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Genscher may have been precipitous, but I doubt that he was totally out on a limb, since Kohl did not immediately sack him. It is likely that the Germans were taking the lead in arguing on behalf of the Slovenes and Croatians in NATO councils (remember, Austria is neutral), and that the Germans were therefore given a kind of grudging nod to recognize them when it became apparent that they were intent upon separation, with others gradually following suit. The main thing to recall is that the Slovenes and Croatians are historically more oriented towards Vienna, and the Serbs towards Moscow, and there was a sense of the futility of Yugoslavia, with Serbs making a bid to dominate the federation, and non- Serbs eager to leave...Yugoslavia was one of the unsatisfactory settlements left over from Versailles, so to speak... |
