The New Serbian Colony

The September Military Revolution in Banjaluka received a lethal wound on September 15, when a part of the Crisis Headquarters gave up on their political demands and worked out a compromise with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. It died on Friday, September 17, when tanks and troops withdrew from the streets of Banjaluka. They were replaced by luxurious vehicles, which had been put away, and the value of a German Mark doubled. It was finally buried in a speech Karadzic delivered to the local entrepreneurs. Among them were also Pantelija Damjanovic and Moma Djukic, who topped the list of those to be arrested which the Crisis Headquarters had compiled and were arrested only to be released and arrested again. Karadzic congratulated himself on being so successful and reminded the audience that they would have faced a firing squad if it weren't for him, and added that ‘‘rich individuals are badly needed,'' naturally on condition they pay taxes.

Momo Djukic did not waste time: according to the guards who did not have arms and secured the petrol station ‘‘Laus,'' the very same day Djukic, who was escorted by six armed men, took over the station. Djukic had had a one year long lease on the station, which expired on September 1, 1993. He refused to hand the station over to its owner ('Energopetrol'), although the Banjaluka Court handed down a ruling while the September 93 action was underway and Djukic was being held in custody that the petrol station is returned and that force will be applied towards its execution. The man also said that the ruling was ‘‘executed by force'' by Ostoja Zec, the Commander of the Crisis Headquarters, i.e. soldiers under his command.

‘‘How can one import 30 cisterns of fuel in one year and not having to pay anything in taxes or customs fees, just because he says that the customs declarations are not ready,'' Ostoja Zec wondered while he was still free, obviously hinting at Moma Djukic. Rebel soldiers said that foodstuffs and spirits were imported apart from fuel. According to them, largest profits were made from food and drinks. This accusation could be easily applied on Pantelija Damjanovic, the official of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and a hotelier in Banjaluka, who said to have imported foreign beer.

Responding to objections that only ‘‘the small fry'' were being pursued, while the big thieves were neglected, soldiers said that of all towns in the Serb Republic in Bosnia Banjaluka had the strongest economy and was the center of its most developed part, it is natural that it was also the seat of criminals and profiteers. But, corruption is thriving in other places as well.

E.g. on August 17 this year Bozidar Vucurovic, a poet from Trebinje and the ‘‘sovereign'' in Herzegovina, made a deal with the ‘‘Gorstak'' company from Podgorica, i.e. its general manager Bosko Vujacic. Vujacic delivered 202,000 liters of diesel fuel to Vucurovic, for which he received from Vucurovic 414 tons of booty (27 barges) in sheet metal and tubes. A permission for the deal was issued in Pale, while assessments that ‘‘Gorstak'' was paid in goods worth 4 million DM for delivering as little as 200,000 liters of oil (while the average whole-sale price is 1.5 DM per liter) cannot exactly recommend Vucurovic as a businessman. Moreover, stolen goods are always sold cheaply. The goods of `unfortunate origin' as one private entrepreneur from Belgrade who had declined the same offer referred to it were actually from the state stockpiles of the Serb Republic in Bosnia. It is not clear how Vucurovic got hold of them.

Besides, if asked, Karadzic will have a problem explaining what happened with `Golfs' ‘‘liberated'' in the Sarajevo suburb of Vogosca (about 2,300 vehicles), as well as who founded a bank to make their export possible and how. Practically, there is no region in the Serb Republic in Bosnia where ‘‘examples of profiteering and patriotism'' weren't found. Karadzic's problem boils down to the fact that the measure of ‘‘Serbian patriotism'' was successfulness in pillaging everything that stayed in the wake of the Bosnian state, so that patriots advance on a political hierarchy to becoming special advisors, ministers, heads of bureaus in Belgrade, etc. Since everything was done with political approval, logistic and banking support from Belgrade, it turns out that Belgrade can use it, should it find necessary.

Belgrade has recently used the opportunity to warn Karadzic that dissatisfied citizens could be used to seriously shake his positionif a need arises. The careful wording of assurances from Belgrade that it had nothing to do with September 93 left everybody in doubt as to whether Belgrade was involved or not. Karadzic's statement that some ‘‘Big Boss'' was behind it, support Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) gave to crushing of the rebellion, clear distancing of Ivica Dacic, the spokesman of the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) from everything; all of the above discretely, if not surely, point at this scenario, which roughly follows: Milosevic desperately needs the signature on the papers, he could afterwards wave before the world and demand the lifting of (‘‘unjust and undeserved'') sanctions, since they are beginning to bite seriously this fall. It is easy for him to say that he will not bargain with one or two percent of the territory, since the Greater Serbia has already loomed into sight. However, these two per cent mean a lot to Karadzic, as they may likely turn into several hundred angry, hungry and well armed men, shouting at the top of their voices, ‘‘Treason, treason!'' And to top it all, he'd have to explain his decision to the Bosnian Serb Parliament. Apart from this, Bosnian Krajina and its ambitions, which the ‘‘Big Boss'' from Belgrade may always use to his advantage, remain to be Karadzic's biggest problem. If it has to, Bosnian Krajina could easily create a state of its own (no matter what it would be like) by joining Knin and other parts of the Republic of Serb Krajina. If, on the other hand, they manage to make Banjaluka the capital of the Serb Republic in Bosnia, Karadzic's reputation will plunge, turning him into a person for contacts with Belgrade. That is why he had to resort to blackmailing Banjaluka with the corridor and electricity supply and to rely on lobbyist from Bijeljina, Herzegovina and Pale. He has nearly lost this round, which is why he is now using the confusion to remove the local ‘‘lords'' and put his people in power, the same lot which was severely criticized by rebels, i.e. radicals, profiteers and entrepreneurs.

What has been created on Serb lands in former B-H since 1991 is a totalitarian state of a specific kind. It is an ‘‘ethnic democracy'' where everybody is equal on condition they are Serbs. That's how it started out, but a natural differentiation of classes took place in the meantime, dividing the people into rich and poor Serbs. Karadzic's state is now forced to rely on those people who have or can obtain money, the others are neglected so that social differences have reached a critical level. Money is so badly needed that it doesn't stink not even when it's literally covered with blood, or taken from widows and orphans of Serb fighters. Unfortunately, that is a natural course of events, governed by merciless laws of economy.

This ought to have been thought about much earlier, but what's the point when the war was waged by poets, psychiatrists, truck-drivers, etc. Making a state is a serious task which entails more that patriotic outcries and readiness to die for ideals. It that state was created with some long term plans in mind as a powerful, modern and wealthy state, some things would have been thought over. For example, was it a must to kill and expel so many people of different faith, including all those with education? Best educated Serbs responded by leaving since no respect for knowledge and education was shown.

Relying of Serbs from over the Drina River on Mother Serbia may have a boomerang effect: they were bad at barter trade (the Trebinje case) showing tendencies to become worse, while the partners on this side of the Drina River know how the job is done, are more experienced and have got a stronger backing. The Serb Republic in Bosnia could thus become a colony of Belgrade, much more so than Bosnia ever was. It would provide cheap labor and raw materials as well as limitless possibilities for fast exploitation (especially considering the current state of law in both states). However, the leaders of the Serb Republic in Bosnia don't sweat over this: their families are in Belgrade, where they've acquired flats, houses and firms, while occasional trips to the cold Geneva lake are very much like shopping tours to them.