"War Is In The Air"

Dobrosav Paraga, the leader of the Croatian Rights Party and one of the most controversial figures on the Croatian political scene, talks to VREME.

* We have started our conversation by asking Mr. Paraga to comment on the advent of the UN peace keeping forces.

We regard the deployment of the "blue helmets" as a necessary evil for Croatia. We will not welcome their arrival, but we will not wage war against those forces. We believe that the realization of Mr. Vance's plan would not only mean consenting with the occupation of parts of the Croatian territory and allowing it to go on, but we could also expect to see the Cyprus Syndrome repeated, i.e. that the whole thing could drag on forever. We would like to tell them: "Go home", even before they actually come. We have an unpleasant experience with the Western diplomacy and policy, when Croatian national interests are concerned. This whole situation is the result of the Western diplomacy and policy, which did not have respect for what's whose, because its guiding principle was "one nation - one state", disregarding the fact that there were always several nations here, which have individually strived for creation of their own states. The first Yugoslavia was also created abroad - it was conceived in Versailles; the same thing happened with the second Yugoslavia, and it would be very unwise if the West were allowed to experiment again with a creation of a third, crippled, Yugoslavia.

* Presently, both the Serbs and the Croats want to live in separate countries. Is there a way to draw the new borders, which could satisfy both parties?

It is essential to respect the facts and the estate of each, before the "marriage" between Croatia and Serbia. After the "divorce case", each should get the property it had before the "marriage". Serbia should renounce its cravings for the territories which have never been under its rule. Until 1918, the Kingdom of Serbia did not have an inch of territory past the Zemun Bridge. In order to resolve this conflict, both sides should withdraw within their borders. We deem that the 1912 borders are most suitable for that, because it was after that year that Serbia, under the rule of the Kradjordjevic dynasty, began the annexation of these territories, which was also fatal for Serbia itself, because it had lost its democratic regime once it started the said expansion. A dictatorship was established, for it was the only way to rule not only over Serbia, but over the non-Serbian parts of that enlarged Serbia, which was later denominated Yugoslavia.

* Are you, therefore, advocating the historical principle?

And the ethnic principle as well. The Serbs living outside Serbia are, by large, in the minority. On the territories located between the rivers of Sutla and Drina, including Sandzak, the Serbs represent only a fifth of the population. It is inconceivable that one fifth can lay claim to the four fifths. We regard these territories as a whole, although they are presently divided between two republics.

* You have just mentioned Zemun as a part of Croatia. But today, it is a part of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and the population on that bank of the river Sava is predominantly Serbian. Do you think that it is realistic to expect one third of the capital city of Serbia to become a part of Croatia?

That is neither impossible nor unrealistic. When a mouse is cornered by a cat, it often jumps straight at the cat's face. Therefore, it is possible that this war could end up on the territory of the ones who have caused it. That would mean not only regaining Vukovar, but Srem and Zemun as well. We had our Croatian flag there 74 years ago, during the existence of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The border line was there in this century, so it is not inconceivable that it could be there again, by the end of this century. And this is not because we have territorial ambitions, but because they, who have held the non-Serbian peoples in subjugation for 74 years, still want to keep them that way even by means of brutal force. And they could easily end up losing what they call the Republic of Serbia. Not only could it eventually turn out that there will be no more Yugoslavia, but neither the Republic of Serbia that we know today.