From: malenovi@plains.NoDak.edu (Malenovic Nikola V.)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Subject: Serbia in a Broken Mirror ( VREME NDA 8 Sep 1992 )
Date: 9 Sep 92 00:36:35 GMT
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network


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     "Vreme" News Digest No. 50                           September 7, 1992
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    Serbia in a Broken Mirror
    -------------------------


                              THE BICYCLE THIEVES


    The intention  of the Socialists was  to "tighten the screws  on Panic a
    little",  and make  him understand  that  things  cannot be  the way  he
    imagines and  that they would "see  and assess" if they  would go to the
    very  end against  him. Panic  must  have  known that  there would  be a
    reaction, and  replied readily that they  had lost fifteen games  with a
    score of 12:0.

    According to a report on the participation of the Yugoslav delegation at
    the London Conference, Panic spoke  very sharply of provincial political
    demagogy which had fanned ethnic mistrust and hatred.

    It was  clear that he  himself would  soon  become the target  of such a
    demagogy.

    It could be seen that the old mechanisms for exerting mass pressure were
    being put into operation, but things were not as they had been before.

    Circles  close to  the Socialist  Party were  heard to make unauthorized
    statements; that they wanted to "press Panic a little", that they "would
    see", e.t.c. Government officials were  very cool, some even prepared to
    bet  that the  action against  Panic would  come to  nothing, and showed
    openly  that they  believed that  Parliament needed  them more  than did
    authority.  The  Montenegrins  were  suprised  and  took  umbrage.  They
    criticized  their coalition  partner for  not consulting  them prior  to
    starting a debate on the Prime Minister, who, it might be said, had been
    enforced on them two months ago.

    The delegation from Kosovo arrived  at the Yugoslav Parliament on August
    31, carrying a  large picture of Slobodan Milosevic.  Panic received the
    delegation that very same afternoon. He reiterated that it was necessary
    to abrogate laws "which had never been applied", and that the University
    of Pristina should  be opened, that Albanians if  they wanted to, should
    be  allowed to  study in  their own  language, just  as Mexicans  can in
    California. Panic,  however would recommend (he  would never order) that
    they complete their education in the  Serbian language, in order to find
    jobs more easily. Panic said that British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd
    had  invited him  to meet  with Ibrahim  Rugova (leader  of Albanians in
    Kosovo),  and that  he had   accepted with  pleasure, and  that domestic
    "democrats" must  abandon the principle whereby  "my freedom is possible
    only if I give you your freedom".

    It  was clear  that the  delegation from  Kosovo had  been envisaged  as
    additional pressure  on Panic and  an aid to  the action of  the Serbian
    Radical Party  (SRS) and a group  of deputies of the  Socialist Party of
    Serbia (SPS); they  had launched an initiative for  a vote of confidence
    in the federal Prime Minister,  exulting like children in the Parliament
    corridors.

    President of the  Association of Emigrants Brana Crncevic,  was the most
    active  deputy  and  said  of  Panic  that  he  was  a  man who could be
    "dangerous to the state"; that  Panic had "instructions from above", and
    that "it  was not known to  what extent he represented  the Americans or
    us."  At the  time when  Panic dismissed  Mihalj Kertes  as head  of the
    Secret  Police  because  Kertes  had  not  agreed  with the government's
    opposition to ethnic cleansing. Crncevic, who must have played a role in
    encouraging  Serbian xenophobia,  claims that  there has  been no ethnic
    cleansing  in Yugoslav  territory. This  detail could  point to the main
    reason for the  attack against Panic. After Kertes's  dismissal, many of
    the  creators  of  Serbian  xenophobia  felt  threatened.  The  concrete
    decisions of the  London Conference contain a provision  which says that
    "the sides must achieve control over the undisciplined elements in their
    areas".

    Violence, however, did not stop. A rally was held in Hrtkovci (a village
    in Vojvodina, where  the expulsion of Croats had first  taken place on a
    large  scale), demanding  the release  of Municipality  President Ostoja
    Sibincic and his assistant Rade Cakmak.

    A bomb exploded  in Zemun, in  front of house  with four children.  "Our
    only fault is  that we come from mixed marriages;  our godfathers are of
    different nationalities. If this is some kind of warning, then I have to
    say that our children have not done anyone any harm", says a 30 year-old
    woman in tears. Panic tried to  convince the public that they should not
    fear armed groups and that with regard to this, he had confidence in the
    Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of the Interior.

