document: His statement , just a day after both sides agreed to a cease-fire , indicated that a plan to resolve the state 's ethnic , political and economic disputes had gone off the rails less than 18 hours after it was accepted. ; The ultimatum also appeared to confirm Slovenian fears that the army is acting outside government control in its effort to subjugate the secessionist republic . The independent television station Yutel quoted a federal official as saying the government did not approve of the military statement. ; Earlier Saturday evening , Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic forced yet another delay in the election of Stipe Mesic , a Croat , as president of Yugoslavia. ; Mesic election was key ; Mesic 's election was the political keystone in the peace plan , which also called for the federal troops in Slovenia to return to the barracks and for a three-month delay by the breakaway republics of Slovenia and Croatia in carrying out their independence declarations. ; Slovenia refused Saturday night to send a representative to Belgrade for a meeting of the eight-member Yugoslav presidency . Such a meeting might have resolved the leadership vacuum in the federal government. ; Preparations for hostilities were widespread. ; The Tanjug news agency reported that 200,000 Serbs were expected to join a territorial militia in Serbia , the biggest Yugoslav republic , which opposes independence for Slovenia and Croatia , and Negovanovic said Croatia had ordered a mobilization of its `` police '' reserves. ; Urgent legislative meeting ; Slovenia 's parliament was called into emergency session after a 12-point list of demands from the army was presented to republic leaders , insisting that all impediments to federal army operations be removed as part of a Western-brokered cease-fire. ; The peace package was assembled by federal Prime Minister Ante Markovic , brokered by an emergency mission of the European Community and accepted by the leaders of Slovenia and Croatia , as well as Serbia. ; But Saturday night Markovic charged that Slovenia 's President Milan Kucan had `` torpedoed '' the plan by insisting that the moratorium on independence had to be approved by his parliament to take effect. ; Condition upon condition ; Milosevic , seizing on Kucan 's statement , insisted that Serbia would not allow Mesic to become president in the normal rotation until the Slovenian and Croatian parliaments agreed to the moratorium. ; The Slovenian government charged the army with repeated breaches of the cease-fire and demanded the surrender of army units and installations that Slovenian forces had surrounded and cut off since the fighting began Thursday. ; At the end of the day , the maneuvering by all three republics ensured a prolongation of the crisis that has deprived the country of a civilian commander in chief for more than six weeks and effectively left the army to make its own moves. ; Kucan all but ruled out the chances of negotiating the return of Slovenia to Yugoslavia. ; ` No way back ' ; `` There is no way back from Slovenian independence , '' he told reporters in Ljubljana . `` I can not foresee Slovenia becoming a part of Yugoslavia in a democratic way . The only possibility in this connection is her forced annexation . '' ; The Yugoslav army appeared to be beefing up its military presence in Slovenia , sending additional tanks across Croatia toward Slovenia and dispatching two warships from Split , in Croatia , to the port of Koper , in Slovenia . The Slovenian defense forces continued efforts to recapture border posts and said they had several under their control. ; Casualties mount ; At least 40 people were killed in the first two days of fighting in Slovenia , including 20 federal army soldiers , four Slovenian fighters and 12 civilians , said Janez Jansa , the Slovenian defense minister . He estimated that the toll might actually be twice as high. ; Ljubljana , the Slovenian capital , was an armed camp , where armed civilians and territorial guards stopped people at random and demanded identification cards . Driving across the republic , which is about the size of Maryland , was difficult because of checkpoints by territorial guards , barricades of trucks or the wrecks of Slovenian vehicles destroyed by Yugoslav government tanks. ; Croatia digs in ; The situation also seemed to be deteriorating in Croatia , which announced that it was halting all contributions to the central government and would send no more recruits to the federal army. ; In Zagreb , the Croatian capital , federal military aircraft flew low , and federal garrisons stood on full alert . Croatian peasants , fearing a surprise attack , reportedly hid in the woods near the Slovenian border 50 miles north of the capital. ; Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said his republic was not hoping for a fight but was ready if need be . `` We do not want to cut all links with other republics , '' he said . `` But if we are attacked , we will respond . '' ; Austria and Hungary sent armored units to the Slovenian border , describing the action as precautionary. ; The crisis evoked further expressions of anguish from foreign leaders , and for the first time a high-placed U.S. official hinted that the administration may be weighing the possibility of recognizing Croatia and Slovenia . `` The president and the secretary -LRB- of state -RRB- have never said ` never , ' '' Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger said in a television interview. ; The State Department said Saturday that U.S. dependents at its consulate in Zagreb , Croatia 's capital , were being allowed to leave Yugoslavia . The only other U.S. diplomatic post in Yugoslavia is in Belgrade , the federal capital. ; The State Department made the announcement a day after urging Americans in Slovenia and Croatia to leave as soon as they could and suggesting that Americans defer non-essential travel to Yugoslavia until the tensions subside .
extractive_keyphrases: slovenian fears federal troops breakaway republics slovenian defense forces yugoslav army slovenian independence federal army operations independence declarations croatia slovenia serbia yugoslav republic
abstractive_keyphrases: western-brokered cease-fire