BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- The Yugoslav government has stepped in to deny a claim on the estate of the late President Josip Broz Tito by his widow and disclosed to the nation the privileges she enjoys, the Yugoslav media has reported.
Jovanka Broz, 61, Tito's third wife, went to court to claim possession of much of the contents of Tito's various houses and properties throughout Yugoslavia, claiming they constituted his personal effects and should be assigned to the family.
Broz, who dropped out of public view in 1977 before her husband's death in 1980, laid claim to such items as cars and horses, carriages, paintings and other objects used by Tito at his residences in Belgrade, on Brioni island, a state-provided house in the village of Doganovci near the capital, and a vineyard and an orchard on Vanga island.
To clarify the situation, parliament Friday approved a law that all objects acquired by Tito as head of state, such as his art collection, archives, hunting trophies and other objects, be deemed public property. Government officials said his wife already had many privileges.
