Their Man in Rome

Dojcilo Maslovaric, Yugoslav Ambassador to the Vatican, whose mandate finished at the beginning of April gave an interview to the Roman daily La Repubblica in which he announced: "I'm not returning to Belgrade!"

The paper concluded that this very powerful and influential diplomat, who is very well informed and is an intimate friend of the Milosevic Family, has most likely decided to stay in Italy in anticipation of the hard times here.

La Repubblica writes that on April 2 Maslovaric was on a farewell visit to the Pope, after which, supposedly, he informed Slobodan Milosevic in writing regarding his decision.

In conversation with journalist Stefania di Lelis, the former Yugoslav Ambassador stated that his mandate expired several days ago, but that his son is attending the lyceum Marty Maunte and that he does not want to miss a whole academic year only because of having to return to his country.  At the journalists queries whether he will return to Belgrade once school finishes, Maslovaric gave a diplomatic answer that "this depends on many things.  The situation in Yugoslavia is very unstable... a month in our country can be a very long period of time..." and that for this reason he wants to take time before he makes a final decision.

The former Yugoslav Ambassador denies that he informed Milosevic in writing regarding his decision to stay in Italy:
"I did not sent any letter.  An ambassador writes official letters and I did not write any letter on this occasion.  At this time I need to rest for a certain period of time."

When La Repubblica commented that his gesture is being interpreted as a sign of lack of confidence in the future of the regime in Belgrade, Maslovaric gave a curt and categorical response: "I am not a politician.  You cannot expect such assessments from me."

Malsovaric denies all insinuations that he owes his ambassadorial career to his intimate contacts with the Milosevic-Markovic Family:
"My ambassadorial career has nothing to do with the regime.  I have been a career diplomat for 21 years now."

When journalist Stefania di Lelis commented that it is symptomatic that after the recall of Ambassador Miodrag Lekic, numerous businessmen, contractors and financial specialists, Maslovaric himself decided to follow their example and not to return home, he stressed that his decision has nothing in common with, for instance, Lekic's decision "because he is not a career diplomat, and what is more, is a Montenegrin."  He ultimately did conclude correctly that "everyone has their reasons for not returning.

GREAT FLIGHT:  On April 6 La Repubblica reported this news with a provocative title: "Milosevic's Ambassadors Fleeing" (Milosevic, ambasciatori in fuga).  Then certain of our newspapers reported contradictory news: according to some Maslovaric was recalled from the very top of the state, which he supposedly did.  According to others, he is still in Rome: he married a Peruvian woman of Italian origins and is waiting for his son to finish school...

And while some Italian commentators are trying to take the Maslovaric case as a paradigm for profound rifts in the Serbian political elite and for a "great flight", because well informed individuals are predicting difficult times ahead, VREME sources in the  FRY Ministry of Foreign Affairs believe that the "Maslovaric episode" is reflective of chaos, of total disorganization, of a plummeting of professional standards and unprecedented privatization in many state institutions: from the police to the duty tax men, to the university, to health and, of course, to diplomacy...

Certain reputable diplomats have said that the appointment of Maslovaric to the ambassadorial post to the Vatican came as a shock.  Admittedly he did get a reputation in recent years: Chief of the Committee for Security for JUL, always with the party elite at receptions; he went to Peking with Mira Markovic and was present at the promotion of the book "Noc I dan.." ("Night and Day...")...  Malsovaric's colleagues especially criticized him for his tasteless bragging about being a "friend of Mira Markovic's and Slobodan's family."  In the Vatican his lack of diplomatic refinement probably came to the fore to a large degree: for instance, he used every opportunity to stress the fact that he is a staunch atheist.

UNBECOMING SPENDING:  The former Yugoslav Ambassador to Rome, Miodrag Lekic, otherwise a member of the Montenegrin staff, told VREME that he heard that Malsovaric was supposed to replace him.  Lekic thinks that Maslovaric has still not left Italy.  He told us that Maslovaric enjoyed the confidence of the Government in Belgrade which was not in proportion to his diplomatic influence in Italy.

"We did not cooperate at all, probably because we have two completely different personalities and come from different cultural backgrounds.  I wanted to represent my country in Italy in the best possible light, which cannot be said for Maslovaric.  I can say this because I am not gossiping.  I informed the Yugoslav Minister of External Affairs, Zvadin Jovanovic of this.  I sent him a letter in which I informed him of very strange developments with Maslovaric," Lekic said in conversation with VREME.

According to Lekic, the Yugoslav embassies in Rome and the Vatican were always located in the same building in the exclusive district of Perioli.  However, Maslovaric rented a villa on the Spanish square (it was also his residence) which is "definitely the most expensive location in Rome."  Malsovaric did not give up such habits even during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia when he moved to the most expensive hotel in Rome, the Excelsior, where he organized a promotion of Mira Markovic's book.  "During the former SFRY as many as 45 people were employed at the embassy in Rome, which means that we could easily stay in the same building," our interviewee explained.  In the same letter to Minister Jovanovic, Lekic informed about the numerous expensive cars Maslovaric was driving.  "They are luxury Mercedes Benz limousines which no one knew where they came from and where they went after," Lekic says.  "All of this is happening during the NATO bombing.  Should I even mention the unbecoming nature of such spending at a time when the country finds itself in such a position."

