NEWS

Dusanka Markovic, secretary of the Alliance of Drama Artists of Serbia, stated today that major Belgrade theatres have canceled their plays for tomorrow, as a symbol of protest because of the smothering of the freedom of speech and solidarity with the student protest. The plays of Atelje 212, the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Zvezdara Theatre, The Theatre on Terazije and The Serbian NAtional Theatre in Novi Sad will not be held tomorrow.

"The refusal of the Supreme Court is a signal that Milosevic has reinforced his opinion and decided to confront not only the demonstrators, but also the USA and European Community, who have implicitly requested of him to acknowledge the electoral results, establishment of democratic norms and opening a dialogue with the opposition in Serbia." This was stated in the report of the Washington Post, and the fear of western democrats that the present development of the situation will create high tensions and indirect confrontation of the police with the tens of thousands of demonstrators.

"Milosevic is very isolated- he doesn't live in Tito's villa by chance, and not closer to the center, but is aware and well informed about what is going on. My impression is that he is very surprised by the magnitude of the protest and its length". said Kathy Marton, of the Committee for the protection of Journalists (New York), on a press conference, organized in Radio B-92.

"Serbia is on its way towards a point of no return" states the headline of today's Observer considering the happenings in Belgrade. "Milosevic ha succeeded" says the article " to create a society in which the majority of youth believe that by protesting they have nothing to lose and that the critical moment has arrived when he must either use force or share his authority". It is believed that Milosevic "will reach the point of no return" is he hands Belgrade over to the coalition Zajedno, writes the Observer.

The Sunday Times characterizes the demonstrations as being "peaceful and amusing", stating that "these protests, full of good humor have given the world a new picture of Serbia- a country of joy and spontaneity, which has been lost in the past years of bloodshed. They (the demonstrations) have clearly show the fork in the path to which the country has come- either the forces of change will succeed, in which case Serbia could possibly enter the society of European democracies, or they will be stopped, creating a state of utter despair." The Sunday Telegraph conveys the words of a western diplomate, that the fact Milosevic was useful for achieving peace in Bosnia, does not mean friendship and that no one is irreplaceable. The Independent on Sunday states that the demonstrators call Milosevic "last of the tyrannosaurs" and that "he has nowhere to hide".

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