A
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION
The
New Year’s resolution of the "pro-Western" Djukanovic government,
according to advisor Miodrag
Vukovic, is "definitely and finally" settling the relationship
of the tiny mountainous province – historically linked to
Serbia – to Belgrade and the federal Yugoslav authorities.
"We should not set deadlines," Vukovic averred, "but this
very important issue will be definitely resolved next year."
SLOBO
THE FOX
This
was tantamount to announcing a declaration of war – but
Milosevic did
not fall for the bait. In a New Year’s interview in Politika,
the pro-government weekly, the wily old Serbian fox gamely
declared that "if the people of Montenegro decide that a life
outside Yugoslavia is better then they have the right to choose
such a life. But if the Montenegrin people decide that life
within Yugoslavia is the optimal solution then they should
hold onto it."
IT’S
A BALKAN THING . . .
The
response of the Montegrin government to Milosevic’s stunning
endorsement of their project was a classic of Balkan politics:
"Milosevic's statement should be treated with caution, as
if it was a threat,'' said Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister
Novak
Kilibarda.
TRUMP
CARD
In
openly calling the secessionists’ bluff, Slobo is playing
his trump card: the sizeable pro-Yugo faction that was barely
edged out of office by Djukanovic in the hotly-contested
1997 election. Slowly but surely, the
Montenegrins having been edging away from the Serbs, their
old allies, but now the pace seems to be picking up rather
rapidly. Milosevic is merely acknowledging the facts on the
ground: Montenegro is, for all intents and purposes, already
functioning as a completely separate entity: not as an independent
naton, but as a NATO protectorate, entirely dependent on the
West for economic and political viability. They
are establishing their own currency, controlling their
own borders with the West, and using their own state-controlled
media to prepare the population for the coming showdown. Then
what is the purpose of calling a referendum to ratify what
has already been accomplished? It is a provocation, pure and
simple – calculated to inflame passions not only in Montenegro,
but also in Serbia and throughout the region. Phase two of
"Operation Allied Force" is proceeding on schedule.
MORE
SERBIAN THAN THE SERBS
As
Alex Dragnich and Slavko Todorovich recount in The
Saga of Kosovo, during the last part of the seventeenth
century and the first part of the eighteenth, when Serbia
had been ground under the heel of the Turks and nearly eradicated
as a nation,
"Montenegrin
leaders had not for a moment abandoned the ideal of Serbian
resurrection. They had always considered themselves as the
only legitimate heirs of Serbian statehood. After all, was
it not Nemanja, the son of their own land (Zeta), who in the
12th century founded the Serbian state in Rascia and its famous
dynasty? ‘The most Serbian of all Serbian lands’ is what Montenegro
called itself."
A
CHOICE
Do
the Montenegrins, who fought alongside the Serbs in their
historic battle against the Turkish invaders, really want
to abandon a cultural and political symbiosis that dates back
several hundred years – and for what? MTV and McDonald’s hamburger
joints? Cheap Nikes and the privilege of having the New
York Times delivered to their door? Let them vote,
says Milosevic – as if he is supremely confident of the outcome,
secure in the conviction that a proud people who revere and
know their own history will never betray it.
WAITING
IN THE WINGS
In
our decadent age, such a stance seems charmingly old-fashioned,
if a bit naïve. But whatever the outcome, the referendum
campaign is bound to be a bit on the rough side, with contending
factions rioting in the streets – as
in the last elections – and the specter of civil
war hanging over the whole process. The NATO-crats, of course,
are waiting in the wings, ready to pounce at the first opportunity:
any assertion of Yugo power and legitimacy is bound to provoke
a military reaction from the "Allies," who are united in their
determination that Serbia (like Iraq) must never break out
of its box.
