Canak: I am here in Novi Sad. Whenever someone asks me, I say what I think. But, I've mostly been approached by the foreign media, since in the country no one dares to even ask me for my opinion. That is why in Montenegro there haven't been news about my activities.
I am still here because I think that every public personality has the duty to share both good and bad with the people. And this is probably the worst evil that can happen, implying some sort of the duty to stay here. Those who are not prepared to withstand pressure should not be active in politics. And those who are not prepared to withstand great pressure should not be in opposition [to Milosevic]. That much is clear. The only question is whether a man can stand not to be in opposition to this regime. My collaborators and I cannot. Of course, there are pressures, but I think that they are not yet dramatic. By dramatic circumstances, I mean physical executions, and there haven't been any yet. Therefore, the situation is not yet dramatic.
Could it become dramatic in the future?
I think that the repression will mount. As the regime in Belgrade has grown weaker, practically from the start [1987], the repression has mounted. When in 1991 multi-party democracy was inaugurated in Serbia there was much more political and media freedom than in the later years. Now, we are witnessing absolutely the worst darkness that has ruled over Serbia in its recent history. As the territory which Milosevic's regime controls decreases, the pressure and repression in the territory still under his rule increase. With the placement of Kosovo under international protectorate and that is the obvious end of this mad adventure, and further distancing of Montenegro, providing of course that Montenegro can avoid the imposed flame of a civil war, that territory will be even further reduced, and the repression will increase proportionally.
But that is not a sign of regime's strength. That is a sign of the weakness of the opposition in Serbia, most of which has disgraced itself by following the same ideological pattern as the regime. The only difference was that the opposition leaders presented themselves as the people who could do same things in a better, softer way and with less spilt blood. That is why our worst problem is the vacuum of ideas and people, and especially organized political action, rather than some incredibly great strength of the regime.
Can the solution of the Kosovo crisis bring about some changes?
I don't think so. The problem is not with Kosovo, nor Montenegro, as it wasn't with Slovenia, Slavonia, nor the catastrophic events in Bosnia. The problem is in Milosevic's policy, which had to lead to this. If the situation in Kosovo calms down, as I sincerely hope, tomorrow new problems will surface elsewhere. As long as the present regime in Belgrade is in power, it will continue to generate one crisis after another because it cannot survive otherwise.
Judging by that, this war had to happen?
The situation is clear - it was outlined ten years ago in Kosovo Polje [the site of the 1389 battle between Serbs and ottoman Turks and the huge Serb demonstration in 1989, presided over by the then Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic]. This had to happen. It cannot be that all of the former Yugoslavia is demolished by the madness of the used up nationalist bureaucratic structures and that Serbia remains untouched. Therefore, unfortunately, all this was predictable. However, at the time too many people saw a chance for themselves in Milosevic's attack on the civilized norms, which we had just begun to attain in the former Yugoslavia after a lot of hard work. Now, all of this is, so to speak, the application of the final touches, while the plan has been made a long time ago.
When we mention that all of this could have been predicted a long time ago, let me remind that those who bore witness to what was happening in Slavonia when people were expelled based on their ethnicity, in Bosnia, when people were also expelled based on their ethnicity, etc. could not have had any doubts that the same principle of genocide and ethnic cleansing would be applied in Serbia. Did anyone honestly think that the tanks which were taken to the streets on March 9 1991 [to suppress first large anti-Milosevic demonstrations in Serbia] would stop after that? Of course they did not. And they will be taken out to the streets again and again against all those who try to confront this madness.
What do citizens of Novi Sad think about what has happened to the Albanians in Kosovo?
Vojvodina is a multi-ethnic environment and every sort of ethnic exclusion is rejected here as a wrong and criminal approach. We had here bloody experience with the ethnic cleansing of Croats from Vojvodina. This was executed by the so-called paramilitary units, although I do not believe that there is such a thing. The past wars demonstrated that all those units were state-sponsored armies with fake identification cards which finished various dirty jobs. Thus, ethnic cleansing of Croats from Vojvodina is a terrible blemish on the face of the province. Today, I am convinced that the idea of ethnic exclusivity does not have any significant support in Vojvodina.
And all that in Kosovo had to happen. What I am about to say may sound harsh. The lack of solidarity took away many lives in the former Yugoslavia. If you remember, when the war in Croatia started, we immediately organized anti-war demonstrations in Novi Sad. True, they were small, but we had them every day, until I was arrested and the demonstrations banned. At the time, we did not receive any support from Bosnia and Sarajevo - from the region which was fatefully connected to all that. When the evil in Bosnia started, we continued with the demonstrations, but were not supported by anyone from other parts of Yugoslavia, with honorable exception of the demonstrations in Montenegro.
Besides, I must remind that at the time the policy of the Kosovo Albanian leadership was to totally ignore all the events in the former Yugoslavia, including the political life in Serbia. Thus, they presented Milosevic in every election with at least 40 seats in the parliament. That degree of the lack of solidarity with others has made it difficult to now encourage people to demonstrate more solidarity with hundreds of thousands of endangered and persecuted people in Kosovo.
Therefore, every community paid in this or that way for its lack of solidarity with others, who had been in similar situations earlier. That is unfortunately, the curse of these times. For example, the clashes between police and the Yugoslav Army in Montenegro should at this moment alarm every democratically inclined person in the former Yugoslavia, especially in Serbia. Because, if that can take place in Montenegro, it could also happen in Valjevo, Kragujevac, Belgrade, Novi Sad [Serbian cities]... Unfortunately, that lack of solidarity is eventually dearly paid.
Do people in Serbia know what is happening in Montenegro?
