RUSSIA APPROVES YUGOSLAV MILITARY PRESENCE IN MACEDONIAN FRONTIER SAFETY BELT








MOSCOW, MARCH 13, RIA NOVOSTI - Moscow greets an understanding between the KFOR command and the Yugoslav and Serbian government coordination committee top to introduce Yugoslav army and police units to the land safety belt along the Yugoslav-Macedonian frontier, Alexander Yakovenko, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs press spokesman, says in a statement.


	The move will help to put an end to illegal activities of ethnic Albanian paramilitaries in Serbia's south, points out Mr. Yakovenko. Moscow expects all the other stretches of the land safety belt soon to come under Yugoslav control, he adds.


	The resolution to admit Yugoslav army and police units to the safety belt shows an acknowledgement of Yugoslav authorities' direct participation to be necessary for reliable security in the area--a point which Moscow repeatedly pressed. Russia's Foreign Ministry does not think the KFOR command is coping with the task.


	Russia was glad to learn about ceasefire pledges made by Presevo Albanian spokesmen. The Foreign Ministry hopes for compliance with those pledges, called to provide necessary conditions to implement a programme for South Serbian crisis settlement, as jointly offered by the Yugoslav and Serbian governments.