President Slobodan Milosevic, making a rare public appearance, yesterday announced the start of work to repair Yugoslavia's infrastructure battered by NATO's 11-week bombing campaign.
Greeted by several thousand people in Beska, some 50 kilometres north-west of Belgrade, Mr Milosevic vowed that a nearby motorway bridge over the Danube would be fixed in "40 days." The bridge in Beska is one of four in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina that were destroyed in NATO bombings. A total of 34 bridges and viaducts were destroyed or severely damaged in NATO bombing.
"Now that the peace has prevailed, we have a new task, to rebuild the country. The reconstruction begins with this bridge in Beska, which will be in service in 40 days," Mr Milosevic promised, according to a Serbian state TV report.
He said the bridge would be repaired that fast because, even "while bombs were still falling, our builders were secretly preparing the elements which will be put in the bridge."
Mr Milosevic described the air war as "the most difficult 11 weeks" Yugoslavia had survived since the second World War and the "most brutal aggression committed by the biggest war machine the world ever created."
"With their heroic struggle and unity, our people have managed to defend the country and obtain guarantees from the United Nations for its territorial integrity and sovereignty," Mr Milosevic said.
Referring to Kosovo, he asserted that the "problems in our southern province will continue to be solved under the auspices of the United Nations.
"After this aggression, no one will be able to hide the truth about our people and our country . . . Our people have been demonised, for almost a decade, in order to find a pretext for violence on them," Mr Milosevic said.
Meanwhile Serbia's leading hardliner Mr Vojislav Seselj and his party quit the government yesterday, accusing Belgrade of "betraying" Kosovo, but observers said the move scarcely jeopardises Mr Milosevic's grip on power.
The executive of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) voted unanimously for its 15 ministers to quit the 35-strong cabinet, Mr Seselj, who was Serbia's deputy prime minister, said.
The SRS held two deputy premier positions, as well as important ministries for Information, Trade and Privatisation. It had formed a coalition cabinet with Mr Milosevic's Socialist Party (SPS) and the Yugoslav Left (JUL) of Milosevic's wife Mira Markovic.
"The only reason for the coalition with the SPS and JUL was to defend Kosovo," Mr Seselj said. "Since Kosovo is now under occupation, we have no reason to stay in the government. "
But despite Mr Seselj's fierce accusations about Belgrade's "betrayal" of Kosovo, Mr Milosevic's regime is not really hit by his leaving of the government, and observers believe it will probably not create a political crisis.