ETHNIC ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS STILL ACTIVE. Members of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB) continue to wear uniforms and carry out training exercises, despite a recent pledge by their political leaders that they will conduct their struggle by political means only (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 March 2000). Members of the UCPMB also continue to cross the border between Kosova and Serbia as well as use the "neutral zone" between KFOR and Serbian forces for their own military purposes, "The Washington Post" reported on 28 March. Political representatives of the UCPMB told journalists that it will take time before they can persuade militants to respect the political leaders' pledge to U.S. diplomats to end the armed struggle. Some militants published a letter in "Koha Ditore" saying they will not give up their fight, the Washington daily continued. An unnamed U.S. official stressed that his government is determined to see that the UCPMB lives up to the agreement. PM MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS MILOSEVIC TRYING TO OUST HIM. Milo Djukanovic told the Sarajevo Muslim daily "Avaz" of 27 March that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has only two options in his struggle against the Montenegrin leaders: Milosevic must either oust the Djukanovic leadership by force and replace it with his own allies or he must "exclude" Montenegro from the Yugoslav federation. "The New York Times" on 28 March quoted Djukanovic as saying that Milosevic has set up a 1,000-strong special police unit within the Montenegro-based Second Army of the Yugoslav Army. Those police are in fact a paramilitary unit" loyal to Milosevic. The Montenegrin president added that "over 50 percent of them have criminal records. They are not being [kept] to protect the country but to overthrow the [Montenegrin] government." PM MONTENEGRIN PRIME MINISTER SAYS PODGORICA NEEDS OWN POLICE. Predrag Bulatovic, who is a leading official of the pro- Milosevic Socialist People's Party of Montenegro, told "The New York Times" of 28 March that Djukanovic "has 20,000 police, [which are] 10,000 more than he should have. The danger is that this guy [might use] these people to create a conflict" with Milosevic's supporters or the army. Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic replied, however, that the government needs a strong police force of its own to deter armed provocations by Milosevic or his Montenegrin supporters. Vujanovic added that Montenegro's government must defend itself in the absence of "security guarantees" from NATO. PM ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// MOSCOW SEES KOSOVA AS TEST OF NATO-RUSSIA RELATIONS. In an interview published in "Krasnaya zvezda" on 25 March, one day after the first anniversary of the start of NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, Russian Defense Minister Sergeev made clear that Russia is dissatisfied with its allotted role in Kosova. "NATO thinks that Russia has to put up with the status of "a partner in the [peacekeeping] operation carried out by the alliance," Sergeev remarked. "We do not agree with this point of view, because it limits the possibilities of Russia, depriving it of its own independent policy aimed at stabilizing the situation in the region." To counter efforts aimed at establishing a "pro-NATO regime in the republic" and splitting up Yugoslavia, he added, Russia will take "active diplomatic and military-political measures" to protect the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. Relations between Russia and NATO are being put to the test in Kosova, Sergeev concluded. JC