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Morning News

Yugoslav Revolution: Opposition Leaders Move to Assemble Parliament; U.S. Lauds Russia's Decision to Back Kostunica

Aired October 6, 2000 - 10:17 a.m. ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of international attention is focused this morning on Yugoslavia, a country in transition. Opposition leaders say they're taking steps to carry out a change in government, and that would effectively end President Slobodan Milosevic's 13 years in power.

Vojislav Kostunica, the would-be president, is gaining key support from a long-time ally of Yugoslavia: Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has congratulated Kostunica on winning the disputed presidential election. This is a dramatic shift in Russia's position. It means that Russia is no longer supporting Mr. Milosevic.

Meanwhile, the Yugoslav people are back in the streets of Belgrade this morning. They're celebrating once again. It was yesterday that hundreds of thousands of demonstrators backed the takeover of the Yugoslav parliament building, toppling the symbols of President Milosevic's regime.

And now for more on the dramatic events in Yugoslavia, we go to our Belgrade bureau chief, Alessio Vinci. He is in the Yugoslav capital, where he has been watching this revolution unfold.

Alessio, hello once again.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN BELGRADE BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Daryn.

Well, what a difference a day makes here in this country: 24 hours ago we were reporting about thousands of demonstrators storming the parliament building, braving tear gases and breaking through police lines; 24 hours later we're telling you a completely different story.

Hundreds of thousands of people are gathered now in front of that same parliament building, but this time they're celebrating. This time they are feeling that this country has been liberated from 10 years of oppression, 10 years of sanctions, 10 years of jail. They are singing, they're advancing. It is for them a day of celebration.

Instead of violence today, it is diplomacy that is taking center stage. The Russian foreign minister, as you said, arrived here earlier today, announcing that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, had finally recognized the victory of Vojislav Kostunica, the opposition leader. That recognition quickly spread out -- the word of that recognition quickly spread out through the streets of Belgrade, and more people even gathered here. That recognition, of course, one step closer to -- for Mr. Milosevic -- for Mr. Kostunica, rather, to the recognition of being sworn in as the next Yugoslav president.

What is happening now is that the opposition leaders are trying to gather to convene the new federal parliament that was elected on September the 24th. They want to gather that federal parliament. They need, however, the deputies from Montenegro. We understand that they were supposed to travel either tonight or tomorrow. Once the parliament convenes, they have to see if there is a quorum, and then Mr. Kostunica will have to be sworn in as the president.

However, there is a small problem. The deputies traveling from Montenegro at this point are not siding with the opposition. They're still swearing their loyalty to President Milosevic. And this time it means that the opposition doesn't have the majority in the parliament to swear Mr. Kostunica as the new president. We have to see in the next few hours how that may change.

Back to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: And so, Alessio, in order for this new government to form, they are going to have to have support from those that have supported Slobodan Milosevic in the past. How might they encourage those people to come over to their side?

VINCI: Well, Kostunica said all along during his campaign that there will be no revenge against people who were siding with the authorities that have ruled this country for 10 years. They said all along that the people who felt that they were able this time to switch sides, they were willing to come on board. He actually also said that he's willing to work with people in the Socialist Party or on the Yugoslav left, or even with the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro.

So certainly Mr. Kostunica has not ruled out the possibility to have some members of the Montenegrin socialists who could eventually vote in his favor.

So certainly what is going on right now is an intensive negotiation within all those members of parliament that were elected on September 24 trying to get a two-thirds majority needed in order to swear in Mr. Kostunica as the next president of Yugoslavia.

KAGAN: Alessio Vinci in Belgrade, thank you very much. More from you in the next hour here on MORNING NEWS -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As expected, the U.S. and its European allies closely watching the latest there in Belgrade. Here on CNN earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talked about the transition. She also talked about the possibility of lifting international sanctions very soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think now what has to happen is that we all do our best to help the new democratic Yugoslavia integrate into Europe. The sanctions will be lifted as soon as it's clear that Kostunica is in and Milosevic is out. And we will also do everything we can to begin to, with our European allies, flow assistance into the new Yugoslavia so that it can be reconstructed and they can have the normal life that the rest of the Europeans and the Balkans are beginning to have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And for more now on U.S. reaction to the developments in Yugoslavia, we go to Washington and CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace.

Kelly, good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Daryn.

The U.S. is applauding Russia's decision to recognize the opposition as the new president of Yugoslavia. One senior U.S. official telling CNN that the visit of the Russian foreign minister to Belgrade on this day is the beginning of the, quote, "diplomatic endgame" and could lead to Mr. Milosevic leaving the country.

