Mrs. Plavsic Goes to Belgrade

After five hours of talks, with Milosevic as mediator and witness, Plavsic and Krajisnik agreed to hold parliamentary elections on November 15 and elections for the RS president and Bosnian presidency member on December 7. The second elections are to be prepared by a special commission which would be formed by the new parliament. A statement said that until then, the rivals in the RS will end all confrontation and make sure the main daily news is broadcast from both Pale and Banja Luka.

The meeting was attended by RS Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic and parliament Speaker Dragan Kalinic. Before the meeting started, Serbia’s state security chief, Jovica Stanisic, and Banja Luka public security center chief, Predrag Ceranic, were seen leaving the presidential palace.

The FRY and RS presidents hadn’t met for over a year, but they mentioned each other almost every day, especially after the rift between Pale and Banja Luka. There were several initiatives to resolve the clash. Milosevic wrote an open letter to Plavsic calling her to Belgrade. She refused to come. At one moment it seemed that he would go to Banja Luka: there were reports that SFOR approved his flight there.

But instead of Milosevic, Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle went to Banja Luka and instead of a reconciliation, Krajisnik tried to stage a rally which ended in a fiasco. Plavsic said afterwards that the clash among the Serbs was intensifying. She portrayed herself as a fighter for democracy against crime and corruption and added that the same process was underway in Serbia and Montenegro. There were harsh words between the RS and FRY presidents.

Plavsic now says that she always preferred to talk, but that Milosevic always communicated with Pale. His public invitation for talks wasn’t taken seriously, because there was no explanation for her arrest at the Belgrade airport on June 30. Perhaps Stanisic provided an explanation when he went to Banja Luka.

Much more important than their vanity is the fact that the rift in the RS authorities is clear: police loyal to Plavsic are firmly in control of the western parts of the RS, while Pale controls the east. That demarcation line won’t change soon.

The local elections in Bosnia saw Krajisnik’s SDS survive but lose Banja Luka.

All that means Plavsic did not come to Belgrade empty handed. She is no longer someone who gets empty promises, but rather a partner who gets offers of compromise. She also has the support of the international community.

But Plavsic seems to have reached the limit of her expansion, while Krajisnik is hanging onto his parts of the RS. In other words, a stalemate which can’t be resolved without trouble and that is the basis for the new agreement.

As usual, Milosevic took all the credit.