YUGOSLAVIA DISSATISFIED WITH WATTS' PROPOSAL ON SUCCESSION

BELGRADE, Sept 4 (Hina) - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia expressed dissatisfaction with a draft document on succession which was submitted for discussion to successor countries of former Yugoslavia by the international mediator for succession issues, Sir Arthur Watts. The draft document on the succession to former Yugoslavia is to present a starting point for a new round of negotiations which is to begin in Brussels on Thursday. Yugoslav representatives on Tuesday commented on Arthur Watts' document at a special state television broadcast on Tuesday. They expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Watts had offered a draft of the Memorandum of Understanding instead of an unofficial document for the continuation of efforts to apportion the property of the former Yugoslavia. According to the Yugoslav representatives, the Memorandum contained all elements of the agreement, but without the views of the Yugoslav side. Belgrade especially resented the fact that Watts had determined a reference date of April 27, 1992 for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in line with the decision of the Badinter Commission that the former federation had broken down to its member states. On April 27, 1992 the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed. Yugoslavia persistently insists on the secession thesis and its exclusive right to legal succession. Instead of negotiations, Watts' proposal offers international arbitration the decisions of which would be final. A member of the Yugoslav negotiating group Oskar Kovac described the act of initiating the arbitration process as "very unpleasant'", because each interested side would have to submit the documentation of all accounts of their national bank and other banks. This would be risky for Yugoslavia which was still under sanctions, Kovac said. The value of all assets of the former state which should be divided amounted to 200 billion dollars and the former Yugoslavia's total debt amounted to 14.5 billion dollars, out of which 36 to 45 percent should be paid by Yugoslavia, head of the Yugoslav negotiation team, Kosta Mihajlovic, said. The Yugoslav side keeps insisting on a 'package-resolution' of all problems of the distribution of assets and debts and condemns partial agreements reached by Croatia and Slovenia with international monetary institutions. Representatives of Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia, which have had equal views about the succession from the start, on Tuesday discussed Watt's suggestion in Ljubljana. They stressed their opinion that the document should take into consideration the views on Yugoslav succession which were included in the decision of the Badinter Commission and UN Security Council documents. These four successor states held that Watt's document contained some satisfactory solutions but also held that the term "state ownership" should not be introduced into the document as it would mean that the international community was yielding to Belgrade's stance. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the document treated the issue of distribution of former Yugoslavia's assets abroad. (hina) lm jn 041624 MET sep 96