The Great/Petty Transport

In a FMD (Federal Ministry of Defence) confidential intelligence report (from February 12 of 1992), distributed to all army units throughout the Third Army District, the lieutenant general Zivota Avramovic assesses that both the situation in Macedonia and the behavior of the Macedonian leadership are identical to those that were extant in Slovenia and Croatia before the outbreak of the war, and warns that the same thing that happened in the two former Yugoslav republics is being brewed for the Army in Macedonia.

Stressing the "role" of the officers of Macedonian nationality in the "brewing", the report ends with the following paragraph: "The Presidency of Yugoslavia and the FMD are taking and will be taking measures aimed at preventing the repetition of events which occurred in Slovenia and Croatia. A special role is to be performed by the officers of Macedonian nationality, who find themselves, in spite of the wishes of the Army and its leadership, perhaps, in the greatest dilemma of their lives: to stay in the Federal Army or to respond to the appeal of the Macedonian leadership and to join its secessionist policy. They are expected to stick to their constructive approach and to contribute to the resolution of the unsettled problems in the most acceptable and humane way."

And these "measures", that the Yugoslav Presidency and the FMD are taking in order to avoid the repetition of events which occurred in Slovenia and Croatia - what are they all about? In short, the "measures", as conceived predominantly by the Serbian officers, consist of carrying everything that can be carried out of Macedonia: from tanks, helicopters and aircraft to sinks, light bulbs, pigs from the army farms, and stationery. What cannot

be taken is destroyed. Our Army sources estimate that the value of the equipment which has already been removed amounts to somewhere between 14 and 20 billion dollars ("enough to arm and to enable the normal functioning of an army of 25,000 to 30,000 men in regular and reserve forces"), and the value of what has been left, at least for the time being, is approximately the same. Most of that property consists of real estate and infrastructure. Macedonia had at its disposal 250 tanks (on average, worth 2.5 million dollars each), around 50 aircraft (on average, 15-20 million dollars per aircraft, depending upon the type), a special squadron of some 30 modern helicopters (of which only two remain, and the reason for that, according to our source amongst the generals, is "to permit prompt evacuation of the most important officers, if needed"), etc. Almost everything is being moved to Nis, and together with the gear, off go the military with their families, taking along the built-in closets and sinks from their apartments. It is evident that several army barracks in Macedonia have been mined, because an innocent victim was blown away: a stray dog stepped on a mine, placed next to the barracks in Skopje.

During the first few months, the Macedonian government tolerated quietly the "brutal pillaging" (as it was described by the local media) of arms and equipment from Macedonia. President Gligorov, in his talks with the new commander of the Third Army District, Nikola Uzelac, allegedly said that he does not want to see any Macedonian citizen getting hurt because of the "withdrawal" of the Army, and Uzelac replied that he will do everything in his power to avoid such situations. But, the Macedonian public began to grow impatient as the Army began its unsupervised withdrawal, of medical equipment, several entire field hospitals, the whole of the Army District computer center (one morning, civilian employees discovered nothing but empty sockets on the premises of the center), radar systems, etc., in daily queues of civilian trucks bearing Serbian number plates, and especially after the (confirmed) news have been spread that the commander of the Skopje airfield, colonel Dasic, has turned his anti-aircraft missiles at civilian targets in Skopje.

The Macedonian government then (on February 4) adopted its well-known act, "regulating the traffic of military vehicles, and other current issues concerning dislocation of the Federal Army from the territory of the Republic of Macedonia". The act declared that any military vehicle, except for the medical, food supply and "special vehicles which enable the normal functioning of the Army units", must obtain the required permission from the Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs. On that very day, the police forces blockaded the entrances to the barracks.

It is also necessary to mention that the Army has issued lists of the deserted military apartments in Macedonia, which have been illegally entered by force. It is claimed in Macedonia that Albanians from Kosovo and Sandzak are responsible.

However, the senior Army officers, with whom we have talked, claim that Uzelac (to whom they refer as the "weasel") is still "doing his thing", behind the backs of the relevant Macedonian (and, in general, the non-Serbian) officers. They emphasize that Macedonia is already six months late in creating legislation in the area of military affairs, which would substitute the present Yugoslav statute. Furthermore, their discontent with the Macedonian government is obvious, because it has until recently treated the problems that the military and the civilians employed with the Federal Army who wish to stay in Macedonia are facing, as a trivial matter. And it is estimated that 90% of the Macedonians and many of the other military (of whom many are Serbs with families) have decided to stay in Macedonia.

Finally, it is quite certain that Macedonia will adopt all the necessary acts concerning the creation of its own army. The one that is leaving now can only dream of its happy times in Macedonia, because of its behavior during the "withdrawal".