A dream of an American opera singer and the activities of a French peacemaker were translated into Serbo-Croatian as a political action with obscure aims and consequences. Still, it worked

Excerpts from an Interview, Zagreb, December 1991

An old English saying "We are counting the heads so that we would not have to chop them off", was not confirmed in the case of the first pluralist elections in Serbia and in Yugoslavia. In December 1990 no party promised a war, or the militarization of society, or the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The voters came out naively opting for a status quo, expecting the situation to calm down, a better standard of living and a way to Europe, and only some were concerned about the war and misery.

I believe because it is absurd. Do we really have, after all the cease-fires and agreements a better reason than this old scholastic witticism to believe that peace will last this time?

Mr. Novak is a writer and a president of the Slovenian PEN Club. He was born in 1953 in Belgrade. After finishing his elementary school, he moved to Ljubljana. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Philology. He has taken an active part in the latest events in Slovenia and Yugoslavia and has led a bitter debate with the Slovenian minister of defence Janez Jansa concerning the competencies of the new Slovenian counter-intelligence.

Despite much talk on the instigation of property transformation, the new president of the Serbian government dr Radoman Bozovic forced ex Serbian premier dr Stanko Radmilovic, the temporary director of the Serbian oil industry to resign because he wanted to, at least partially, separate it from the state.

Seven decades of common living and common diplomatic history leaves the Yugoslav heirs with the big fund of state property abroad.

January 13, 1992 Vreme News Digest Agency No 16

The pilot of the EC mission helicopter lieutenant Renato Barbafiera was flying 150 metres behind the helicopter of his colleague Enzo Venturini. Some 80 kilometres - a 15 minute flight - separated them from their destination in Zagreb. "I heard a strange sound and felt vibrations. Then I saw Enzo's helicopter falling apart. I brusquely turned left and within 30 seconds I landed", says Barbafiera. It was barely ten minutes past two p.m., a clear day in Varazdin vicinity, near the village of Madzarevo

The Army planes have shot down the helicopter of the EC monitoring mission, general Veljko Kadijevic, the federal defence minister, has resigned, Milosevic has asked of the people of Krajina to overthrow Milan Babic and Babic has replied that Milosevic "has overstepped his authority". What actually happened?

"You have turned a deaf ear to the explicit attitudes of the Yugoslav Presidency and those of the Serbian leadership more than once, giving yourself the right to make decisions the price of which, unfortunately, has to be paid in blood by the entire Serbian nation"...

At the Assembly session in Sarajevo at which the Inaugural Declaration on the creation of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia was to be adopted, Nikola Koljevic said to the MPs: "Please vote unanimously".

The problem of Kosovo can be solved. There are Albanian political groups in Pristina (the capital of Kosovo) which are interested in surviving within the Yugoslav community. If Belgrade in the end resorts to force, it would mean throwing a million and a half Albanians out

"The citizens of Serbia are not your hostages", writes Milosevic, quoting Vuk Draskovic, which is not the first time, and under the term "the citizens of Serbia" he primarily means himself

Stojan Andov (56), a former federal government presidential candidate before Markovic, a former Yugoslav ambassador to Iraq during the Gulf war, the present president of the Macedonian Parliament and the president of the Macedonian Reformists Party, is one of the Macedonian politicians who have created Macedonian "active and peace-oriented" politics of inter-republic coexistence and non-interference in the Serbo-Croatian war. We have made an interview with Mr. Andov at the time when that politics has brought Macedonia on the verge of being recognized as an independent and sovereign state.

January 20, 1992 Vreme News Digest Agency No 17

These people will meet again as soon as they stop examining their navels and start looking around them. The meeting will be more pleasant if they find a way to forget Yugoslavia quickly The word Yugoslavia describes nothing at present time. Only a few in Serbia believe that something remotely fitting the name of Yugoslavia can be preserved, but this has more to do with the probate proceedings concerning legal and material inheritance, than with any real allegiance to the idea of Yugoslavia. It is very likely that even Serbia, before it exhausts what is left of Yugoslavia, will give up on that name as well as its intention to use it as a disguise for its considerably thwarted Great Serbia ambitions.

It seems that this time the Serbian authorities are really eager to preserve peace. Not even the recognition of Croatia by the EC provoked a new outburst of anger.

Mr. Koljevic ( on of the leaders of Bosnian Serbs) discloses to VREME some unknown details of his secret meeting with Mr. Franjo Tudjman.

Some in Skoplje think that Serbia, if it really wants to establish its diplomatic and political initiative in this part of the Balkans, would have to recognize the independence and sovereignty of Macedonia as soon as possible

Whatever Milosevic does in the future, the opposition will probably accuse him for, among other things, breaking the vow he made on June 28 1989 in Kosovo when he said that Serbia has, after six long centuries, regained its dignity

The Helsinki Watch Committee sent a message with terrifying details to Milosevic and general Adzic. Tudjman is about to receive one as well

The fate of Yugoslavia lies in the hands of 102.000 people. How Branko Kostic sided with the National Party. Will Serbia accept the confederation?

If Serbia refuses to print passports, its citizens will be refused access abroad and many will return, angry at the fact that their own country deprived them of their living

Although it seems as though the Orthodox Church has lost its confidence in Milosevic, the opposition still has no reason to rejoice at it

The Serbian political scene has no one who could equal Micunovic's democratic manner and his balanced delivery.

"Although it was never publicly stated, I think that the war in Croatia has been led for a long time to keep Croatia within Yugoslavia. The Army did not want to make Tudjman and his government unpopular and to make Croats forget their referendum results and return to the bosom of Yugoslavia"

A day before the recognition of independence, the citizens of Slovenia have shown a very high degree of patriotism: after the first hints concerning petrol and hard currency price increase they stood in lines at the gas stations and in front of the bank windows, trying to get rid of as many tolars as possible. While the media were announcing the countries which recognized Slovenia and Croatia, in "Ljubljana bank" the exchange rate figures on the display were rising uncontrollably above the heads of frenzied subjects.

At a small scientists' gathering at the Institute for International Politics in Belgrade last week, Bogdan Denic, professor of sociology in New York, said that an official announcement of a new American plan for the solution of the Yugoslav crisis can be expected soon.

The first devaluation in the incomplete Yugoslavia, which took place last week, will primarily be remembered by the fact that it merited only a few short comments: newspapers stopped treating the issue only after a few days. The reason for this should not be sought in the obsession of people with the war, since the concern how to make it until the end of the month is becoming predominant

At the time when Bozovic's government has started its agricultural policy by blocking the prices of the main agricultural products and imposing the total control of trade with Bosnia, Macedonia and other republics, all domestic trade exchanges have recorded considerable food outflow. The agricultural policy which abounds in concessions and bonuses, has turned out to be the only weapon Bozovic (the present Serbian prime minister) has against inflation, starvation, energy blockade and the "disobedient members" of the incomplete Yugoslavia.

The civilian republic should mostly be feared by its present promoters like Karadzic (the president of the Bosnian Serbs), Koljevic (the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) MP for Bosnia) and other local strongmen. This goes for Izetbegovic as well, who will not be forgiven for being the first one to form a national party in B&H, regardless of the fact that the climate in Yugoslavia at that time was steering him in that direction.

Will Milosevic's defeat cause the Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts to be dropped, or will other means be used to carry it through?

Slovene minister of interior talks about foreigners, Janez Jansa, war, terrorism, armament, Serbs and Croats...

