Babic Caput

"To the enormous help which Serbia has, at great cost, provided for the Serbian people outside Serbia, you can not answer with stabs in the back and the undermining of the peace plan".

"The citizens of Krajina should know that you have betrayed our trust and that in the future the relations with the legal authority of the Republic of Serbia you should delegate the people who will hold national interest dearer than their political prestige". Before he gave this verdict concerning dr Milan Babic, the Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic tried to make him accept that "the presence of the UN peace-keeping troops in Krajina means the defence of its citizens by peace, not by war".

A few days before the letter was sent, according to certain sources, the talk between Milosevic and Babic lasted four hours and ended with the emphatic statement in the corridor: "We have nothing more to talk about".

It must be that Milosevic in front of Vance undertook some heavy responsibilities, which the narcissistic dentist from the highlands could not understand. It could be that the emissary made it clear to the signatories of the latest cease-fire that shifting their responsibility under the pretext of "disobedient" Paragas, Babics, Arkans and other self-proclaimed commanders will not be tolerated. Judging by certain acts of the Army, one could conclude that all commands had the instructions for respecting the cease-fire and for restricting and controlling the paramilitary groups.

General Vladimir Vukovic, commander of the Banjaluka Corps, who some of the columnists see as "an Army hard liner", has announced that the army will disarm all the paramilitary formations on the area under the authority of this corps. Vukovic was explicit: "If they defy us, we will resort to arms". He said that there were some among the volunteers from Slavonia who were reselling the arms given by the Army. In Krajina, which is controlled by Babic, no complaints have been voiced in the recent period, but there were many complaints concerning Babic's handling of the distribution of help coming from Serbia. There was possibly some tension concerning the war plunder.

Captain Dragan has last summer accused Babic of numerous abusive acts. It seems that the activists of the Communist Party - Movement for Yugoslavia were also attacking Babic during certain rallies in Krajina. His decision to prohibit all the communist organizations on the territory of Krajina has become a defence decision of an authoritarian who feels threatened. Apart from this, Babic complained to Milosevic about being "a bolshevik" or something to that effect, which must sound cynical coming from the mouth of the participant of the latest Congress of the Croatian Communist Party. The main board of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDP) for Krajina gave an announcement on January 10 which deals with the issue of Milosevic's bolshevism. The main board of SDP expresses "astonishment at the arrogant blackmailing tone in the letter of Slobodan Milosevic", says that such a verdict was passed by Josip Broz Tito as well "who condemned the Serbian people to live in Croatia", that it represents " a call for overthrowing the legally elected president" fortified in battle, that it represents "a dangerous attempt at causing the division among the Serbian people", and that Vance's plan works in the same direction. It has been announced that all the structures in Knin will be "staunchly against the trade of Serbian blood for a false peace and the maintenance of personal power" and that it would be better if Milosevic were to use that energy to "help Babic to improve the Vance's plan".

Babic has, according to the tone of that letter, come to believe that his authority is so great that it could be placed above Milosevic's. Still, he postponed the meeting of his government for Saturday which was previously scheduled for Friday. He naturally does not want to admit that he was accused of something others have done and that he is, in case he does not change his mind, entering a conflict with his parents, something for which the weak are not forgiven. Opposition within the SDP (Raskovic, Opacic, Zelenbaba) has not until now shown how strong it is, neither did Milosevic realize what he has to contend with in Krajina.

The war with the Communist Party - The Movement for Yugoslavia, however, could mean that Babic still counts on having a stronghold in the Army. In the recent interview to "Osmica" magazine he accused the then federal defence minister, qualifying the signatures in Igalo, over Geneva, to Sarajevo, as "being forced out" and as "an illegal act of the federal secretary". He complains about the Army not having retaliated against the Croatian armed forces and claims that the territorial defence did not carry out such an act because it was restricted by the unified command. Contrary to Milosevic who had the active interaction with all three wings in the Army (the generals' party, the mild Kadijevic's wing and the "Serbian hard liner" Adzic's), Babic has relied only on the "hawks". Although the generals' party has helped him considerably in the beginning, it is now at war with him, and the "uniformed" are silent leaving Babic to his fate. Jovan Raskovic has recently, remembering his beginnings, said that Babic had "considerable" support of Belgrade for his coup in Krajina. It could be understood from the context that it is someone from the army.

Babic does not want to be deprived of his military formations, although the core is controlled by Martic, the Krajina defence minister. This could be the main reason for his rejection of Vance's plan, which is why the Serbian side was giving many signals which should alleviate that fear. Brana Crncevic, a Serbian nationalist writer, who is certainly familiar with the Serbian policy towards the Krajinas, said in one of the programmes of the Belgrade studio TV Serbia that the Serbs in case of attack will know how to defend themselves with "secret" arms. "Borba" learns that the Serbian side offers a solution that people from Krajina join the police and thus avoid the confiscation of weapons, that the part of Army arsenal could stay in Krajina by resorting to certain gaps in the Vance's plan, so that the Army units would, just in case, be stationed in the vicinity.

It could be that Babic is really afraid that the mandate of the United Nations for six months "will be prolonged", he is counting on the fear of his fighters and his people from retaliation and is getting under the skin of Krajina men by saying that Belgrade is being defended in Knin.

He, however, finds the political aspect of the solution to the crisis unacceptable: the wide local autonomy under the protection of the United Nations and the dual citizenship or rather, some kind of condominium, will strip him of personal power, the key role in the distribution of help and war plunder. He certainly, does not want the return of Croatian refugees and it is a big question whether they will come back. Krajina's economy is functioning owing solely to the help from Serbia and it can no longer be economically sustained by being isolated by the military border from the coast the rear of which it represents, disconnected from Bosnia and taken out of the economic fibre of Croatia. He is actually trying to prolong war communism.

Writing Babic off at the brink of the disaster or at least on the verge of yet a worse one, Milosevic is, may be for the first time, acting as a politician. Milan Babic is now sticking to his epic style which Slobodan Milosevic used to bring us to the brink. Now, Milosevic is trying to escape the abyss in which many of his followers fell, while Milosevic is trying to push him right into it.