Intermezzo in Vukovar

True peace in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem depends on three things, UN administrator Jacques Klein said: money, Tudjman and local leaders.

Of Money: "If I had half the money being spent in Mostar, I would restore the entire region. The issue isn’t how fast UNTAES can bring former residents in but how many houses it can build for them.

Of Tudjman: "Unfortunately, the UNTAES mission was used for Croatian internal politics and Tudjman has no intention of respecting the rules of the game and wants only some Serbs here. He sees the 100,000 people who came in from the Krajina and can’t return to their homes in Croatia as a surplus. Also, the coming elections are more of a political manipulation than a real need to elect authorities."

Of Local Leaders: "Refugee leaders on both sides just criticize each other and everyone is a victim. The dangerous people will go but only when they’ve done everything to prevent things from working out."

The situation so far shows that Milosevic and Tudjman will resolve their relations through the minorities who have grasped that fact. Since the Erdut agreement, the authorities of the Serb region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem have been openly saying that Vukovar is in Croatia. The only issues are manners and fair play and that is a rarity in politics.

"The whole thing is over, we know almost everything. It’s up to us to survive biologically without harming ourselves and provoking a military strike," AIM was told by Vojislav Stanimirovic, chairman of the regional executive council. That theory is realistic given recent polls in Croatia asking people if they would like to see a military operation or not. For now, half the country does not want more war.

The Strpci Abduction

The Montenegrin police have solved the Feb. 27, 1993 abduction of passengers from a Belgrade-Bar train at Strpci station: they were taken away "in groups of 5-6 and killed with automatic rifle fire by Milan Lukic and Boban Indjic". The latest police witness is Nebojsa Ranisavljevic who admitted killing one of the abductees who tried to escape. Lukic paid another man to throw the bodies into the Drina, Ranisavljevic told the police.

It’s hard to say whether that is the truth. People who knew about the abduction from the start called for caution at least until the start of the trial in Bijelo Polje. The more so since we know of witness Dusan Petrovic who was also arrested and later released. This time the Montenegrin police is quoting Petrovic who spent a month in Podgorica last spring telling investigators about the abduction. He was arrested for not reporting the crime immediately and released soon when the police found out he had told his story long ago to police inspectors who did nothing.

The arrests probably took place in the Plevlja municipality which has several legal and illegal crossings into Bosnia. An informed source told VREME that Ranisavljevic was tricked into a police ambush by a business partner but did not say when he was arrested.

The police said Ranisavljevic admitted to being under Lukic’s command in a paramilitary formation and taking part in the abduction. He said the train was stopped in Strpci and the abductors climbed aboard and took out a group of Moslems, a Croat and a "black man". He could not specify the exact number of people but added that they were taken to Visegrad and later to Prelovo where their money and valuables were taken away. They were then taken to an abandoned Moslem village and killed.

Villages Burning Nicely

The video tape of Nice Villages Burn Nicely includes the notice that the tape was given to someone to show in Sarajevo. That’s a customary way to protect movies from pirates. Sarajevo residents know that but they still laugh at it. There was little laughter when a notice on the tape before the film started said it was sent "to be shown to people of good will in Sarajevo".

They didn’t like the message. "I think it’s a provocative message," Dani monthly editor in chief Senad Pecanin said. He said it also showed the narrow view of the Bosnia war and added that if he wanted to send a mean letter back he’d address it to "everyone in Belgrade who has no blood on their hands from this war".

People stood in the hall after the movie, saying almost nothing. "It felt unpleasant at times. I don't remember when I’ve felt so bad after seeing a foreign film," film director Bata Cengic said. "Not because of the movie, whether I like it or not, but about the way people think of us."

Impressions differ but few people spoke of the emotions the film produced. Lica magazine editor in chief Envar Kazaz said it was very hard to see the film. "I wanted to leave but I didn’t. It bored me," said writer Marko Vesovic. "I liked it in a special way," said writer Nenad Velickovic. "Bad movie," said Mirza Idrizovic, film director. "It has power,"said Davorin Popovic popular singer.

The next day in a cafe, Popovic said: "Imagine growing up with someone and parting ways because of someone’s strange ideology," One of his songs draws powerful emotions in the movie. He added: "People of my age died and they grew up with those songs. They would remember their first love through that song." The movie’s message is clear to him and he feels the thoughts of many people are portrayed perfectly in it.