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Yugoslav Cabinet Approves Draft Extradition Law
The Yugoslav federal government Thursday approved by a majority vote a draft extradition law that will enable former president Slobodan Milosevic to be handed over to the Hague tribunal for trial.
The vote on the new law was split among the two camps that make up Yugoslavia -- Serbia and Montenegro -- with nine Serbian Cabinet members backing the draft and the seven Montenegrins voting against.
President Vojislav Kostunica told a regular press conference on Thursday that he was optimistic the law would be passed by the federal parliament, not only to cooperate with the Netherlands- based court, but because "any step toward a better legal system is also a step toward our survival as a state."
However, observers here predict a rough ride in the parliament, where the ruling DOS alliance holds only 58 seats in the 138-seat Chamber of Citizens and 10 seats in the 40-member Chamber of Republic.
They noted that the extradition law would be unlikely to be passed short of support from the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro (SNP), which has 28 and 19 seats in the two chambers respectively.
The SNP is the largest political party of the "Together with Yugoslavia" group that joined the DOS to form the ruling federal coalition after the Montenegro authorities refused to cooperate with Kostunica's DOS.
The federal parliament, which will consider the law next week, must approve the measure before any Yugoslav citizen suspected of war crimes could be surrendered to The Hague court for trial.
Local media reports said that Western countries led by the United States have put enormous pressure on Belgrade to hand over Milosevic by threatening to cut economic aid.
Kostunica said earlier that the federal government is faced with a difficult choice. "Pressures and blackmail continue and only make it difficult for us to carry on with democratic reforms and transform this country into a key for stability in the region, " he was quoted as saying.
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