ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


WorldView

Yugoslav Television Declares Kostunica President-Elect, Though the Threat of Military Attack is Alive

Aired October 5, 2000 - 6:01 p.m. ET

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

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: The 13-year rule of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is apparently in shambles. Opposition demonstrators stormed Belgrade's federal parliament Thursday, taking over the building as well as Serb television. The state news agency is calling opposition candidate, Vojislav Kostunica, the elected president of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav military remains in its barracks and it is unclear whether the army remains loyal to Milosevic. Police put up relatively little resistance against the revolt. And where is Slobodan Milosevic? There are conflicting reports.

Let's go straight, now, for the very latest to CNN's Belgrade bureau chief Alessio Vinci. He's been covering Thursday's chaotic events in Belgrade where it has just become Friday -- Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN BELGRADE BUREAU CHIEF: Judy, what a day here. It began earlier today as tens of thousands of people gathered in downtown Belgrade responding to a call from the opposition leaders here who would hope to bring -- who wanted to bring hundreds of thousands of people in the town, in Belgrade, in what they described was going to be one of the biggest demonstrations in the history of Serbia.

Well, it turned out exactly that way, as the demonstrators gathered in downtown Belgrade earlier today, they first gathered in front of the federal parliament where they began to first break through police lines and then they eventually managed to get into the federal parliament.

It was unclear, earlier today, what exactly the police was going to do as those demonstrators managed to break through the police lines, and we noticed right away, our cameramen on the ground noticed right away that the police was really offering little resistance for those hundreds of demonstrators who tried to storm the building really, perhaps, galvanized by the fact that the police was not going to react, was not going to really prevent them from entering the building. Then, really managed, within in a matter of hours, to take control of that federal building.

Scenes around that building for several hours this afternoon, really scenes of civil war. We've seen -- some fires broke out inside the building, some cars were set on fire by demonstrators; but, certainly, police just reacting slightly, using tear gases, trying to just prevent the crowd from entering the building, but it just in a matter of, really, a few hours, the people have managed to get into the building.

Vojislav Kostunica, the opposition leader just finished an interview, or actually, was given an interview on Yugoslav television, which has been taken control by the opposition here; and he said, basically that, as he campaigned throughout these last weeks in Serbia, he also saw in the people's face that they wanted change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA, OPPOSITION LEADER: I would say that all those years, our life, day after day, hour after hour, was too exciting. The people now want some peace; and that's what I felt during the campaign. That's what I saw in the eyes. And this vision of Serbia is going to get realized now. Democracy is a pillar of that vision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VINCI: Mr. Kostunica, in that interview, also, that was broadcast throughout the country here -- also said, I'm happy to give you the news that, as of Monday the European Union will lift the sanctions that have been imposed against this country and against President Slobodan Milosevic for a decade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOSTUNICA: Now, I can announce the good news that, on Monday, an accession of European council, according to the promise we got from France, the sanctions against Yugoslavia are going to be canceled, lifted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VINCI: Judy, at this time, still hundreds of thousand of people in the streets of Belgrade; opposition leaders telling the people to remain in the street as long as possible.

Of course, there are still doubts about what the army and the police are going to do in the next few hours. However, the opposition is saying and asking the people to remain in the streets of Belgrade for as long as it takes.

Back to you, Judy.

WOODRUFF: Alessio, I think it's astonishing to many observers that Milosevic's hold on power, which has seemed so unyielding has just collapsed in a day without bloodshed.

How did this happen?

VINCI: Well, Judy, I am one of the first ones who was here, who was really surprised by how peaceful this revolution is taking place here in front of our eyes. This is a country where almost every person has a gun, every man has a gun, and yet we haven't heard a single shot fired throughout this very dramatic day.

I think this is a very significant situation here, where we have the police, who refrained from intervening, we have not heard from the army, and yet the people who first stormed the parliament building then, basically continued the day in celebrations. There is an air, certainly, here in the streets of Belgrade that the Milosevic regime is over, that this is over; that the country, the leaders have said the beginning of a new Serbia is happening just now. Democracy is taking place down the streets of Belgrade.

