"Vreme" for "Svetlost"

On page three of the special edition of "Svetlost", the recently banned local newspaper from Kragujevac, which appeared on the town's news stands on Wednesday, September 7, there is a note which might confuse those who are not acquainted with recent events concerning this publication. It says that the paper is a "special issue" of "Vreme" entitled "Problems Facing the Local Media- 'Svetlost' Kragujevac". Two things were achieved by this maneuver: the "Forum" printing house from Novi Sad was able to print the special issue of "Svetlost" without any major legal problems ("Nezavisne Novine" did a similar thing for "Borba"), and secondly, it promoted an edition that could become useful in the future when other local papers unfaithful to authorities encounter similar problems.

It should also be noted that newsprint paper for this edition of "Svetlost" was provided by "Vreme" free of charge.

Clairvoyants

In the absence of more substantial evidence that peace is on the way, all kinds of clairvoyants and astrologers have once again been invited to raise the morale of the people and foresee a brighter near future. Last week, under the pretext that there is not a single newspaper, TV or radio station without a column or program dedicated to "reading the future", a Belgrade daily offered their readership an overview of current clairvoyant views on the future of Serbia.

The general conclusion is that the "sky over Serbia will clear up", while some fortune tellers, such as Vava, claimed that the one over Bosnia will clear up too, while "hail and storm will befall those who sent them here in the first place". Vava, together with a certain Nada from Belgrade and Jova from Vrnjacka Banja, claims that September will be the crucial month. It is quite certain however that we will greet the New Year in peace and joy. Next year, as those who can interpret messages hidden in the stars tell us, things will get even better. The brighter future which is being foretold is so nice that someone could think that our clairvoyants are employed by certain ministries whose job it is to "enhance optimism", and thus keep themselves in power a little longer.

According to what can currently be seen in the crystal ball, troubles and tragedies are over. There will be no more refugee convoys, there will be only two more NATO air-strikes, Clinton will lose the election and Dole will not win it. On the other hand Bosnian Serbs will gain access to the sea. Before then, however, and pretty soon there will be serious personnel changes in their leadership. Sanctions will of course be lifted, and China, Japan and even Australia will hurry to help Serbia which will recover economically in only two years.

In these clairvoyant projections, besides Clinton, Dole and, indirectly, Karadzic, Tudjman also has little to look forward to. According to Vava, he will be the first to break the signed agreement (in January or February). In October or November there will be an assassination attempt on him but he will survive it. Nada from Belgrade can not see Tudjman in her visions after 1996. "His health is quite bad, so he might retire from public life", she predicts. And while Tudjman is seen as a falling star, a "young, pleasant and incredibly clever man" will emerge on Serbian political sky, and will introduce a program of economic recovery. "The whole of Serbia will be stunned by his cleverness, when he appears on TV screens in the near future", Nada added.

All in all, according to the clairvoyants, "Serbia is not tired of leaders", which means that everything will stay as it is since our current leadership is already incredibly clever. It appears that only Governor Avramovic is tired so he will be replaced by a young economic messiah.

The Curse

According to certain newspaper articles, Pozarevac is a town in which from time to time there is a divine intervention, inexplicable phenomenon, or some unusual and ambiguous message. Last week two such strange occurrences were revealed and became the "talk of the town". The first is a case of a 54 year old man who tried to rape a female student, and later justified his action on the grounds that "Divine forces ordered him to conceive a half-man-half-God with her, since he is God and she is the Mother of God". The other story is much more complicated, and involves a curse which haunts tenants of the "Solidarity building" in Dunavska Street in Pozarevac. According to the story, 12 tenants died in the past three years under "bizarre circumstances". An old lady from the neighborhood recently remembered that on the spot where the entrance to the cursed building currently stands, there once was a "consecrated tree" where church-goers used to light their candles awaiting procession. Most tenants believe that the destruction of the "consecrated tree" by the builders is the cause of frequent deaths. Some of the tenants tried to "lift the curse" off the building and thus invited a priest to consecrate the flats, but others objected, and even openly mocked the idea. Apparently, no one wants to purchase a flat in this "haunted building" in Dunavska Street.

Ever since the days under Turkish rule, Valjevo is probably the most "Serbian" of all towns in Serbia. According to the census, 99.99% of its population are Serbs. The percentage was even higher in the days when Seselj was the President's favorite politician, when the few remaining Nusrets and Nurijas voluntarily changed into Stanimirs and Leposavas - just to be on the safe side. In spite of the already high percentage of Serbs, there are those who would like to make it 104% Serbian.

Following the exodus of Krajina Serbs, Valjevo greeted several thousands of them in an organized way. Most were systematically transported to Kosovo. Those who would rather not be "organized" like that had to make their own arrangements. Jovan Kukolj, a refugee from Knin, knocked on the door of Jakov Cavlina, a Croat from Knin who has been living in Valjevo for thirty odd years. Jovan acqainted Jakov with his problems as well as a way in which Jakov could help him solve them. Its was quite a simple solution, since he liked the house and Valjevo in general - where Jakov, as a Croat, has no right to be - they will have to make arrangements about the best way to swap houses. If Jakov refuses to comply, Jovan threatened with other more persuasive but less peaceful means. Jakov was advised to listen to Radio Valjevo. Why? Because after visiting Jakov, Jovan went straight to Radio Valjevo and paid for an advertisement in which he offered an exchange of property in Valjevo for property in Knin. All Jakov had to do was respond to the ad. Since Valjevo is not the same as Hrtkovci (where such "involuntary exchanges" happened a lot in previous years), the authorities reacted, though only after journalists told them of this case. The "business deal" mastered by Jovan Kukolj has been suspended by Ljubomir Mucic, president of the Local Council, who said the following about the case:

"No revenge or pressure, or any other way in which profit could be obtained at the expense of those people, that is members of other nationalities, who live and work in this city, will be allowed in Valjevo or on the territory under this Local Council. They are loyal citizens, who have been earning their living here for a long time.

As far as this problem is concerned, as far as we know, it is a case of some refugees from Krajina who are pressuring certain individuals. We must prevent such occurrences, and help the refugees to solve their problems in other ways. I can tell you that we managed to take care of around 1,600 refugees, and will not allow some people to carry on with nationalistic incidents either on their own accord or following the advice of certain nationalist parties. As well as condemning such occurrences we have also informed the relevant police authorities about them. We will not allow these incidents to develop into a trend but will be eliminated at an early stage."