Published in Nacional number 485, 2005-03-01

Autor: Davor Pašalić

RETURN OF GREAT SERBIA

Revival of Srpska Krajina by Šešelj's formula

Nacional's reporter in Belgrade uncovers the background behind the meeting held in Belgrade's Union Hall in which the Assembly and Government of the Republic of Srpska Krajina in exile was revived, ten years after the liberation of the occupied territories in Operation Storm

The Serbian Radical Party (SRS), whose leader Vojislav Šešelj is in detention of the Hague Tribunal on a war crimes indictment, is behind the recently renewed work of the phantom Assembly of the Republic of Srpska Krajina in Belgrade.

The government in Belgrade was quite taken by the revival of the ‘RSK Assembly’. The Serbian government took more than 24 hours to speak up, and that through Mise Djurković, the little known adviser of Premier Vojislav Kostunica. Djurković announced that bilateral agreements between Belgrade and Zagreb are the best ways to realize the rights of Serbs in Croatia.The organizers of the assembly in the Belgrade Union Hall claim that they have no ties to the SRS. However, the fact of the matter is that the assembly was protected by the same bodyguards who protect the SRS gatherings, and that one of the radical leaders Dragan Todorović was in the Union Hall, allegedly by chance. Also, the “assembly materials” were prepared in the printing press which regularly published the SRS publications.

Of the several dozen political organizations in Serbia, only the SRS supported the renewal of the ‘RSK’ Assembly, whose meeting was held under conspiratory conditions. The media were informed of the meeting, scheduled for Saturday, 26 February at 10 a.m., on Friday afternoon, which is very unusual for an event held on the weekend. The invitation to attend itself was reminiscent of an April Fool’s joke, for in it, 10 years after Operation Storm, it mentions the RSK Assembly, the ‘RSK Government in Exile’ and the ‘regulations of work and means of operation in the occupied territory of RSK’.

When reporters arrived at the Union Hall, some to convince themselves they were in the right when they claimed that ‘Krajina is not lost’, others to see whether this was simply a continuation of the film ‘Vampire Ball’ or ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ were informed that the commencement of the Assembly would be delayed for two hours as ‘we are awaiting our delegates from Croatia’ and that the ‘Assembly would be closed to the public’.

The president of the ‘assembly’ Rajko Ležaić informed those present, explaining that the objective of the assembly was ‘the election of a new RSK Government in exile’. Ležaić announced that all the ‘RSK Assembly delegates’ who were ‘legally elected’ in December 1993 had been invited.

The new ‘government’ will make all efforts to engage in political negotiations with the Croatian government, European Union and UN Security Council to resolve the problem of Serbs in Croatia, or rather, in ‘RSK’, said Ležaić.

Several hours later, it was announced that the ‘RSK Assembly had resumed its work’ and elected a ‘government’ headed up by Milorad Buha from Beli Manistir. The Assembly adopted a resolution in which “put forth the fact that Croatia would not exist as a state, nor would it be internationally recognized, had it not been for the Serbs and their massive anti-fascist movement in the region of the Nazi Independent Croatian State during World War II” . They also stated that neither Zagreb nor the international community did nothing to continue the resolution of Serb issues in Croatia, “not even nine years after the aggression by the Croatian military, occupation and ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the territory of RSK’.

Participants of the meeting remaining unknown even after its completion. They declined to comment for the press nor state their names, justifying their decision “out of fear for members of their families in Croatia”. They were unable to answer the question of whether they were endangering their families by attending the meeting. All that could be learned was that they “had the necessary quorum, even though nine delegates had passed away in the meantime”, and that the “RSK government”, with the exception of the “Premier” Buha consists of six “ministers”, whose names however remained secret. In response to the question who was the new “defense minister” was that the “ministries have not been defined”.

Milorad Buha is a virtually unknown person to the number Serbs from Croatia in Belgrade. The only fact we learned about him is that he lives in Serbia and that he was the ‘SRS delegate’ in the ‘RSK Assembly’.

A little more was learned about the ‘RSK Assembly President’ Rajko Ležaić. He lives in Serbia, he is originally from Benkovac and he was a member of the Serbian Democratic Party, whose leader Milan Babić is in jail, after being convicted by the ICTY for war crimes. As ‘RSK Assembly president’ Ležaić was formerly known for being incompetent to answer even the simplest question without prior consultation with Babić.

Ležaić is harmed by the reputation that he deserved to be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for likely being the only person on earth to be ruled against by a court for writing obscene graffiti in a public restroom. During SFR Yugoslavia, one women laid charges against him for slander after he wrote on the bathroom wall in the Benkovac company he worked with that he had had sexual relations with her. Writing experts confirmed that Ležaić was the author of the text, and he was given a probational sentence. The lady in question framed the ruling and hung it on the wall of her restaurant in Benkovac.

The government in Belgrade was quite taken by the revival of the ‘RSK Assembly’. The Serbian government took more than 24 hours to speak up, and that through Mise Djurković, the little known adviser of Premier Vojislav Kostunica. Djurković announced that bilateral agreements between Belgrade and Zagreb are the best ways to realize the rights of Serbs in Croatia.

“From the state’s perspectives, all activities outside those agreements are completely informal. Agreements are the best way to develop relations of Serbia and Montenegro with Croatia, including the resolution of issues of refugee return, the return of property and realizing human and political rights of Serbs in Croatia,” said Djurković, distancing himself from the meeting in the Union Hall.

