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Yugoslavia looks to end isolation

Vedrine and Kostunica
Vedrine (left) shakes hands with Kostunica  

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- France's foreign minister has met new President Vojislav Kostunica for talks on bringing Yugoslavia back into the European fold.

Hubert Vedrine is the first minister from a NATO country to visit the country since Slobodan Milosevic was swept from power.

Vedrine was one of a number of senior NATO politicians sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison by a Yugoslav court during the final weeks of Milosevic's regime for ordering last year's NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia..

His visit came a day after the European Union agreed to a partial lifting of the sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia in 1998 over the former government's treatment of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

The visit is seen as underlining Western support for Kostunica as he seeks to rid the country of the Milosevic's legacy.

 VIDEO
CNN's Patricia Kelly explains what the lifted sanctions may mean for Yugoslavia.

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CNN's Alessio Vinci explains what must be done before Milosevic is truly out of power

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CNN.com Political Editor Robin Oakley analyzes the lifting of sanctions (October 9)

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CNN's Jim Clancy examines possibilities for the future of Kosovo now that Milosevic is gone (October 9)

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A key Kostunica ally has signalled the new leadership's interest in restoring ties with the United States. During his election campaign Kostunica avoided being seen as friendly towards Washington because of public hostility over NATO bombing campaign last year.

"Without a strategic partnership with America, there is no solution for the Serbian national interests," Zoran Djindjic said.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has written to Kostunica, encouraging him to regain U.N. membership for his country.

Yugoslavia has been in limbo at the U.N. since 1992, following declarations of independence by the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Attempts are also being made to restore Yugoslavia's relations with its Balkan neighbours.

Romania's Foreign Minister Petre Roman is due to meet Kostunica on Tuesday.

One of Roman's senior aides said they would discuss rebuilding ties between the two countries which soured last year when Romania allowed its air space to be used in the NATO bombing raids.

But while diplomatic moves to rehabilitate Yugoslavia continue, NATO said Milosevic's downfall would not prompt an immediate withdrawal of peacekeeping troops in the Balkans.

Yugoslavia and Kosovo is top of the agenda at a meeting of defence ministers in Birmingham, England.

At the start of the meeting NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said: "It is too early to identify exactly how the changes in Yugoslavia will affect the region."

He added that KFOR and SFOR, the NATO-led forces in Kosovo and Bosnia respectively, would "continue to provide a bedrock of security and stability as long as is needed."

The Serbian parliament is expected to dissolve itself on Tuesday so that an interim government can administer Serbia until new elections are held in December.

Milosevic himself remains out of public view but two of his key allies -- federal Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic and Serbian Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic -- stepped down on Monday.

Meanwhile, the people of Yugoslavia are venting their anger against Milosevic and his cronies and demanding the removal of Milosevic supporters from key jobs.

Kostunica is due to meet miners at a pit which supplies Serbia's power stations on Tuesday. They say they do not want to work for managers loyal to Milosevic.

Crowds in Belgrade beat Radoman Bozovic, a close Milosevic aide and the director of a major Belgrade trading corporation. He subsequently resigned.

In Nis, workers stormed the state-run textile factory, Nitex, demanding the management be fired.

Employees at Investbanka demanded that Borka Vucic, a top financial associate of Milosevic, leave the Belgrade headquarters of the state-run bank saying "her safety is jeopardised."

The entire management of Belgrade University, where students and faculty had angry confrontations with Milosevic-appointed deans, has been sacked and a temporary administration appointed, the independent Beta news agency reported.

In the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, the university's rector and managing board resigned while the deans of all but two faculties also offered their resignations.

An independent trade union in Novi Sad also took over the National Lottery, played by hundreds of thousands of Serbs and seen as a cash cow for the Milosevic regime.



RELATED STORIES:
NATO pledges Balkans commitment
October 10, 2000
Milosevic address: Full text
October 7, 2000
Russia backs Kostunica as Yugoslavia's president
October 6, 2000
Western leaders welcome Kostunica
October 6, 2000
Belgrade celebrates after day of protests
October 5, 2000
Yugoslavia annuls election result
October 4, 2000

RELATED SITES:
The Center for Reconstruction and Development
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbian Ministry of Information

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