A Barrier for the Truck Driver

However, it has been a year and a half since the border crossing has been marked and barriers placed. And even then this bothered the president of the Trebinje municipality (Herzegovina) Bozidar Vucurevic, so, without hesitating, he said that "this disgrace must be removed, even if someone has to be shot". True, until recently, the barriers were no obstacle either for Vucurevic or anyone else to go to Montenegro whenever they wanted. Nevertheless, the Montenegrin Interior Minister Nikola Pejanovic admitted that a few evenings ago "Bozidar Vucurevic was not allowed to enter Montenegro in order to go to Serbia from there". Already the next day he could carry out his intention without any obstacles.

The authorities still kept giving assurances that there can be no word of any kind of closing of borders, but that the "federal government's decision regarding the restricted regime for the passage of goods at all the western borders crossings" was only being carried out. It is also true that no one in Montenegro has seen this decision in written form. It is known in Montenegro that the government there did not take any decision that would result in a change of the regime for the passage of travellers and goods at the border with Herzegovina. However, last Tuesday, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said: "We have offered them, of course, maximum humanitarian aid". The Prime Minister said that this aid will continue to be sent to Herzegovina, but that attention must also be paid to the necessary respect of the territory and the regulations of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia", that one should not "forget the necessity of determining the balance of foodstuffs", denying the claims "that this is some kind of isolation of the Serb Republic in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Serbian people outside the borders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia". Mr.Vucurevic explicitly claimed that he was returned from the border with the explanation that he is on the list of the Serbian Republic's politicians who are forbidden to enter the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

However, all kinds of stories spread from the border and they had a clear message: the authorities have taken a decision to the detriment of the people separated by the border. There was talk of infinite lines of trucks on both sides. A driver of a trailer-truck full of artificial fertilizers, paid for in Subotica (Vojvodina) two months ago and so badly needed for the sowing in Herzegovina, complained that travellers can't take with them even a kilogram of oranges. However, according to the Niksic Security Center which controls four borders crossings, the passage of people is unobstructed and the goods that have the approval of one of the three governments - of Montenegro, Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, can also pass freely. Trucks without necessary documents must turn back. An open question is what happens with the goods that come from the Herzegovinian side and what kind of papers do they have to have in order to enter Montenegro. Because, many products from the region of Herzegovina have found their way to green markets in Montenegro.

Too many people are dissatisfied, so that one could hear the following comment among some of the drivers: "This border is an evil which we should get rid of immediately". There are also those who think differently, who see in all this an opportunity to put an end to the smuggling and crime that freely flourished in this region until now. Namely, for quite some time, war-affected Herzegovina was the refuge for various criminals, and even murderers from Montenegro. There, allegedly, no one persecutes them if they put on the uniform of the Bosnian Serb Army. This has been confirmed by refugees who have found shelter in Montenegro, claiming that those who killed two young men in Podgorica last summer are also in Herzegovina. Warrants mean nothing there, which has been attested to by the story about the trial to the killers of the Klapuh family (published in the previous issue of VREME and NDA). Until recently, the Montenegrin authorities kept concealing the frequent complaints by citizens living in the border regions of Montenegro about the conduct of fighters from the other side, about robberies, rape, and even about several murders. Refugees would find, in the house of their Montenegrin hosts on the other side, some of their household belongings, which was most often a shock for both the guest and the host who, allegedly, bought it favorably from some other refugee who needed the money to go abroad.

A truck with licence plates of the Bosnian Serb Army used to come often to the Podgorica market, and soldiers would sell good quality fruit claiming that it is from the military farm in Capljina. However, suspicion arose because of the fact that they were very generous on the scales and had extremely favorable prices. The market was also flooded with potatoes from Nevesinje, and the citizens of Podgorica bought it wondering whether the one who sowed it or those who packed it into sacks and sold it will be able to do anything with the money they get. Far too much livestock and poultry came from Herzegovina to Montenegro. For some merchants in Podgorica the business with the livestock was very profitable. However, when a woman refugee recognized her cow in a Montenegrin field, the sadness was shared. It is not difficult to guess what happened to technical equipment, construction material, cars and other things. Be as it may, certain refugees in Podgorica claim that the latest measures will at least stop big business, if there is anything left for big business on the other side of the border.