We must caution one thing, however; we haven't really seen exactly what the army is going to do. We don't know what Milosevic is going to do. We don't know if the army did not intervene because they refused to carry out an order or did not intervene because they really felt they were not going to intervene.

So it is really a difference there about -- we have to see what the army and the police will decide to do in the coming days. If those hundreds of thousands of people remain in the streets of Belgrade, then it is possible that the army will realize very shortly that Mr. Kostunica, indeed, is the most popular politician in this country and, indeed, will have to be announced as the president of Yugoslavia.

Back to you, Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, CNN's Alessio Vinci, reporting from Belgrade. Alessio has been on duty literally all day long. In Belgrade it's just past midnight; we know he's exhausted and we appreciate, very much, that report.

The United States and Russia have also been watching the developments in Yugoslavia very closely.

CNN's, David Ensor, has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): The dramatic events in Belgrade got Washington's attention and praise.

At Princeton University, President Clinton said the U.S. stands with a people fighting for their freedom.

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope the air is -- the hour is near when their voices will be heard, and we can welcome them to democracy, to Europe, to the world's community.

And when they do, we will move as quickly as possible to lift the sanctions.

ENSOR: In Moscow, Russian President Putin saw matters in a more ominous light.

"The Russian people," said Putin "are carefully watching the tragic development of events in a friendly country." U.S. officials are trying to convince the Russian government that a tragedy has not yet occurred, that Moscow could help by, for the first time, declaring that Vojislav Kostunica won the election, and is the rightful next president of Yugoslavia.

SAMUEL BERGER, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We have encouraged the Russians to speak clearly, now, on behalf of the Serbian people.

ENSOR: With the opposition controlling key buildings in Belgrade, some in Washington now say the best way to avoid violence could be for President Milosevic to be offered safe haven in another country.

LAWRENCE EAGLEBURGER, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: If we could find a way to get him asylum somewhere, so that he had an opportunity to leave without a lot of bloodshed, I think that's worth trying -- not publicly, but privately.

ENSOR: But present and former Clinton administration officials say, because Milosevic has been indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague, even if it would save lives, private talks about asylum for Milosevic are unwise.

JAMES STEINBERG, FORMER DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It would send the wrong signal. People have been held accountable for their actions throughout this conflict, and to say to the one who was at the very top of the list that, somehow, that he would be able to get off, I think, at this stage, would be a mistake.

ENSOR (on camera): Although U.S. officials are trying to convince Moscow to come out for Kostunica, they stress that there is little that Moscow or Washington, for that matter, can do to influence the outcome.

"It's up to the Serbs now," said one official, "and that's as it should be."

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Reaction from world leaders to the events in Yugoslavia has been swift. British prime minister Tony Blair got straight to the point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The verdict from the elections was clear. The verdict from the streets is clear. The message for Milosevic is clear: Go, go now, go before any more lives are lost, before there is any more destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: For more on the Russian view of the events in Belgrade, let's check in with our Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty.

Jill, why so far are the Russian leaders being so careful here?

JILL DOUGHERTY, MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Judy, they consistently have been that way, and if you look at what President Putin said tonight, it was right down the middle. Essentially, they had, as you know, they've always been traditional allies of Yugoslavia, and you could say, to a certain extent, allies of President Milosevic, so there was never really any love lost for him in Moscow here either.

But they realized that friendship was hurting them with the West; and so at the same time you had that situation, the Russians also realized that the end was coming, that support was waning for President Milosevic, and they have actually been pretty friendly with the opposition, Mr. Kostunica is himself -- was here in Moscow, visiting, a lot of the opposition members have been here also. So they were currying some favor with the opposition while this was going on.

There was a moment tonight where we were expecting a major statement from the president. Perhaps he would go farther than he did. But what he ended up saying was a very, very careful statement. Although you could read in the lines here, he said that they had -- Russia is ready to help and bring it out of international isolation, which you might interpret as a statement more toward the opposition; but it's been a very difficult thing. After all, you look at the Kosovo war, Russia supported Yugoslavia, very much against NATO. It's very domestically sensitive, too -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, CNN's Jill Dougherty in Moscow. Thanks -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: To further discuss the volatile situation in Yugoslavia, retired General Wesley Clark joins us now from Savannah, Georgia.

