Greek Urges Serbian Leader to Bend

A Greek Cabinet minister urged Serbia on Sunday to recognize opposition victories in local elections, adding to the international pressure on President Slobodan Milosevic.

But opposition leaders quoted Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, after his meeting with Milosevic, as saying the Serbian leader refused to concede his party’s loss in Belgrade, the capital.

Zoran Djindjic, a leader of the Serbian opposition coalition known as Zajedno (Together), said Pangalos reported that Milosevic was adamant about retaining control of Belgrade. Milosevic insisted that his Socialist Party won the city “legally,” despite internationally sanctioned evidence to the contrary, Djindjic quoted Pangalos as saying.

At the meeting, Pangalos said the Serbian government must respect an international fact-finding mission’s endorsement of the Nov. 17 opposition victories.

“This should happen immediately,” he said.

Djindjic’s account would indicate that Milosevic is continuing to refuse to recognize all the election results, belying more conciliatory signs that have emerged from the regime in recent days.

The government has conceded the loss of Serbia’s second-largest city, Nis, but Belgrade is considered the prize; power here would give the opposition an important platform for future elections and access to media that have been controlled by Milosevic and his allies.

While Pangalos met with government and opposition leaders, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against Milosevic, as they have done daily since the November elections. Police confined the rally to a pedestrian mall.

Opposition leader Vuk Draskovic said the demonstrations will end when Milosevic’s Socialist Party acknowledges defeats in 14 Serbian cities.

Elsewhere, Hungary’s government said Sunday that it is monitoring the political crisis in neighboring Serbia with growing concern and wants a peaceful settlement.

Siding squarely with the demonstrators, Hungary’s socialist-liberal government said it is “unacceptable to attempt to eliminate rightful social claims by force.”

At a meeting Saturday in Brussels among Western powers, the United States--unable to muster unified international action to pressure Milosevic into recognizing opposition victories--announced its own plans to enact a unilateral trade freeze and other steps against his regime.