Interference: Russia

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, JUNE 29. Russia has protested the handover of the former Yugoslav President, Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, to The Hague war crimes tribunal as interference in Yugoslavia's internal affairs.

The Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, said Moscow had grounds to believe Mr. Milosevic' extradition of the former Yugoslav leader was the result of Western interference in Yugoslav affairs and warned the West against trying to squeeze political dividends from Yugoslavia's economic hardship caused by the 1999 NATO bombings.

``If some forces are out to exploit the current economic difficulties in Yugoslavia for their own purposes, they would be taking upon themselves a very grave responsibility for the future fate of Yugoslavia and the situation in the Balkans as a whole,'' Mr. Ivanov told Russian television on Friday. He conceded it was ``an internal affair of Yugoslavia'' to decide whether to hand over Mr. Milosevic but said the process should have been in keeping with the country's law and free from foreign intervention.

The Russian Minister said he shared the view of the Yugoslav President, Mr. Vojislav Kostunica, that the handover was unconstitutional and said the move could destabilise the situation in Yugoslavia. ``Everything that is happening at the moment with regard to Milosevic confirms that contradictions are mounting within the internal democratic forces'' of Yugoslavia, the Russian Foreign Minister said. The Speaker of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament voiced his ``outrage'' at what had happened and said Mr. Milosevic's extradition set a dangerous precedent for Russia as an attempt to assert supranational justice.

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Section  : International
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