Opposition on Aleksandar Karadjordjevic

According to certain sources, Milosevic was tipped by the military police to boycott Karadjordjevic's visit. He is afraid that a dinasty would hamper his attempts to have at least Serbia under his thumb. There is a case to prove this theory - the Army did not let Aleksandar visit the injured in the Belgrade Military Hospital.

Here are the statements of some of the Serbian opposition leaders on the political implications of the visit of Crown Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic to Serbia Vojislav Kostunica, Serbian Democratic Party, thinks that the present power holders have tried to maintain the power by centralizing it, by abolishing the local selfmanagement and introducing state owned economy. This is what happened in USSR as well, with Gorbachev's blessing. This is what happened in Croatia and in Serbia, except that Mr. Tudjman relied more on the history, and Milosevic is trying to show that he is the initiator. The first was the "historic" Eight Session of the Serbian Communist Party in 1987, then the State Independence Day was proclaimed on March 28 was... The constitutional monarchy excludes the possibility of a dictatorship. The regime in Serbia knows that: it senses the crisis of its legitimacy and has thus decided upon such a stupidly obvious boycott of the visit.

Mr. Dragan Veselinov, President of the Serbian Farmers' Party, fears that the demilitarization of other republics could result in the militarization of Serbia. If the whole Army is to be stationed in Serbia, that could mean a threat to civil liberties. He thinks that the Yugoslav Army should be gradually decomposed, with the necessary preliminary protection of the neuralgic points and the creation of the political solutions which would guarantee the safety for the minorities.

Nebojsa Popov, UJDI (Yugoslav Democratic Initiative), argues for the civil Army control and believes that it could be achieved through the Federal Parliament. Vuk Draskovic, President of SPO (Serbian Revival Movement), has a proof that the Serbian regime is cooking up the civil war in Serbia ("A more tragic war - a war between Serbs"), that "Serbia will be ruled by the persecuted Serbs who will turn against the democracy", that "they will start a civil war here to settle the accounts with the dissidents and the leaders of certain Serbian regions are heading for Belgrade, to clear things up" ... We are worning the regime that we know what is coming". He also said that the majority within the Army are "saluting with three fingers" (traditional Serbian salute). He is very confident about this, since he probably senses that after the mass repression debacle in March and after Yeltzin's defence in Moscow, the Serbian regime would fall apart overnight, if it were to apply a similar receipe. Instead it could resort to individual threats, which, according to certain Parliament delegates, it is trying to do now during the closed Parliament sessions.

The Army, on the other hand, has not specified whether the prohibition of the political activity within the Army concernes the Communist Party - Movement for Yugoslavia as well, whose membership was recruited under the pressure of the Army officers.

Dr. Ivan Djuric, President of SRSJ/Serbia (Reformists), says that the 250 000 people who greeted the king in Belgrade did not succumb to hate and aggression, but to hope; it could be that the feeling that we can be better than we are has finally surfaced. In the coming period of despair, isolation and barbarism, the Prince offers a hope: to some he seems to be a fairy tale prince, who is a proof to us all that we have not always been so filthy and disgraced. On the other hand, his arrival revealed the latent dissatisfaction within Serbia with the fact that its name is being mentioned far too often.

Serbia cannot be happy being identified with people like Martic (Head of Serbian Militia in Knin), Babic (President of Krajina Autonomous Region) and Kosutic (Vice-President of the Serbian Parliament).