Zorica Naskovic,a psychiatrist at the Bijeljina hospital, says that even the reservists with legitimate complaints have difficulties to be excused and that a garrison doctor came to ask her how to recognize the fakers

Milosevic did not invent Serbian meetings - he only skillfully adjusted them to suit his own needs

Last week the ambitious dentist from Vrlika (Krajina) played on double or quits. The strong competition fired back. The question is: who will be the first to negotiate with Dr. Tudjman - the ones who were willing to do it from the start or the one who wouldn't let them do it

The ever so modest doctor Jovic would never allow himself any obvious sign of contentment, or ask for recognition, but it is precisely during his presidency mandate that the idea of the reform of the Yugoslav society was buried and the final process of disintegration started

The nature of the present-day government is probably best described by the story about the re-election of the judges in Serbia

"The disintegration of Yugoslavia and the creation of new states on its territory implies a vacuum of power and influence", asserted dr Irena Reuter-Hendrichs, the research fellow at the Munich based Foundation for Political Science in her analysis for VREME. Reminding that Yugoslavia used to be the international subject which "all the neighbouring states respected", she warned that "the entire region is destabilized now" and that "the new order between the states has yet to be established".

Had the Serbian government been truly dedicated to the stabilization policy and the creation of market economy, it would have supported the public sector in the way it is commonly done in the world: by enabling the private sector to function in these areas with the equal treatment of both the state and the private sector on the financial market etc

The UN and the EC arms import embargo to Yugoslavia is being violated, both at home and abroad. Despite its noble purpose, it is just as untenable as all the previous ones

The opposition in Serbia is asking for Milosevic's resignation and for elections for constituent assembly. The ruling regime is reacting nervously. Milosevic can still not be seriously challenged and isn't ready to let anyone limit his power

Bearing in mind the SPS (Socialist Party of Serbia) much promised Swedish standard of living for all, which was the highlight of their pre-election campaign, their present economic programme is difficult to pin down.

The rest of Yugoslavia get the fleet without the sea, while Croatia has to go without the fleet

The withdrawal of the Federal Army from Macedonia resembles more a desperado hold-up in Central America then an organized departure from a country which has loved the army and has invested in it as if it were its own

Frightened by the moves of the opposition, Milosevic's regime has started anathematizing its adversary. The situation today is almost alike to a hair to the one which preceded the elections in 1990. But now the catastrophe is much bigger

The socialists have no other choice but to make their regime even more autocratic. They would welcome the repeat of last year's March 9 since that would justify their use of force Panic is spreading among the socialists in Belgrade.

Ivan Lovrenovic, Editor-in-Chief of "Svjetlost" publishing company from Sarajevo and one of the experts in Bosnian history, gave an interview to VREME:

There is a danger that the political arena will turn into a corida. The consequences will be social and economic poverty, which is more likely to produce a totalitarian system than a democratic one

The people are acting rationally. Can the Serbian state be expected to do the same

In the future, the reputation of Serbia on the international scene will depend more on the state of Serbo-Albanian relations, than on the state of Serbo-Croatian or other relations. The independence of Kosovo, and Serbo-Albanian relations in general provide the basic framework for the long term regulation of the international status of Serbia.

The blue helmets are coming to confirm the authenticity of the two months old news that the Serbo-Croatian war is over.

Milosevic offered new optimism, the opposition warned about the ensuing catastrophe, and the angered majority of MPs in the Serbian Parliament reached a decision on the unification of Serbia and Montenegro

The republic and state authorities are to blame the most for the fact that the value of the German mark is fluctuating from 65 to almost 200 dinars, while the citizens stand to lose the most In the past few days the Serbian foreign exchange market, or rather "the remainder of Yugoslavia" is witnessing a real chaos.

In his expose Serbian Prime Minister Bozovic has overlooked the fact that the people know who the true power holders are, or rather, who will be in the position to conduct "murky business"

We are faced with a total reduction in production and an absence of a minimal material basis for maintaining the already severely affected standard of living

The labor pains of the Slovenian and Croatian economic independence will be difficult. Cutting the umbilical cord with Yugoslavia will be risky and will go against the interests of the "newly born"

Why is the Crown Prince Alexander on bad terms with the opposition and who will be the members of the Crown Council, the Crown Chamber and the Crown Political Council?

The President of Macedonia talks about his meetings with general Adzic The peaceful unravelling of the conflict between Macedonia and the Army is almost entirely attributed to the political wisdom and experience of President Gligorov. And here is what he says about that:

Is it possible that evident crimes will remain unpunished to the shame of the Serbian people

The army that used to bear the name JNA (Yugoslav Peoples' Army) has been facing one trauma after another: at issue now is a reduction in the number of its professional staff, possibly the most painful stage in the healing of this bulky and ailing organism. Will the fish be cleaned from the head this time, as it seems at first sight?

The expectations that Bosnia could remain peaceful turned out to be unrealistic. Too many overzealous people have been working on making the threats of armed conflict become a reality

Economic experts of the Socialist Party of Serbia are detracting from their party's economic programme, while the opposition is sleeping

The foul tongues say that the President has a stroke of good luck every four years, both at the elections and in car accidents

The current inflammation of passions concerning the division of Yugoslav inheritance is creating new national tensions and suppressing the hot economic issues of the day

Baker's latest visit to Brussels and the agreement he reached with the European allies have closed the last crack on which the Belgrade diplomacy counted, while the crack itself was only a sham

Can Slobodan Milosevic be the man who will act as a pivot for "the national interests" and the interests of those who are supposed to give us the money to survive?

Professor Oskar Kovac represents Serbia in Brussels as an economic negotiator. He is thus in a good position to see how far the Serbian internal policy influences the status of Serbia in the world.

If it attempts to salvage the dinar, Serbia will have to completely dissociate itself from the Serbs living outside Serbia and from the Army as well

The "blue helmets" are coming, but peace, per se, is not enough to attract the foreign capital. Long term manufacturing capital and peace keeping forces do not go along

The leading world team of experts on the Yugoslav crisis disbanded without a reliable recipe for bringing the hyper-nationalists to their senses

VREME asked Mrs. Judith Cumin, the representative of the UN High Commission for Refugees, for an interview. In brief, the situation is as follows

"No citizen of Serbia can be deprived of his citizenship, expelled or extradited" (the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia)

After the Serbian government announced last week the new price list of basic essentials - bread, flour, oil, sugar and milk, involving increases of between 45% and 85%, and following the issuance by the National Bank of Yugoslavia of credits worth around 25 billion dinars - the spring harvest in the "diminished" Yugoslavia should have begun. However, the old socialist agricultural model in which it was enough to "give" credit and prices to the farmers, is obviously no longer sufficient to protect the country from starvation.

There are no special problems surrounding the accreditation of Budimir Kosutic to Israel, said the Israeli Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem this week. Thus, Kosutic will most likely in a few weeks formally become the first ambassador of the incomplete Yugoslavia, elected by its incomplete presidency, as first reported by VREME.

