President of the Slovenian Parliament

Jozef Skolc, former president of the Slovenian Youth Organization and one of the most prominent members of the strongest Slovenian political party, the LDS, and the president of the Slovenian parliament, talks exclusively for Vreme about the past and the future of states which used to comprise Yugoslavia.

Parties on the right, mainly opposition parties, are strengthening their positions. Forecasts are difficult to make, but there is fear that after the next election Slovenia could make a step to the right?

The issue is mainly that of suppressed passions and if I compare Slovenia with other countries with similar experiences in the past century, I think that the situation here is quite all right. If I compare Slovenia with other former Yugoslav republics- then the problems we have with our right-wingers really look trivial; especially if I compare our right-wingers with the regime in Serbia, or problems faced by political parties in Croatia. I deliberately avoid talking about Bosnia-Herzegovina in this context because it is a country under attack, where defence is the most important issue, so political activity can not really be compared to that in other countries.

I am convinced that at the next election the Right will not manage to get the majority required to isolate Slovenia and close it to the rest of the world. However things that are being said in some places are disturbing. Disturbing, but not alarming.

The negotiations about Slovenia's application to join the European Union turned out to be more complicated than expected. New conditions are being imposed continuously, which is a bit offensive for a sovereign and democratic country.

I dare say that for the past couple of years we have achieved more than anybody anticipated at the beginning of our independence, not to mention the late 1980's. Slovenia found itself in a peculiar position not because it is unable to meet particular criteria, which are the same for any country, but because it is not yet clear how the Yugoslav crisis will be resolved. Since Slovenia for example, managed to reach this stage of some kin of associational negotiations, in spite of the attempts by certain countries to bring such negotiations to a halt, it is possible that Europe is hesitant about our membership simply because it knows that the next three countries likely to apply for a similar status would be Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia, countries which are, unfortunately in a significantly different position compared to that of Slovenia, as far as the requirements for membership are concerned. It is also clear that Slovenia is still a victim of this situation in the Balkans, irrespective of the fact that nobody in the region counts on some political reorganization of the area.

Recently, the Committee for international relations put forward an initiative for the Slovenian parliament to establish relations with the parliament of FR Yugoslavia. Has any such decision been made?

As far as I know- it has not. We contemplated relations with the state rather than the parliament. I am myself undecided on the issue: on the one hand are the interests of individuals which must be sanctioned in some way- ability to travel freely, for example, while on the other hand there is question of communication with the Serbian political set. I am talking from a standpoint of morality- I think it is not decent to have contact with Milosevic's set until a peace settlement is reached in the region.

You do not believe that Milosevic is becoming the new peacemaker in the region?

I do not know who believes that, but to me it appears not to be the case. It is understandable that Milosevic is one of the key negotiators with the international community and its emissaries but it is for that reason that I think that representatives of individual states ought not to communicate with him. They must not talk to him for the sake of Serbia itself, because it was Milosevic's people who pushed Serbia into fascism. A line has to be drawn. I do not believe that it is possible to talk and agree with Milosevic's team. Of course a distinction has to be made between Serbia, that is the people who live there and the politicians. I do not believe in the existence of some kind of genetic predisposition in a nation which determines the relation of others towards it.

How come that Slovenia's policy towards Belgrade is much more rigid than that of Croatia, which has many more reasons for animosity?

The problem is simply in Milosevic and his companions, the regime in Serbia. If anybody knows Milosevic better than Owen or Stoltenberg, it is us, who had to live with him. The question that arises is to what extent any contact with that regime (or opening of some kind of a bureau, which is being discussed, but the embarrassing fact is that we can not figure out a way of doing it) actually legitimizes those people who head the political life in Serbia. That is the problem. It is important to note that there is no willingness on their side to resolve things which got entangled many years ago. I do not only mean the war. Even if we forget the problems which Serbia and Slovenia would face in discussing the legacy of former Yugoslavia, the question that necessarily imposes itself is about the responsibility for the events in Bosnia. That is the stumbling block, similar to the situation after World War II when it became clear that talks with certain politicians are not possible. Even if we take into account the Serbian opposition, or people who had to leave Serbia, or indeed those who want to live in Serbia according to European principles, we cannot avoid the question whether or not it is pointless to communicate with such a state leadership. And as long as the war rages on in Bosnia, I, personally am not prepared to meet up with anybody from Milosevic's circle. Let them recognize Bosnia and Croatia first, within the existing borders.

What about the recognition of Slovenia?

All in its own time. After all, I can not foresee any problems that Serbia might have with recognizing Slovenia. We lived together as part of the same state for 70 years and there are many questions which need to be resolved.

Since you have mentioned former Yugoslavia- do you believe in the possibility of some kind of its restoration, suggested, for example by the wife of President Milosevic through her political party JUL?

We are interested in everything connected with development, modernization, but not things connected with an army boot, if I may put it that way. We need peace, settled relations between the newly created states and a chance to develop. The way in which state sovereignty and potential will be invested from there is up to individual countries to decide.