OSCE
EU leaders want the European Union and pan-European security body, the OSCE, to provide a temporary administration for Kosovo as part of a future peace settlement, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine tells reporters on arrival in Moscow for a short visit, yesterday. If the OSCE is handed a UN mandate in Kosovo, it will be the first time it has accepted such a task. Significantly, Moscow is pushing for the OSCE to play a greater role in European security arrangements as a counterbalance to the widening influence of NATO, its erstwhile Cold War foe.
The Campaign:
NATO intensifies its attacks, targeting industrial sites and infrastructure throughout Serbia and ending a relative lull since the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was mistakenly attacked on Friday. Serb media report five people killed and at least 18 injured as NATO carries out daylight raids on 16 locations. Targets include factories in the capital, Belgrade, and Serbia's third-largest city, Nis, in the south. A child was killed and at least one person was injured in southern Serbia when NATO bombed a bridge at Vladicin Han last night, Tanjug news agency reported.
It also said NATO bombing in Kosovo and in Serbia killed and wounded "several people" last evening. Albanian frontier police and Serb forces exchanged fire last night on the tense border between Northern Albania and Kosovo, OSCE observers said.
The NATO force against Yugoslavia has almost tripled since the launch of air strikes on March 24th. Thirteen of its 19 membercountries are contributing to the air operation. The force now comprises more than 1,000 planes, two-thirds of them American. The air fleet is based mainly in Italy, Germany, Britain and on aircraftcarriers in the Adriatic. Hungary, a NATO member since last year, said recently it would allow the alliance to use its bases. Ankara yesterday agreed to allow NATO to launch air attacks on Yugoslavia from Turkey.
Diplomacy:
China insists during closed session of UN Security Council that a halt to NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia is prerequisite for any discussion of Kosovo crisis. Beijing also demands UN investigation of Belgrade embassy bombing, with NATO taking financial and legal liability.
The council meets behind closed doors for just over an hour to consider a Chinese-drafted presidential statement strongly condemning the NATO bombing as a violation of international law. But with the US, Britain, France and other NATO members opposed to any condemnation of embassy bombing, the council fails to agree on Chinese text. The council later rejected a second softer Chinese draft. The US Secretary of Defence, Mr William Cohen, tells a Congressional committee that China should accept the US's apology.
Although President Clinton has described bombing as "a tragic mistake", China confirms suspension of diplomatic relations with Washington on human rights, arms control and weapons proliferation. American defence officials blame attack on "out-of-date" (1992) CIA map. This was reviewed in 1997 and 1998, but failed to identify the current location of the "new" Chinese embassy.
Refugees:
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms Sadako Ogata, said her agency was running out of cash to deal with the Kosovo crisis and appealed to European governments to shoulder more of the burden. Greece said it would host a refugee conference.
Ireland welcomes the first of around 1,000 refugees fleeing violence and persecution in Kosovo, when some 138 refugees landed at rainswept Farranfore Airport yesterday.
Quote of the Day:
"There is no point in having a Dutch auction, and saying you can take more if you can't." Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, on refugees numbers.