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Slobodan Milosevic News

28 Mar 2000

Hungary Sees Danube Cleared By Summer At Earliest

The debris blocking the Danube shipping route in Yugoslavia could be cleared away by the summer, but more likely not until November, a senior Hungarian foreign ministry official said. The Danube, one of the most heavily used waterways in Europe, has been blocked along a vital stretch in Serbia since NATO destroyed several bridges during its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia last year. This has caused serious losses to the mostly central and eastern European countries using the river. An obstacle hindering the process is that the cleanup of the debris involves the building of a bridge over the river. The U.S. supports the cleanup of the Danube but it does not want to see a bridge to be built in a Serbia ruled by President Slobodan Milosevic.

15 Oct 1999

Clearing Danube of Bridge Debris A Priority

Clearing the Danube of bombed bridges and helping Serbia get through the winter are priorities for a Balkan stability pact, Bodo Hombach, the head of the European Union's reconstruction plan said, but insisted that Europe would not help Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. "The stability pact is not against the Yugoslav people," Hombach said. The EU and the United States agreed in July to create a multi-national reconstruction program to stabilize the Balkans and encourage democratic change in Yugoslavia by denying all but humanitarian aid to Serbia. The Yugoslav republic of Montenegro was granted exceptions because of its western-leaning government and stance during NATO's air campaign against Milosevic.

01 Oct 1999

Shippers Suffer Losses Due To Blocked Danube

The Danube will remain blocked by bombed Yugoslav bridges through the winter, with the cost of removal estimated at as much as $31.5 million, the Danube Commission announced, adding that private shippers are racking up losses far in excess of these figures. "Environmental damage of considerable consequence goes far beyond what it would cost the international community to clear the bridges and re-establish navigation," Hellmuth Strasser, head of the commission's secretariat, said. He added that re-establishing the river's shipping is the most difficult task the Danube Commission has faced since World War II. Experts estimate it will cost between $15.8 and $31.5 million to remove bridges bombed by NATO during its air campaign against Yugoslavia, Strasser said.

29 Oct 1999

Milosevic, Not Debris, Is Blocking Danube Shipping

NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson said that Serbia could not expect help to clear the Danube waterway of Kosovo war debris as long as Slobodan Milosevic remains president of Yugoslavia. Western reconstruction aid is barred as long as Milosevic is in power. But the Danube blockage is becoming acute as winter nears, with the threat of an ice buildup and flooding upstream. NATO-member Hungary and other Danube shipping states want to ease the no-aid policy so the river can be cleared at Novi Sad, in northwestern Serbia, before winter sets in. As NATO figures privately admit Milosevic is still firmly implanted, the Serbian opposition is urging the West to drop the blunt instrument of sanctions and help some reconstruction. But Robertson gave no sign concessions were being mooted.