An Extra Dose of Brutality

Although the Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, General Ratko Mladic, has been publicly praising their readiness to die for the Serbian cause, the leaders of the Serb Republic in Bosnia seem to find the Belgrade climate more agreeable than that on the front.

A recent TV appearance of the army leader of the Bosnian Serbs will be remembered by numerous statements of interest, among which his assessment of the political leadership of the Serb Republic in Bosnia, that is of the Geneva negotiators, stands out. Stressing the patriotism of Karadzic, Buha and others, Mladic portrayed them as the people ready to die for welfare of their people. The General has not missed an opportunity to urge all refugees, capable of being killed, to join his Army. Two months ago a similar appeal triggered quite a stormy response of a twenty-year-old youth from Sarajevo,

"I won't even think of getting killed while Sasa Karadzic (son of the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan) is having fun in Belgrade, driving a good car and staying at a fancy hotel."

Unlike the most of their fellow countrymen, who have been left without anything, some newcomers from Bosnia and from Croatia lead comfortable lives in Belgrade, even too comfortable according to the Belgraders. They are the ones who had sensed on time what was in the air, sold out whatever could not be brought along and crossed the Drina River with their bulging wallets. The refugee financial elite was complemented by war profiteers and classic robbers who had managed to bring their spoils over to Serbia and Montenegro, thanks to the blessings of the local ruling parties. There is no solidarity, just as there was no trace of it on the front.

It is difficult to list all offices of Croatian, Slovenian and Bosnian companies and information agencies in Belgrade, which changed their tenants and purpose overnight. Business premises were most often occupied or "liberated" by force, with no legal grounds whatsoever. The police would occasionally and unwillingly intervene gently by throwing out "the liberators", but they were sure to return. The bulletin boards on the buildings, with the above mentioned premises, were changed. They inform the public that some of the numerous companies and bureaus from across the Drina River are there now. From time to time conflicts arise as well. Thus, one Belgrader complained of the Bosnians who had taken over the premises of an "Ustashi firm", on which he had his heart set. The politicians are, nevertheless, most privileged.

The former warehouse keeper and the current President of Serb Krajina, Goran Hadzic, as the weekly "Novosadski Index" has learned, received a three bedroom apartment in Novi Sad, and was allowed to enroll in the junior year at the Faculty of Economics in Novi Sad. The Novi Sad nights are with no doubt more pleasant than the uncertain, chilly days on the front, especially when it comes to such a passionate lover of dice, women, and wild nights on the town, as the orthodox Hadzic. Summer holidays on Saint Stefan need not even be mentioned.

The former Information Minister of the Serb Autonomous Region of Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem, Rade Leskovac, who has meanwhile become the leader of the Serbian Radical Party in Krajina, is also fond of Novi Sad. Indeed, he did not move to Novi Sad as Hadzic did, but his Jeep "Pajero" can frequently be spotted in the streets of the "Serbian Munich", especially after the elections. Novi Sad has become the hometown of Goran Maric, the former manager of pop and rock bands from Sarajevo, who is currently in charge of setting up information points of the Serb Republic in Bosnia. In the meantime, Maric has given up frequenting Belgrade's cafes, where he used to take a census of refugees from Sarajevo, who are capable for the front and settled down in Novi Sad, where, as it has been learned, he was appointed Mayor's Advisor for Information.

Unlike the suite from Slavonija and Baranja, who are keen on carousing in casinos and restaurants in Novi Sad, the leaders of the Serb Republic in Bosnia prefer Belgrade. Pugnacious Biljana Plavsic (Vice-President of the Bosnian Serbs), who recounts with pleasure that the fighters on the front ask her impatiently when the war against those Americans will finally be declared, did not forget to secure a safe place for her family. The Plavsic family lives in a big flat in a comfortable and prestigious building, which was used by the officials of the Finnish Embassy. There is a building in the vicinity, in which the Portuguese Embassy, and later the Sudanese Embassy had their premises. The building is now placed at disposal of the diplomacy from over the Drina River.

The example set by Biljana Plavsic is not the only one, as almost all leaders of the Bosnian Serbs have moved their families to Belgrade. Sonja Karadzic (daughter of Radovan Karadzic), a singer, who won her fame in the public by insulting Belgrade and the Belgraders, rather than by topping the music charts or by her vocal abilities, argued that her several week long stays at the Intercontinental Hotel in Belgrade are financed from her ( that is her daddy's ) pocket, but only few took her word for it. You can run into her brother Sasa in Belgrade or in Pale, far away from the front in any case.

The aggressive Foreign Minister of the Serb Republic in Bosnia, Aleksa Buha, with his family also lives in downtown Belgrade. The remaining leaders of the Bosnian Serbs, who occasionally visit Belgrade, use the former "Bosnian villa" in Uzicka Street on Dedinje.

With growing awareness that the costs of war and the economic blockade are tightening the noose around their necks, many Belgraders grumble in muffled voices at the sight of luxurious cars owned by the Serbs from over the Drina River. Unfortunately, the tendency towards generalization, which is characteristic of the local population, may lead to intolerance towards all refugees, although the majority of them are poor wretches.

Unfortunately, the overall escalation of crime has not missed the newcomers, especially those whose names had occupied police files in Bosnia and who easily found common ground with their Belgrade colleagues. Aware of the fact that war criminals will "fortify" the domestic underground with extra doses of brutality, many Belgraders root for the Bosnian Serb Army as they cast a look into the future. Because, if this Army is defeated in the war, Belgrade will be besieged by local Bosnian Dons, such as Bozidar Vucurovic, the ethnic cleanser of Trebinje or Dusko Kornjaca, the lord of life and death in Cajnice. In comparison to them and their elite guard, Plavsic, Buha and Sonja Karadzic represent quite pleasant newcomers. And, even if General Mladic may have been mistaken to attribute them the readiness to die for the Serbian cause, it does not really matter. There has been too much dying as it is.