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American Morning

How Will Milosevic Extradition Affect Eastern Politics?

Aired June 29, 2001 - 10:26   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is behind bars and is awaiting trial at the United Nations war crimes tribunal. Milosevic is expected to appear in court next week to answer charges of crimes against humanity. He was indicted two years ago in connection to alleged atrocities carried out against ethnic Albanians.

Yugoslavia's hand over of Milosevic is winning some wide praise from the international community and several countries are now pledging financial aid and predicting improved stability in the region. Such news is being greeted with some skepticism along the shifting battle lines in this country of Macedonia. Earlier today, NATO announced it would dispatch up to 3,000 troops to the former Yugoslav Republic to help disarm ethnic Albanian rebels.

Our Nic Robertson gauges the mood now in Macedonia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On this front line, a resupply truck rumbles towards the trenches. Soldiers amble around, belying the tense stand-off with rebels. Across the fields and out of sight, rebels hide in the villages where the hills rise towards the border with Kosovo. Close to the front line, Stavray (ph) sits chain smoking, a refugee since he fled his house at the foot of the hills when the rebels arrived a month ago.

Now he has plenty of time to talk with his mother and friends. Top of their list of grievances: lack of help from Western aid groups and the international involvement in the Balkans.

"If the international community comes, they will put in buffer zones like Cypress," he says, "and we will be cantonized (ph)."

(on camera): It is a fear that resonates with many Slavs. Since international troops helped rebels retreated with their weapons a few days ago, confidence in the international community has plummeted. It is into this less than welcoming mix that Europe's latest envoy, Francois Leotard, arrived to take up his new post as mediator.

(voice-over): The former French defense minister made headlines even before he arrived, drawing the ire of Macedonian newspapers for telling a radio station the rebels should be involved in talks. A friend of criminals, accuses one paper. For ethnic Albanians, having someone like Leotard as middleman could be key.

RIZUAN SULEJMANI, PARTY FOR DEMOCRATIC PROSPERITY: The differences between us and Macedonia are very deep. It is the reason why we think that in this moment we need a negotiator, a real negotiator who could help us to find a solution.

ROBERTSON: Meanwhile, at the front line the waiting goes on. Nic Robertson, CNN, Skopje, Macedonia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, let's turn now to an expert on Eastern Europe and ethnic politics. Janusz Bugajski is director of the Eastern Europe project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He joins us from our bureau in Washington. Good morning. Thanks for coming in and shedding some light on all of this for us and enlightening us on some things that we may not be aware of on a regular basis here.

JANUSZ BUGAJSKI, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Good morning.

HARRIS: First of all, let's start with the Milosevic hand over. Does this help or hurt the situation domestically inside the country he's leaving behind?

BUGAJSKI: Well, it certainly helps the situation regionally in terms of Milosevic finally being behind bars after 10 years of impunity with war crimes. On the other hand, I think it does stir up potential conflict between the Serbian Republican government, which was responsible for dispatching him to the Hague, and the federal administration led by Vojislav Kostunica. I think we will witness an increasing power struggle between these two structures within what's left of Yugoslavia.

HARRIS: And what do you think that may lead to?

BUGAJSKI: Well, quite potentially, if, indeed, the Montenegran element of the government follows through and abandons the administration, we could be faced with new elections, a potential boycott by Montenegro, both the pro and anti-independence forces, and even a potential break-up of the Federation with Serbia reasserting its authority with Montenegro reasserting its independence.

HARRIS: What signs would you be looking for to determine whether or not that is going to happen?

BUGAJSKI: I think the relationship between prime minister, Serbian Prime Minister Djindjic and the Yugoslav President Kostunica has to be very carefully watched over the next two or three weeks, whether, indeed, elections are called for. If they are, I do believe you could have a major crisis in what's left of Yugoslavia, a political crisis.

HARRIS: Many people are questioning the haste with which the -- Mr. Djindjic and his faction actually moved in making this move by granting Mr. Milosevic and extraditing him, even though the country's constitutional court had decided that it was not constitutional.

