Last spring the U.N. appointed Jacques Klein, a retired U.S. general, to serve as administrator in the region, which is part of Croatia but was overrun by Serbs during the war. Local Serbs, supported by the Yugoslav army, challenged Croatia's declaration of independence, and the ensuing battles wracked the city of Vukovar on the Danube. Scant resources go hand in glove with ethnic tension to prolong the conflict, here and in places like Mostar. The U.N., wrestling with its own financial troubles, left the Croatian government to pay for its 5,000 peacekeepers and temporary administration in Eastern Slavonia. When administrator Mr. Klein expelled the Serb militia from the Djeletovci oil fields, for example, revenue for the oil that had gone to the Serb Republic was then supposed to rebuild Eastern Slavonia.
Economic stagnation affects churches that persevered through the war as well.
The Baptist church in Pozega, west of Osijek but still in Eastern Slavonia, survived the front lines of fighting between Croats and Serbs. The church grew, in fact, as a result of its humanitarian work, and with the peace settlement members felt confident about moving to a larger building. But the donor who promised to make up the difference has lost his own income, jeopardizing the deal. There are no banks to step in with ready capital, and the Baptist Union of Croatia would like to help out but is itself cash poor. Nearly a third of its 110 students this year are, at least informally, refugees like Jasna.