Revenge of the Lowest Order

On May 15, exactly at midnight, the first decision of the newly elected government of Drnovsek came into force in Slovenia, a decision whereby all vehicles with Serbian or Montenegrin registration plates are refused entry into the Republic of Slovenia. At the same time visas were introduced for all citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel explained this new policy of the Slovene government by referring to the new Law on Foreigners, according to which the citizens of the states with which Slovenia has not signed an agreement on the abolition of visas require an entry visa. It was announced that visas can be obtained at the cost of 900-960 tollars (DEM 17-18), at all border posts, inasmuch as a satisfactory answer is given to the questions of where one is traveling to, why, to stay with whom and for what reasons, as well as for how long (sub-questions: place of work, why, how, certificates, salary receipts, money carried... all that the young inexperienced state succeeds in remembering to ask), and border authorities have the discretionary right to decide whether they will issue a visa or not. Already by Monday, May 18, the state media, with undisguised glee, announced the number of those this discretionary power had been applied to....

At the same time, the Minister of Traffic and Communications Marjan Kranjc lamented the fact that he had contacted his counterpart in the Serbian Ministry of Traffic and Communications Zarko Katic on several occasions, calling upon him to remove all the obstacles and problems experienced in Serbia by Slovene transporters, citizens and car owners, warning him about the instances of highway robbery and harassment of travelers. He received no answer. The Slovene government gave an ultimatum with a deadline of midnight on May 15. Minister Kranjc says that it is only a question of return measures and that all restrictions (traffic as well as freedom of movement) will be lifted as soon as Belgrade gives a positive answer on the status of Slovene citizens and their vehicles.

To the surprise of everyone, a lightning decision was made in Belgrade whereby the government agreed to all the Slovene demands, and even more. Slovene citizens are allowed entry with their ID cards only, and the new Slovene passports and registration plates have been acknowledged. It looked as though the patient politics of Slovenia had borne fruit at last.

However, the "patient" Slovene policy was caught red-handed. In spite of the precisely defined rules of the game, Slovenia nevertheless introduced at midnight all the given penalty measures. Besides this, while on the table of the competent ministry lay the relevant telefax messages duly signed by the Minister of Traffic and Communications of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, throughout Slovenia the Slovene police undertook a coordinated, 24-hour operation of stopping vehicles with "Serbian and Montenegrin registration plates" (particularly private ones). According to an official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, "the drivers in question were warned to leave the territory of Slovenia by midnight"; following this deadline, the registration plates were removed and the vehicles "detained" at the place they were stopped.

The Slovene Minister of Traffic and Communications Marjan Kranjc told VREME, not more than a month ago, referring to the restrictive policy of Serbia towards the new Slovene signs and documentation, that Slovenia was considering reciprocal action: "Moves like this are not dear to me, this kind of haggling is awful." And: "We have always tried to take a pragmatic view. When it comes down to it, why should we do the same things to Serbs if what they do is not close to us?!.. These are enormous problems. It is shameful that such things are happening on the eve of the 21st Century."

And then the same minister appeared on Slovene TV on May 16. Not 24 hours after the announcement by the speaker of the Slovene government that the measures of retaliation would be retracted the second this was done by the two states of the third Yugoslavia - Serbia and Montenegro - Mr. Kranjc, on hearing the positive news from Belgrade, was authorized to say: "At first sight, things look as if they were settled. However, I must say that the Slovene government cannot talk to the Federal Ministry of Traffic and Communications, or with any other federal institution, but only with the governments of Serbia or Montenegro..." because Yugoslavia and the federal institutions "are no kind of factor to Slovenia". That which till yesterday stood for "the disgusting haggling inside the Serbian pro-fascist Balkan policy", today is a valued segment of the Slovene policy.

In no way should the discomfort experienced by Slovene citizens in Serbia and Montenegro over the last few months be forgotten. There was even a time when the regulation was valid that required those who entered the FRY (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) to remove their registration plates and deposit new Slovene passports, for which they were given temporary documentation, having them return when they left by the same border crossing. Up to May 8, Slovene males had to have a certificate from a "military territorial organ", which released them from mobilization by the JNA and made possible their exit from the state.

When the tripartite meeting of the Slovene, Macedonian and Serbian Ministers of Traffic and Communications in Ohrid on May 10 this year failed (the Serbian Minister did not come), the new Slovene government decided to discuss at its first assembly the problem of relations with the FRY/Serbia-Montenegro. Even though both Slovene media and politics have viewed the behavior of their partners in this conflict as "uncivilized", and even fascist, protesting against the mistreatment of their citizens, they have not hesitated to apply the same treatment to the citizens of Yugoslavia, giving it the name of "revenge" against Serbia and Montenegro.

"I find it insulting that America and Europe recognize my passport and yet I am treated like a criminal at the Serbian border," says Minister Kranjc. He also made very clear at a public appearance that the described "coordinated action" will achieve its goal which is to cut off Serbia's traffic link with the West. However, in the Austrian Embassy in Ljubljana we learnt that, at least until May 21, this coordinated action is still only an idea and that Austria has not yet introduced the sanctions against Serbia which the Slovene government states it has. Of course, there is no doubt that if the foreign policy of the FRY/Serbia-Montenegro does not give up its "Serbian Krajinas" and war operations, not only Austria, but many more European and other countries will take concrete measures against the Serbian-Montenegrin federation, but this still does not explain this lonely Slovenian campaign.