Vojislav Kostunica Calls Yugoslavia's Cooperation With The Hague Tribunal As "Inevitable Evil"

By adopting law on cooperation with the Hague Tribunal Yugoslavia will protect its state interests and rights of individuals, said Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica in the Open Studio programme of the state television channel. To prove the need for such a law Kostunica cited new charges put by the Hague Tribunal against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for the crimes committed in Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal is "inevitable evil," which nevertheless has to be arranged on the civilised and legitimate grounds in order to protect Yugoslavia against excessive charges and also point to crimes committed against Serbs, said Vojislav Kostunica. He again censured the Hague Tribunal for its desire to engage in all problems and declared that the Tribunal is destroying itself by its own methods and length of trial. Asked why the authorities of Yugoslavia do not insist on advancing charges against Albanian leaders in Kosovo, Kostunica said that Belgrade has insisted on it more than once but each time the Tribunal answered that the Kosovo Liberation Army was not an organised formation and, therefore, common responsibility can hardly be fixed.