Not even two normal salaries are enough to cover the basic costs of living

The very fact that the parties from Belgrade and Zagreb agreed to the immediate release of prisoners of war, to the return of refugees, to an estimation of human loss and damage, to the ensuring of political independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to deciding that borders cannot be forcibly redrawn, to the realization that political problems can only be solved by peaceful means - served to encourage the public at home

It would be very unfair to forecast how each will fare in the future, but it is clear that the ranking will be only in terms of bad-worse-worst

I was surprised at how interested people in Zagreb were to know what is going on in Belgrade. For a second I thought that the effort to separate Serbs and Croats had failed after all

The secrecy surrounding Slobodan Milosevic's stay in Athens prompted conjecture as to whether it was a holiday for political reasons

Serbia is self-confidently following the Albanian path, while Albania is moving in the opposite direction. There is still quite a distance, but not one that cannot be covered

The advance party of the UNPROFOR for Slavonia and Baranja was blessed with the opportunity to meet lieutenant-general Andrija Biorcevic

Bosnia and Herzegovina is beginning to resemble Croatia at the end of summer 1991 more and more: barricades are erected daily and hotbeds of crisis are spreading. Owing to the geography, most conflicts involve Serbs and Croats

A hunch about the increase of hyperinflation can be got from interest rates' fluctuations on the money and short-term securities market in Belgrade. A significant rise in interest rates has been registered on that market lately

The question is not any more whether Montenegro will be auctioned, but when: its government's agony is entering the phase when anything can be offered as a solution, regardless of the price

A framework for the election campaign: the opposition institutes legal proceeding force; Bozovic's administration successfully pacifies strikers with worthless money

Is Serbia Following the Steps of Post-WW I Germany

The State can be protected by one tank, but not by many, as experience has shown. The example of the M-84 tank as an export product is far more convincing than brigades of tanks as measures of misguided politics

For three weeks already "The Peoples' Army", the official paper of the Yugoslav Peoples' Army (JNA), has carried an unusual text: the results of research into the behavior of soldiers at war

Tens of thousands of people in their most creative years will remain outside the country, while tens of thousands of those who refused to take part in a war which Serbia never "declared", will waste away in jails

The Serbo-Montenegrin economy is too weak to struggle alone (without fresh foreign money) and survive along free-market principles. The regime is too unpopular and at such variance with current tendencies for anybody to want to help it

How the con men founded their own "Mickey Mouse" airlines with somebody else's planes, fooled the Air Force and got caught, which made everybody feel very embarrassed

The policy of tolerance we are advocating here is not some kind of humanistic ideal, a noble utopia, but a real and practical task imposed upon us all by time

The present MC in the Serbian parliament probably doesn't even remember himself when he began, how many offices he changed and of all what he has been director, president, chief and manager. Digging into such a biography is the work of a bird of prey, dull and unpleasant

If at the beginning the Serbo-Croatian war was characterized by fervent chauvinism, its end is characterized by xenophobia, devastated public opinion and a complete lack of criteria

None of the economists or businessmen to whom VREME has talked expects that price trends will be moderated in April. Almost everyone is expecting the boosting of prices

When the MP Seselj kicks teachers who are demonstrating in front of the Parliament, it is because he has understood quicker and better than anyone the times that are coming. He wants power and knows that this kind of gesture only increases his reputation and popularity. Who cares about teachers and schools?

If Serbian and military estimates that the Yugoslav People's Army must remain in Bosnia & Herzegovina for another 5-8 years are translated into the language of economics, then it becomes clear that the hesitation concerning the implementation of an anti-inflation policy, allegedly due to the lack of an exact definition of the territories in which it would be implemented, is just an excuse for Bozovic's government to go on with its hyperinflationary policy. One can assume that it finally became clear to everybody that it will not be possible to define the exact territories which will be affected by Yugoslavia's newest economic policy in the near future. That is, these territories will be defined by the firing range of an expensive army

Radovan Karadzic fled to Pale (near Sarajevo) where he is protected by guns, leaving the Serbs in Sarajevo in the lurch

Announcement of a general strike in Radio Television Belgrade uncovers pathological state of the Serbian Government

War came to Bosnia with its independence. The March barricades in Sarajevo were just a dress rehearsal, the incidents in front of the "Holiday Inn" the premiere of a long rehearsed play about blowing Bosnia to pieces. The leading actors met all the expectations: SDS (Serbian Democratic Party) has fRAMed its picture, the Croatian side has dug-in its positions, JNA is finding it difficult to choose between General Adzic's hard-line and General Kukanjac's more realistic attitudes, SDA (Party of Democratic Action) is regrouping with fatal delay, and the people are desperate

Two years ago when we in Television Sarajevo analyzed the political situation in the country and the task of our profession, primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the assessment was as follows

Of course, the representatives of Yugoslavia and Croatia and Slovenia, present to the occasion, continued their mutually paralyzing diplomatic wrestling behind the curtain, thus prolonging the BERD leadership's decision to freeze transactions with all Yugoslav republics

The first logical conclusion is that Milosevic is looking for a new partner to represent the interests of Serbs in B&H in order to remove Karadzic, whose political role is obviously nearing its speedy epilogue

His first obsession was the monument to Ivo Andric. He then became interested in dams. Nobody knows what his next obsession will be

Stronger tones in the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia

First there was Saddam Hussein, then Gadaffi. Now America tells Milosevic: Go!

Any Serb, even Karadzic himself, when he says he was nationally oppressed in Sarajevo is not speaking the truth. Karadzic became insecure only when he gave way to terrorism, and not because he was a Serb

If the Balkans, and especially Yugoslavia, are not tamed by the CSCE, the only possible outcome is a Middle East-like chaos or a Latin American type of dictatorship

A World Bank mission spent the whole of last week in Belgrade.

The VREME reporter witnesses the negotiations between Lord Carrington and the national leaders

A book entitled "The New Europe" was promoted last Tuesday in Belgrade. Professor Mihailo Crnobrnja, the Yugoslav ambassador to the EC was the sub-editor of the book.

Serbs are being prepared for evacuation, the Albanians are making food supplies

Announcement of a general strike in Radio Television Belgrade uncovers pathological state of the Serbian Government

Aside from the atmosphere of a lynch of Hungarians which has been stirred up, and a call for a "general mobilization of national potentials", supported by the digging of trenches along Vojvodina's northern border, an important question still remains unanswered: what do the Hungarians really want?

Along with commerce, finance, health, education, culture, on Milosevic's list of unnecessary things was found foreign policy. It seemed to him that the army and police were sufficient to satisfy all his needs. As a matter of fact, he had no intention of occupying himself much with the outside world, but it began to occupy itself with him

Serbia is not at war, the Serbian government claims, but the fact remains that it had entered this non-existent war with "ill" finances

It can be expected that UNPROFOR's mandate will extend to the whole territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina, I suppose that Serbia will not only agree to that but propose it, after capturing the most important strategic points in B&H. In that way, Serbia could place everything that it has taken over (some 60 to 65% of Bosnian-Herzegovinian territory) under UN protection with Serbian authorities in charge

Serbia faces a new parliamentary challenge: is agreement more necessary than competition

The army of the new Yugoslav state is much stronger than is advisable for a stable state

At what price will the disputed border between Montenegro and Croatia be corrected

The heir apparent to the throne is maybe the last man who, because of the power of the throne, still has some chance of disturbing the unhappy symbiosis between Milosevic, the church, army, police, intellectual elite, judicial system, underground, national vaults and part of the opposition

The man who, after hiding for days in the cellars of the Sokolovic Colony, decided at last to escape. He put a barrel in his mouth. He had a wife and six children

Mr. Nebojsa Savic, the head of Serbia's Development Bureau, is also a research fellow at the Economic Institute in Belgrade. VREME talks this time to the scientist Savic, mainly because the project entitled "The Transition of Serbia's Economy" conceived at the said Institute. Hence the first question.

The creation of the new state means the death of an old army, that is certain now. The JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) is dying of natural causes, the Serbo-Montenegrin Army is knocking at the door. Whether the defeated army drew the right conclusions from its defeat and whether the forthcoming hunt for the heads of generals marks an actual settling of accounts for a new beginning - remains to be seen

The Belgrade University Teachers' Council last week proposed to the Serbian government a move to allow those who left the country on the eve and in the course of the war, unconditional return. Credit for this initiative is due to the Dean of the Natural Sciences Faculty, Milan Bozic, and the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Milan Radovanovic

There's a new dimension to the drama. Who is loyal to whom? A shortage of money, the introduction of coupons. Claims that Serbs are unarmed.