Serbs from Croatia now living in Belgrade saying that their relatives from Croatia, in hearing the news of the ‘RSK Assembly’ called in panic and asked that ‘these fools be stopped’ in order to prevent stimulating excesses in Croatia.

President of the Croatian National Council in Serbia and Montenegro, Josip Ivanović announced that the meeting in the Union Hall could significantly burden the relationship between Belgrade and Zagreb and he assessed that politics must be lead which validating realistic conditions and life. “The formation of a government of a republic which formally does not exist can only lead to problems,” said Ivanović.

The president of the association for refugees Centre for Legal Communication, Draga Sekulović, announced that the formation of the ‘RSK government’ is only adding fuel to the fire in the already problematic relations between Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia. “This is a catastrophe as the Serbs who fled from Croatia do not need RSK, what they need is their homes and their tenancy rights to be return, in order for them to continue living normally,” stated Sekulović.

On the other hand, the SRS stated that ‘RSK’ is under Croatian occupation and this situation has become intolerable.

‘Ležaić is responsible for the exodus of the Serbs’

On 8 February 1995, an ‘extra-sessional meeting of the Assembly of the Republic of Srpska Krajina’ was held. It was expected that this meeting was called to discuss the Z-4 plan (a take it or leave it plan prepared by the Kontakt group, proposing a high degree of territorial-political autonomy for Serbs in Krajina). After two hours of waiting, Milan Martić, ‘president of RSK’ appeared. To those Assembly member present, he announced “Our position is that we not discuss Z-4”. Allegedly, the first to clap at those words was Milan Babić, ‘RSK Foreign Minister’, the same man who six months later in Geneva, on the eve of ‘Operation Storm’ announced that he accepted the plan.

Did anyone ask why? Did anyone ask what that meant? Did anyone oppose? We don’t know. But we do know that Rajko Ležaić, ‘RSK Assembly president’ was not among them. Furthermore, on 30 January 1995, he was with Milan Martić, Borislav Mikelić, Milan Babić and Lazaro Macuro at the meeting in which the representatives of the Kontakt Group was supposed to have read them the Z-4 Plan, and then submit it so that the Assembly could discuss the plan. After the introductory words by the US Ambassador Peter Galbraith, the Russian Ambassador Leonid Kerestedijanc began to read the plan. After reading the first sentence, Milan Martić cut him off, saying “There’s no point in reading that. We won’t accept it”. On behalf of the shocked representatives of the UN, EU, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, US and Italy, it was allegedly Galbraith who reacted. “You will regret this”. There is no confirmation of that either the members of the assembly or their voters were informed of these threatening words. There is no confirmation that he contested the right of one man to decide the fate of 200,000 people.

That they would have to leave their homes, their towns, leave the televisions on, tables set with dinner, their sick and helpless. There is confirmation that he and his dear ones fled to Belgrade much earlier than Storm, as did those like him. He did not arrive in Belgrade after driving on a tractor for two weeks. He did not get put up in a refugee centre. He did not live in the forests. He did not end up in Canada or Australia. He did not have to contact anyone in Croatia to receive his usurped or suspiciously purchased lands back.

This Rajko Ležaić, ten years later on 26 February 2005, announced as ‘president of the Assembly of Republic of Srpska Krajina’ that he would ‘negotiate’ with the UN and EU on the renewal of Krajina. That same man who ten years ago participated in the rejection of the carefully prepared ‘negotiations’ is now asking for negotiations! On whose behalf will he ‘negotiate’? On behalf of those he represented and left, of those who suffered in Storm or afterwards? On behalf of those who have returned and are working hard to renew life with their old and new neighbours? Of those who were cheated and left with nothing and had to start all over again somewhere else? Of those trying to make a life for themselves in Serbia or Bosnia? All these years when things were worse than they are today could he and his ‘ministers’ be seen or heard from. They were nowhere in the battle for the right to return and the right to documents. When the returning Serbs were robbed and attacked in their homes, they were not there. In their battle for pensions and social welfare, they were not there. They were not interested in elections. They were not there in the battle to return their property and renew their homes, or against the legalized plundering.

After Operations Flash and Storm, they were not there because they feared the rage of the refugees. After the democratic changes in Serbia and the overthrowing of Milosevic, they were not there because they feared the democratic government. Today they work as director of all cemeteries in Serbia! Today when the relations between Serbia and Croatia are improving, and relations within Croatia are beginning to change for the better.

Had they decided to become involved with a refugee organization and to help their activities, no one would have criticized them and they would certainly have been able to count on the UN and EU. But they did not. Instead, likely with citizenship papers for Serbia and Montenegro in their pockets following the Act on normalization of relations (1996) and the Treaty on the rights of national minorities (2004), they are forming a government for another country!

These kinds of people have the gall to talk about how Croatia cannot enter into Europe because it ‘ethnically cleansed the Serbs’. They should clearly be told that they are also responsible for the persecution and exodus of the Serbs from day one when they began to form “their own state”. They did this without any thought or consideration to the interests of the Serbs in Croatia. If they could do that then, they certainly cannot do it now. Regardless of all the difficulties of Serbs in Croatia and in exile, they not only stand fully behind Croatia’s pro-European position, but they are also a strong component. Regardless of the resistance the Serbs in Croatia meet in realizing their human and minority rights, no one knows better than that the European orientation of Croatian politics is becoming is democratic base and a subject in the resolution of their own problems and of Croatia’s problems as a whole.