Serb Opposition Leaders Boycott EU Meeting
Serbian opposition leaders boycotted a meeting with European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, objecting to a draft EU declaration on handing over war crimes suspects to a United Nations court.
Serbian opposition officials also voiced frustration over what they saw as a lack of concrete support in their campaign to oust Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
A statement issued by the Alliance for Change said the opposition had “received enough political support and that now is the time for some economic help.”
Milosevic unleashed a new barrage of criticism against opposition leaders, charging that they would prefer to unleash a civil war rather than rebuild their country.
He called pro-democracy leaders “cowards, blackmailers and sycophants.”
Meanwhile, at the meeting, EU foreign ministers approved plans to send fuel aid to Serbian towns controlled by the opposition, despite U.S. reservations.
The 15 EU ministers said in a statement that they “strongly supported” the so-called Energy for Democracy plan intended to supply democratically ruled regions after Serbia’s power grid was badly damaged during North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombing raids earlier this year.
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