No, they don't. An overwhelming majority does not know what is happening in Montenegro. And if you investigated a bit, you'd find out that at least 95% of people in Serbia do not know who shelled Sarajevo for three years. The media isolation of Serbia has become farcical. People are so blinded by the lies of the Milosevic's regime that they are totally disoriented.
To what extent are they responsible for that?
There is a nice proverb which says that the people is a field tilled by the elite and harvested by the offspring. That is exactly what is happening here. Many other nations paid a bloody price for their apathy, so to speak. Just look at who has imposed themselves as an elite in Serbia over the last ten years. When you see all that nationalist scum which rewarded itself with literary awards and forged the preconditions for what happened later; when you realize how many nationalist monsters were raised on the through of the Communist regime and how they in advance justified any massacre with fictional events from the past, and in advance justified everything done on behalf of some sort of Serbdom based on their power grabbing ideals to become for a while Tito instead of Tito and to become for a while chiefs of parties and states instead of those who were that in the past; then you realize that Serbia as a country is suffering from a serious, chronic disease. You also realize that Serbia does not have some sort of an honest, civic, non-nationalist elite.
Because of that, the people behave the way they do and pay a price which, in some philosophical sense, they do not deserve.
The citizens of Montenegro are paying an almost identical price. Do they also deserve their punishment?
Montenegro is a completely different story, because it has two important characteristics lacking in Serbia. Firstly, patriarchal heritage in the sense of the importance of a given word and consistent beliefs. In Serbia, defections from one political camp to another are a sport and a skill necessary for survival. In Montenegro, that is an absolutely dishonorable thing which not a single adult would allow to himself. Secondly, most of Montenegrins have lived there for several generations. That is not the case in Serbia, because the responsibility for the environment in which a person lives has been reduced due to permanent migrations and moves. That directly results in an inclination for quick and drastic solutions. That is a fundamental difference. In that sense Montenegro has an advantage.
On the other hand, Montenegro and its current leadership, not ignoring all the baggage that leadership carries from the past including the way they came into power, have made an important step toward democracy. The deeds of the Montenegrin leadership deserve attention. The deeds of the Serbian leadership deserve only condemnation or prosecution. As we have found out, that will not take place in the Serbian territory.
nevertheless, Montenegro is on the verge of a civil war...
The regime in Serbia survives on conflicts ignited outside the Serbian territory, setting the people who live in those territories against each other. The attempt to divide Montenegrins into Serbs and Montenegrins - on the basis of the old clashes between those who favor independence and union with Serbia and then the division between those whose families sided with Royalist guerrillas (Chetniks) and Communist guerrillas [in WWII], must simply lead to further tensions. That can be only overcome with clear state policy aiming to reduce those differences and offer to all citizens a better personal life. It is my opinion that the present state policy in Montenegro is trying to achieve just that.
Many are prepared to equally blame the Police and the Army for the recent clashes. This blame is sometimes extended to the political groups behind the local Police and the Army. Your friends from the Liberal Party of Montenegro [separatists, currently in opposition] are prominent among them. Do you share their opinion?
Unfortunately, the Yugoslav Army has to a large extent lost its credibility. Above all, because of the officers who are not professionally, morally, and humanely able to cope with the tasks they currently face. Consequently, there is no need to analyze the YA actions any further. An army that looses one war after another, an army that keeps loosing its manpower, either through death, or disappearances or desertion, or lack of discipline, is not an organization deserving serious concern.
As far as the Police in Montenegro are concerned, that is a completely different case. That is a force which follows the orders of the Montenegrin civilian leadership and that leadership is primarily responsible for the Police actions, especially regarding the protection of the Montenegrin state. I cannot judge whether force will be necessary for the protection of Montenegro or whether political means will be sufficient for that - I am too distant. But I am certain that the Montenegrin statehood must be protected. If Montenegro becomes nothing but an appendage of Slobodan Milosevic's small Greater Serbia then a great opportunity to once for all finish the crisis in the Balkans would be missed. I am not sure whether all this had to happen. I am not sure whether Montenegro should already head on the road towards full independence and internationally recognized sovereignty, and I am not sure what the likely cost would be, but I am convinced that if the Montenegrin statehood is endangered every means applied in protection of that statehood would be justified.
It seems that you are doubtful regarding the prospect of the survival of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Is the survival of FRY in its present shape possible?
I am convinced that it isn't. Because of a simple reason that federal institutions haven't been working properly for a long time. The old story from the former Yugoslavia is being repeated. The leadership of one republic has taken over the Federal Armed Forces and is blackmailing the other republic with them. A federation must be based on a clearly defined agreement between sovereign states. That agreement must indicate which of the sovereign rights each state transfers to the Federal institutions. In the conditions where the parts of the former Yugoslavia have been organized in a new state without clearly defined relations between the constituent parts, the new state is nothing but an attempt by Milosevic to spread his hegemony, which failed in the former Yugoslavia, over the small, rump Yugoslavia, two-member federation, or whatever you prefer to call that.
Therefore, with Milosevic, no federation is possible. Without him, FRY is possible only with precise redefinition of the relations between the two federal units, full subjectivity and state sovereignty of Montenegro and then transfer of a part of the sovereignty to the Federal institutions. Every other way is wrong and carries the seeds of conflict. This way, all of Yugoslavia must worry about Milosevic's blood pressure, or whether he's cranky that morning and how that would reflect on the situation: how many people would die, which regions would be burned down. In that case, that is not the question of the state constitution. That is a bloody provisional regime which will last as long as the Milosevic's regime.
How long will he stay in power?
I would like to know the answer to that question. Actually, I am more concerned about the price we'll have to pay for his continued rule over this country.