Lieutenant-General Blagoje Adzic's official biography, published on January 9, 1992, after the ex-SFRY's (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) Presidency had promoted him to acting-Federal Defense Secretary, had only seven lines of text

The Serbian Prime Minister's almost unbelievable statement that his government will not pursue an economic policy and that we should wait until a new federal prime minister is elected (i.e. in two months time), to be presented with the concept of an anti-inflation program and "a number of practical solutions, which, along with laws concerning the economic system, will provide the adequate environment for reforms", has been echoing in the last week around economic, and wider, circles

Marack Goulding's statement, "I cannot say whether there will be peace operations or not", heard on the transistor radio, which was crackling because its batteries were running out after a number of days spent in cellars and shelters, sounded farcical.

Military lawyer Dr. Jovan Lj. Buturovic proposes the state pardon the innocent and punish those guilty for the war

Mr. Vucelic was recently made director of television, inheriting Mr. Mitevic's TV empire, more powerful than ever despite internal upheaval, because if Serbia hasn't grown in territory, it has in spirit. Wherever war has been waged, television repeaters have been taken over, so that Vucelic's church is able to carry out its proselytizing mission and broadcast its sermons, mostly undisturbed by others, way outside the borders of Serbia

At this moment Fikret Abdic is the candidate of those who never believed in this war, who didn't wave guns or lust for the victory or defeat of any nation

The cities are being destroyed by scum, Mafias of every nationality which someone is paying. They are primitive, with no respect for the achievements of civilization, monuments, buildings; all they are interested in is more space

The air ways over the former Yugoslavia are being closed one by one, because the flight control system has fallen apart in the Yugoslav wars

The May elections will either be postponed or, which is more probable, there will be a circus in Serbia

Is it just a matter of a mere demonstration of good will towards establishing dialogue with the Albanians

The pulling out from Bosnia-Herzegovina is not running smoothly, and things are not going well for the new army either. Different generals were discharged for different reasons, now it's the colonels' turn, while the threat of criminal charges is hanging over everyone's head - if necessary. The first newly nominated official was the head of the Security Directorate

Most current battles are waged to enable Mr. Karadzic's troops to occupy the barracks, before the JNA leaves them. For whom are the Croats "liberating" territories?

The Armed Forces have split: the JNA stayed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, while the Army of Yugoslavia went to Serbia and Montenegro. Bihac (B&H) air base has been destroyed. General Vuk Obradovic has quit the army. The southern frontiers are restless

It seems that the suffering of ethnic Ruthenians and ethnic Ukrainians in Vukovar, Petrovci and Milosevci in the territory of Serbian Krajina is culminating right at the moment when the UNPROFOR is taking over control from the former JNA in this region

Milosevic organizes elections like some kind of plebeian entertainment in evil times. Who in such an atmosphere notices the group of frowning advisers?

Tiny, skinny Ibrahim Rugova became the leader of the major ethnic Albanian party almost by chance, but this writer, who looks like somebody constantly fighting a terrible fear, has turned out to be the ideal personification of Albanian suffering

That which till yesterday stood for "the disgusting haggling inside the Serbian pro-fascist Balkan policy", today is a valued segment of the Slovene policy

For almost two years the center of political conflict between the government and the opposition in Serbia has been the "war for the media"

The fastest rise through the hierarchy, the most brilliant officer's career, the hand on the broom which swept clean the JNA of enough generals to outfit several mid-size armies, but also the fastest submitted/accepted resignation - all this was achieved by Vuk Obradovic

Whenever you think it can't get any worse, the next moment this is proved wrong

In old, better times, JNA was rated as one of the four (or even three) most powerful armies in Europe. Foreign military analysts regarded highly its technical equipment and human resources, putting aside what they may have thought of the ideology on which the JNA was building its reputation and privileges at home. "Analysts" of the three, as yet unfinished, Balkan wars estimate that not only the Army been defeated, but that it has definitely fallen apart. Of course, there are other views, based on the fact that, despite serious defeats and a series of fatal mistakes, JNA still exists. How much longer, ceases to be a military issue, and is a matter of what in the Balkans is liberally called - politics

If negotiations are initiated, a compromise solution is possible

After the exceptionally cordial and friendly meetings that the Russian Foreign Minister had with the Macedonian high officials, the impression is that Russia has recognized Macedonia de facto, but a de iure recognition will have to wait for a while

The Church publishes a memorandum, DEPOS (the Serbian Democratic Movement) starts large-scale action, Milosevic, pressured from the outside and inside, discards the offered ladder to step down

Trade embargoes have always made all unsuccessful governments plunge into "war communism" or some kind of fascism, so overthrowing these regimes by means of isolation is a painful process for their subjects

The massacre in Vase Miskina Street has caused greater damage to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia than any economic sanctions. The first reactions uncovered divisions and conflicts between Serbo-Yugoslav protagonists of the Bosnian war. In the meantime, unarmed civilians, the main victims of this madness, are still being killed

On the eve of the world's decision to isolate Serbia, Milosevic, Bozovic, Jovic and the like are spreading verbal optimism without any real grounds

While Yugoslav economic policy-makers, among other things, are racking their brains over how many zeros they should cross off the increasingly worthless dinar notes, the number of those publicly demanding that (at least at the same time) the crossing off of the main causes of (and the culprits for) our economic disaster should begin, is increasing

Will Serbia and Montenegro quarrel over economic issues?

VREME has it from unofficial sources that Kecmanovic and Pejanovic have accepted positions in the B&H Presidency - which supposedly covers the whole territory of B&H - with the full support of the West, in particular the USA. It is not clear to what extent Milosevic influenced this choice, but it is interesting that the media loyal to him has not come down on these new members of the Presidency in their usual manner

A realistic solution: tell him he's won again, that there's no need to win anymore and that he should step down for the sake of the well-being of the country. This could cut ice with him

Were Milosevic to hand in his resignation before a government of national salvation is formed in Belgrade, Serbia is threatened by a military dictatorship and lawless junta

Bozovic's posture with his chin up looks ridiculous to everyone who does not know how hard it is to look down one's nose at a superior world. Drchnost actually means that one is incapable of accepting one's own size, which is the number-one problem in Serbia

"This must be the way the partisans were going", says a colleague from The Observer while we're watching the UNPROFOR vehicles trying to make their way through the narrow forest road

Sarajevo airport, symbol of international concern

In the past few days almost all the politically relevant institutions and distinguished political figures in Serbia have made statements concerning the possibility of a civil war and the necessity to avoid it

It won't be easy for Mladic to go down in history as a hero and good Serb, even though historians here have been known to carry out similar alchemical exploits. This time history will have to be written in accordance with international standards because the world has become irreparable diaphanous and everyone knows everything and no-one is allowed to stay anymore closed up in a dark backyard

Everything has been said about him. Soon either nothing will be allowed to be said about him, or it will be pointless and banal

Everyone in the West would like someone else to intervene, while everybody over here is pretending not to know against whom intervention would be directed. Lots of futile talk, however, cannot hide some serious preparations over there and some well-founded fears over here

The government is expecting that the sanctions will be lifted within the next three months. If it was not so, they would have already proclaimed a "lean year"

The DPS has stuck to Svetozar Marovic's candidacy, but this has opened up many questions

Nothing has changed in Washington after the first assessment of the effects of the punishment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, shifts in the Yugoslav economic scene are evident. There is a clear polarization: on one end are Serbian farmers who are buying flour and on the other a group of Serbian academicians telling the same old story of the decades-long pillaging of Serbia, using the same arguments as those Croatian politicians defending the thesis that Belgrade plundered Zagreb

By putting forward Bulatovic and Djukanovic as federal prime minister candidates the ruling party of Montenegro looks as though its playing "double or quits"

Generals have started meeting with the opposition and the question now is: what will the Yugoslav Army do if the crisis of the Serbian regime continues and escalates? Or: have the armed forces learned anything during the last twelve months?