BUGAJSKI: Yeah, I think Djindjic calculated that people around, within the constitutional court and around the federal government could prevaricate, delay, obstruct the process of extradition and cooperation with the Hague, which would endanger the massive amounts of assistance that Serbia desperately needs in order to survive economically and pay off its debts. I think Djindjic calculated it's either acting now or we're going to be faced with a protracted situation with no international assistance.

HARRIS: And since we've also been talking about Macedonia this morning, I'd like to hear your thoughts on that situation and whether or not the two are actually linked and whether or not there is a NATO link between the two of them and is a common one here.

BUGAJSKI: Well, there are many links. I think it's very important at a time when Milosevic is finally in the Hague for us to prevent and deter and now allow more war crimes to occur in a country like Macedonia. And there's clearly a danger of that if, indeed, the talks between the Macedonians and Albanians break down, if the guerrillas continue to gain support. You could be faced with a civil war and quite a brutal civil war with all that has accompanied it in the past, in other words, ethnic cleansing, potential genocide, forced movement of populations and so on. So it's a very pivotal moment, I think, in Macedonia.

HARRIS: Janusz Bugajski, thank you very much for your insight. We sure do appreciate that, there in our Washington bureau.

And on that note, on the note of what is happening to people on the home fronts there in Macedonia, let's go and take a look at this point turmoil through the eyes of those who live there or those who know others who do live there. Donna Clauder has relatives in Macedonia and she's a high school teacher who lives right now in Columbus, Ohio. And Bojana Atansova is her cousin and is an exchange student right now from Skopje, Macedonia. And the two of them join us this morning from Columbus, Ohio. Ladies, thank you very much for coming in and talking with us.

Bojana, I would like to speak with you, first of all. Have you been in touch regularly with your family back home in Skopje?

BOJANA ATANSOVA, EXCHANGE STUDENT FROM SKOPJE: Well, I have, came here with my mother and I have some cousins in Macedonia and my family, too.

HARRIS: So you are not here as a refugee? You actually are here as an exchange student but...

ATANSOVA: Yes. I came here because I want to study here high school and I'm going to be now in ninth grade and I want to finish the high school, the fourth year here.

HARRIS: But now that you hear about the news of what's happening back home in Macedonia, are you thinking that you would like to go back there immediately or do you not want to go back there at all or what?

ATANSOVA: Well, I want to be with my family and my friends when this is all happening but I'm now here and I'm going to study here. But I'm really worried about my friends and my family there. I mean it's very horrible to be here and your best friends and your family to be out there in that situation in that bad situation which is coming worse and worse.

HARRIS: Donna Clauder, and I suppose that you would echo those sentiments, since you do have relatives over there in Macedonia?

DONNA CLAUDER, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: Yes, and, in fact, we're in contact every day with our relatives via the Internet and also, you know, by phone. And every day we learn that it's getting worse and worse and that people are becoming more afraid and that their lives are rapidly changing and...

HARRIS: What kind of things are you hearing that's happening there to change their lives?

CLAUDER: Well, you know, when the fighting first started, it was kind of further away, but every day it's gotten closer and closer and closer to the people we know and it is creating a tremendous fear for the people. Kids can hear shooting in the capital and there are tensions and stresses and also a feeling of distrust among people.

HARRIS: Now, do you get a sense that your family there feels as though they stuck there, stuck in some sort of a hell or are they going to try to escape or what?

CLAUDER: Well, there's nowhere to escape. They're stuck. And they're, they will be victims if this is not resolved.

HARRIS: Bojana, I'd like to know what it is that you talk about when you talk with your friends. When you say that you talk, your friends that you talk with back in Macedonia, are they also high school students like yourself?

ATANSOVA: Yes. They're, the most of all, they're my age and they're going to be in ninth grade, too, there and they're worried about them because I mean I don't know what's going to happen in school. I mean every day it's become worse and I'm very worried about them.

HARRIS: Well, we sure thank you for coming in and sharing with us your concerns and informing us about what is happening back in your homeland of Macedonia. Bojana Atansova and Donna Clauder of Columbus, Ohio, we thank you very much and we wish you both good luck.

CLAUDER: Thank you.

ATANSOVA: Thank you.

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