Yugoslavia And Europe

On the occasion of Europe Day and the 50th anniversary of the victory over fascism, VREME editorial staff and the European Movement in Serbia devote VREME's 3rd FORUM to the big controversial topic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's (Serbia and Montenegro) attitude to the continent whose geographical part it is.

In spite of the depressing perspective of becoming Europe's black hole, far from Europe and its current trends towards universal integration, Yugoslavia does hope that the future holds better things.

As usual, the standing team of competent collocutors rallied around VREME FORUM will do their best to discuss the various aspects of Yugoslavia's international position in the debate "Yugoslavia - Europe", with the relevant guests we invited to take part. The editorial staff is very happy that the Federal Foreign Ministry is taking part for the first time in this debate, and that all previous ones have encountered positive reactions among the domestic and foreign (especially expert) public.

Collocutors:

 

Mirko Tepavac

(President of the European Movement in Serbia)

Serbia on a Foreign Continent

 

Novak Pribicevic

(Career diplomat)

Our Illusions and Those of Others

 

Zivadin Jovanovic

(Assistant Federal Foreign Minister)

Always Part of Europe

 

Milivoje Maksic

(Career diplomat)

Tactical Disguises

 

Jelica Minic

(Advisor with the Institute of Economic Science)

Monet's Method for the Balkans

 

Branislava Alendar

(Researcher with the Institute for International Politics and Economy)

We Haven't Joined

 

Ljubivoje Acimovic

(Expert on International Law with the Institute for International Politics and Economy)

Neighbors as a First Barrier

 

Milan Sahovic

(Expert on International Law with the Institute for International Politics and Economy)

What Did Prince Milos Know?

 

Ilija Djukic

(Former Federal Foreign Minister)

Unusual Alliances in Unusual Times

 

Aleksandar Nenadovic

(Journalist)

An Ominously Neglected Serbia

 

Sonja Biserko

(Helsinki Human Rights Committee Coordinator for Serbia)

The False Rebellion of the Praxist Circle

 

Radmila Nakarada

(Collaborates with the Institute of European Studies)

Walking on Several Wires

 

Ljubisa Sekulic

(Career diplomat)

Those Closest - Most Important

 

Zivorad Kovacevic

(Career politician and diplomat)

The Black Hole in the Southeast

As an illustration of the atmosphere which prevailed at the Forum we are bringing excerpts from speeches held by Mirko Tepavac and Zivadin Jovanovic. The entire Forum is available at special request.

 

Mirko Tepavac;

Serbia on a Foreign Continent

Serbia is the dramatic meeting point of all contrasts and the disintegration of Communism shook everything up here, even though Yugoslavia was never an integral part of the East European system. Yugoslavia was not a member of the Socialist bloc, but in confrontation with it. Yugoslavia had the most liberal Communism and it was the least enforced from outside. Patriarchy and populism found their natural strongholds here. We must remember the resistance the Serbian public and a great part of its intelligentsia put up a hundred years ago to the building of the railway through Serbia. Their reasons were that the railway would open the doors to foreign, political and cultural influences on the Serbian national being. That is why I don't believe that Yugoslavia was torn down by its multiethnic component, strategic geographical position and numerous denominations but the indulgence of the wider strata of the population with regard to patriarchal and populist manipulation which the political leaders engaged in here.

In Serbia, and not just Serbia, but especially in Serbia, nationalist populism gave a helping hand in awakening the most primitive layers of consciousness and the most brutal mentality. Biases concerning Europe are deepest here, much more so than in any other European country. This inclination existed, and populism just activated it. I don't think I'll be wrong if I say that there is no other country today in which the word Europe sounds so foreign and dangerous with regard to the national being.

Bearing in mind justice and the truth, we must add that there are certain fears and reservations, though less intense, elsewhere. Some time ago I had the opportunity of talking with a colleague from Slovenia who said that as the time for the agreement between Slovenia and the European Union drew closer, fears were growing that the established way of life and idyll of national self-sufficiency would be disturbed. Our fear of Europe is followed with the fear felt by elitist parts of Europe with regard to poor and backward newcomers from the East. We must remember that West Germany wasn't unanimous in its enthusiasm over unification with its Eastern brethren.

Since the turnabout to peace in Serbia, or to put it more moderately, to the curbing of extremist stands in Serbian national politics, we have seen the first signs of a decrease in the anti-European stands. Whether the anti-European spirit will weaken more or less, more quickly or slowly, will depend on when violence and war in the former Yugoslavia are finally brought to an end.

One thing is sure: the final outcome of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia is possible only once European standards in each of its parts are accepted, above all in Serbia! Until this happens, there won't be much chance of Serbia getting any closer to Europe, or of joining the modern world's trends.

 

Zivadin Jovanovic:

Always Part of Europe

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has significant values and advantages which deserve a more realistic assessment and greater recognition. The fact that there is still no peace and stability in certain parts of the former Yugoslavia, and that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has groundlessly been accused of this, greatly hinders a more realistic assessment of the importance of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a factor of stability, integration and development in the Balkans and in Southeastern Europe. Things are changing slowly in a positive direction and it is necessary to believe that the process of a greater recognition of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a constructive factor in present and future developments in this part of the continent will happen faster than they have to date.

We are thinking of the economic, political and geostrategic advantages of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. From the economic and territorial point of view, including the population figure, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia represents around half the potential of the former Yugoslavia.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's advantage on the political plane results from the fact that it views its role today, above all, as that of a factor and partner in finding a peaceful and long term stable solution for all the more important consequences which have resulted after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, and especially with regard to ending the civil war in the former Bosnia-Herzegovina, including problems between the Republic of Serb Krajina and the Republic of Croatia. That which is insufficiently understood in some places in Europe and elsewhere, is that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's efforts in finding peaceful and just solutions cannot be the result of the pressures to which it is being subjected, but the essence of its original strategy of peace, stabilization and a dynamic social-economic development. It is increasingly recognized, but in practice insufficiently present, that sanctions hinder the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's engagement in the reaching of peace and stabilization as soon as possible, and at the same time, annul a good deal of the energy and efforts made by those countries which are not just declaratively, but deeply engaged in finding political solutions to the key consequences of the Yugoslav crisis.