The Burden of Making Decisions

Only after the public notification of European Union diplomacy chiefs (May 14th) has it become clear that the FRY President, Dr. Vojislav Kostunica, did make a certain compromise with White House about the American conditions of participation at the impending donor conference in Brussels, which is being jointly prepared by the European Commission and the World Bank. That is at least how I understand the deferment of the conference, on American initiative, from the beginning to the end of July – in order to give the FRY a ‘chance to get to the bottom of the problem of co-operation with The Hague Tribunal’. That delay of the donor conference can, of course, be understood in a different way, that is with a minimum of optimism – there are those who foster a hope that Kostunica’s meeting with President Bush had something ‘historical’ about it, since all other options are far too perilous for the population of Yugoslavia, including Kostunica, the Montenegrin unionists, and most of all the DOS (the Democratic Opposition of Serbia) Government in Serbia, which is already drowning in a number of strikes organised by various social groups. It is worth adding that the fall of the FRY into a total chaos is not what America really wants. It should be once and for all

made clear to the local elite that the negative decision on co-operation with The Hague can be too serious and hazardous for Serbia, so it should definitely not be brought democratically – the whole democratically elected elite is and should be accountable for its making. If we have a missed GDP of 3.5% or 100 billion dollars on one side (in case that the donor conference gets postponed or cancelled), that is if we have the destiny of our children at stake (typical phraseology in the pre-election campaign), and the pain-stricken Milosevic and his well-to-do associates on the other – it seems to me that the ‘historical’ decision was not that difficult to make.

Who remembers today that, back in 1899, legendary Serb politician Nikola Pasic wrote from a prison cell a self-humiliating letter to King Milan since it was his name that gained glory not thanks to a political decision, but its political endurance? Jovan Ristic, perhaps the wittiest politician in the entire Serbian history, explained the necessity of passing ‘precarious decisions’: ‘In political life it is sometimes worth digging up something from the dust and sludge, and it is advisable to the one who does that to prostrate himself in that sludge.’

Or otherwise – who was ever in grief for Milan Stojadinovic, who (on March 18th 1941) was illegally extradited via the borders of the British Intelligence Agency – but those who, because of that decision, paid with their lives, became impoverished and unfortunate in the war and the subsequent revolution, were disposed of by the Communists, later regretted, though without being fully aware what was the cause of their unhappiness. Therefore, any ‘average Serb’ deserves an explanation as to why the wrong decision about the co-operation with The Hague might cost him his own fortune.

What I intend to say is that history memorises neither wise nor fatal big decisions of leading world politicians ‘on their own’, but in the context of longer cycles. For that reason, our little narcissus-like politicians that hold power at the moment should not imagine their place in history with such solemnity – instead, they should stick to the world business and political courses, even if those lead to the so-called global perdition. It would not be conscientious either if only we were to outlive the cataclysm – then we would not have any counterparts.

In addition to all these banalities, let me add good news here – the officially recorded inflation in Serbia in April amounted to 9.6% (it is not two-digit), although the budget was adopted and bread and electricity prices went up. However, one must be cautious when speculating that the inflation rate will settle down in the months to come. The major generator of inflation this time is hidden behind the notion of the outstanding demands. Only in the first four months of this year it was 70%, and it is now 120 billion dinars, which simply means that the additional four billion DEM were spent in Serbia, which is more than can be recovered by this year’s donations.

In Serbian economy everyone spends more than he earns, waiting for some better (Brussels) time.