Montenegro: The Dead Serb Sea

Montenegro does not want to restore communism and self-management which everyone feels the draft law on companies is trying to do. Montenegro's government refused to approve the draft but did propose an amendment which says the law would not regulate ownership but would leave that issue up to the republics in the federation to regulate.

Miodrag Vukovic, member of the ruling DPS party and chairman of the legislative parliament committee said the adoption of that amendment would win approval for the law. Dragan Soc, National Party parliament group chief reacted saying: "a rotten compromise that topples the federal state".

Passions calmed after Vukovic's statement (he obviously had a promise from federal prime minister Radoje Kontic that the federal government would take into account Montenegro's interests) but tensions rose when Vukovic went on to say that the opposition does not care about the interests of Serbia and Montenegro as much as it wants to create a constitutional crisis and topple the authorities which, allegedly, caused the opposition to demand a two thirds majority vote to adopt the law which would also be extended to other draft laws.

In a statement to VREME, Milutin Lalic, director of the government's economic restructuring agency, said the objections to the draft law are numerous but added that Montenegro needs the law as soon as possible. "We feel that the draft law on companies is not in accord with the rhythm of historic (transitional) trends and events. The transition is a fast river and that law reads like a quiet lake. It keeps state owned companies in the same or slightly changed status with uncertain expectations that the market will do its bit and that means state companies will slowly lose the battle with vital privately owned companies. That is possible but to say the least it isn't fair to state companies especially to their employees", Lalic said.

When the text of the law was published, the reactions in Montenegro were fierce. "We will be uncompromising in opposing any solution in the draft law which could effect a slowing down or stop of transformation," republican prime minister Milo Djukanovic told Pobjeda daily on April 10.

The draft law was seen as an annulment of everything achieved in the transformation by Montenegrin businessmen.

In April Djukanovic was asked whether there were possible disagreements among Serbia, Montenegro and the federation in regard to privatization: "I believe that we are agreed in principle that transformation of ownership is needed. As for the Montenegrin government that is enough. We will do the rest on our own initiative."

The prevailing impression is that Montenegro does not want corrections to its transformation model and that it will secure it with republican laws without unified legal regulations.

Pakrac: Should They Go Or Should They Stay

Although the kindness the Croatian civilian authorities showed towards Serbs in the days just after Western Slavonia fell is breaking down, their attitude is not yet bad. Refugees have food and there are now some offices that can regulate the status of the population.

On the other hand, the decision to stay or go is filed with UN authorities.

A young woman said she hadn't decided yet. She's Croat, her husband is Serb. "It all depends on the attitude of the police towards my husband who's in Varazdin," she said. Many of the men who returned from there complained of physical abuse. The young woman said that many people are afraid despite promises from the Croatian authorities.

A man recently released from Bjelovar said the police were OK towards him. His family is in Seovica, a village near Pakrac. He's also not sure what he'll do. On the road, a small group gathers waiting for the afternoon buses. Their mood is glum, they have nothing to say and add that everyone asks the same questions. They don't want to discuss their reasons for leaving.

An old man fills out a questionnaire for Globus weekly in front of the UN building. He says he's leaving because his children decided to go. He's going to Bosnia, but wants to go to Yugoslavia and on to Australia. "There's no life in Yugoslavia either," he comments.

The British officer checking refugee reasons for leaving says the number of people who want to leave or stay are equal. The Globus poll shows that 59% of the Serbs want to leave Western Slavonia.

"I'd stay if someone would guarantee my freedom, but you try sitting out a whole night in my village in the woods," the old man says.

Another old man and his wife feel it doesn't matter where they'll be as refugees: their house was destroyed in 1991. They're thinking twice over the pension he would get from Croatia but they fear for their lives.

It's hard to say how justified the fear of the local Serbs is; the Croatian authorities are persistently trying to show good will and readiness to help the ones who decide to stay, as one western diplomat put it.

That readiness is not shared by local authorities which is evident in statements by some Pakrac officials who claim that there is no way they'll talk to Veljko Dzakula on equal footing. Dzakula was nowhere to be found but his recent statements in the Croatian press show that he feels the Croatian readiness for dialogue is in word only.

UN sources said the fears come from unofficial statements by Croatian officials that the Serbs who stay won't get passports for at least two to four years. Some newspaper headlines (This'll Pass in 10 Days Then It's only Us and Them) certainly don't help keep the Serbs in the area.