Even though Maslovaric is unable to confirm the intention of Yugoslav authorities to recall him, Lekic said that he realized that Belgrade was in a hurry to recall him.  Namely, during a summer vacation in Montenegro, Lekic got a letter from the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which he was asked to vacate the residence.  "Everything happened outside of regular diplomatic procedure.  According to diplomatic rules, Minister Jovanovic was supposed to send a letter of accreditation to the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs for the new ambassador and to request agreement.  This letter was supposed to be submitted by me as the current ambassador and only then was the transfer supposed to occur.  This has not been done to date," Lekic said, indicating that all this might indicate the diplomatic breach between Belgrade and Rome.

The fact that our government was in a hurry is indicated by Lekic's recall prior to his mandate expiring.  "I was in Italy more than four years, but my mandate only began once I submitted letters of accreditation, which was in May of 1996, meaning that my mandate only expires in May of this year," Lekic told VREME.  Otherwise, my stay prior to that time occurred during a period when Yugoslavia could not have ambassadors.

The former Ambassador to the Vatican, Dojcilo Malsovaric played an important role in the sale of Serbian Telecom, and it is even said that he was a good host to many politicians and their while there were still no "black lists."

INTERFERENCE:  After this political-trade transaction, Maslovaric was predicted a bright career: supposedly the FRY President proposed that he should replace the recalled Miodrag Lekic, the last FRY Ambassador to Italy.  In the meantime, even last summer, the Ambassador to the Vatican began ambitious projects, embarking on a complete renovation of the old building of the Yugoslav Embassy, although he did keep his residence on the Spanish Square.  He was a spendthrift, with money appearing to be unlimited.

In the meantime diplomatic problems between Belgrade and Rome occurred once again: according to unofficial information, the Italians did not accredit Maslovaric.  Belgrade's diplomatic answer was reciprocal.  The Italian Ambassador to Belgrade, Ricardo Sesa left Belgrade two months ago, after his mandate expired: already in November, Rome requested accreditation for Giovanni Caraccoli, the new Italian Ambassador to Belgrade, but the process has been "frozen."  There is simply no response from Belgrade.  In conversation with VREME, Daniel Rambacco, the First Secretary of the Italian Embassy in Belgrade said that such behavior is completely uncharacteristic in normal diplomatic practice.  But we are in Yugoslavia, Rambacco adds with a laugh.

However, it appears that a diplomatic staff change has occurred on the Belgrade side as well: after Maslovaric's marriage to a Peruvian woman, "only one year after his wife's death" (who was otherwise an intimate friend of Mira Markovic), Dojcilo Maslovari'c recall soon arrived to Rome.  It was clear that he will not be the Yugoslav Ambassador to Italy.

The Ministry of External Affairs responded with a "no comment!" to Maslovaric's message "non torno a Belgrado!"  They did however tell us to submit a written request to which they might respond.  The staff at the Yugoslav Embassy in Rome were far more cordial, although the official we spoke to commented thus:
"Dojcilo Maslovaric had finished his job, packed and left.  Where did he go?  Maybe he went east or west... People go different places...  I think it is normal for a man to return to the country he came from.  I would do that.  But everyone has their reasons...  If Maslovaric told La Repubblica that he is not returning to Belgrade, then he is not returning."

Man From The Shadow

Like Nikola Sainovic, FRY Vice-Prime Minister, Dojcilo Maslovaric, ex-Yugoslav Ambassador to the Vatican, is considered a man from the shadows - a member of a very small circle of people who are entrusted with the most important jobs, mostly of a financial nature, by the Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.  By contrast with Sainovic, Maslovaric managed to retain the image of a mere aparatchik, even though he can easily be considered a man who bought the last election for Slobodan Milosevic which was held in the Fall of 1997.  Everyone knows that the pre-election campaign and the pre-election satisfaction of the people in terms of more regular salaries and pensions were financed with the money from the sale of 49 percent of the Serbian Telecom to the Italian telecommunication company STET and the Greek OTE.  However the public lost sight of the fact that this arrangement was mostly secured by Maslovaric.  There is no mention of his cut in the deal, but in matters like this it is standard practice.

The preparations for the sale of the Serbian Telecom lasted for nearly two years until Maslovaric did not send a signal from the Vatican that the ideal partner is the Italian company STET, given that this company was ready to pay its package of shares in the Serbian Telecom in cash.  With the agreement signed in 1997, Milosevic managed to score a fairly important point in terms of foreign policy, again thanks to Maslovaric, given that the deal with STET was closed at a time of sanctions against Serbia.  According to VREME's sources who participated in the negotiations on the sale of the Telecom, foreign embassies in Belgrade during those days were swamped in those summer days with requests for this job to be stopped, at least until January of 1998, when the election results were supposed to have been known already.  Our sources indicate that at that moment Maslovaric's diplomatic skill became instrumental, although admittedly it did coincide with Italian economic interests.  Namely, STET participated in all bidding for the telecommunications of east European countries, but did not get a contract in any of them.

Few people remember that the signing of the contract in the Serbian Parliament building was postponed by one day because of attempts by the Italian side to avoid paying the first installment.  Namely, on the day of the signing, when STET was supposed to pay the first installment, they told the Serbian side that the Swiss bank, through which the arrangement would take place, is having problems with the payment because of the outer wall of sanctions against Serbia.  The whole things was smoothed out in large part to Maslovaric's connections in Italy.

However, not everything is all that smooth.  Lamberto Dini, minister of foreign affairs at the time, refused to show up at the signing of the deal at the last moment, as well as at the cocktail given by Milosevic on that occasion.  Milosevic's intention of registering a diplomatic point in the deal fell through when Dini refused to have his congratulatory telegram read at the cocktail, a telegram that was also negotiated by Maslovaric.  More precisely, Dini did not permit for that part of the telegram concerning expectations of a stepping up in the process of democratization in Serbia to be left.