The Zagreb-Belgrade HighwaySacrificial Lamb

"I'm going, and we'll see what happens", said a truck driver with Slavonski Brod registration plates as he hit the gas and joined a column of several hundred vehicles which entered the Belgrade-Zagreb highway on December 21 at 15:00 hours, just past Nova Gradiska and before Dragalic, at the entrance to the UNPA West zone. When the Croatian police, whose control point is just a few kilometers after the Nepalese battalion's control point, finally gave the sign that the column could start off, belief that the opening of this segment of the highway would be postponed once again for who knows what reason gave way to a feeling of disquiet over possible incidents along the way. The ride through several kilometers of no-man's-land to the UN control point was a very good psychological preparation for what would follow on the 27 kilometer passage through territory with many different names: UNPROFOR has dubbed the area the UNPA West zone, Croatia considers it an inalienable part of its state territory, while the Serbs who currently control it consider it part of the Republic of Serb Krajina.UNPROFOR's Nepalese battalion which has been the guardian of the highway all this time seemed to share the confusion of the drivers who had come from the direction of Nova Gradiska. They just waved the column through in the direction of the Serbian police less than a hundred meters away. The surprise of the drivers was even greater when the uniformed men standing in front of a sign labelled "Republic of Serb Krajina - Dragalic border crossing" in the Cyrillic alphabet also waved them through. There was no stopping, no checking of documents and no Customs checks. We stopped after entering the UNPA zone in order to take some photographs and a Serbian policeman told us to hurry because "stopping in the border area was forbidden". He didn't insist, but said it so that it would be clear who was in charge.This year's first snow didn't stop a number of curious Krajina Serbs from coming to the highway and witnessing a miracle: numerous vehicles from Croatia with the characteristic Croatian checkered registration plates. What had been unthinkable until only yesterday was happening before their eyes. We felt that these men were confused by what they were seeing. Some waved, some cheered us with raised bottles of brandy.Before the entrance to Okucani we saw several cars from Krajina with "OK" (Okucani) and "KNN" (Knin) registration plates. There was a Lada car with Banja Luka registration plates in the Cyrillic alphabet. At the exit to Okucani we noticed some members of the Serbian police and several military trucks next to the highway. They were there in order to turn back any vehicle wanting to go on towards Okucani and, in keeping with the spirit of economic cooperation between Zagreb and Knin, send it on to Zagreb.Once again we came across a group of people. Armed, in fatigues or wearing a curious combination of civilian trousers and army tops. We stopped. They waved to us to approach and then asked where we came from and what it was like in Osijek. We gave them the newspapers we had in the car. They asked for "Globus" and offered us brandy. Some of them wished to shake hands. We had the impression that most of them were quite tipsy. Suddenly, one of them, obviously some sort of an officer, told us discreetly to get going. We walked towards the car and one of the men rather roughly pushed Goran, a journalist from Osijek who had come to take some photographs for the weekly "Feral Tribune". Another threw a snowball at him. We continued on our journey. There wasn't much traffic coming from Zagreb. Several trucks with Slovenian registration plates and a few cars with Kutina or Zagreb plates. There were practically no cars with Krajina plates on the road. There were a lot of curious onlookers alongside the road, especially children.UNPROFOR's Jordanian battalion controls the point before Novska. They didn't ask any questions either. We turned the car and went back the same way. We were in a hurry as the sun was setting and it is possible to travel on the highway by daytime only. That's the way things will be in the beginning and later, if everything turns out alright, it will be possible to travel during nighttime too. On our way back we noticed a group of people around a roasting-spit. We thought of stopping, but decided against it after our unpleasant experience of half an hour ago. We were sorry later when we saw a Banja Luka television supplement on Croatian TV showing Republic of Serb Krajina President Milan Martic telling a reporter that they had roasted a lamb to mark the occasion, but that none of the travellers had stopped. A pity because, roast lamb apart, we could have asked Martic if he was serious about the highway.