Yugoslavia: New Year, Old Problems

Newspaper Glas Janvosti informs, participants of a conference dedicated to “a new stage of the Kosovo retreat” that was held in Belgrade’s media-center, reached a not comforting conclusion: “The government has no strategy for solution of the Kosovo problem.” Vice-president of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija, the author of the project “Kosovo Facing Judgement of History”, Branislav Krstic said that Albanians had a plan of actions of their own. They have their plan, like the USA and the EU countries wishing to reform the Balkans and to give independence to Kosovo and Metohija on the sly.

Jovan Teokarevic, an analyst from the Institute for European Studies, mentions that solution of the Kosovo problem “is directly connected with reforming of Yugoslavia and the Balkans on the whole”; he also emphasized at that there was no immediate solution of the problem and it couldn’t be expected in the nearest future either. The analyst is sure that only general westernization of the region may do away with the controversy there.

Teokarevic says that while Yugoslav politicians are beating about the bush, only 60 Serb families got back to Kosovo and Metohija in 2001 and 72 families in 2002. If we take the total number of Serb families wishing to get back home (6 thousand families) and the present-day rate of the Serbs’ return home, we may suppose that the process will drag on for 60 years at best.

Besides Kosovo, Yugoslavia still has enough pressing problems in the domestic policy. Belgrade’s radio B-92 recently held an interesting poll on its official website. Guests of the site were offered to pick out the most lying promise made by politicians last year. Tanjug informs that main supporters of westernization, Zoran Djindjic and Voislav Kostunica were mentioned oftener than other politicians.

The Serbia prime minister with the hit statement of March 15 is the leader of the poll: “by the end of the year, we will have an effective federal state; authorities of the state will cost cheap enough and powers of the leading departments will be clearly defined.”

How is it possible to save on the governmental spending? One of the ways out is to sell out former Serb President Milutinovic, the same way it was done with Slobodan Milosevic. But in fact no money is asked for the former Serb president; there is only once condition that the man must stay free until a trial in the Hague. (By the way, Americans promise to make next payments to Serbia for the selling out in March already). The authorities are being distributed between Serbia and Montenegro so actively, that the newly appointed foreign minister of Montenegro declares: within the next three years he will train diplomats of the republic for “work under conditions of an independent state” (he also reported that this independent state would be undoubtedly founded).

Yugoslavia President Voislav Kostunica with his statement of June 15 was rated second: “running for the post of Serbian president is essential for me first of all for the sake of adoption of the Constitutional Charter.” But the things are right where they started.

So, Yugoslavia entered the new year with the following results: with Kostunica at head, who may share the fate of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, the president without his state; with Zoran Djindjic kow-towing to Europe; still without Kosovo and without any promising prospects at all. No new president of Serbia was elected. According to the recent information, the former Serb president may be delivered to the Hague on Wednesday already.

Picture: the Serb national emblem

Ilya Baskakov Special for PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: https://www.pravda.ru/world/34507-kosovo/

Related links: