Portrait

PLACE AND DATE OF BIRTH: The village of Zabrdje near Sarajevo, 1945.

EDUCATION AND CAREER: Holds a B.Sc. in Economy. Spent his entire career with the Sarajevobased ``Energoinvest'' company, first in the financial department of ``Energobanka,'' then as vicepresident of the Finance Committee of the ``Plant for the production of thermal appliances'' (TAT). In the early eighties ``TAT'' became a symbol of the former BH's financial power thanks to the production of parts for Russian nuclear plants. Krajisnik left this post for a ninemonth sojourn in jail (along with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic) over alleged fraud and involvement in the building of Karadzic's summer house at Pale. The two men were freed and the public prosecutor did not contest the verdict. Both men look on the issue today as an attempt by the former regime at settling scores. After the first multiparty elections in BosniaHerzegovina 1990, Krajisnik, as one of the prominent members the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), became BH Assembly Speaker. Since October 24, 1991, he has been Speaker of the Serb Republic in BH Assembly.

NICKNAMES: In Pale his is addressed as ``Mr. President,'' his friends call him ``Medja,'' and international negotiators refer to him as ``Mr. No,'' because he usually says ``No'' before a proposal has been translated. Journalists used to describe him as the ``Man who buried the VanceOwen plan.''

WHAT HE IS PROUD OF: Even though he has eyebrows ``a la Brezhnev,'' he is one of the rare prewar Bosnian directors who was never a member of the League of Communists, but has always been a believer and member of the local church community.

CHARACTERISTICS: Privately he is a patriarchal and religious man. He spends his leisure time working the land or as a shepherd. He is a family man in every sense of the word. Krajisnik has a daughter and two sons (his wife died at the start of the war). One of his statements: ``When I look at this Serb Republic of ours, if I may put it figuratively, she reminds me of a 16yearold girla bit obstinate, beautiful, amiable and with her hair neatly combed. We need just a little more time before we marry her off to the Alliance of all Serb lands, and when she is married, then the whole family will be together.''

WHAT KIND OF AN ASSEMBLY SPEAKER IS HE: general opinion has it that he was an institution when Speaker of the Bosnian Assembly, and has become one as the Serb Republic in BH Assembly Speaker. He is tenacious, stubborn, crafty, and a past master at getting the job done to his side's advantage by sticking to procedure and the standing orders, or by putting things off for as long as they are not to his party's liking. Krajisnik is always calm, poker cool, and never loses his nerve, nor is he carried away by dramatic moments. Those in the know claim that it is enough to look at his reactions and know what the Assembly in Pale will decide.

WHAT IS HE LIKE AS A NEGOTIATOR: The toughest negotiator on the Serbian team, unyielding and not prepared to make concessions. Not in the least impressed by world authorities and figures. International mediators believe that, Karadzic, with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's help, could be talked into a compromise over Bosnia if Krajisnik were not behind his back all the time.

CHARACTERISTIC VIEWS: ``It is difficult to expect concessions from the Serbian side, but... I must say that everything is possible in life. If you ask me, I don't think that the Serbs can give anything, they've given so much already...''

WHAT HE INSISTS ON: That a part of Sarajevo must go to the Serbs in the end, and that the Serbian side must not agree to less than 63% of territory, ``which is what belongs to them according to landregistry books.''

HIS MOST DIFFICULT MOMENT: Last year in Athens when Karadzic had to sign the VanceOwen plan, but with Krajisnik's amendment that the Assembly in Pale would have the final say. Before Karadzic signed, Krajisnik turned to Yugoslav President at the time Dobrica Cosic, and said: ``President, tell me to jump from the fifth floor and I'll do so immediately, but don't force me to sign this paper.''

FINAL POLITICAL GOAL: An alliance of all Serb lands, with Belgrade as the capital. Nenad Lj. Stefanovic