Doomed State

During the anti-bureaucratic revolution when Montenegro was annexed to Serbia, it was obvious who has real power in Montenegro. Montenegro, and especially its rulers, from that time on provided a powerful support for the politics of Slobodan Milosevic. All of the pillars of the "anti-bureaucratic revolution" were given the posts within the new government and in the companies, whereas the ones who were not lucky enough to secure such positions were awarded by being appointed representatives of the Serbian subsidiaries in Montenegro. A case was recorded whereby one of the bosses within "Galenika" (a drug producing company) in Titograd (capital of Montenegro) was a mechanical engineer.

At that time Montenegro was divided into "winners and losers", and "enemies" were branded as "allies of the defeated politics", "anti- Serbs" etc. Along with those there was initiative from the organizations who were willing to assist the unification of Montenegro and Serbia. These organizations, together with certain political parties, were legalized at the time of free elections and afterwards. Montenegro became a political arena. All this was seen by a certain segment of Montenegrins to be an open attempt to make Montenegro Serbian, helped by the wholehearted campaign of mass media. The campaign was helped by the Serbian Orthodox Church, especially by the election of Amfilohije Radovic (partisan of Milosevic's national concept) for the Montenegrin archbishop. This trend is being countered by the cries for acephalous Montenegrin Orthodox Church and the frequent incidents during the religious festivities. This has assumed such proportions that people are avoiding places of worship, since they are becoming places where the political opponents are settling their accounts.

This is the climate in Montenegro prior to the outbreak of war. The familiar division between the "patriots" and "traitors" was obvious during the first mobilization. Montenegro was receiving orders from Mihalj Kertes (one of Milosevic's most trusted men), Bozo Vucurevic (a head of the newly proclaimed independent state of Eastern Herzegovina) and Seselj (leader of the Serbian Radical Party) with the silent consent of the Montenegrin authorities. It strictly followed the orders of Slobodan Milosevic. Although they pursued peaceful politics, they accepted to create a modern federation with military involvement and thereby carry out the "Belgrade Initiative". This is what the Montenegrin Parliament argued for at the time when war was gathering momentum and when nobody could tell when or how it would end. The Montenegrin authorities have placed their trust completely into the hands of the Supreme Army Command and gave the list of its reservists.

And then the Hague happened. President Bulatovic received a warning that the ones who created him could just as easily destroy him now: the people have made you what you are today, do not let them destroy you. The familiar "anti-bureaucratic mechanism" was activated with the help of the campaign directed against the Montenegrin leadership. The claims that there can be no talk of "the radical switch", since they were from the outset advocating the "peaceful solution", is seen as poppycock even by the ones who are now supporting it. This is primarily due to the fact that such claims are never practically supported. They have expressed their views that we are now faced with the temporary "disease of the young and handsome Montenegrin leadership". Thus the proposal was put forward concerning the formation of the Association of Montenegrin Serbs in Belgrade. Is it realistic to assume that the ones who have so loyally supported the Montenegrin leadership should all of a sudden switch to the "national salvation" issue and initiate the downfall of its government.

They themselves, however, are dumbstruck by the turn of events and will accordingly have to develop a drastically different strategy from the one applied during the anti-bureaucratic revolution. There is much more reason for social unrest than before, although the war has diverted the attention from the financial worries. The key seems to be in the hands of the police and the Army. The analysts claim that these two organizations have played a major role in overthrowing the Montenegrin leadership. This especially refers to general Simo

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