official announced that every republic of the Yugoslav federation can apply for the Partnership for Peace programme on its own, should they wish to do so. No decision was reached, nor was meant to be reached at the conference in Belgrade. The goal of the conference was to get Yugoslavia acquainted with the PFP, and all the advantages joining the programme could bring. Yugoslavia has been invited to join the PFP as soon as possible several times, being in its security and political interest to do so. NATO and EU representatives recalled several times that the international peace-keeping troops in Kosovo, KFOR, are no hindrance to the process. On the other hand, it seems clear that the Yugoslav/Serbian government is cautious in its dialogue with the "aggressor of yesterday", as it believes it could draw closer physically to Kosovo should it join. Serry said the NATO had no other choice than to attack Yugoslavia at the time of the former president Slobodan Milosevic's rule and the war in Kosovo. You all know that your former leader, who we call a dictator, violated many UN resolutions and our warnings before our air strikes, Serry stressed, adding that should it wish to do so, Yugoslavia may very easily, via letter, request to join the PFP, but could also, just as easily, step out of the programme later. (hina) lml