Main roads and streets in Kosovo are still guarded by the army and the police, armoured cars ready for action can be seen in front of all "objects of strategic importance". On June 12, private Milan Mijailovic was killed in an army barrack in Djakovica. Two catholic priests and four citizens were wounded

The arrival of Cosic, Milosevic's irritation, talks in the Serbian Parliament, a Government of National Salvation, disbandment of the Parliament, the 28th June meeting, the blessing of the heir apparent, the students' republic...

Peculiar traffic signs can be noticed in the streets of Sarajevo (if the term "street" can be applied to amorphous masses of concrete): "Danger - sniper!", "Drive really fast"... Chuck Norris would do O.K. in Sarajevo

Of all that Milosevic has done, the only thing Cosic hasn't liked was his arrogance towards the opposition. He has understood that tension has increased tremendously and that Serbs could start shooting at one another. Unlike Milosevic, he knows how to listen and talk; he likes more to win people over than to openly confront them, so that at least he can soften personal intolerance

Everything can be bartered, except power and the government's idea of economic regulation

There would be no doubts concerning the "twelve babies' tragedy in Banja Luka Hospital" if it were not for the fact that one shipment of oxygen tanks had previously been delivered to Banja Luka despite the UN sanctions

Although I knew there had been cases of "taking away", arresting and interrogating people in different parts of town held by this or that militia, despite the warnings of my closest friends, I never thought it would happen to me (...)

30,869,574.8% - that's the dinar's "inflation rate" from 1980 until now

Kosovo's methane mine did not blow up last Tuesday either, said a Serbian MP, even though the Serbian Interior Ministry did not permit the holding of the constitutive assembly of "The Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo", qualifying it as "an anti-constitutional act"

Sarajevo hasn't fallen, but HVO (Croatian Defense Council) and the B&H Territorial Defense (TD) are advancing towards Dubrovnik and the Montenegrin border on the South, they are spreading around Tuzla and cutting the communication lines between the Serbian territories in central Bosnia. Panic reigns in Trebinje, Montenegrins are having a hard time making up their minds, while the decisive battles are approaching

While Cosic is defending Milosevic more than taking power from him, while the economic and social system is falling apart, an attempt at a deal between the authorities and opposition fails, DEPOS (Democratic Movement of Serbia) calls the public to a rally for peace and democracy, and Crown Prince Aleksandar is arriving in the country...

In this article we are primarily interested in the social prospects of necessary changes in politics and society taking place

English could become, if not the official language in Yugoslavia, then at least the court language. The hypothesis stems from the fact that both candidates for the two most important posts in the country chat with each other in that language, as it was the case on June 21 in the "Beverly Regent" hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, where both attended the St. Vitus' Day convention of Americans of Serbian descent. Neither Alexander Karadjordjevic, nor Milan Panic feel comfortable with their Serbo-Croatian, so they prefer English

If he thinks that it is enough to proclaim himself America's ally, Cosic will be very surprised when a genuine change in attitude is still requested from there

Most foreign observers forecast that the still present war psychosis would consolidate Tudjman and his position as "the insatiable Croatian nationalist", as the world's leading newspapers describe him with increasing frequency

Europe's latest insistence on granting special status or maximum autonomy to ethnic Albanians in Kosovo has come up against a wall of silence in Pristina, as regards both the Albanians and the Serbs

It's no hyperbole to say that the mint will be supporting all of 10.5 million people

In a few days Serbia will have to make a choice: negotiations or violence

The greatest opposition protest to date, an unending chain of demonstrations, the regime's refusal to share power, new messages and old flags

Did the endless June negotiations and protest marches change anything in Serbia, except for having Milosevic surrounded in Dedinje?

The promotion of Seselj's Serbian Radical Party in Hrtkovci took place on May 6. On that occasion a list of some 17 people "who don't belong in the village" was presented. Seselj was there, too. That is when the moving out began - by hook or by crook.

The government that announced resistance to the blockade "up until the possible transition to the complete distribution of factors of production and commodities" (Mr. Bozovic), plainly demonstrated, in the distribution of gas and bank notes, its ability and the "marvels" of the system to which we are doomed. How will someone, who's not even able to distribute new bank notes today, be able to distribute flour, sugar, copper, sheet metal, cars, nails, summer holidays and travels, education and health services, population and territories tomorrow...

Will Radoman Bozovic get Milan Panic arrested?

No matter how hard Cosic and Panic try to ensure a peaceful transformation, the inhabitant of Tolstojeva 33 cannot but see this as the end of the world. Why should he step down when he still has his Sokolovic, and the ones who are doing the pushing don't have anything more than the half-naked students who wanted to get close to him?

Five of the six common sins of the SDS (Serbian Democratic Party), HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), and SDA (Democratic Action Party), which Public Prosecutor Ivica Stanic is citing in his motion to ban the three parties (submitted to the Superior Court in Sarajevo on June 15, 1992), were committed at the outset of the new Bosnian-Herzegovinian regime. At that time they were still "in love with each other", perhaps it is all because of that.

With a few years' delay, the round table institution is being mentioned lately as Serbia's "life belt": not only would it help the country restore its image, it would also prevent civil war

The candidate for the post of federal prime minister designate will soon find a letter from the Serbian Citizens' Alliance's Foreign Relations Committee in his mailbox. Fifteen leading Belgrade experts in international law and politics (the Committee's members) will propose to Milan Panic "a democratic turn" which, they believe, is the only thing that can lift the United Nations' sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro

The fact that Slovenia managed to cooperate economically with Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro at a time when no kind of communications existed and when a war was being waged, to me, is something that borders on the miraculous

Dialogue between the Serbs and the Albanians must be initiated eventually, but what should it be like, what about, and where should it take place?

Croatia is having an increasingly hard time trying to hide its contribution to butchering in B&H

Insisting on the Sleeping Beauty syndrome threatens the current wearer of the state regalia

The goal of the biggest operations since the outbreak of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina is completing the ethnic "purge" of the territories

The first Prime Minister of the new Yugoslavia has strongly accused the policies of the Serbian and Montenegrin leaderships. The Montenegrins are lauding the Prime Minister, and the Serbian leaders are reiterating through clenched teeth that they brought Cosic and Panic

The wall of the fire station in Hrtkovci (a village where Croats make up 70% of the population) is covered by nearly 200 adds for exchanging houses: Hrtkovci - any town in Croatia. The most sinister one says: "Organized moving to Croatia, safe, truck with Macedonian license plates"

New states are laboring to make desirable subjects out of their old citizens

Varadi is well aware of the snares awaiting the person who tries to save this country. He knows that Panic is the captain of a ship of rambunctious madmen who would like best to throw him to the sharks and swing the rudder this way and that. His and Panic's hope rests on the fact that some of them have realized that the ship has become stranded and has almost sunk

Determining war crimes and taking the criminals in the Yugoslav wars to court tomorrow will be least important for the world public. If this job is not done honestly and completely, the wars in this region will never really end, painful though it may sound, even if the cannons go silent tomorrow

The arrest of general Vasiljevic was not just a break with the times of defeat; it also continued paving the way for the Yugoslav Army to assume a new role

The attempt of the Bozovic Government to lay its paws on the University, to intimidate the professors, and to nationalize the media is causing a storm; and clashes are breaking out in the regime's highest echelons

The major Western countries will continue their boycott of Serbia, i.e. "Yugoslavia", which will gradually become the smuggler's paradise. A country for smuggling and international crime of all kinds, which is also a branch of the economy and which provides a very comfortable living, as witness some South American examples

The ruling party and President Franjo Tudjman have rushed into elections because it is quite clear to them that they are losing popularity, and that therefore they should use the euphoria over the international recognition of Croatia as soon as possible

Even if the war were to stop tomorrow, the stacking and moving of people in national reservations will go on for another ten years at least, and will always be the spark that will alight a fresh conflict

The Yugoslav press is writing panegyrics to Mr. Panic: an editorial in a Belgrade daily whose readers mainly reside in the suburbs has concluded: "God has heard him."

