A Magnificent Landscape, Poisonous Atmosphere, Pigheaded People

Yugoslav army officers have probably not been prevented from going on vacation because of celebrations marking the signing of the peace. However, trouble is expected somewhere. There were certain suspicions and speculations on whether the regime would be endangered by the newly-arisen situation. It was clear that the danger did not come from the streets: Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj has taken a back seat and is claiming mysteriously that he has ``a secret plan which is certain to succeed.'' Serbian National Renewal (SNO) leader Mirko Jovic tried to organize a rally of support to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in Loznica, and protest at the closing of the border on the Drina River. The rally was a fiasco because only 200 people showed up, and the next day all pretended that they had nothing to do with it.

The greatest suspicion arose over whether Bosnian Serb Vice President Biljana Plavsic, or some of the other radical elements had direct connections with a group of officers.

Prince Tomislav Karadjordjevic stood next to Karadzic (in fatigues). The Prince is the only member of the dynasty whom the regime accepted at the time when the opposition was trying to bring over the moderate Crown Prince Aleksandar II.

The leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church has also taken Karadzic's side. Patriarch Pavle was accompanied by Bishops Amfilohije Radovic and Atanasije Jeftic on his visit to Pale. The Patriarch gave a statement in which he presented his visit as an attempt at reconciling quarrelling brethren. Of course, Karadzic interpreted the visit as support for his cause. Then and later he would say that he had understanding for why Serbia and Montenegro could not follow him, and asked them to let him be.

If the high-level Church mission was undertaken with the idea of reconciling two leaderships, it would be difficult to explain the damnation which Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic cast on the Montenegrin Assembly which met and sent Karadzic a message, asking him to accept the peace plan: ``Damned be the hand that builds walls between himself and his brother in trouble, thrice damned and accursed!''

Some parts of the text sound like they were written by a brigand and not a priest: ``If the Montenegrin Assembly upholds this treacherous judgement, if it supports it selfishly and sycophantically, then it must know that it has signed its own sentence and that of every man who backed it.''

It is clear what kind of talks could have been conducted with ``the other side'' after such damnation. According to the Belgrade daily ``Politika,'' Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic met with the Patriarch, Metropolitan Amfilohije and Bishop of Backa Irinej, but no statement was released after the meeting, so that it can only be assumed that the meeting was a very unpleasant one.

From September 1988 and until the winter of 1989, top ranking Serbian Orthodox Church dignitaries, giving the explanation that the Serbian Orthodox Church was a people's church, were active in their support of the populist movement which carried Milosevic's pictures around. As the nationalist wave grew, pictures of Prince Lazar (Medieval Serbian King who led the Serbs against the Turkish invaders at the famous battle of Kosovo in 1389) were carried in those parts where Serbs lived. These symbolic gestures helped Serbian populism between 1987 and 1994. After 1987 the earthly remains of mass Ustashi massacres during World War Two were brought up from karst pits to be blessed in the presence of a great mass of people. The Serbian regime gave strong media support to such actions. At the start of the war in Croatia, members of paramilitary formations, voivodas and war profiteers were baptized in churches in Slavonija. A casino in Belgrade was consecrated! Events which followed after this are familiar, and many warlords who had clearly violated both temporal and sacral laws hid behind the Church (after all, they too are God's children) and even boasted that they were protectors of the Church. Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan (leader of the Party of Serb Unity and alleged war criminal) said that the fragile Patriarch Pavle was his commander and that he would sent his ``Tigers'' to allegedly protect him.

A certain number of warmongering priests made media headlines during the war, including Father Filaret who was photographed holding a machine gun. Karadzic turned the Orthodox faith into a state ideology. Two weeks ago Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic said in the Serbian Assembly that it was highly likely that in the event that Serbia said ``yes'' to the peace plan, some top church dignitaries would give their blessing to an armed conflict between Serbs. The Serbian Orthodox Church Bishops' Conference issued a statement on August 10 in which it gave its support to Karadzic. The text says that the Serbian Orthodox Church upholds peace, a just peace, it mentions responsibility before God's Final Judgement and the choice of a free life. The Serbian authorities are criticized of shelving joint responsibility for what had been done to others, and that the ``Pontius Pilate act of washing their hands in the blood of weary brethren will not resolve anything.''

The Church statement was directed mainly against the closing of the border on the Drina River, but was also strong pressure for the turning down of the peace plan. Pressure is based on the following assessment: ``We cannot believe that the strongest powers in the world today would wish to test their strength and power on those who have been several times downtrodden, and not once butchered, on those who have defended the human dignity of civilized Europe with their bones.''

Serbian Orthodox Church dignitaries have spoken the harshest words so far on account of the regime in Belgrade. This is the most open interference of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the war to date. Two years ago, at the time of the mass protests against Milosevic, the Church leadership condemned Communist rule in a statement, but the development of events showed this condemnation to be support of forces which wanted the war to spread.

During the war, Patriarch Pavle represented the moderate line in the Serbian Orthodox Church, and was often heard to repeat the sentence: ``Let us be human!'' He called for reason, moderation and humanity, which, looked at objectively, was the voice of peace. But this weak voice did not find much support in the troubled times brought on by a tribal war. The Serbian Orthodox Church in giving data on the destroyed Serbian churches and hollies, did condemn, here and there, grudgingly, the crimes committed by all three sides.

Lately the tone of the Church is being set by the hard-liners, which includes Bishops Amfilohije and Atanasije, who have been very active in the recent events. It remains to be seen how all this will end.