What is the importance of the Stability Pact for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) ?
There are three aims to the participation of Yugoslavia in the Stability Pact. The first goal is to create elements of co-operation which will bring all national institutions together. At present, our internal organisation is inappropriate for the drafting of a single, cohesive strategy (we have 5 or 6 court bodies, various pillars under the Ministry of Health, and various directorates regulating the environment, for example) so it is important to create national co-ordination teams which will connect all these institutions together.
My job is also to connect FRY with the region and other countries - we are working on 20 to 30 sectors, under the Stability Pact's three working tables: Working Table 1 promotes democratisation and human rights, Working Table 2 encourages economic reconstruction, co-operation and development, and Working Table 3 works on security issues, defence, justice and home affairs.
A second goal is to include Yugoslavia in all these working groups, to contribute to its development but also to establish a constant collaboration with our neighbours in all these issues.
Finally, we are working hard to develop concrete project proposals in order to strengthen our presence at the upcoming Stability Pact Donors Conference in Bucharest in October 2001.
In a previous interview you talked about the Coal and Steel Community as a factor which helped create the European Union. So what would you say is the glue which unites South Eastern Europe?
uniting factor will be trans-border projects. We all need extensive infrastructure investments, in the energy, transport and telecommunications sectors, for example. In order to communicate, we will need the means to do so, which we believe will come through national and intra-regional co-operation.
It is my view that progress on the 1st and 3rd tables (Democracy and Security) will eventually lead to development in the 2nd table (economic reconstruction). Through education, democratic development, fighting corruption and organised crime - we will create the environment needed for investment and economic recovery. All these processes are inter-connected.
It is important to note that this is not a Marshall Plan strategy, which was a one-way program whereby donours simply gave out money and did not become directly involved. On the contrary, the Stability Pact attempts to encourage co-operation between all members, through various levels and methods, in order to foster a constructive and collaborative approach. We do not wish to live on aid, and we believe that the Stability Pact can help Yugoslavia create the necessary conditions for a private investment friendly environment.
In order to fully benefit from Stability Pact funding, FRY must present credible project proposals. What is your role to encourage project development?
We are currently preparing project proposals in co-operation with other Stability Pact representatives, national governments and with NGO's (in fact, every national co-ordinating team think tank collaborates with NGO's to develop an all-rounded policy).
Then on September 15th (at the latest) we are planning a meeting with all co-ordinators and potential donors (representing political and financial organisations such as the OSCE, EBRD) to present and discuss our project proposals in advance of the October Conference in Bucharest, where we plan to jointly present these projects. | FRY has been a full member of the Stability Pact since October 26th 2000. What would you say have been the major successes since then?
Actually, upon the nomination of Mr. Bodo Hombach as Special Co-ordinator, we were one of the first ones to contact him and congratulate him on his appointment. We have always believed that the Stability Pact is an important organisation to help stabilise the region. Then, after the collapse of the old regime, Mr. Hombach was the first high-level politician to come personally to "Free Belgrade". This was followed by the first Investors Mission to Yugoslavia under the auspices of the Stability Pact's Business Advisory Council.
Furthermore, in June we participated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding which plans to liberalise trade and lower tariff barriers between Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Yugoslavia. We then negotiated the return of more than 1.2 million refugees and displaced persons, which was passed on June 27th. We also recently hosted an important regional meeting of police chiefs and Ministers here in Belgrade on the issue of security.
An important move to attract foreign investment into FRY will be the implementation of the new privatisation and investment laws. Is the Stability Pact also involved in this field, since it is a pre-requisite for economic development?
We intend to become more involved in the investment compact of the OECD, but will have to wait for the regional conference in October to confirm this. The importance of the Stability Pact for investment is especially the inclusion of FRY in regional networks - to be once again in a position to receive info, compared with our previous situation where diplomacy was isolated and kept in the dark by an ideological and political organisation. Today we are attempting to develop a modern and efficient system, thanks to a readiness by politicians to adapt to change. At the moment there is political confusion, and direction depends greatly on our leaders. Therefore, this places an enormous responsibility on them to lead us into a new and better process.
We need radical change, not just cosmetic change. We have lived in anarchy for the last ten years, and even before this we did not have an appropriate system, with no market economy or multi-party system. This is what allowed Milosevic to grab power - he coerced officials, party members and business people to follow him, and he even controlled the judicial system and the media (which was used to prepare people for the war).
In this context, what is your background and how did you come to be the National Co-ordinator for the Stability Pact?
After an International Relations degree at the Political Science Faculty of the University of Belgrade, I did not want to represent Milosevic and his government because it was against my convictions. Therefore, after finishing my thesis, I decided to leave Yugoslavia and I worked in Switzerland, Austria and Poland. Yet after almost three years I decided to come back, staying out of government politics and working for a publishing house.
I was one of the founders of the European Movement for Serbia, and when the G17+ was created, I was asked by Mr. Djelic, the current Governor of the Central Bank, to develop the international relations of the G17, and I accepted. For once, Europe was trying to help Yugoslavia's development, and this position allowed me to help to provide lines of communications with the international community.
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V.I.P. INTERVIEWS 
