Issue 307 - August 23, 1997

The shootings on Belgrade’s streets usually claim criminals, policemen and businessmen linked to the underworld. But what happened in Belgrade’s Bircaninova street on August 20 shows that mad gunmen will go after prominent people whose only fault is their political engagement

The First Lady of SRY has resigned from the position of the president of the Fund - this news was released in the daily press several days ago. The "Fund" here refers to the Fund that deals with resolving the housing problems of young scientists from the University of Belgrade. The First Lady of SRY is, of course, Ph.D. Mira Markovic

While Plavsic’s special unit commander, Dragan Lukac, claims that he broke into the Public Safety Center in Banja Luka because of founded suspicions that the safety of the RS President was in jeopardy, Biljana Plavsic states that she knew nothing of the Sunday escapades of her men. It seems, states the innocent President, that they broke into the Public Safety Center in order to collect their wages, which they have not received for three months now

We’re so used to life in the shadow of a threat of violence that no one even notices that we’re in a permanent state of counterrevolution in the form of a very slow, constant coup d’etat, with no end in sight. That’s the way to avoid excessive drama, unnecessary violence and damaging embarrassment. Events grow to the brink of a real coup (as in Banja Luka and Montenegro) but the line is never crossed; the semblance of peace and stability has to be preserved

How are the leading political parties preparing for the coming parliamentary elections? VREME asked Danica Draskovic, head of the SPO central election staff, Aleksandar Vucic, vice-president of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), Goran Svilanovic, spokesman for the Serbian Civil Alliance (GSS), Milenko Nikic, head of the Democratic Party (DS) election staff, and Milos Aligrudic, head of the Serbian Democratic Party (DSS) election staff. The first two parties will stand in the elections and the other three will campaign for the boycott

While time is passing, it is becoming more and more clear to me, as one of the instigators of "round tables" on the question of the "Kosovo knot", that a review of the experiences of our first discussions is a condition for making later ones more successful. Ignoring one’s own experiences and that of others appears barbarous, where a constant beginning from point "zero" becomes a part of a broader process of barbarizing the historical scene

Let’s wait for October to see who Tom and Jerry will be

Used buses are on their way. Who will be "taking us for a ride", and with what, come September