Second Stage Of War

`The stand of the Liberal Party is that this is an aggression on Bosnia-Herzegovina and a war for territories. This has been asserted in the relevant U.N. Security Council resolution and by the imposition of sanctions on Serbia and Montenegr ootherwise, there would have been no sanctions. On the other hand, we also have an aggression by Croatian troops, which has been proved but no sanctions were imposed on Croatia. It appears that a tacit accord exists in the Security Council to spare Croatia of sanctions by arranging for a Croat-Moslem agreement. We believe that the regimes in Zagreb and Belgrade will now move from the virulent stage of war the fascist-like conquest of territories to a sophisticated stage in which they'll try to mask their fascism with certain personnel reshuffling. Basically, this is the second stage of war and an attempt to keep the situation in Bosnia as it is at present,'' says Kadic.

VREME: Isn't it naive to expect a solution for Sarajevo, independent from a solution for the overall crisis in Bosnia?

KADIC: Sarajevo is undoubtedly the crucial issue in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but I'm not sure that the problem of Sarajwvo can be resolved as currently proposed: by removing the Serb and our artillery 20 km from the city. I think the Serbs will make certain maneuvers that will then open some other options the withdrawal of their artillery will probably be followed by some political demands which will only water down the entire situation. NATO's firm ultimatum will not achieve all that we've expected in the beginning. Europe and the United States haven't done much so far and we have good reasons to doubt it all although I'd say that this time the Serbs have taken the threats seriously. The crucial thing is that the Bosnian government as well cannot avoid talks. It's good that we've moved from the stage where we were losing some 50 men a day to the stage of political talksalthough I think the shelling of Sarajevo and other places will continue.

VREME: The international community is responsible to a great extent for the tragic events in Bosnia. Were you one of those naive and persistent advocats of a military intervention?

KADIC: The international community has pinned down the Bosnia-Herzegovina issue on the Brioni Declaration, when it chose the right to self determination, including secession, as the only way to solve the Yugoslav crisis. They did so to make it easier for Slovenia, but then Milosevic used the principle to defend the inviolability of the borders which existed before the war. This plunged us all to a post-communism nationalist euphoria. In Bosnia, it meant the establishment of one-nation territorial units within the state, and the process can be stopped only by a military intervention which our diplomats claimed would take place after all. Once all this is over and final assessments made about the role of our diplomats, we should ask Silajdzic (Haris, BH Prime Ministered. note) why was he deceiving us into believing that the arms embargo will be lifted and a foreign military intervention launched. That was a waste of time. And even if something changes now, we have waited too long and paid too high a price to accept any excuses.

VREME: What else you think should happen to make Izetbegovic admit he wants a Moslem state, bearing in mind that the processes of creating Greater Serbia and Croatia are almost completed?

KADIC: There are two options for achieving nationally desirable territories and Europe, practical as it is, has translated this to the 33% of the land formula. The first option would be the Bosnia-Herzegovina army capturing a part of the territory and changing the balance in the field. The other would be the world's firm action to force the Serbs return that land. They won't do it themselves. We all know that the Serbs had taken the land that does not belong to them, hoping that this will "buy'' them a political amnesty and an excuse for the manner of their conquest. If that happens, the international community must apply stronger mechanisms of pressure on Belgrade. I want to believe that what's happening around Sarajevo is actually the beginning of such a pressure.

VREME: The civic option that you've been calling for is definitively defeated. What will be your activities after the war? Do you think you'll live to see Milosevic, Tudjman and Izetbegovic stepping down from the throne?

KADIC: Our party believes that the final stage of this war will be the first stage of expulsion of political minorities. Once the job is done with ethnic minorities despite the fact that Bosnia is the territory with most tolerance to the minorities the next to go are political minorities, including ourselves. That's why my first question to the leader of the British Liberlas, during his recent visit here, was how does one gets political asylum in his country. Unfortunatelly, it's very difficult.

As for the stepping down of the three main actors, I have to say that Izetbegovic is handicapped, primarily in view of military power, national potentials and also geographic factors (because we are encircled). So Izetbegovic cannot be taken as equal to Tudjman and Milosevic. He passively accepted the national option, although we must admit that "ethnic cleansing" was practiced also in areas held by the Bosnia Herzegovina government people are leaving either when the Bosnian army takes over their territory or even before, voluntarily, driven by war inertia. We believe that this could be the most liberal territory, but if we want a prosperous Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mr. Izetbegovic will have to reassess his role in what had led to so many deaths. We are all responsible for all this suffering, but he was on the top. We therefore expect him to show some courage and leave Bosnia's political stage once the war is over. By stepping down voluntarily, he would release the Moslem national energy which would then rebuild the ruins of war once, and who knows when, it is over.