Protesters Rock Europe With Anger Toward Clinton, NATO Airstrikes

Protesters opposed to NATO attacks on Yugoslavia directed their anger at American sites around Europe on Friday, with some drenching olive branches in red dye and calling President Clinton a “fascist.”

Up to 10,000 people in Bulgaria gathered in the nation’s capital, Sofia, to protest the NATO airstrikes.

In Greece, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 15,000 protesters marched to the U.S. Embassy chanting “Clinton, Fascist, Murderer.” Some waved Greek and Yugoslav flags and carried religious icons, reflecting the Orthodox Christian faith shared by the two countries.

Police clashed with rioting youths who lighted fires and smashed cars and store windows. Crowds hurled eggs and rocks at the U.S. and British embassies before they were dispersed. Several minor injuries were reported.

The U.S. and British embassies in Moscow also were the scenes of demonstrations. The Russian government ordered NATO representatives to leave the country and said it was suspending all contact with the Western alliance until the airstrikes stop.

Russia has been highly critical of NATO’s decision to use military muscle to force a peace plan between Yugoslavia and ethnic Albanian separatists in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

In another show of protest, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that it will stop cooperating with the United States on the Y2K computer problem.

A ministry spokesman made the announcement to a government committee that is tackling the problem, the Interfax news agency said.

In Washington, Sen. Robert F. Bennett, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, urged Russia to reconsider.

“I think it’s very shortsighted and potentially dangerous,” he said. “It doesn’t mean something bad is going to happen. But it means that our chances of preventing something bad from happening just went down.”

Opposition to the bombing also escalated in Italy, another alliance member. Outside Parliament in Rome, dozens of protesters waved olive branches dyed red to simulate blood.

In Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina, thousands of Serbian teenagers and students protesting against NATO for the second day shouted down Bosnian Serb moderate leaders Friday.

Although the three leading figures of Sloga, the moderate, pro-Western Bosnian Serb coalition, have condemned the airstrikes, the youths whistled, jeered them and called for ousted ultranationalist President Nikola Poplasen instead. Police eventually used tear gas to break up the demonstration.

Smaller rallies also took place in Vienna and Warsaw.

U.S. Marines Sent to Protect Embassy

Closer to Kosovo, the protests were more heated.

Riot police blocked demonstrators trying for the second day Friday to reach the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Clinton sent 100 combat-ready Marines to protect the besieged embassy.

More than 10,000 NATO ground troops were in Macedonia for a possible peacekeeping role in neighboring Kosovo. After peace talks fell apart, the NATO force in Macedonia was left awaiting new orders. Some troops have begun patrols along the 120-mile border with Yugoslavia.

But their presence has touched off concerns that Macedonia could face retaliation from larger and more powerful Yugoslavia. Police cordoned off parts of Skopje to try to avoid a replay of Thursday’s attacks on Western embassies and NATO personnel.

In Greece, an anti-American demonstration was held in the northern port of Salonica, which was a transit point for NATO ground forces bound for Macedonia.

Greek newspapers ran cartoons depicting Clinton as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Many headlines denounced the NATO attacks. “Murderers,” wrote the conservative Vradini newspaper. Added the left-leaning Eleftherotypia: “NATO Criminals.”

Greek officials have urged NATO to halt the bombing and resume negotiations. Many Greeks also sympathize with the fellow Orthodox Serbs who rule Yugoslavia.

In Cyprus, about 300 Greek Cypriots staged a noisy demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Nicosia, as the government expressed hope for a peaceful solution to the Kosovo dispute.