    However, in an  interview to Serbian Television, Panic  said that he had
    not  negotiated with  Croatian President  Franjo Tudjman  alone, but had
    asked him to write down his demands,  which Tudjman had shown at a lunch
    attended  by  Serbian  President  Slobodan  Milosevic. Negotiations with
    Tudjman were initiated by President Cosic before leaving for London, and
    the  reason given  was that  many people  had been  brought into  a very
    unfavourable  situation   regarding  everyday  life   because  of  their
    unresolved  status,   their  rights  concerning   property  which  being
    frustrated, including the possibilities of receiving pensions and health
    care  services. Panic's  offer that  Serbs in  Croatia also  be Yugoslav
    citizens, is  in conflict with  the logic of  those who have  sacrificed
    people for territory.

    A Socialist official told VREME that the intention of the Socialists was
    to "tighten the screws on Panic  a little", and make him understand that
    things  cannot be  the way  he  imagines  and that  they would  "see and
    assess" if  they would go to  the very end against  him. Panic must have
    known that there would be a  reaction, and replied readily that they had
    lost fifteen games with a score of 12:0.

    The day after  the launching of the initiative  for Panic's resignation,
    SPS leader Borisav Jovic denied that the Socialist party had had a stand
    on such  an initiative at  the time of  its launching, and  said that he
    "could  not oppose  the majority   of Socialist  deputies who  wished to
    launch such  an initiative", even  though his conduct  in Parliament did
    not  point to  neutrality. Asked  by deputy  Oskar Kovac  if a debate on
    confidence  in the  government required  the government's  report on the
    London Conference, Jovic  said, as if he were the  boss, that it did and
    did  not,  because  the  London  Conference  was  only  a  deatil of the
    government's work.  In a statement to  the Tiker news agency,  Jovic had
    earlier  described  Panic  as  an  "inconstant  politician  who  was not
    informed of his  competencies", and added that Panic  would not get away
    without public  criticism. The Socialists  held a number  of meetings at
    which Panic was criticized. After  that, the SPS executive board ordered
    its members to vote for Panic -- "if his government accepts good natured
    criticism".

    It is  possible that the Socialists  wished to play the  game of cat and
    mouse with Panic, just as they had  with Ante Markovic, to tie his hands
    and  beat him  up, having  first stolen  his bicycle  -- the  one he had
    ridden in this race, to accuse  him of having signed the capitulation of
    their policy,  to strip him  of all authority,  and to attack  him as if
    they  were in  opposition and  as if  they were  the ones  who had  just
    arrived from the United States.

    It  is obvious  that the  Parliamentary majority  will obstruct  Panic's
    government as much as possible. The  Yugoslav Parliament has put off the
    discussion of the draft law on  amnesty, demanding that it be considered
    under  regular procedures  in a  packet with  other laws  concerning the
    army. The  General Staff has given  a negative assessment of  this draft
    law  and  Justice  Minister  Tibor  Varadi  later  said that the Defence
    Ministry had  approved the project  and that the  General Staff and  the
    Defence  Ministry would  have to  coordinate their  stands. In  spite of
    this, Panic says that he enjoys the confidence of the officer corps.

    Some of  the participants of  the lost war  wish to undermine  the peace
    negotiations  in order  to prevent   the question  of their  guilt being
    brought up. Serbian Radicals, as the  upholders of that kind of rigidity
    which  is characteristic  of a  great  part  of the  ruling regime,  are
    playing an  open game in the  destruction of peace arrangements,  and in
    trying to topple Panic because he is negotiating, and curiously, because
    Panic is Defence Minister.

    In an interview  to Belgrade Television, Panic said that  it was time we
    looked ourselves  in the face, that  we never wished to  admit to making
    mistakes, but  we have; that  we are not  "a celestial people"  but, are
    perhaps better than  others at football, but that  according to some, we
    are  now the  "cancer of  the world".  "Enough kidding,  said Panic at a
    press conference.

    As if nothing had  happened, as if his back were not  up against a wall,
    Borisav Jovic continues  to claim that "sanctions are  unjust and should
    be lifted by those who introduced them".

    Cosic voiced  criticism, that as the  President who had given  Panic his
    mandate at the Socialists' proposal, he  had not been consulted and said
    that  he  would  not  follow  them  absolutely.  Panic claims that Cosic
    personally  called  him  many  times  and  in  the  end  brought  him to
    Yugoslavia, but  that the idea  of coming had  first been put  to him by
    Congresswoman  Helen  Delic-Bentley.  In  an  interview  to  Tanjug news
    agency, Cosic says that he was  "suprised" with the proposal for Panic's
    resignation.