He led the NATO effort against Yugoslavia, as supreme allied commander, and he was also commander-in-chief of the U.S.-European Command.

General Clark, thank you for joining us.

Let's get right to the NATO posture at this very, very delicate moment in Yugoslavia's history. What should the U.S. and the NATO allies, militarily, be doing right now, if anything?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FMR. NATO COMMANDER: Well, we shouldn't be doing anything about the situation as it's evolving in Serbia. That really is a matter for the Serb people themselves to resolve, and I think they're showing they have the courage and the fortitude to resolve it the right way.

But we have to be watchful for the safety of the missions in Bosnia and Kosovo. We want to be sure that there's no temptation for Milosevic to try to pull a stunt, a distraction to some way stir up international trouble as a means of escaping the consequences of his misrule in Serbia, and I'm sure that our NATO forces are ready for that.

BLITZER: Have you been surprised by the quiet of the Yugoslav army in the wake of these enormous demonstrations unfolding on the streets of Belgrade?

CLARK: Well, we saw during the voting that there were a number of elements of the Yugoslav Army who did not support Milosevic. They've been dissatisfied with him for sometime, including dissatisfaction during the Kosovo air campaign. And when they expressed it at the ballot box and when we looked at the statements of the military chief, General Popkovic, it was clear he, an ally of Milosevic, was facing deep splits within the army.

WOODRUFF: General Clark, it's Judy Woodruff.

Could the army undo everything that the opposition groups, the demonstrators have done today? Could they move in and completely upend this?

CLARK: Well, I think it's unlikely that they would do that. But we yet don't have the formal word from the Yugoslav military that they recognize Mr. Kostunica as the president, and that, of course, is what needs to be said. The army, of course, is a conscript army. I'm sure the troops would have great difficulty going against the people.

It's a function of the size of the demonstration, that clear expression of popular will in Belgrade and in the outlying cities as well. And the Yugoslav army's always taken great pains to represent itself as an army of the people. General Parisic, the former chief of defense, told me that it was the last Democratic institution in Serbia that Milosevic hadn't subverted. Of course, he tried to do that.

But I think that more concern really should be directed directly at the security forces, the special police and other special security forces that Milosevic has filled with his loyalists. He's taking great pains to ensure that they were connected with him. He's made it financially beneficial for them and so forth. We haven't heard from them. Many of them are in their barracks tonight. The opposition seems to feel comfortable with this state of matters.

But it's not over yet. Hopefully, we've passed the decisive point, but we really don't know that for sure now.

WOODRUFF: Are you making a distinction between his special security forces and the army here?

CLARK: Yes, I am. The army is a conscript force, the security police are not. They're all volunteers, they receive extra pay, they are screened carefully or have been in the past for political loyalty. So they've been the real last line of defense, or next-to-last line of defense, for Milosevic and the regime.

Around himself, of course, he's got a carefully hand-picked, screened bodyguard of undetermined number. We know he pays close attention to this bodyguard. At Dayton, when Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, and I recall Milosevic turning to our delegation and saying this could only have happened, he said, if there was a traitor among Rabin's bodyguard. He's very careful with his own bodyguard.

BLITZER: General Clark, in order to avoid bloodshed, could you live with an arrangement that would allow President Milosevic to find safe haven inside Yugoslavia, given the fact he is internationally indicted war criminal?

CLARK: Well, it's certainly not an issue I could live with. But I would just give you my personal opinion. There are large issues at stake here. This is a man who has caused billions and billions of dollars worth of damage, he's uprooted millions of lives, cost hundreds of thousands of lives over a decade. We got a very serious legal effort to apprehend those responsible. Milosevic is at the top of the list. And I think there's lots riding on this. I think it would be a shame if the international community lost its resolve at this point.

I think we've stood on principles, we've seen those principles upheld, we've seen the impact of those principles in this strong support for democracy in Serbia. There's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. And I think the idea is that Milosevic should be held accountable, and I'm confident he will be, at court, in The Hague.

BLITZER: General Wesley Clark, it was kind of you to join us on WORLDVIEW. Thank you so much.

And when WORLDVIEW continues, a look back at the man at the center of the unrest in Yugoslavia, and a continuing push for peace in the Middle East.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.