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Gelbard - Leader of the So-Called Serb Opposition

by Tanjug [the official Yugoslav news agency]

Borba, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, August 5 1999

Leaders of several minor political parties, representatives of the so-called independent media, as well as the individuals who represent themselves as the only reformers and democrats [in the country], have lately showed a lot of diligence in the execution of the orders issued by their mentors from the West, led by Washington, from where, these days, they have been sent a special tutor, Robert Gelbard.

Instead of dealing with problems of the reconstruction of our country and overcoming of the consequences of the barbaric bombardment carried out by the countries members of the Western military alliance, the domestic quislings have showed single minded determination to execute without protest the task which, in order to justify the aggression, they have been given by the NATO countries: to overthrow legally elected authorities in FR Yugoslavia and the republic of Serbia.

Openly admitting that they intend to do so in an illegal manner, too impatient to wait for elections, which are the only legitimate way to check the will of the voters, the representatives of the so-called "democratic opposition" have decided to try to win power in the streets.

Holding rallies in the towns and cities of Serbia and traveling to kowtow to and consult with the chief of the Montenegrin regime, "the greatest" of all self-declared democrats and reformers, representatives of the so-called democratic opposition in Serbia are outdoing each other in trying to win over as many supporters as possible for their destructive ideas. However, it seems they haven't been doing that well if they are forced to choose various fairs and other similar gatherings as spots for their rallies.

A real illustration of the political direction of the current regime in Montenegro, where representatives of the so-called democratic opposition are rushing to be lectured and advised, can be found in [the daily newspaper] Pobjeda which has a picture of Milo Djukanovic in almost all of its issues. These photos usually show Djukanovic with leaders of countries aggressors on our country.

Within the efforts of the domestic opposition to do the job that NATO alliance failed to do during 79 days of aggression on our country, Gelbard, an American mentor and spiritual leader of the Serb opposition, has recently arrived to Montenegro. He immediately met with a certain number of representatives of the opposition parties from Serbia, among whom were Vuk Draskovic and Zoran Dindic.

Gelbard's task was to give a short seminar to the domestic participants of "the traveling Serbian circus" on the topic of the activities of the extended hand of NATO in Serbia and Yugoslavia. The participants of the seminar were Zoran Dindic, Vuk Obradovic, Vladan Batic, Goran Svilanovic, Dragoslav Avramovic, and Dusan Mihajlovic.

The goal of the most recent visit of this tutor is to reconcile irreconcilable, because the fractured nature of the opposition and personal vanities of its leaders are against the interests of the administration in Washington.

Even the politically illiterate persons have by now realized that the American goals are not "democratization" of the society and even less "human rights". Instead their goal is to brutally occupy Serbia and bring to power sycophants of the Western military alliance. That way, NATO would avoid having to pay war damages to Yugoslavia, estimated at somewhere between $70 and $100 billion.

Gelbard was ordered try to pull Vuk Draskovic into the society of NATO collaborators and servants, by applying various types of pressure on him. According to the last night's commentary on [state-controlled TV station] RTS, Vuk still hasn't decided whether to join that lot, provided they accept his conditions, or continue on his own.

On the other hand, certain domestic media have joined the campaign for the overthrow of the legitimate authorities in Serbia. Among other, evidence for this can be found in the statement of the secretary general of "the Union of Free Trade Unions of Yugoslavia" and an official in the Democratic Party, Zoran Tanasijevic, that Dindic made a "good deal" by forming "a media group" within "the Alliance for Changes". This "media group" has been put in charge of the organization of all his activities: visits, public appearances and rallies.

A leading role in that group, whose membership mostly consists of journalists, is played by Zoran Ostojic, former director of NTV Studio B. Tanaskovic believes that, as "a public relations professional" Ostojic will have "a key role" during their announced rally in Belgrade.

The contacts of the scientific adviser of the Institute for Economics in Belgrade and president of "The League for the Protection of Private Property and Human Rights", Slavenko Grgurevic with individuals from abroad, such as Dragan Zivanovic, also known as Daniel Boyer (which makes one wonder about his real occupation) also fit in with the efforts of the domestic fifth column to finish the job they have been paid for by their foreign masters.

Among other, Grgurevic informed Zivanovic that the leaders of the reactivated student movement "Otpor" [Resistance] are interested in again receiving financial support from Zivanovic, a.k.a. Boyer. Boyer already did so in 1997 during so-called student protests. One of the leaders of these protests, Ceda Antic, later ended up as an official in Dindic's Democratic Party.

Western "Democracy" Seeks "Fifth Column"

Serbian Minister for Human Rights and the Rights of Ethnic Minorities Ivan Sedlak warned on Wednesday during the discussion "Tanjug's Guest" that numerous condemnations of alleged violations of the rights of ethnic minorities in Serbia are only an excuse. The West actually wants to force us to follow their orders, to change officials, to replace our current leadership.

In that case, regardless of who would come to power, we would automatically become one of "the most democratic" countries in the eyes of the West, said Sedlak. He also added that the Western talk about reforms and democracy is nothing but a code for installing someone from the "fifth column" as the leader of a country.

If someone who follows Western interests is in power, than such a state has a democratic "pedigree", added Sedlak.

He emphasized that human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities, according to the Western criteria, are not in the function of real assessment, but serve only as means for political pressure in the deconstruction of Yugoslavia and Serbia. Sedlak warned that the West continues to work on the dismemberment of Yugoslavia and Serbia.

Some neighboring countries, explained Sedlak, have the task to apply pressure on our country.

They do that via their ethnic minorities and political parties making demands for various autonomies, even autonomies within an autonomy, said the Minister.

Ivan Sedlak illustrated this claim by pointing out the coordinated approach of ethnic Hungarian political parties and the Hungarian state regarding a three-level autonomy, which they demand for Vojvodina.


Translated on 11/1/99


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