    Crncevic polemicized with  Cosic, claiming that "Panic, or  no Panic, it
    does not change matters". At that moment many doubted Cosic's loyalty to
    Panic, considering that Panic's brand of liberalism differs from Cosic's
    nationalism. According to an  opposition deputy, Milosevic miscalculated
    in  thinking   that  the  differences  between   Cosic  and  Panic  were
    insurmountable, and that  Cosic would keep to the  sidelines. The deputy
    said  that Milosevic  made a  similar miscalculation  in the affair over
    POLITIKA (a Belgrade daily.)

    Two  days later  when it  had become  absolutely clear  that the  public
    supported  Panic  (according  to  Partner  --  an agency for researching
    public  opinion,  82  percent  Belgraders  support  Panic),  Cosic sent,
    through  Tanjug, a  very sharp  open letter  to the  Serbian Radical and
    Socialist deputy  groups, calling their  decision premature, politically
    detrimental  and "traditional  in the  bad sense".  At the  same time he
    thanked the Montenegrin deputies for their wise stand.

    Cosic's unrestrained praise of Panic, says  that he has invested all his
    authority  in order  to protect  his  Prime  Minister: "in  spite of  an
    unadaptability to  our circumstances which  are difficult to  understand
    for people  from other environments, Panic's  exceptional activity, rare
    political energy, loyalty to the state's basic goal, a single-mindedness
    aimed at lifting sanctions, a new style and impressive communicativeness
    have led to  the achieving of important results.  Panic has made visible
    the peaceful and democratic face of our denounced and isolated country",
    said Cosic. Cosic's protection however, does  not mean that he has urged
    for an extension of Panic's competencies.  Cosic just said: "I know what
    he is doing". It is not a  sure thing that after this affair, Panic will
    remain  unfettered  and  that   his  manoeuvering  capabilites  will  be
    increased in future actions.

    Before the start of the process against Panic, the results of the London
    Conference were assessed in Belgrade  as the signing of capitulation and
    a confirmation of  the failure of Milosevic's  policy, only written down
    in English.

    On  his   return  from  London,  Dobrica   Cosic's  pessimism  was  less
    depressive. On August 29, at Belgrade's Surcin Airport Cosic said: "When
    I left, my  fears were greater than  my hopes. Now my  hopes are greater
    than my fears.  I think I can tell the  citizens of Yugoslavia that they
    need  no longer  fear intervention.  Our international  position is very
    difficult, but not hopeless".

    Milan Panic  said that "it had  been a good conference  for the Yugoslav
    government", that his letter had  been the framework for the Conference,
    and recalled that if  the Yugoslav side did not do all  that to which it
    had agreed, then the UN Security Council would be called on to apply all
    international sanctions. Ahead of  the Parliamentary session, Panic said
    that  when  he  had  first  arrived,  Belgrade  had  been faced with the
    possibility of bombardment.

    Public  controversies  between  Panic  and  the  other  members  of  the
    delegation and the important differences which had cropped up in London,
    were interpreted by many as manoeuvering, because Panic more than Cosic,
    felt a  need to confirm  his legitimacy by  publically dramatizing these
    differences. Finally, Panic became a  sign for recognizing these changes
    which the world wishes to see in Yugoslavia, and if he survives, he will
    have to fight to cash in on the credit he has now won.

    Of the  opposition parties, the  Serbian Renewal Movement  (SPO) was the
    first  to react  to the  call  for  Panic's toppling.  The SPO  issued a
    statement saying: "the ink has not yet dried on the London documents and
    Slobodan Milosevic  continues to play Russian  roulette with the Serbian
    people", and "such a policy  leads to further confrontations in Serbia".
    SPO leader Vuk Draskovic proposed that on  the same day when the vote of
    confidence  was under  way in  Parliament, citizens  of Belgrade  should
    gather in front  of Parliament "and speak out".  Draskovic lucidly noted
    that  the  law  on  limited  gatherings  was  not  being  applied,  that
    gatherings  were allowed,  considering that  the group  from Kosovo  had
    gathered in front of the Yugoslav Parliament without having first paid a
    deposit.

    "Panic cannot  make it alone!" said  a leaflet calling Belgraders  to go
    out  into the  streets in  a show  of support  to Panic  and in order to
    prevent  SRS  leader  Vojislav  Seselj  from  taking over power. Several
    parties  denied responsibility  for the  leaflet, while  Panic told  the
    students to stay  at home, and that when he  needed their help, he would
    ask for it. Panic said that  Milosevic was being cooperative, probably a
    reference to some tactical concession to Cosic. The words "they must go"
    can only refer to one particular  political group -- the one which tried
    to  steal  his  London  bike.  Milosevic  was  greeted  by  about  1,000
    Belgraders in front of Parliament in the usual way -- with catcalls.

                                                             Milan Milosevic


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     "Vreme" News Digest No. 50                           September 7, 1992
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