Counting Up the Patriots

The further organizational adjustments "by modern solutions", which is the official formula for transforming the former Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs (SSIP) into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIP), will entail further cuts in the number of employees. At any rate, to less than one thousand, confirms Dr Vladimir Sultanovic, Under Secretary, in an interview to VREME.

In one distant capital city where, at one time, Yugoslav diplomats were held in high regard, recently an ambassador recalled an invitation to a reception sent to our ambassador. A letter followed in which, without particular politeness, our ambassador was advised to simply "forget" the invitation.

Other diplomatic representatives of the "FR Yugoslavia" experience similar discomfort in the host countries which haven't withdrawn their hospitality. There are 25 ambassadors left around the world, which is three times less than the previous Yugoslav ambassadorial representation (there were a total of 75). Their reputation, however, has decreased many times more.

In a huge vacuum, neither in heaven nor on earth, the remains of Yugoslav diplomacy float in complete uncertainty, personified in a total of 1,300 employees left in the ex-federal machine following all voluntary and involuntary reductions in the past year. The Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs (SSIP), which at the beginning of this month officially ceased to exist (it is now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), now stands before new reconstruction and reorganization which, according to those in the know, will be "both drastic and dramatic".

In the delicate operation of cutting down the number of employees according to Vladimir Sultanovic, MIP Under Secretary, what will be taken into account will be "professionalism, expertise, independence, versatility and - a readiness to defend the interests of this Yugoslavia". This last measure of (satisfactory) patriotism, which in his inaugural public appearance in his new position, was earmarked by Vladislav Jovanovic, is certainly one of the most controversial criterion which awakens unpleasant associations amongst diplomats and experienced professionals. According to some of them with whom we also talked (they understandably wished to remain anonymous), loyalty to "this Yugoslavia" is proportional to an absence of sentiment towards that which was Yugoslavia up until recently.

In the chaotic corrosion of the Yugoslav state, Yugoslav diplomacy has already partly passed through similar traumas, when its wasting away and "cleansing" was followed by the ripping up of mutual states along its republican, national seams. With the collective departure of certain republican diplomatic teams - Slovenian, Macedonian, Croatian - ambassadors, consuls and other senior diplomats were in the meantime recalled and replaced. As confirmed in his interview to VREME, Under Secretary Sultanovic says: "A reorganization of personnel has been carried out, and gone are those - from ambassador to diplomatic official - who were not working in the interests of Yugoslavia".

The practical application of the foggy "patriotic criterion" which entails an absolute absence of "cosmopolitanism" and "internationalism" (it is said that Vladislav Jovanovic insists on this), does not, warn the informed, exclude the possibility that it all boils down to - nationality. No-one wants to talks about the possible "ethnic cleansing" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the ultimate application of the above mentioned principle. The behind-the-scenes rumor is disputed that all employees have already filled in questionnaires with their personal details. It is irrefutable, though, that a certificate of nationality ("Serbian" or "Yugoslav") is the most valuable piece of paper hurriedly being sought by all those born in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Apart from the ordinary employees who are permanently bound to Belgrade for this or that reason, there are professional diplomats who were not born in the territory of Serbia. To the direct question regarding this, Dr Sultanovic answered that he "hadn't heard of a single MFA employee who had asked to be registered in Citizens' Register and been refused".

Comforting or not, this is left to be seen. However, the recently introduced customs, carrying an odour of the past, have raised suspicions. Apart from stricter control of visitors, restrictions on their movement, etc. the greatest uncertainty is caused by the fact that the formerly most powerful department of the SSIP - officially the Department of Information and Documentation (SID) and unofficially the security branch in the ministry - on the fourth floor of the building is once again forgotten. Nobody knows what is happening behind the locked doors, but it makes them nervous.