The POLITIKA case is only the tip of the iceberg of nationalization far worse than the one which took place after the World War II. These are the words Mr. Veselin Vukovic, professor at Podgorica University and associate of Belgrade Institute of Social Sciences

A pensioner, 71, exchanged his so-called old foreign currency savings (hopelessly blocked in banks) with the intention of "purchasing" his apartment after half a century of permanent residence in Serbia (he is a Serb) and in such a way provide for his daughter, 45, married, mother of two-year-old child

Internal situation in the newly-created Serbian states and regions outside Serbia is chararacterized by lawlessness, quarrels, dictatorship and chaos...

The story about the transformation of POLITIKA into a public enterprise is just one chapter in a longer story on the transformation of entire Serbia into a ground where the regime has free rein to exercise a repressive policy, for which it is laying a groundwork through a whole series of different laws

Explosions and bursts of machine gun fire still echo in Pljevlja. Men with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders still patrol the streets of the town, wearing insignia which do not resemble those worn by members of the police and army

Milosevic`s ears are obviously still ringing with slogans chanted at the June 28 demonstrations, such is the haste with which his aides have set out to "clear up" so many matters during the summer vacations

The rumours about "concentration camps" are not all that new. The refugees and those who have passed through them know them best

How, why, and at what cost did Politika's number one man step down

A poster in the window of a Belgrade firm sports shop in Pristina reads: "Weapons Sold Here"

Prevlaka was the pretext for the start of the war around Dubrovnik. Now a pretext for the defeat has to be thought up, and once again Prevlaka has become an artificial problem

Veton Suroi (30), President of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo, is well-known for never having shown any reluctance in openly discussing the most sensitive issues in Kosovo with the Serbian authorities. For VREME Suroi gives his views on the Serbian-Albanian conflict, possibilities for compromise, war and peace...

To protect Serbs from the threat of genocide, if necessary by fire and sword, was the idea of the guiding star, Dobrica Cosic, and other nationalist ideologists at the beginning of the mortal spasm of Yugoslavia. Today, after three wars in a year, the Serbs as a nation are being charged with genocide, their state and leaders considered by the world to be fascist

"No-one can be arbitrarily arrested, detained or exiled", Article 9 of the General Declaration of the Rights of Man

It turns out that the present uncontrollable virus of nationalism was nurtured in vitro in the time of communism

In the so-called Bihac pocket, in Cazinska Krajina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) there are no doubts as to who is in power and as to how the division of Bosnia is viewed

What will happen at the conference in London due to start on Wednesday, or a little earlier, or perhaps never?

Slovenian Prime Minister Talks About the Days When the Decision Was Being Made

Our Reporter In Camps of Hate, Revenge and Shame

To put it differently, Cosic finds the causes of Yugoslavia's disintegration outside this country, in an elusive game of the big powers. He boils down the guilt of Serbia to the guilt of who has been provoked

Serb and Albanian Reaction to Panic's Announcement

In the chaotic corrosion of the Yugoslav state, Yugoslav diplomacy has already partly passed through similar traumas

Both the people and police are afraid. Police say they can do nothing. "We don't stand a chance," a policeman told VREME, "because you can never be sure from which direction the danger is coming - whether the illegally armed ones or some who are paid to protect law and order

Either a true autonomy, or ethnic cleansing of the "northern province" - these are key political options being maneuvered about for almost four years. Conflict could not be delayed when in the last year a wave of 140,000 refugees broke on Vojvodina

Of all that which Prime Minister Panic has promised, perhaps the most dangerous is the promise that war criminals and those responsible for ethnic cleansing will be arrested and punished

When two-thirds of all workers are on their forced vacations, when hospitals lack food and medicine, when fuel is short and gasoline coupons remain unused, when the GNP fell to less than 15 billion dollars from near under 30 billion dollars three years earlier, when the full economic blockade has been imposed, when prices soar daily, when all this is happening to us there is just a black market and "a parallel economy" that are helping us to survive

The Serbian authorities have finally agreed to negotiate with the opposition; not so much as to reduce the risk of violent political confrontation (since they seem to believe international isolation is grist to their mill) but because they want to gain legitimacy from abroad

We talked with Ivica Racan, once president of the Croatian Communist Party and now president of the Party for ]Democratic Change (SDP), about the future of socio-democracy in Croatia

The crash of an Italian G 222 transport plane raises usual questions, as investigators are expected to clarify some uncertainties. Later events may lead to interesting conclusions

Will it ever again be possible in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Serbs, Croats and Moslems to live together as they did before this war? Is the normalization of relations and any form of cooperation possible between the parts of the former Yugoslavia? Are there any prospects for the Europeanization of the Balkans, or will Europe itself fall under the weight of Balkan passion?

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 party on board the yacht were: Federal Prime Minister Milan Panic, Chief of general Staff of the Yugoslav Army General Zivota Panic, and the hosts, Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic and prime minister Milo Djukanovic. Luckily, nothing happened to them, not even an undesired bath, but the incident did upset the public

It seems that Panic was told that he must come and help and that he would have a free hand, but nobody told that he must stay clear of Milosevic's war efforts aimed at putting together a Greater Serbia. This is where the first misunderstandings cropped up, especially when it became obvious that the matter did not pertain to war only, but to war crimes, ethnic cleansing, pogroms, in short, to genocide

Are there discriminatory laws?

Izetbegovic doesn't need the peacekeeping troops any more and it may be true that the attack on them was "planned and premeditated". He is probably under the impression that the world has sacrificed the Muslims and Bosnia consciously

The process of stripping Milosevic's team of power must obviously be speeded up. It would be better for this team to be dismissed by Panic than by the hyperinflation

With an African living standard which has already become our reality, it is quite possible that a way out of poverty will soon be sought in a Latin American stampede through supermarkets, similar to those in Argentina a few years ago

Is there any chance of hostilities really ending?

What does Seselj want from journalists?

Albanian separatism is a hindrance to Serbia's way out of the crisis. It prolongs the career of Milosevic, slows down the transformation of Serbia into a democracy and thus the renewal of autonomy for Kosovo. It even endangers the survival of Albanians in Serbia

It is possible that Vojvodina is not tired of settling, but the people living there are probably tired of the political force and favoritism which follows them

One must ask the West why it chose nationalism as the more efficient means to oust communism than political and economic reform?

The Eighth Session itself, as an event, is of no great importance, except that false security was acquired, the understanding that everything can be accomplished with democratic centralism

We did not lose freedom with the Eighth Session, rather many wretched persons, unused to or better still unprepared for serious consideration of real freedom, happily embraced freedom's paltry shadow

Two months, which is all that is left before the elections, is really too short a period. Even if the TV were to change its policy at this very minute it would be extremely difficult to seriously change anything in the minds of a large number of people who for years have been the victims of one propaganda

The Eighth Session is the result of the events that took place in 1983, first and foremost in Kosovo

This week the historical Eighth Session of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia (CK SKS) will celebrate its fifth birthday. The Party is preparing a jubilee present for its Leader: candidacy for the "highest position". These have been the longest five years of Serbian post-war history because history has been speeded up. Serbia was not involved in a single war, but it lost three; alone and isolated it is nearing the floor of its decline and with trepidation awaits the coming winter. The "anti-bureaucratic revolution" continues, and the Eighth Session holds on

The goal - the removal of Milosevic, the unwanted consequence - the destruction of Panic

No-one, or course, can challenge the Serbian President's right to candidacy at the elections, or even pretensions at higher federal office. All the same, I am unable to make the mental connection with a man who seeks reward from the people he should be begging for forgiveness from

The controversial Ivan Zvonimir Cicak, a man who for 25 years has been part of the opposition in various undemocratic regimes in the former Yugoslavia and the states that appeared after its disintegration, speaks of the elections in Croatia, the possibilities of coexistence, the situation in Bosnia and Hercegovina... The interview took place last week-end in Verona where, under the organization of the Association for Non-violence and the European Green movements, a meeting called the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in the Former Yugoslavia, took place. Mr Cicak participated in the work of this meeting.

