The young interstate alliance wants universal partnership. It needs smooth contacts with Russia, China, Japan and all other countries in which Serbia-Montenegro has political, economic, cultural and other interests. Russia is offering greater chances of economic links than European Union countries.
International support in tackling Kosovo and Metohija problems is another top priority. Serbia-Montenegro is to convince the world to approve the concept of a cantonised Kosovo, with decentralised administration, and local self-rule offering equal terms and opportunities to ethnic Albanians and Serbs. Thus, international police may join hands with the Serb for Serb communities, and the Albanian for Albanian settlements. The work is to start with practical steps to give Serb refugees a chance to return home, and go on with bridge-building between the two ethnic entities. Kosovo will eventually become a multiethnic area if the job is a success.
The sooner Serbia-Montenegro joins the NATO Partnership for Peace programme the better, Mr. Draskovic went on. "Russia is involved in the programme. Why can't my country do the same? We are also to join NATO, too," he stressed. He views Russia as NATO member, in a specific form, now that it has signed a treaty with the alliance.
Belgrade looks forward to rights Serbia-Montenegro will enjoy once it joins NATO. Our interviewee hopes Serb troops and police will re-enter Kosovo as soon as the country is in the Partnership for Peace. Serbs will greet their return, which is unlikely to strand ethnic Albanians. NATO was air-raiding Yugoslavia for close on three months in 1999 to badly undermine Serb confidence in the international community. Now, the prospects the minister has mentioned may restore that confidence, he said.
Contacts with neighbouring countries deserve special attention, while long-established friendly ties between Serbs and Montenegrins need encouragement and updating. The two nations were together through their hardest times. It is unnatural for them to fall out now, remarked Vuk Draskovic.
