SERBIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CRITICIZES ARMENIAN ARMS DEAL

Vecernje novosti, Belgrade, Serbia
Dec 6 2007

Interview with Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Draskovic by
Tanja Markotic

"Serbian diplomacy increasingly private!"

The story of arms exports to Armenia continues. As Kragujevac armourers
await a denouement, the domestic political discord between President
Tadic and Prime Minister Kostunica is setting the decisive tone in
the entire matter more than anything else.

Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic, whose ministry has come under fire for
refusing to issue the permit for that arms export, explains to Vecernje
Novosti that that does fall under his purview. He also criticizes the
steps taken by President Tadic in recent days in connection with the
controversial export deal.

[Draskovic] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not issue permits
for the exportation of arms; rather, that is the job of the Serbian
government. We only provide a political opinion, and that opinion
has not changed from the outset. We have long declared that the OSCE
has imposed an arms embargo on Armenia and Azerbaijan because of
the conflict in Nagornyy-Karabakh and that there is an instructive
Resolution 8153 by the UN Security Council that requires all countries
to refrain from supplying "any arms or ammunition to Armenia or
Azerbaijan." Then there is the decision by the US Government to
discontinue business with countries that violate arms embargoes. Since
the Kragujevac arms manufacturers earn more than 20m dollars a year
from exporting arms to the United States, there is a big risk of
losing 22m dollars because of that 2m dollars deal with Armenia,
but from the outset I have thought that the state should compensate
the arms manufacturers.

[Markotic] What does that mean in concrete terms? That our arms
manufacturers will nevertheless be unable to export arms to Armenia?

[Draskovic] They will if the government decides they can, because
that it entirely under their purview. If that is what the government
decides after this, in my opinion, irresponsible and private diplomacy
by President Tadic, then our state is obliged to report that exporting
of arms to the OSCE and the United Nations and explain to them why
the embargo and the UN instructive resolution were violated.

[Markotic] How it is possible, then, for Russia to give a positive
opinion about the arms export while both the OSCE and the United
Nations oppose it?

[Draskovic] There has never been a Russian embargo on exporting arms to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, and so there was no reason for the president
to send his emissaries to Moscow and ask permission to export arms to
Armenia. He should have read the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, but he either failed to read that or ignored it. Because of
all that, we are in a very difficult and awkward situation.

[Markotic] So how does the government intend to resolve this situation
now?

[Draskovic] The government, as the prime minister has told me, has
been presented with a fait accompli. This is a typical example of
how not to engage in diplomacy. It should not be done privately or
for partisan-electioneering purposes.

[Markotic] It is already more than obvious that Prime Minister
Kostunica and President Tadic are also at odds over dispatching our
ambassadors who have already been accredited by their host countries.

Have you discussed this with Tadic? Why does he refuse to sign the
letters of credence?

[Draskovic] We have officially asked the office of the president to
sign the orders and letters of credence on several occasions. But we
have either heard a negative response or no response at all. This
is absurd and inexplicable. President Tadic’s explanation that he
is waiting for the election is hardly acceptable in view of the
fact that these are ambassadorial positions that have been vacant
for seven months now. Aside from ambassadors to the United Nations
and the OSCE, Serbia has not sent out a single ambassador since
Montenegro’s departure.

[Markotic] Does the appointment of ambassadors impact Serbia’s position
at a time when negotiations on Kosovo are going on? Opinions about
that vary.

[Draskovic] Of course a vacant ambassadorship is very harmful to
Serbia’s interests. We do not have ambassadors in some countries that
are members of the Contact Group, which is in charge of deciding
the future status of Kosovo – Russia, Great Britain, and Italy. To
say nothing of other countries that are also very important to a
resolution of the Kosovo issue, such as Spain, Belgium, or Finland,
where, say, the ambassador was proposed in June, when Finland began
its EU presidency. Now that has ended, and we still have no ambassador
in Helsinki. Well, that is irresponsible foreign policy.

[Markotic] Could it soon be the case that Serbia has no ambassador
in Washington either, since Ivan Vujacic’s mandate has expired?

[Draskovic] No. Ambassador Vujacic will remain there until a
replacement is chosen. [Passage omitted]