Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic

Belgrade, May 14 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Friday met with top national officials to consider most important issues of interest to the population and defense from aggression.

It was agreed, in spite of vast difficulties resulting from daily NATO bombardments, that the country's economy is highly vital, that provisions and supplies are regular, as are traffic and transport, that medical, communal, and other public services and civilian protection headquarters are functioning well. Through dedicated work, the grave consequences of the NATO destruction are being removed, so that life can return to normal as soon as possible.

Measures in the area of public finances secure the stability of the rate of exchange and prices. Authorized departments and the Yugoslav National Bank are taking measures to realize the necessary public revenue in order to secure payments of salaries and pensions.

The government's socio-economic program for securing employment for workers whose factories or companies have been destroyed in NATO bombings was discussed separately.

Peace reigns in Kosovo and Metohija province, which is disturbed only by NATO forces which are conducting massive air strikes, it was heard. Two opposite processes are taking place. While on the one hand, state organs are intensely working on normalizing life, settling humanitarian problems, and securing the return of refugees to their homes, on the other hand, there are round-the-clock NATO air strikes. Last night's bombardment of refugees near the place Suva Reka, when people were returning to their homes after the elimination of terrorization by the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, killed 56 people, mostly ethnic Albanian women and children, and scores were gravely wounded. This is yet another in a series of NATO crimes against civilians. Attempts at justification and legalization of such crimes pose a direct threat to peace and stability in the world.

The war in Yugoslavia has been reduced to strictly NATO air strikes on civilians and the international public should know that an end to the bombardments would mean immediate peace.

NATO's evident objective is to prevent the return of refugees to their homes, because the return of refugees, as organized by the state, is contrary to all actual objectives of NATO, which is using the problem of refugees as an excuse for its aggression, in spite of the fact that the massive appearance of refugees is a direct consequence of the NATO air strikes.

The United Nations, in keeping with its Charter, should unequivocally and immediately stop the aggression on Yugoslavia and finally assume its role and secure the return of peace to Yugoslav territory, so that outstanding issues in connection with Kosovo and Metohija could be settled peacefully, using political means, to which Yugoslavia is unreservedly devoted, it was heard at the meeting of the top state leaders on Friday.