DJUKANOVIC,
THE "REFORMER"
The
government of Milos Djukanovic is routinely
described in Western news reports as "pro-Western" and "reform-minded,"
but like most of the "reformers" supported by the West he
was up until very recently an orthodox Communist apparatchik
– in Djukanovic’s case, one who loyally supported the
ruling Serbian Socialist Party until it became politically
disadvantageous to do so. In a 1997 coup against his former
friend, , President Momir
Bulatovic, the Djukanovic faction expelled the leading
members of the governing Democratic Socialist Party, and seized
control of the state-owned media and the armed forces. The
subsequent elections were marred by violent attacks on Bulatovic’s
party, blatantly biased news coverage by the state-controlled
television and radio, in addition to numerous other "irregularities"
– thousands of voters registered twice, and another 40,000
questionable voters were included on the list. On election
night, as the Djukanovic forces celebrated their victory by
shooting their kalashnikovs into the air, the security forces
and the secret police moved in on opposition headquarters
and cordoned it off. This is what they mean by "reform"
– a "democratic" election in which the outcome is just as
predetermined as it was during Tito’s heyday.
"MR.
TEN PERCENT"
An
all-around shady character,
widely
known as "Mr. Ten Percent," – and notorious as a
smuggler of cigarettes and other more exotic pleasures since
his student days – Djukanovic is said to have secret
bank accounts stuffed to the gills with his ill-gotten gains
in London, Vienna, and Cyprus. As rival factions gear up for
a battle for in the streets of the old Commie capital of Podgorica,
get ready for the "spin": "Mr. Ten Percent" will no doubt
be touted as the epitome of Western "democratic" values –
and who could argue with that?
VICHY
MONTENEGRO
As
the first phase of NATO’s war on Serbia was winding down,
and the terms of the technical military agreement were being
hammered out in a tent on the Kosovo-Macedonian border, Madeleine
Albright met with Djukanovic in Cologne, during the G-8
summit. The Montenegrin leader took advantage of the occasion
to publicly offer NATO his "services":
"A
couple of months ago, I said that peacekeeping troops, with
a mandate of the Security Council, can count on any type of
logistical support from Montenegro. The media, controlled
by, or supporting, Milosevic's regime have interpreted this
as my invitation to NATO troops to occupy Yugoslavia. And
I was very precise, and this is something I repeated today.
Montenegro is a responsible part of the region – a responsible
entity in the region – and we want to assist in the implementation
of peace in Kosovo. After the Dayton Agreement was reached,
these were services that we offered to the forces that were
deployed in Bosnia. So, quite naturally, this is the kind
of assistance that we are offering to the forces that will
be deployed in Kosovo."
In
other words: don’t worry guys, you can count on me to collaborate
in the defeat and dismemberment of my own country. As
long as Western aid flows into the country, and into my secret
bank accounts, you can do what you like with those stubborn
Serbs.
THEIR
DAY WILL COME
Albright
replied that "the subject of Montenegro comes up all the time
as I talk to my colleagues in the Alliance, and it is very
clear that any escalation in pressure on Montenegro would
escalate the situation with NATO." The escalation is upon
us, but it isn’t Serbia that is doing the escalating. The
Montenegrin flashpoint, when it goes off, will be lit by the
West and its allies in Podgorica. Djukanovic and his fellow
secessionists may have to wait until after the November election
– or perhaps not even that long – but their day will come.
WHO
LOST MONTENEGRO?
"Who
lost Montenegro?" That is the question Milosevic’s domestic
enemies – on the right and among the liberal left
opposition – will be asking in the event of a formal
break between Belgrade and Podgorica. Vojislav
Selsej, the leader of the Serbian
Radical Party and a Deputy Prime Minister in Milosevic’s
government, has
openly said that if Montenegro’s government succumbs to
the blandishments of the West, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
must defend its sovereignty and "intervene using all available
means."
THE
CLOCK IS TICKING
Now
that the referendum has been announced, and the clock is ticking,
it is not hard to imagine that, as Mad Maddy says, the subject
of Montenegro comes up all the time, as the NATO-crats plan
their next move. Using Mr. Ten Percent as a lever to overthrow
Milosevic, the NATO-crats will mask their intervention in
the guise of a "political" campaign, subsidizing and organizing
the party of Djukanovic – as the certified "democrats" – and
otherwise directing the government’s campaign. And just in
case the opposition dares to protest blatant election fraud
too loudly, NATO troops right down the road can always be
"invited" in by Djukanovic to "restore order." As Drudge
would put it:
Developing
. . .
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