All for All

At one point, world leaders and diplomats found themselves having to justify their actions before their own public and having to prove that no one promised anything to Karadzic in return for the liberation of hostages. It seemed impossible that this affair was resolved so easily and quickly, and completely free of charge.

Well, now it appears that a swap did take place after all, but primarily between Pale and Belgrade, the currency being Serbs from Bosnia and Krajina capable of military service who found themselves in Serbia. Slobodan Milosevic was thus in a position to pay for the liberation of United Nations troops and for an improved standing in the eyes of the world. That is why we had to watch, over and over again, the greatest Serbian policeman Stanisic as he interpreted the President's merciful deed to the hostages, while the cameras tried to catch the glimpse of at least a sigh of relief, if not of admiration or gratitude, on the soldiers' faces.

The hostages have been released in small groups, almost one by one, probably in order for the sight to be repeated over and over again, and thus enable the world to learn a lesson about generosity and nobility, and forget all the nasty things that were once said about Milosevic.

However, only the first part of the transaction was intended for the eyes of the public. After the last hostages were escorted and the lights turned off, and after foreign TV cameras rushed off to some other carnival, it was Milosevic's turn to fulfill his part of the deal. As he already demonstrated the ability to look on the bright side of things, it could have been expected that swapping Martic's and Karadzic's refugees for the international hostages would seem to him clean and fair. He is only helping people to return where they came from and where they belong. But knowing that this hypocritical world is very easily shocked and astonished, he decided for the transport of refugees to be a less festive affair, without anybody holding speeches telling the refugees to whom they should be grateful.

We were thus denied the sight of those who are being taken, handcuffed, to the place where they will be able to "share, with their brothers, the extent of the victory and the glory of human and national honor". Regime controlled media do not boast with the size and success of this action, so it is still unknown how many candidates for honor and glory managed to board the coaches for Knin and Pale, and how many of them are still wandering around Serbia waiting to be found and rescued. Only rare and personal accounts have reached several independent media while this Serb-Serbian case is of no interest to the foreigners. Presumably they are unable to change, at such a short notice, the newly formed picture of Milosevic as the liberator.

The first conclusion that can be drawn from the affair is that this is not a case of a "one for one" transaction, but "all for all". Although the Blue Helmets were systematically counted and despatched, in Serbia raids could last for months and not everybody is likely to get caught, though Karadzic can certainly count on getting ten men for each soldier that he freed, pretty soon.

Some will manage to buy themselves out, either here or over there, and thus avoid the front line. Some have already become part of the establishment over here and proved to be both loyal and useful. Some got ready for life in cellars, agreed secret codes with their collaborators above the ground and will wait for the war to end, while in the cinemas Kusturica's new film is being shown, the subject of which is, if anything, their destiny. But no one will either dare or wish to make the comparison. Who needs reality when we have a movie?

For the time being children, women and the old are safe. Among adult men there certainly are genuine deserters who saw the war and concluded that their lives, at least to them, are no less valuable than Karadzic's. Some of them maybe even believed Milosevic's peacemaking words and got the impression that they are on safe ground in Serbia, only to be persuaded now, by the Serbian, Bosnian and Krajina police that to them, the opposite applies: there is no alternative to war.

It appears however that among them there are those with rather remote connections with either Bosnia or Croatia, for example the fact that they were born there. It is something that they could have easily forgotten, until, during some raid, such a fact, noted in their ID caught up with them, like an ancient prophesy of an evil fairy and dragged them away from their families, friends, profession, habits, civil and possibly any kind of life. Police here have no sense or time for nuances, especially during such massive operations. And if you are in addition an opposition party activist? First go and die nicely and then you can appeal. If any one asks what use to Karadzic are soldiers with hands tied behind their backs, his answer is likely to be quite simple. No one has been squatting in the trenches for the past three years because they like it that way. People are brought to the front line, a rifle is shoved in their hands, and the rest takes place naturally. When they fire at you, you fire back. If they are trying to hit you, you better not fire in the air. Since there is no way out, you might as well convince yourself you are a patriot and a hero.

As far as Serbia is concerned, I don't know which is worse: the fact that the refugees are being chased by Karadzic's and Martic's police, or the fact that Milosevic's police are helping them. There is no law that would enable the former to either be here, or stop people and inspect their IDs, while the latter have no right to hand over anyone without adequate checks and legal procedure. It is a question of sovereignty for a country not to allow some other police to arrest people on its territory. Serbia once refused such a demand made by the Austrio-Hungarian empire, which resulted in a war. And refugees, no matter where they seek refuge, would receive better rights and protection than those offered by Serbia to Serbs from outside Serbia.

Here, asking questions concerning rights amounts to playing a fool. Everybody will say that none of it matters, that it is all Our police and Our people. They all live in Our country and speak Our language. And when someone talks about something that is Ours, then all is clear, there is nothing more to be asked, and no written rule or regulation applies. It is older than any legislation and something that is normal and understandable to all.

The pronoun defines the relations between Serbs in Serbia and those outside, in the same way in which it used to define the Serbian understanding of the former Yugoslavia, of rights, of property, or of law. In that realm of ambiguity it is only important that nothing is foreign, while all else is being decided by the authorities, or rather the police, according to its mood, taste, or fancy.

The roots of various misunderstandings among the Serbs themselves, and of their misunderstandings with others, with the modern world, democratic institutions or the rule of law must be sought somewhere in this ability not to distinguish. All this was not that evident before the war. There was some initial differentiation within the society and a kind of readiness to limit the power of those who rule and place it under public scrutiny. The war destroyed all this because, in spite of all the national programs and arguments, it was based, from the very start, primarily on the principle that the stronger one wins. It was then not particularly difficult to apply this principle to the country's internal organization, and reveal the omnipotence of the police.

That is why militant nationalists have the least right to complain about Milosevic's tyrannical methods. In fact, they probably have nothing against the refugee hunting which is going on, since they usually get a kick out of any kind of violence by the state which does not effect them personally. In any case, the fact that Milosevic is sending reinforcement to Karadzic is likely to please them more than police beastiality, the arrests, handcuffing, and expulsion of thousands of people from Serbia is likely to upset them.

In the hospitable and large-hearted Serbia there will, of course be many of those who will greet this initiative by the police on the ground that it will create more living space and job vacancies, as well as cleanse the environment of different, surely barbaric dialects, customs and habits. However, one open question remains. Does all this lead towards a closer relationship between Belgrade, Pale and Knin and the unification of Serbs, or does it further accentuate the existing divisions among the Serbs between those who are obliged to fight, whether they want to or not, and the rest.

In any case, by such an action, Milosevic has at least ammended his former policy and offered the war his full support. In that sense peace loving YUL ought to protest angrily, and Mira Markovic should request a divorce. But that, of course, won't happen, again because all this is Ours.