In Defence of the Serbs and a Warning on Military Intervention FI»|(Vkiuau Times from Mr Dragoslav Bijelic
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In defence of the Serbs and a warning on military intervention FI»|(vkiuau Times From Mr Dragoslav Bijelic. on a confederal basis. Ever From Branka Magas. stood as the model for two Sir, I was appalled by your first-year law student knows Sir, a military coup has years now), editorial, "The challenge for that confederacy is not a state, taken place in Yugoslavia - Indeed, on the very day the Yugoslavia", (June 26). It was but a loose union of sovereign, the first in Europe since the so-called Yugoslav chief of staff packed with untruths and dis- independent states, Greek colonels' coup of 1967. was offered the hospitality of tortions of facts. You claim You seem to forget that uni- Acting unconstitutionally and Serbia's state-controlled media that Mr Milosevic's policy has fied Germany will have free in defiance of the civilian to proclaim a war to the finish brought about the break-up of access to the Mediterranean authorities, the so-called Yugo- against the Slovene people, Yugoslavia; this is not true. It via the Slovenia and Croatian/ slav People's Army has Serb mothers were protesting was the Slovenian and Cro- Dalmatian coast. The Germans declared an all-out war on one in the Serbian assembly atian governments of Milan will make a confederation, part of Yugoslavia, treating it against their sons' lives being Kucan and Franjo Tudman, comprising Germany, Austria, as a foreign enemy. Europe - used as small change in this respectively, who, with the Switzerland, Croatia and Slo- east and west - should search adventure of the generals, secessionist and anti-Serbian venia, and eventually they will its conscience and its common In what sense, therefore, can policies, brought the country successfully attain by peaceful sense to decide whether allow- we speak of this army as a to the edge of catastrophe. means what they could not by ing a military junta to take Yugoslav army? It is Yugoslav You failed to remind your military means in two world power anywhere in Europe only in that it has compelled readers that the post-war wars - dominate Europe eco- augurs well for the continent's thousands of Slovene, Croat, Yugoslavia was governed for nomically and politically. future. If in Yugoslavia today, Serb, Albanian, Macedonian, 36 years by the communist die- It is not Mr Milosevic who why not in the Soviet Union Moslem, Montenegrin etc con- tator Tito, who was a Croat, has reawakened the idea of a tomorrow? scripts to kill and main each Also, you stated that Milosevic greater Serbia, because the In pursuing their holy war other, while offering them no "opposes any break-up of feder- Serbs are already living within against Slovenia and Croatia - future other than that of pro- ation, essentially because it one state called Yugoslavia; a war planned ever since longed and bloody civil strife, would erode Serbia's influ- and they do not want to multi-party elections took What a tragedy for a country ence". What influence? The become a minority in some place in these two republics - born out of a national libera- current president of the Yugo- new, right wing, chauvinistic the so-called Yugoslav general tion war. Whatever mistakes slav federation, Stipe Mesic, is Croatia, staff are in fact waging war on the governments of Slovenia a Croat, as is the prime minis- I think that, instead of pro- Yugoslavia as a whole. Who, or and Croatia have made in their ter, Ante Markovic. Budmir voking bad feelings among what, has given these generals pursuit of sovereignty, they Loncar, the federal minister, Serbs, you should bear in mind and colonels the right to decide pale into insignificance besides and General Veljko Kadijevic, that it is the Serbs who are the for themselves how the Yugo- the military's brutal assault the federal defence minister, only true allies of the British slavs should arrange their upon the liberties and demo- are also Croats. The last three people in the Balkans. future? And what kind of cratic aspirations of all the Yugoslav prime minsters were Dragoslav P Bijelic, Yugoslavia could emerge out of peoples of Yugoslavia, Croats. Attorney-at-law, their victory? Only a prison- Branka Magas, In your article you plead for Zahumska 53, house of its nations and citi- 119 Blenheim Crescent, Yugoslavia to be reorganised 11000 Belgrade-Yugoslavia zens (occupied Kosova has London WU 2EQ .