No More Solo Singing

VREME: How long will it possible to resist those who propagate a fast solution to the problem in the south of Serbia, having in mind the long fostered local belief in the option of placing everything in the hands of the army and police?

NEBOJSA COVIC: It is true that there is a huge internal political pressure to overcome the problem on the territory of Presevo and Bujanovac and part of the security zone by employing the army and police. It is all due the local ambient shaped on the basis of solving any occurring problem by means of a military intervention. On the contrary, Serbia should finally acquire victory in a conflict without the employment of direct force. Of course, the army and police are ready to react defensively, but they must not be entrapped by constant provocations of Albanian terrorists and extremists. They have to act wisely and wait for a proper moment. And that moment may not be related to the use of direct force, but of diplomatic and political means towards a satisfactory solution. Only such a solution is long lasting.

If we have not learned the lesson in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, then even God himself cannot be of help to us. It is our duty to disengage our people from the context of confrontation, intolerance, extremism and hatred. We should aim at something new and different. Such an approach would have a positive impact on the final solution to the Kosovo crisis. We are not allowed to neglect the fact that the Serbs also dwell in Kosovo. Those people need help; this country must provide them with support and, together with KFOR, enable them to conduct a normal and safe life.

VREME: Are you expecting the international community, which is perhaps aware of its own share in the whole story, to transfer the present rebels and terrorists?

NEBOJSA COVIC: Terminologically, that can be an option. But, we should be alert with regards to the principle of joint judgements. There are about 45,000 Serbs living in Kosovsko Pomoravlje. Kosovo is currently being occupied by several thousands of KFOR soldiers. The way of solving the southern Serbian problem can affect the safety and well-being of both the Serbs and KFOR soldiers in Kosovo. If you analyse the comments of some foreign media, you will see that they are even more critical towards NATO for what they had done to us, then we are. Many countries, which have soldiers in the KFOR mission, have in their laws and constitutions a clearly defined notion of terrorism. In Kosovo, on the other hand, many pass over the use of that notion and resort to some terminological games. Whatever you call these people, they are not acting regularly, since they wear irregular uniforms with irregular symbols, and they carry weapons jeopardising the security of all local inhabitants. Moreover, they endanger the territorial integrity and sovereignty of one internationally recognised state, member of the UN, and so on.

VREME: Are you somewhat frightened by the ambient in which the new government is functioning – stable and carefree majority, almost without a parliamentary control and a serious opposition? On the one hand, it is good to have such a huge maneuvering space for implementing serious reforms, but on the other hand, such a government will not be able to excuse itself in case of its failure.

NEBOJSA COVIC: We shall have about three to six months for excuses. This government line-up is a little bit specific with regards to the number of vice-presidents, and someone can even find it similar to a kind of political bureau. The formula of the government was to maintain the unity of DOS (the Democratic Opposition of Serbia) and satisfy the ambitions of certain leaders. That seems to be quite normal, but it is now time to act and do something beyond mere talks. We are facing a huge challenge of transferring from the context of opposition to the context of position, where the whole rhetoric is about to change, as well as behaviour. It is still easier to criticise something without any serious accountability. As someone who holds power in his hands, you get the maximal jurisdiction, but the maximal responsibility for you actions. The commodity of 176 PMs can be dangerous since it can incite us to become arrogant or to relax too much. Something like our predecessors. Everyone must have in mind that the citizens will not tolerate such a regime for another ten years. There is no patience for a full four-year mandate in such circumstances.

VREME: Our average salaries amount to 100 DM, half of the population is unemployed, and many firms are before collapse – what is going to happen to our wallets?

NEBOJSA COVIC: The first quarter of this year will be very difficult, perhaps even the entire first half of 2001. In the second half, I expect a gradual increase of our salaries. I’m talking about real salaries, those that derive from work, production and commercialisation of those products. By referring to this, I would like to stress that many things have been (and some still are) virtual before. I also expect that we are going to have a situation in which about one million people will be fictitiously employed, though they will not have real jobs. Therefore, we will be obliged to have a very stable social fund.

VREME: How patient will people be before they can really feel some changes for the better? Experts from G17 Plus even claim that this government cannot count on the usual one hundred days of tolerance.

NEBOJSA COVIC: It appears to me that such estimates may be coming from certain personal tolerance and intolerance – towards the members of the future government, towards the future prime minister or someone else. As far as I’m concerned, that is not important; it is important to constitute the government and give people jobs to do. And they are surely about to meet head-on with hell. It is also known that such governments, which chose to conduct the major transition projects, did not enjoy much success. However, we are not supposed to fear from all that too much, it is important that we all do our jobs as best as we can and in favour of the citizens. It is also important to prevent or directly respond to all kinds of media irritations, which is quite abundant today.

VREME: Do you know something about the Serbian platform on the future federation? There are speculations that DOS is not united in opinion about that matter. Members of Vojvodina Coalition belonging to DOS have already expressed their stance concerning the Montenegrin platform – according to them it is rather acceptable.

NEBOJSA COVIC: The fact remains that DOS has not yet a final debate on this subject. We did talk about it, that was very serious, but we did not find an adequate amount of time to devote to that issue. Some other problems diverted our attention. It is our task to it as soon as possible – to redefine our attitude concerning the status of Montenegro, Kosovo and even Vojvodina, if you wish. Yet, I don’t personally see it as an enormous problem. Once we have done that, we are finished with solo players and singers. We do, however, have a Montenegrin proposal and that is one of potential options. Serbia, too, is obliged to submit its own proposal, whereas the third one can be that of the federal government.

VREME: The word ‘arrest’ became one of the most frequently used here…

NEBOJSA COVIC: Almost scientifically popular…

The daily press discloses so many of those who would conduct arrests almost every day, with or without order, but there are also those who remind us that before potential arrests and trials there is a need to reconstruct the entire judicial system. It would be better to avoid the logic – let’s arrest everyone because economy is progressing slowly.

It is true that compensation for a bad economic policy and difficult social situation can be found in mass arrests, which would not be good. Serbia should be liberated from fear and the change of government should not present a problem. And the latter was a very big problem. Serbia is about to embark on the regular constitutional and legal directions, which will bring those who are responsible before the face of justice. However, some arrests cannot be postponed. By that I mean the arrest of Mr. Milosevic. He will also feel relief when he discovers whether he is guilty or not. That has to be conducted with honour and dignity.

VREME: Did we, as a state, really obtain the deadline until March 31st to do ‘something’ with Milosevic?

NEBOJSA COVIC: I haven’t seen or heard something like that. I don’t believe in such stories, but I am of the opinion that the Milosevic problem should be elucidated. We were all victims of the former policy, and the central figure of that policy was Slobodan Milosevic. It is not my intention to propagate vindication of some kind, but when you travel throughout Serbia a little, when you confront with a profusion of various problems and see the international and religious disparities, or when you experience how the world looks upon us, you cannot happen to forget Milosevic’s name. It is necessary to do that to save the honour of this country and its population. But, it is all the matter of justice, and I can just have my opinion about it. However, I am against arrests and arrests only, which is advertised by those who are not gifted to say anything els