Now, President Clinton is monitoring these events closely and is expected to be briefed -- get a briefing from his national security team this morning. What the White House is looking for is some public recognition that Mr. Milosevic is, in fact, out of power. U.S. officials are not certain about his exact whereabouts, and there is some concern he may try to make one last stand, although the president's top national security adviser, Sandy Berger, doesn't believe Mr. Milosevic would be successful in that attempt. Experts say the real focus right now is just on what the Yugoslav military decides to do.

Meantime, while the White House is watching these events very closely, the issue is getting some attention on the presidential campaign trail. During Tuesday night's debate, the first debate between the presidential candidates, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the two men sparred over just what the U.S. can and should do to try to encourage Mr. Milosevic to step down. Here's a portion of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This will be an interesting moment for the Russians to step up and lead as well. Be a wonderful time for Russia to step into the Balkans and convince Mr. Milosevic it's in his best interest and his country's best interest to leave office. The Russians have got a lot of sway in that part of the world and we'd like to see them use that sway to encourage democracy to take hold.

VICE PRES. AL GORE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not sure that it's right for us to invite the president of Russia to mediate this dispute there because we might not like the result that comes out of that. They currently favor going forward with a runoff election. I think that's the wrong thing. I think the governor's instinct is not necessarily bad because we have worked with the Russians in a constructive way in Kosovo, for example, to end the conflict there. But I think we need to be very careful in the present situation before we invite the Russians to play the lead role and mediate.

BUSH: Well, obviously we wouldn't use the Russians if they didn't agree with our answer, Mr. Vice President.

GORE: Well, they don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Well, since then, Bush aides have been using those words to remind voters that it was Gov. Bush who suggested the Russians could be helpful, but that it was the vice president who questioned whether that would be useful. It is important to point out that, at the time of that debate on Tuesday, the Russians were reluctant to endorse the U.S. position and publicly endorse the Yugoslav opposition.

Yesterday, both candidates really were in 100 percent agreement. Both were calling for Slobodan Milosevic to step down. What is interesting here is this is a campaign that has really been dominated by domestic issues. But with these latest developments in Yugoslavia, some international matters are starting to take center stage -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Kelly Wallace at the White House. Thank you, Kelly

HEMMER: Aside from the U.S., a number of countries with great interest in what happens in the Balkans, especially in Europe, a part of the world that has undergone extreme changes in the past 10 years time.

Our national security correspondent David Ensor now with a closer look at world reaction, gauging that with us now.

David, hello to you.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, looking at the neighborhood, there are some winners and losers to be seen. First of all, if you take Montenegro, the other half of the Yugoslav entity, Montenegro opted out of the elections, and they, in a way, have lost out by that, because they now do not have representatives in the Yugoslav federal parliament, which will now be a meaningful body, in the view of many observers. But Montenegro also wins because they've gotten rid of their great nemesis, Mr. Milosevic, or at least that's the way it looks at this point. So there are pluses and minuses, but mostly pluses for Montenegro.

Kosovo is another story. The Kosovo region, of course, would like to have independence from Yugoslavia. But under the deal that was worked out under which NATO troops now patrol it, Kosovo is supposed to be considered still a part of Yugoslavia. It has been pushing for independence and pushing for Western governments to recognize the idea that it should be allowed to move towards independence. Convincing Western governments and others that that should occur will now be much more difficult given that, in the view of many, there'll be a much more reasonable government in Belgrade, but still a government that will be pushing for Kosovo -- pushing hard, I would say -- for Kosovo to remain part of Yugoslavia. So some minuses there for the Kosovars.

But Romania is an interesting case in point, a neighbor of Yugoslavia that wants to become a member of NATO, is looking for ways and may perhaps get some opportunities in the coming days to show its loyalty to NATO. The U.S. intelligence understands that there is a flight that may take place from Ukraine flying over Romanian territory today to pick up some people out of Yugoslavia. No word on who. U.S. intelligence officials watching that closely. It's likely that they were tipped off by Romanian officials that this flight may or may not take place. So an interesting side development there.

Finally, the whole of Yugoslavia, the whole area that used to be considered Yugoslavia and is now all these different countries -- Croatia, Bosnia and so on -- will benefit from the perception globally, particularly in the business community, that this is no longer a basket-case area but could soon become an area that is rebuilding. That will help business investment in all the other countries, probably promote tourism and is just generally a good thing for the region, Bill.

HEMMER: All right, David Ensor. And certainly, as many people know, the main ingredient here is time and patience. We'll watch it. David Ensor, live in Washington.

For the very latest on what David was just talking about in Washington, you can go to our Web site, CNN.com, complete information as we continue to track this story out of Belgrade.

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

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