"I enrolled in the Technical Secondary School in Mitrovica and graduated in 1971. After that, I spent two and a half years in Zagreb as a cadet at the Military Technical Academy. I never graduated because, basically, I didn't want to. It was my father's wish."
While in Zagreb, Oliver Ivanovic began to get seriously involved with karate. He acquired the black belt, fourth day.
He is the father of three sons whom he gave "ordinary" names - Nikola, Zarko and Janko - so they would not be stigmatized by their names.
"Oliver is a very rare name here; I don't know if there is anyone else in Kosovo with that name. It is actually an old Serb name but I frequently found myself in the position of having to justify to the Serbs that it wasn't an English name."
He was getting ready to leave Kosmet and his family was already with his wife's relatives in Vlasotince when a group of young men came to see him and asked him to stay.
"They were basically ordinary young men, some twenty of them, but even then one could see they were really something more. They asked me to join them. There were about a thousand Serbs in Mitrovica in those early days but with each passing day we became more organized and slowly, people began to return."
Those ordinary young men, the guardians of the bridges, were members of the Serb National Council, founded on January 16, 1999 almost in secrecy. The acronym SNC meant nothing at that point.
NIN: The people who initiated the process for your dismissal said that you were too flexible with respect to foreigners, that is, that the situation in Bosnjacka Mahala was the result of your "yielding". How did it come about that the confidence zone was expanded?
IVANOVIC: There were a lot of incidents on that bridge. The Albanians provoked them because they didn't like the fact that we had our own watches there and that we were in complete control. The Albanians protested and, as a result of pressure, we were forced to relocate 30 meters to another office nearby which also has a good strategic location. It became possible to seal off the entire street from which these problematic people, the instigators of incidents, were coming. I think that we did not lose much as a result of this. The problem is that later, in July 2000, the SNC was literally split up by the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) with the help of money and our attention started slipping. People expressed greater interest in the beginning; then we dozed off. Second, we expected the state to step in. Third, there were promises that the army and police would return. Finally, it was difficult to work so long without any reward and the only motive, to protect ourselves, slowly began to fade. It wasn't enough. People began to ask themselves: why should I be the one doing this? There were fewer and fewer men who were prepared to expose themselves to risk. For every man put out of action, another three or four withdrew of their own accord.
Was that the hardest time for you?
The hardest time for me was February 3 when they attacked the passenger bus. That's when I realized that the Serbs are completely helpless. Witnesses say that the /KFOR/ troops hid behind an armored transporter; they didn't even try to help the wounded, the devastated.
You were one of the people who advocated that a bus line be introduced for the residents of Suvo Grlo and the surrounding villages. Did you have pangs of conscience after what happened on that route?
I thought about thhe fact that I may have made a wrong move. I wouldn't call it pangs of conscience. I asked for a bus for those villages at the request of the residents, knowing how important their villages were. The local people had a terrible time. Six other people from that area were killed before the bus incident.
Then a grenade was tossed at the Belami Cafe?
Yes. A horrible night followed. I saw the powerlessness. People wandered aimlessly through the city. I couldn't recognize their distorted faces. For a long time after that, I wasn't able to think about things seriously myself. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to withdraw. Depression hit everyone. And again I resolved not to abandon these people at the moment when they were completely helpless.
Did you consider resigning after that?
I have been in a situation occasionally where the people around me did not understand me. There were two or three occasions when I felt like saying that enough was enough because I felt that I could not see it through to the end. It was hard for me in June 2000 when I experienced the opposition of our state against us. No one can convince me that someone can be so blinded by power that he refuses to allow a gathering to take place in Kraljevo just because he is afraid of what a few opposition deputies will say about him. At that point in time, I suffered defeat as a Serb.
You are no longer the president of the executive board but you are still a member of the SNC. For your opponents, this is proof that there were no further divisions among the Serbs of Kosovska Mitrovica. Also, no one has suggested that you were involved in any kind of financial abuses, have they?
I knew what could destroy me. When house repairs were planned in Bosnjacka Mahala, I selected the most inflexible, most radical man, a construction engineer by profession. For investments and development an entire team of ten people was put together. I didn't work for any organization.
Now that you have been dismissed, do you plan to retire from politics?
I still haven't decided but I must say I like things the way they are now. I will leave politics when I decide to do so, not when someone else wants me to. The first attack against me ensued because I opposed our integration with the SNC in Gracanica. The second attack occurred when I became "a media star". This second attack was prepared for quite some time. The Political Committee for the Defense of Northern Kosovo (L.K. note: whose coordinator is Dr. Milan Ivanovic) is an attempt to remove me.
An attempt by whom?
Those who obstructed the work of the SNC the entire time and who recently advocated its discontinuation.
Are they activists of the Democratic Party of Serbia in Kosovska Mitrovica?
The names aren't important. They know who they are.