Tensions Heighten in Montenegro
Saturday, 12 February 2000
P O D G O R I C A , Y U G O S L A V I A (AP)
THE DEBATE over breaking away from Yugoslavia is splitting Montenegro's
families, friends, regions and towns, and raising worries not only of
intervention by the federal army but of war among the Montenegrins
themselves.
Those tensions have heightened since last Monday's killing of Yugoslav
Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic, one of the most senior Montenegrins in
President Slobodan Milosevic's regime in Belgrade.
Although no one has openly accused pro-independence Montenegrins of
the crime, Milosevic's supporters here in Montenegro are portraying
Bulatovic's killing as an attack on the integrity of the country.
"The divisions are very sharp," said political analyst Miodrag Vlahovic.
"They are irrational, but there is not much room for dialogue."
Montenegro, a mountainous republic of 600,000 people that affords
Yugoslavia its last outlet to the Adriatic Sea, stuck by the federation as
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia broke away
one-by-one in the 1990s, all but Macedonia in bloodshed.
Talk of independence increased after Milosevic's pro-Western rival, Milo
Djukanovic, won Montenegro's presidency in a 1997 election victory over
a pro-Belgrade candidate.
Apart from complaining about domination by the larger Serbia, secession
proponents argue that Yugoslavia's international isolation over the Balkans
wars prevents Montenegro from implementing economic and political
reforms and blocks access to international lending bodies.
But worries about civil war within Montenegro, fears of action by
Milosevic's forces and lack of Western support for secession have slowed
plans for a referendum on independence.
Rather than push the issue to open conflict, Montenegro's government has
opted for "creeping independence." It has slowly taken over federal
institutions such as customs and border control and has introduced the
German mark as a parallel currency to the devalued Yugoslav dinar.
That leaves the Yugoslav military units within Montenegro as the only
visible federal institution.
"The Yugoslav federation exists only formally, only on the map," said
Novak Kilibarda, one of Montenegro's deputy prime ministers. "All ties
have been suspended. A referendum is a certainty which has to be carried
out. But maybe not immediately."
Meanwhile, tensions are bubbling in almost every facet of Montenegrin life,
even the national sports club, Buducnost, which sponsors soccer and
basketball teams. Its fan club has split into pro-independence and
pro-Belgrade factions, and police had to separate two groups of fans
during a recent basketball game with a visiting Israeli team.
The Montenegrin government claims Milosevic's supporters are fomenting
divisions within the republic, arming militias to fight alongside federal troops
if necessary and provoking incidents, such as the brief military takeover last
year of the main airport at Podgorica, Montenegro's capital.
Predrag Bulatovic, a top official in the pro-Milosevic Socialist People's
Party, dismisses such accusations. He argues it is the Montenegrin
government that is preparing for war by forming a 20,000-man police
force - much larger than necessary for routine security.
But even while denying pro-Milosevic militias had been formed, Bulatovic
warned that pro-Belgrade Montenegrins would "organize themselves" and
"respond to force with force" if the republic's government holds a
referendum on secession.
Such talk is reminiscent to the situations before the earlier Yugoslav wars,
when Serb minorities took up arms after declarations of independence by
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Milosevic supported the Serb insurgents
politically and militarily.
Milan Popovic, a law professor, estimates about half of Montenegro's
families are divided over the republic's future.
"Some Montenegrins say they are Serbs; some call themselves
Montenegrins," he said.
Most pro-Serb Montenegrins come from extended families with ancestral
roots in the north near the border with Serbia. Pro-independence strength
is mostly in the south, while the central parts, including the capital, are
mixed.
In recent surveys, about 30 percent of Montenegrins said they wanted the
republic to remain with Serbia "at any price." An equal percentage
supported independence. The rest were undecided.
Many people fear that the longer the issue remains unresolved, the greater
the possibility of open conflict.
"A war here would be a war to the end, father against son, brother against
brother," economist Nebojsa Medojevic said. |
