The Career of Milan Babic

Milan Babic was born in 1956 in the village of Kukari, Northern Dalmatia.He studied dental medicine in Belgrade, where he proved successful as a young party official. After receiving a degree, he got a job at the health center in Knin and later specialized in Sarajevo. However, Babic established his reputation with the people in Knin as a politician and not as a dentist. One witness claimed that Babic had pulled out his tooth which was healthy. Besides, he was a party secretary at his health center. He was a delegate of the Croatian Communist Party at its last fourteenth congress when the disintegration of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia took place. He returned to Knin after having definitely broken off with the reformist current of Croatian communists and entered on a career of a national politician.

Babic was soon to become one of the founders of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). He ran as a candidate for the presidency of the municipality of Knin in the first multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990 and won. During the summer of 1990 Krajina was swept by rallies staged by SDS. Apart from Raskovic (senior leader of the SDS), Babic never missed to address the crowd.

Barricades were erected on August 17 as a Serb reaction to the threat by Croatia that the announced referendum on Krajina's autonomy would be stopped with "all available means". Everybody, including Croatian policemen sent to remove the barricades, Serbs on the barricades and tourists forced to make a detour, as well as Raskovic and Croatian President Tudjman, gave in to overall confusion, but not Babic. In his capacity as the President of the municipality of Knin he declared the state of war on Radio Knin, announced attacks by special units of President Tudjman, claimed to posses evidence that poisonous gas had been used and warned the people to save ammunition as it was going to be badly needed soon. He had all the power in Krajina. Any negotiations with Croatia were out of the question. Babic's punishment was in store for all who tried to negotiate.

It was obvious that the President of the Serb Autonomous Region of Krajina was not acting independently. After the demonstrations in Belgrade, on March 9, he sent a letter of support to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and demanded settling of accounts with "students and followers of Vuk Draskovic, the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO)", for the sake of Serb unity.

Easter at Plitvice is widely believed to have marked the beginning of the war with Croatia. A day later in Korenica Babic declared unification with Serbia, catching the Serbian Parliament by surprise and making it clear that dealing with him will not be that easy. Many things were put on the back burner as a consequence of the open war all until the signing of the Vance plan. Meanwhile, Babic was promoted President of the Republic of Serb Krajina and the only master of Krajina. He realized that his state was being sold and, to everybody's surprise, refused to sign the plan. They tried to break him at the session of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ) but he resisted. Slobodan Milosevic was eventually forced to write an open letter and request his replacement. The people of Knin remained loyal to their president, but the executioners were embodied in the figures such as Goran Hadzic (RSK president) and Mile Paspalj (the speaker of Krajina Assembly). Babic was replaced and his political destiny appeared to have been sealed.

Babic was treated as a potential rebel and spent the time after his replacement in criticizing the new leadership in Krajina and the Vance plan. He clearly indicated that he did not intent to withdraw and was ready to wait. He was maltreated on two occasions. In March 1992 officer Zdravko Vranjes shot from a gun in his flat under dubious circumstances and in July the same year in Benkovac he was beaten up by a group of unidentified policemen and one of them stuck a gun into his mouth. Nevertheless, after a ritual reconciliation with Martic in October 1992 (they had fallen out over the Vance plan) things looked up for Babic. He evolved perfecting his political craft. He remained cool-headed, avoided exposure in settling of political accounts in Krajina and used others, the local Radicals for example, to promote his ideas. He patiently strengthened his party with a number of those dissatisfied with Hadzic which did not seem to be a problem if Krajina's reality is taken into account. He is said to have changed a lot while waiting for his moment to come. However, he hasn't changed as far as one thing is concerned: Krajina will never be a part of Croatia, whatever the price.