Kostunica makes international debut

Mr Kostunica is seeking international support

Yugoslavia's new President Vojislav Kostunica is due to attend an informal meeting of European Foreign Ministers in Biarritz on Saturday in his first trip abroad since he was elected president.

The EU is expected to confirm a $173m package of aid measures for Yugoslavia, but ministers will want to hear further commitment from Mr Kostunica to political reform in the country.

Yugoslavia currently has a two-tier system of government, and while Mr Kostunica and his allies now control the Yugoslav administration, the Serbian parliament and many important state institutions are still controlled by supporters of former President Slobodan Milosevic.

Mr Kostunica wants an interim administration to run Serbia until fresh elections can be held, possibly on 24 December, but has encountered opposition from supporters of the former regime.

There will be help to clear the Danube

In approving the aid package, which will provide medicine, heating oil and improve food distribution in Yugoslavia this winter, the EU said it wanted to send a strong signal of support to Mr Kostunica.

The EU has also toned down its demands that Slobodan Milosevic should be handed over to a United Nations tribunal to answer charges of war crimes.

No agreement

On Friday, a meeting of the Serbian parliament failed to reach agreement on the make up of the proposed stop-gap government and setting a date for new elections.

Although talks are expected to resume on Saturday, correspondents say the current stalemate is a setback to Mr Kostunica, who must now attend the summit without having consolidated his hold on power.

Some opposition members also fear that Mr Milosevic's defeated Socialist party will try to use any new election to rebuild its support.

While Mr Kostunica seeks to seal international approval of his presidency, bickering among Yugoslavia's political factions is threatening to derail his attempts secure his position at home.

On Friday, it seemed that a deal on an administration to provide basic services in the country over the winter had been reached, only for talks to stall short of a final settlement.

One pro-reformer, Nebojsa Covic, accused the Socialists of foot-dragging and delaying tactics.

"They are buying time, not understanding that their time has expired, just as their president Slobodan Milosevic did," he said.

"The agreement with the Socialists was not reached because that party does not care about the stabilisation of the political situation in the country," he added.