Cattle Disease

The illusion of a "normal" killing off of livestock and demonstration of the state’s ability to organize lasted less than a week, the time it took foot and mouth disease to get through all three cordons around the five municipalities in Kosovo reporters were barred from.

The number of cattle killed in Kosovo last week reached 250 but the authorities mentioned several thousand early this week. In the meantime, diseased cattle appeared in Ivanovo village near Pancevo. That was confirmed by police checkpoints and disinfectants at the entrances to the village and Pancevo, the crisis staff that was set up and their refusal to provide any information to VREME.

The Serbian farmers’ sense for business surfaced again. The disease spread in Gornji Milanovic and Kraljevo probably because farmers disregarded appeals not to buy cattle from southern Serbia even though its price dropped to five dinars a kilo when the disease surfaced in Kosovo. The farmers who bought diseased cattle still made a profit because the state paid three dinars more per kilo for cattle that had to be slaughtered. The state loses most: the first week of the panic it’s debt to farmers for slaughtered cattle rose to around 500,000 dinars and was replaced by moaning that there wasn’t even enough money to get veterinarians all the equipment they need.

The police checkpoints and ban on taking food out of Pancevo finally forced the authorities to admit Belgrade was in danger. That confession was almost involuntary and it came in the form of a denial of a Studio B report that milk couldn’t be taken out of Pancevo. The Pancevo dairy fiercely denied reports of contaminated milk.

Ganic-Milosevic Talks

Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic received Moslem-Croat Federation vice-President Ejup Ganic in Belgrade on July 23 for three hours of talks on normalizing relations. The visit resulted in three agreement on abolishing visas, restoring all traffic and communication, and opening economic chamber offices. Ganic said at the end of the visit that he is "never satisfied because there is always more to be achieved". More talks were announced and the "readiness to gradually normalize relations with experts drawing up the details".

Ganic said his two day visit focused on practical questions - restoring traffic and post and phone services and abolishing visas. A statement by the Yugoslav authorities said both sides agreed their citizens can travel with no added formalities.

Prior to the visit, Ganic said it would focus on long-term stability in the Balkans. In a short statement after the talks he said he "expects progress in relations and the two countries are now closer than before". He added that the talks were open and direct.

Federation Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic said diplomatic relations had yet to be established and were still a long way off. He said the FRY wants the Federation to withdraw the charges of genocide and aggression it filed with the International Court of Justice in the Hague against Yugoslavia and recognition of the FRY’s continuity with the former Yugoslavia. He did not exclude the possibility of the Federation agreeing to those conditions and added that there will be more talks on the issue with Milosevic.

The two economic delegations agreed to reopen the Zvornik-Tuzla railroad, unofficial sources reported from the Federation economic chamber. The sources told Dnevni Telegraf that restoration of phone lines depends on repairs on a relay station on Majevica.

VJ Looking For A New Chief

The purges in the Yugoslav Army (VJ) will certainly continue and chief of staff General Momcilo Perisic is next. When he took over as VJ chief, Perisic asked FRY President Zoran Lilic for a different attitude towards the army and a better financial position, but that never happened.

Perisic staunchly supported the struggle of Serbs outside the FRY which turned him into a possible opponent of the new policies in the eyes of establishment. At times the general advocated radical methods to defend the Serbs on the other side of the Drina river, knowing that they couldn’t defend themselves without the FRY. That was confirmed when the Krajina fell to the Croatian Army. Perisic did not realize that the situation had changed and would not reconcile himself with the exodus of the Krajina Serbs. At a session of the supreme defense council which was called to discuss the situation after the fall of the Krajina, the general realized he had no support for assistance to the Krajina Serbs and offered his resignation only to be told by Milosevic that he could do that but first had to return the rank he was promoted to. And Perisic chose to keep quiet. That was enough to remind soldiers how they got their ranks and positions. On the other hand, the generals who got their ranks thanks to their involvement in the war like Perisic came under fire. Their survival at the top of the pyramid of power could be seen as doubt that peace is really the new course.

So Perisic is sitting back and waiting for things to unravel. Others are waiting to take over from him. The most frequently mentioned names for the post of chief of staff are air force commander Ljubisa Velickovic, one of the few generals who didn’t wage war because he was in charge of the federal air traffic control service (where he got his rank of general), and 1st army commander Dragoljub Ojdanic former commander of the Uzice corps and Drina tactical group who has war time experience as well as excellent political contacts especially in the Serbian police.