Winter is coming to the Balkans: to Knin, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Belgrade. Countries devastated by war need food and heating, but this winter will be different. Last winter there was no war in Bosnia, Serbs in Croatia had the backing of the JNA and Serbia, and there were no sanctions against Serbia. But, things have gone too far in a year and there is no turning back. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has increasingly become the hostage of those who were hostages of the former state and army

J.P.Morgan always tied his tie correctly and did business in a liberal political environment determined to firmly establish a state governed by law and representative democracy. He took part in transforming the Wild West into an organized state

The regime proposed setting up crisis headquarters in which the republican government would play the main role, and the headquarters of all headquarters would be located where money is printed. The last link in abolishing the market would be forming a general staff in the National Bank of Yugoslavia

The ruling party in Serbia is making a mistake in trying to dictate life to the people of Sandzak

The Socialists are completely defeated. The refusal to hand over the United Nations membership of the vanished socialist Yugoslavia to the new "Yugoslavia" has been the final diplomatic blow to their international policy

At last the West has decided to assist Milan Panic and the Yugoslav Federal Government with something everybody can understand: clearance for the import of fuel for heating and field planting "for humanitarian reasons". It is a matter of the authorized Security Council committee approving the import of fuel to the amount of around 850,000 tons of petrol. As Panic's Minister of Industry Nikola Sainovic explained, it still has to be decided which form of petrol product will be approved for import.

The Federal Secretary for Defense at the time, Admiral Mamula, in his many tirades, repeated the pathetic question: "How many more Kellmendis are there in our units?" Probably no-one then could have offered an answer to the sensitive vanity and interests of the military establishment of Slobodan Milosevic. He masterfully rode the wave of "attacks on the Army"

One day, which, for the moment, seems pretty far away, Vesna Pesic, Nebojsa Popov and others rallied around the Citizens' Alliance will receive recognition at home as well for often playing the role of ice breakers on the Serbian political scene and for never using strong or week solutions of nationalism to dilute their basic stand that the sovereignty of citizens has priority, and that only then come all other sovereignties, national or state

Belgrade Mayoress Slobodanka Gruden is in Bucharest attending a meeting. This news item is pregnant with meaning for Belgraders as everything points to the fact that the coming winter will resemble those endured by the citizens of the Romanian capital, with all the characteristics that the adjective "Romanian" has taken on

Slobodan Milosevic used to resort to "Swiss voting" whenever he would start muddling: in 1990, a referendum "first the Constitution, than the election" was held in order to postpone parliamentary election; in May 1992, voting about the hymn and the flag was planted as a bite for federal election; when pressed by requests for his resignation, Milosevic said in July that he issue would be "put on a referendum", what he is now doing

The Socialists, by calling a referendum, have made a move the opposition has no answer to, and the holding of the elections in December is now a question of uncertainty

On Tuesday, the Serbian president, thanking his Prime Minister for inviting him to a Government session, clearly said that the monetary policy must not choke production. For the last five decades, this has been the password for printing unsecured funds

Belgrade is the real enemy of the international community, not a weak and puppet Podgorica

How was Dobrica Cosic's closest team formed and what is it doing? Patriotism, friendship and curiosity are the motives for accepting the post of advisor

The opposition, which looks like having given up on any major demonstrations with regard to the television (one member of DEPOS said that this was judged as not being efficient enough), will probably continue to demand of the Federal Government that it settle matters with the TV on its own

The atmosphere on the eve of the referendum is amazing - silence. The opposition is quiet

Ivo Vajgl, one-time spokesman of the Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs and the current spokesman of the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, is leaving to take up the post of Slovenian Ambassador to Sweden after a few very exciting years in the top diplomatic echelons. VREME talked with Vajgl in Ljubljana about his reminiscences from Belgrade, an independent Slovenia and the new Yugoslav diplomacy from Milosevic to Panic

Why did Olic, Saranovic, Marinkovic and Scanlon agree to work for a man who never gives up once he accepts a challenge?

Is the Montenegrin Government Afraid of "Falling" Together With the Belgrade Regime

The Vice-President of the Bosnian Government, who spends his days in Istanbul, spoke to VREME in Skopje about weapons, a protectorate, cantonization, and chances of a life together

Dobrica Cosic has finally admitted that differences between him and the Serbian President are increasing. He is now expected to do something he is not capable of - to act as energetically as Milosevic

Thirty year old civil engineer Branko Crvenkovski was recently appointed prime minister of Macedonia. In a very short time, Mr. Branko Crvenkovski (a social-democrat) formed a government together with the representatives of the Party of Democratic Change (which rallies ethnic Albanians in Macedonia), the Liberals (former Reformists), the Democratic Union of Turks, the Socialist Party and the Party for the Emancipation of the Romanies. In this government, as many as four ministers are thirty year olds, five are ethnic Albanians, while the minister for culture is a Turk.

The storm about the Serbian planes in Bosnia is not dying down. On the contrary, the question is now being asked: who does Karadzic command?

In accepting Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic's proffered hand, Ibrahim Rugova has not taken a historical step, but he has, temporarily, avoided war in Kosovo

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Today: the Regime Lives By Western European and the Subjects By African Standards

The federal authorities and the opposition cannot resolve the conflict with Mr. Milosevic in their favor without the army's assistance. It alone has the strength to arrest the war criminals and to maintain order in Belgrade for at least 48 hours

It could be said that the elections have been announced, but it is not sure when they will be held; everyone's accepted the agreement, but no-one for sure who will take part in the elections; Milosevic accedes to the elections, but considers them to be another of his referendums

The agreement of the national leaders to stop the war is the pre-condition for overthrowing them

Although the Federal Prime Minister Milan Panic this week has made the third attempt to open the "Brotherhood and Unity" highway, naming it anew the "Peace Road", the story goes about the traffic artery - suitably called - E-94, which is still the best connection between the worlds known as Europe and East. Whether we like it or not, we are on this road

If, by any chance, a foreigner were to visit Belgrade these days, he would immediately notice lines: lines for gasoline, lines in front of supermarkets, for milk, and - lines in front of private banks

The operation aimed at taking over the Federal Ministry of Interior building was only the final blow in a war for a monopoly over the secret services in the latest Yugoslavia

How does a Muslim leader organize Sandzak's ethnic cleansing - of Muslims

Dispute in Cetinje over art treasures from Dubrovnik surroundings

Public opinion polls in Vojvodina province show that the Milosevic-Seselj coalition is loosing influence

Dobrica Cosic, FRY's president, ended last week a series fruitless talks between the government and opposition, and announced the federal elections

Who is using the Rakovica and other workers to pressure the central bank to endlessly print worthless money?

Tightening the circle from different sides could, in the end, save Macedonia from cracking on the outside, but it could also speed up the possibility, intimated time and again, of an internal explosion. Officially, unrecognized, this state at the same time is statistically non-existent, as many are wont to say in jest

Counting on the simple fact that most adult Serbs experience the word "change" as something to be afraid of, by officially returning Milosevic "to the throne", the socialist have once again made topical their victorious slogan "there is no uncertainty with us" and, quite possibly, once again gained favor with the quiet, frightened majority which is to decide the forthcoming elections as well

The Slovene election campaign is forging ahead in lamentation over last year's war

This regime is under United Nations sanctions and an investigation of war crimes. This is the only election topic to be worked on so that all will become aware of what it means and what the voting is really about

The Serbian and Montenegrin idyll is coming to a picturesque finale: to the statement of Serbian Prime Minister, Radoman Bozovic, that "Montenegrins are shit", the Ministry of Information, in the name of the Montenegrin government was "authorized to announce the following": "...We would like to remind Mr Bozovic that, like all other Bozovics, he is Montenegrin and that what he has said is in fact the best description of himself. From head to toe."

