The wider session of the Federal Presidency about the main issues of the Yugoslav crisis

Belgrade, 20 August - On the first day of the wider session of the Federal Presidency, the main issues of the Yugoslav crisis were discussed. The President of the Slovene Presidency, Milan Kučan, has given his evaluation of the session, as much more successful that all the previous ones. Kučan said, that the war in Slovenia and Croatia had a sobering effect upon those bearing most of the responsibility within the Federation. The basic principles which must be upheld for reaching the solution to the crisis are: peace and termination of all military activity, the peoples rights for self-determination, democratic expression of will by individual nations, no use of force, not forcing opinions upon others and the principle of legal endorsement to the already reached political consensus. "I am certain that the final solution will not be reached without the assistance of the European experts and institutions", emphasized Kučan. Regarding the comparison between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, Kučan said that certain circles within Yugoslavia welcome the Soviet "prescription" and that part of political forces will turn to it as a model. The differences that are becoming apparent can remain, said Kučan. It is primarily a matter of the original sovereignty of individual republics and of Yugoslavia as a whole, of understanding the nature of internal borders and their alterations in relation to the right of self determination, of the issues on differing levels of integration and of the functioning on the federal level. The opinion, that the three month moratorium began on July 7, prevailed at this meeting. The Slovenian representative within the Federal Presidency, Dr. Janez Dernovšek, stated after the meeting that, the this meeting was important because the dialogue had finally begun. Concerning the independence of Slovenia he said that it is necessary to reach an agreement on a formal procedure by which the sovereignty should be achievable. He further stated that the differences concerning the Srbian-Croatian conflict are obvious, while the readiness for agreement is minimal.
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