Key to the War Lock

The Forum is supported by the majority of the Serbian intellectuals there. At the conference on ethnic minorities Mr. Pupovac was the only representative of the Serbs. The representatives from Slavonija and Krajina declined their participation, explaining that they should be represented exclusively by the Government of Krajina Autonomous Region, since Krajina is no longer a part of Croatia.

Mr. Pupovac gave an interview to VREME magazine at the time when it seemed that the tensions between the Serbs and the Croatians are subsiding.

You said that the Serbs in Croatia lack the political organization. There is no party representing all their interests. What is the Serbian Democratic Forum doing in this respect?

The formation of the basic inter-Serbian political consensus is the main aim of the Forum, so that the armed resistance with all its negative implications - such as terror and crime - could turn into political resistance. Unfortunately, the escalation of the war was contrary to our interests, but it was, at a certain moment, obviously in the interests of the main protagonists of the conflict. The Serbs and the Croatians are not the main culprits, they are just suffering the consequences. It is my profound belief that the main factors are: the majority national interests of the Serbs and the Croatians in Yugoslavia, guided by the politics of the Serbian and the Croatian governments and the Federal Army as the third important factor. For Serbs in Croatia to escape these crucial three factors, which have concentrated on them in an unacceptable way, it is essential that they should become an autonomous political subject. It means that they should become a part of a policentric Serbian political niche in Yugoslavia, an autonomous agent in creating the Croatian Republic which would greatly participate in the demilitarization of the Yugoslav territory and the disintegration of the Army, which is, with its involvement in the war, presently the main obstacle in the formation of the Serbo-Croatian agreement.

The present situation did not give you much scope for action?

We knew from the outset that we were undertaking a task which was doomed in the short run. We were also aware of the fact that we won't achieve a thing unless certain aspects are seen to, i.e. if the main actors participate in the peace making process. Thus the reduced scope for action we are experiencing now does not represent the defeat of our programme but the defeat of the ones who have directly initiated the politics which dictates the situation in Croatia and the Serbo-Croatian conflict. If the Republic of Croatia wants to keep the Serbs, it will need the kind of approach which we are advocating. I deeply believe that Croatia will be greatly handicapped without the Serbs, but I also think that the Serbs outside their Croatian homeland will make a sorry sight. My colleagues from the Forum, particularly the ones from Krajina, who are, for now, not in the position to communicate with us or with the public, think that it is unacceptable for the Serbs in Croatia to, either by moving out or by defending the new borders, establish a new casus belli in these parts. Such a casus belli, along with the possible new borders, is simply not acceptable to the Serbs, let alone the majority of the Serbs living in the cities, who would find it difficult to watch the Croatian casualties. This whole territory would be made unacceptable for normal living. I am interested in the possibility that the Serbs and the Croatians could become modern political nations. The creation of new borders would make it impossible for a long time.

If the Croatian and the Serbian ruling parties were to choose you as an important agent, would they first have to opt for the democratic solution?

Milosevic would have to decide not to force the Croatians to stay in Yugoslavia and Tudjman would have to stop forcing the Serbs to stay in Croatia. I consider these to be the crucial factors in the conflict, regardless of the fact of who wants what in this war. At least Milosevic, who has military supremacy in this dispute, holds the key to the solution of this conflict for the time being. Thus, his responsibility is greater. I, however, do not hereby wish to diminish the responsibility of the Croatian leadership. But, generally speaking, such is the order of responsibilities.