Prevlaka vs. Bulatovic

"A military solution to the problem of Prevlaka is excluded", stated Momir Bulatovic, President of Montenegro, upon his return from Paris, explaining that a military option only "further complicates the whole thing". Due to that, President Bulatovic calls for patience, assuring others that, since a solution for Prevlaka was not found in Paris, it shall come about soon, that is at the moment when the Croatian side solves certain internal problems and makes steps towards the realizations of the agreement on Prevlaka as achieved in Dayton.

President Bulatovic did not specify how long a wait it would be, but he told the journalists that two neighbors can drag each other through court for years for a piece of land, and for a solution to the problem of Prevlaka it is necessary to achieve an agreement on land, as he says, of only 10 hectares. After Paris, however, the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and the diplomatic chief, Mate Granic, look upon that issue in a completely different light. In a HTV program "Slikom na Sliku", Minister Granic was decisive: "We shall not sign a single agreement on which Prevlaka is mentioned". President Bulatovic takes offense at such remarks, showing surprise that the people believe President Tudjman more than President Bulatovic.

Even prior to his departure for Dayton, President Bulatovic told the Montenegrin public that he would solve the problem of Prevlaka there. His conviction was further strengthened by President Tudjman who, during one of his leaps from Dayton to Zagreb, mentioned a possible triple exchange of territories.

Shortly afterwards, the Montenegrin President's victorious statement appears from Dayton which states that the question of Prevlaka, as part of justifiable demands of the Herzegovinian Serbs for access to the sea, shall be resolved in Paris. There was no end to Bozidar Vucurevic's, Mayor of Trebinje, happiness in the statement he gave to VREME, in which, without any reserves, he claimed that Herzegovina is pledging a good part of its territories for an access to the sea and the purchase of Prevlaka: "It doesn't matter whether it shall be Montenegrin or the Republic of Serbia's, the only important thing is that it's Serbian".

Shortly after, a "cold shower" from Croatia drowns optimism. VREME's journalist, from a certain Montenegrin Dayton guest who wishes to remain anonymous, is given a statement that "it is only a question of modalities how that problem is to be solved, even we don't know the details, since, as we were leaving Dayton, the maps were still being worked on". All hopes are crushed by the official Dayton map. Dubrovnik's hinterland, that is a third of the Trebinje municipality which was looked upon as security for the territorial exchange, became a part of the Croatian-Muslim entity. In Croatia, dissatisfaction is seething because of the division line in Posavina, and a true eruption of dissatisfaction in Konavli and Dubrovnik is caused by the mere mention of possible border changes in the zone of Prevlaka. True, certain Croatian officials have justified the intentions of President Tudjman to agree "under certain pressures" to a possible territorial exchange. Various Croatian strategists, as the Croatian newspaper Obzor has published, were clarifying that "in these times when war is conducted by sophisticated deadly means, a kilometer more or less literally means nothing", alluding to the very peak of Prevlaka, while others claimed that "that very kilometer is of vital significance for the control of an area". Zarko Domjan, a high Croatian official, states that "Croatia must think in a pragmatic way. I would say that we have overestimated and mystified the cape, which is of no strategic value. Therefore, the peak of Prevlaka has no military significance", concludes Domjan and adds that "negotiations can be held about everything and all can be changed, therefore, why couldn't borders be changed as well? Nothing is absolutely given..."

Dr. Hrvoje Kacic, the president of the Committee for the Borders of the Republic of Croatia, however, categorically states to the Zagreb Panorama newspaper: "We shall defend that territory and Croatian sovereignty in that area should not be questioned".

From the protest meetings held in Dubrovnik, a clear message is being sent on discarding the models of "territories for peace". Dubrovnik's hinterland is now secure and has as much as it needs. Therefore, even Dr. Mate Granic had to travel to Dubrovnik and announce that "to exchange Prevlaka for even a part of eastern Herzegovina is out of the question".

"The idea of exchanging Prevlaka", says Granic, "has reappeared during the negotiations in Dayton after three years. This time, only the Serbs insisted upon it, especially the Montenegrins. The Croatian strategical interest, prior to the departure for Dayton, was to preserve the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Croatia. We succeeded in that. Prevlaka is not mentioned in a single Dayton document, a single annex... We announced in Dayton that, in order to exchange Prevlaka, we would be obliged to get a two-thirds majority vote in the Parliament as well as the support of our citizens by means of a referendum. We immediately informed the Americans that neither of the two are possible.

All of that was announced before Paris, where, as President Bulatovic was expecting, a miracle was to occur. It is difficult to say whether Podgorica and Belgrade kept quiet only to make it easier for Tudjman and Granic to calm the anxious public. Directly before Paris, however, in the Serbian-Montenegrin negotiating team, as stated by reliable sources, a slight emergency unfolded, so that even the signing of the peace was in question. The problem occurred regarding the international recognition of Croatia and Yugoslavia. It later came out that Prevlaka was a stumbling block. The Croats announced that they first demand recognition in the internationally recognized borders, after which, with an international arbitrage, the problem of Prevlaka could be resolved, which Milosevic and Bulatovic refused to accept.

Bulatovic bitterly sends word from Paris that he has met up with the fact that Croatia refuses to fulfill voluntarily accepted obligations from Dayton. Bulatovic calls upon witnesses, representatives of foreign countries, which is exactly what the Croats are doing. Whether any kind of Dayton agreement on Prevlaka truly exists is difficult to ascertain, yet Bulatovic demands that people trust his word, concluding that until that problem is resolved, there will be no normalization in their relations with Croatia. Bulatovic has ceased mentioning "the justified demands of Herzegovinians for access to the sea". The question is, as he says, a territory of only 10 hectares.

That fact introduces a new dilemma, specifically as it is well known that Prevlaka is 2500 meters long and 500 meters wide, which makes more than the 10 hectares as stated by President Bulatovic. On top of that, the Croats are claiming territorial waters, which further complicates the whole thing.

According to President Bulatovic's opinion "Prevlaka is only a synonym and name for the right to a free entrance and access to the sea and international law is on our side". How long would such a dispute last, nobody knows, but it is known that the whole issue is not making temperatures rise in Montenegro, apart from the fact that certain parties are reproaching the government for the manner in which they are conducting policies, reminding them that they had tied up their fate with the Prevlaka issue. As things stand now, there will not be a war over Prevlaka. President Bulatovic assures of that as well, who, obviously regretting even the first one, admits that he did not face the lined up young men with pride.

As the most realistic version of the solution of the Prevlaka question, appears the one which will be forced by the mutual interest of the Dubrovnik and Montenegrin riviera. Namely, the businessmen do not care where the border shall be. Croatia is impatiently awaiting hordes of foreign guests in Dubrovnik, wishing for peaceful and as passable as possible borders. The idea to demilitarize the wider region is on the agenda again, that is, to exchange the soldiers in Prevlaka for tourists. Croatian officials mentioned that from the Croatian side, which is navigable for all boats, Boka could be entered undisturbed by all Montenegrin passenger and fishermen boats, that is all except naval ones.

The flag of the United Nations on Prevlaka will most probably as word goes soon be replaced by the Croatian checkerboard. Anyway, rational Montenegrins are saying, what need do we have of a third Prevlaka when we already have two, the one in Tivat and the one in lake Skadar.