Now, in the middle of an evil and genocidal war, no-one has any time for abstract justice, and a rational and wise solution seems illusory, ridiculous and almost insulting. Serb and Croat war leaders, in accepting this Bosnian constitution, would have to admit that they were complete idiots.

By attempting to oust Mr. Panic, the Socialists again verified that they have not given up creating a greater Serbia, this time with the assistance of the xenophobic "alliance of Serbian lands".

Russian journalists Victor Noggin and Genadiy Kurinoy were last seen on September 1st 1991 and since then there has been no trace of them. All the efforts to find out what has happened to them were in vain. "Vreme" has come by the results of the investigation carried out at the place where their car was destroyed

The first clashes in the '92 election campaign have disclosed the vulnerability and volatility of the situation in Yugoslavia

The election competition has nevertheless started. The immature political scene is burning of negotiations on coalition clusters. Public opinion polls, that used to be quite marginal occurrences, now are a merchandise in ever greater demand. The most recent opinion survey is the one conducted at the end of October by the Belgrade MF Agency on a relatively large sample on the whole territory of Yugoslavia (1600 respondents)

Prime Minister Panic has found a cure against the opposition's anemia: "We are no longer the opposition, we are a democratic coalition, we have the authorities with us now"

Ideological kinsmen and brothers in Slavic soul are to testify that the "truth" about Serbia is "getting through" to the world

I wouldn't advise anyone engaged in politics and society to be completely insensitive to the fact that the better part of youth live in a parallel world which has almost no contact with the reality that is occupying the whole of the international community

The Slovenian government started "monitoring" foreign consular missions on its territory very early. Already after the first multi-party elections, and way before Slovenia was recognized as a state, Peterle's government discussed, at the initiative of Interior Minister Igor Bavcar, the proposal for Slovenian bodies to immediately start listening to the telephone conversations of foreign countries' representatives

As many as 43 percent of the polled think that Television Serbia is the propaganda headquarters of the Socialist Party of Serbia

On the evening preceding a routine police intervention and detention of a 15-years old cigarette dealer Alli Seidi at Bit-pazar in Skoplje - that turned firstly into an incident, then into street disorders, and finally into an open clash between 3000 demonstrators (mainly ethnic Albanians) and a special unit of the Macedonian police - resulting in 4 casualties, 30 injured and many destroyed cars, smashed and devastated stores

Several hundred places of worship have been destroyed in this war including a number of old city centers

Nothing will change, but everything could change. Many games will be played, many U-turns made, different strategies and tactics used, but the good thing is that all that definitely differs from the general rushing into disaster and persisting on a catastrophic policy which allows no corrections

Although the Belgrade Red Cross claims it stopped its humanitarian campaign for the hungry because of a wrongly placed photo on the promotion poster, one gets the impression that someone does not like pictures of poorness when the elections are approaching. Let's restrain until December 20; afterwards, you can starve as much as you like

Croatia has been buying arms abroad for nearly two years now and making many rich, since no one asks about prices in a war. VREME has been able to reach some exclusive documents pertaining to Czechoslovakian arms traders and their deals with Croatia

There are more and more indications that the international community's sanctions do not suit either the regime here or certain political and economic circles abroad

What does the Serbian public think about various local and foreign institutions, local politicians, the war in Bosnia and Hercegovina, the UN sanctions, the international relations, socialism, privatization, property, the media, the Federal Government and Milan Panic

Cosic is resolved to act according to the Constitution, or rather to pretend until the end. He asked for an urgent session of the Federal Assembly because of Constitutional violations. He has turned to that very same Federal Assembly which considers him and his Prime Minister to be traitors

One dinar from January was worth 80 dinars in October

War, killings and devastation in Bosnia have now been joined by typhus. That's how it starts; a total break down of the social infrastructure, war and chaos give way to epidemics, and help is far away

Conflict at the state level and the battle for distributing what the poor have managed to preserve

If the court, i. e. Milosevic, does not change its/his mind, even if a theoretical possibility to change the present regime and policy is not allowed, all those who will run at the elections will bear a part of responsibility for the war, for sanctions, and for the fact that pretty soon Serbia will envy Albania

Television Serbia, watching closely every step Slobodan Milosevic takes, offering numerous repeats each evening of his official activities (from the discovery of oil and electricity, to meetings with the chess genius Bobby Fisher, his direct political opponent Big Boss Jezda, Greek lawyers, Russian writers "bringing down" Yeltsin, or Polish leftists "bringing down the Pope and Vatican"), recently failed to mark the President voting at the referendum "for" or "against" early elections

Money without backing can be printed until it "covers" all the values, and then the economy ceases to exist. Then, only money circulates in trade, while goods move to the sphere of barter. The end of the economy is, unfortunately not far away

The opposition was speedily making lists for republican elections, and Micunovic said: "The basic logical rule is that who goes up can also go down. If this holds for the Federal Prime Minister, then it is also true for the republican president." Kostunica: "The law is unconstitutional. The Serbian presidential function is the only one with some limits. People with criminal dossiers can run for deputies." No one gave any thought at that moment as to what Milosevic was doing. He seemed unimportant

The evening before it was announced that his candidacy would be turned down, Milan Panic told the students that his candidacy "would be another nail in the regime's coffin"

For Milosevic, Seselj and the Socialists, December 20th is something like Judgment Day, the end of the world which they will survive only if they manage to convince the voters that it will be the end of the world for them as well. That is why the regime's propaganda has turned into crazed intimidation, with the underlying message: if we go, you're doomed

Center for Opinion Research of the Institute of Social Sciences has carried out another round of public opinion polls in Serbia (without Kosovo, where there are no conditions for conducting a poll) on 1100 polled. The survey was conducted with the help of 50 poll-takers working in the field and a group of analysts in Belgrade. VREME co-financed these polls

The authorities are leading the population into a catastrophe; true, they are doing this to themselves too, but it is now important to survive until December 20th

On Saturday December 5, in the Serbian Radio-Television Second News Program, broadcast from TV Novi Sad studios, VREME was accused of war mongering. We have been forced to protect our professional reputation by instituting legal proceedings. We have sued for damages totalling 100,000 DM

The authorities have learned their first lesson; it is now the citizens' turn

The victory of liberal and moderate parties in Slovenia is certainly the first important indication of a change that could hopefully happen in other states of the former Yugoslavia

The public is being bombarded by threats that they are "deciding between war and peace"

How to calculate the results of the elections

These elections are our last flicker of hope. In case Panic wins, entire Serbia will resemble a stadium after a decisive point in extra time in "the match of the century"

It is easier to see through this strategy than oppose it. Seselj has realized that in this form of democracy your only chance to rise to power is from authority, and not via the opposition. Only if you get close enough to the top to topple your predecessor's chair, as Milosevic did

Serbia lost a lot in December 1992, and it stubbornly, just like its leader, exposed itself to new challenges, but perhaps it still hasn't lost everything. There are several ways out

When we compare this December with the same month last year, the growth of inflation accounts for between 20,000% and 21,000%

The balance of power on the political scene remains basically unchanged

In analyzing the results of the December 1990 presidential elections in Serbia, a colleague proclaimed fourth-placed Vojislav Seselj their "moral winner