A Job For Amateurs

Head of the Yugoslav Bureau in Zagreb Veljko Knezevic, had his fingers rapped last week by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. Even though he had allegedly, not heard what Knezevic had said, Tudjman said that ``Croatia cannot allow this...,'' which could mean that in the event that such an incident is repeated, Knezevic could find himself persona non grata.

It rarely happens that heads of diplomatic missions are openly criticized by the head of the host state. Knezevic's gaffe is certainly not of great help to the halting process of a normalization of Yugoslav-Croatian relations.

For those who decide on these matters in Belgrade, the incident could prove instructive. If nothing else, then as a reminder that patriotic and other cadres must have some diplomatic polish, especially with regard to public communication: it is not necessary to think the same way, and this can be said, but without directly irritating the host country. Knezevic's controversial statement concerns UNPA zones, which he called the ``Republic of Serb Krajina'' during a TV interview.

Judging by Belgrade's reactions so far, it is hard to believe that Knezevic will be cautioned. It seems that the country's foreign policy and diplomatic service are sliding inevitably into selfisolation. The foreign affairs department still suffers from an elephantine apparatus with around 1,000 employees, and has been degraded to an amateur status in the last few years. It is now undergoing further professional and cadre humiliation. VREME has learned unofficially that the latest list of the first ten chiefs of diplomatic missions in world capitals (a few ambassadors, and thanks to sanctions, mostly charge d'affaires), there is only one professional while the rest are amateurs. In Socialist Yugoslavia, Republican leaderships always had the final say in determining who was to be given which post (there is an exact number of ambassadorial posts for each republic), and they were autonomous in the choice of candidates. It was often the case that influential and less influential social-political officials and deserving businessmen were given these posts for services rendered. They underwent a drill of several months in the Foreign Ministry learning the ropes. Care was taken that some balance should be maintained between the number of career diplomats and the amateurs. The federal parliament is not aware what criteria are being applied now. The criteria for the division of the diplomatic posts between the two federal units is also a mystery.

The list of future ambassadors, i.e. charges d'affaires, is a well kept secret. The list has been changed often in the past few months with new names added and old ones scratched off.

Even though Yugoslavia currently has quite a number of unfilled diplomatic posts (among other things because of the usual change of cadre) only a few lucky individuals have taken over posts abroad. Former Belgrade League of Communists Committee chief Rados Smiljkovic (one of Milosevic's main supporters during his rise to power) has been posted Yugoslav Ambassador to Bulgaria, while Aleksandar Prlja (former journalist), who waited in vain for the ambassadorial post in the Vatican has gone to Stockholm as charge d'affaires. Career diplomat Ivan Mrkic is in Cyprus. Before being posted there, he was cabinet chief of the now former Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic. Veljko Knezevic has put on ice his post as vice-president of the Yugoslav Committee of the League of CommunistsMovement for Yugoslavia, after taking up the post of chief of the Yugoslav Bureau in Croatia.

Bearing in mind the arbitrariness in the choice of diplomatic staff (there are claims that this comes under the competency of the top leadership of the ruling Socialist Party of SerbiaSPS), there are no guarantees that the latest list of ten names is definite. Zivorad Igic is seen as the new man in Tirana. He was a longtime SPS leader in Kosovo, who allegedly fell into disfavor, and is returning to the political scene via diplomacy.

One of the most important posts remains vacant--the ambassadorial post in Moscow. The way things stand right now, it seems that former Serbian Education Minister and vicePM Danilo Z. Markovic will have the unpleasant task of smoothing out the ruffles left by Vitaly Churkin's ``emotional'' statements. For the time being, there are problems over Bora Milosevic's posting to Warsaw. Milosevic is currently the INEX company's representative in Paris, and learned something of the diplomatic trade while Socialist Yugoslavia's ambassador in Algeria (he was on Montengero's list).

Several ministers from former Serbian PM Nikola Sainovic's cabinet have been given diplomatic posts (however, former Information Minister Milivoje Pavlovic and others seem to have been bypassed again). The only career diplomat on the current list is Dobroslav Vejzovic who is preparing to take over the post of charge d'affaires in Vienna. Vejzovic gained experience working with several missions abroad, he was Republic of Serb Krajina Foreign Minister for several months, and if the public remembers his name, it is because he resigned from this post.