HELSINKIBulletin Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia Rige od Fere str. # 20 , 11000 Belgrade, Serbia tel./fax +381 11 30 32 408; e-mail: [email protected] ; www.helsinki.org.rs No 51 ● December 2009 Vojvodina’s Statute: First Major Step towards Modernization And Decentralization Adoption of Vojvodina’s Statute is a Science /SANU/, along with some uni- major event indicative of an irrevoca- versity circles. They will be seizing every ble trend. Though obstructed and opportunity that has anything to do with postponed so many times, the adop- Vojvodina to stand in the way of the ad- tion of the Statute is a step towards a vocates of autonomy. new frame within which the province will be making better use of its own Battle for Statute resources and the possibilities EU provides, particularly for regional de- The Assembly of Vojvodina declared the velopment. new Statute on November 19, 2009, At the same time, the adoption whereas the republican parliament is a victory of the political current for adopted the Law on Transfer of Authori- a decentralized and modern Serbia. It ties to Vojvodina and gave a green light will surely encourage other regions as to the Statute on November 30, 2009. well to seek decentralization and Out of 163 MPs attending the parliamen- loosen Belgrade’s grip. tary session, 138 gave their vote to the The newly adopted Statute fits Law and 137 for the Statute. Nikolic’s into the legal frame of the 2006 Con- “progressists” did not participate in the stitution. However, Vojvodina will vote. hardly be in the position to fully effec- Though the media had been se- tuate the powers transferred to it un- verely campaigning against the Statute, der the Statute unless it controls all of its very adoption found little echo in the its resources. Given that the Law on public. The months-long campaign Transfer of Authorities fails to define abounding in dirty tricks, humiliation, some crucial questions such as prop- unprincipled stands and incompetence, 1 erty and finances the actual imple- as Provincial Secretary for Administra- mentation of the powers the province tion, Regulations and National Minorities has been invested with remains to be Tamas Korhec labeled it, could not have seen. but fastened on people’s mind. Besides, The conservative bloc with Vo- neither autonomists nor their opponents jislav Kostunica at helm sees the are satisfied with the adopted provisions Statute as a separatist threat. Apart – the former because they got less than from Kostunica’s Democratic Party of they expected and the latter because Serbia /DSS/ the loudest opponents they take that the former got more than of the Statute are the Serb Progressive they would be ready to give them. Party /SNS/, the Serb Radical Party /SRS/, the Serb Orthodox Church and the Serb Academy of Arts and 1 Dnevnik , December 5, 2009. 1 Ever since the provincial parlia- tists. All it /Vojvodina/ has to do is to ment adopted it (October 2008) the take over the already developed seces- Statute has been strongly denied and sionist idea and put in action the ac- politically criminalized. Sandor Egersi, quired media, institutional and finances president of the provincial parliament, resources – and we are getting yet an- tried hard to counteract the negative other state on Serbia’s soil,” says An- effects of the propaganda against the tonic. 4 Statute by touring towns in Serbia Vojislav Kostunica, DSS leader, and presenting its contents. All his commented the draft statute and the efforts were in vain since main subsequent law as Serbia’s “return to the sources of resistance were in Belgrade status of a paralyzed state.” “That’s a rather than in provinces. 2 step towards federalization or disman- The official Belgrade’s attitude tlement of Serbia by the model of the towards suggestions and initiatives 1974 Constitution,” said Kostunica. 5 Ac- coming from Vojvodina, and towards cording to him, the actual government the Statute itself, mirror its stance bestows on Vojvodina elements of state- about a more important issue – decen- hood and turns it into a state within a tralization of Serbia. According to state. 6 economist Vladimir Gligorov, Bel- Miroslav Alimpic, professor at the grade’s attitude towards decentraliza- Novi Sad University, shares his view. tion actually reveals its aspirations for “The incumbent government prepares powers it want to keep for itself. the terrain for Vojvodina’s secession. Au- “There is a strong, centralistic ten- tonomists or their political heirs have dency in Serbia – simply because cen- evolved considerably. They no longer tralism invests the central govern- demand just political, economic and cul- ment, the President, the administra- tural autonomy but also total separation tion, the police, the army and the from Serbia and establishment of a re- Church with more power…There is public with all characteristics and pre- also a strong resistance to any trans- rogatives of an independent state,” says fer of authority to lower levels of gov- Alimpic. 7 What Serbia needs, he stresses, ernance, particularly if such transfers are law and order, peace, work, disci- are lasting and unchangeable,” says pline and political stability – and the only Gligorov. 3 way to reach these goals without unnec- essary delay is to withdraw everything Opposition by conservative bloc dealing with Vojvodina from procedure. All DSS officials agreed that “unconstitu- Parts of Serbia’s intellectual elites, tional draft statute should be withdrawn rightist parties, Church, various from parliamentary procedure and re- quasi-patriotic organizations and the turned to the provincial assembly, which so-called analysts teamed up to op- must adjust it to the Constitution.” 8 pose “Vojvodina laws,” the Statute in Another course of action “Vo- the first place. The fact that both Kos- jvodina’s separatists” are taking to attain ovo and Montenegro declared inde- their goal, say their critics, is establish- pendence before the Statute came un- ment of “crypto-state institutions” such der discussion only fueled their resis- as Vojvodina’s Academy of Arts and Sci- tance. “A separatist ideology is already ences /VANU/. Slobodan Antonic indi- rooted in Vojvodina,” claims political cates that the statutory provisions on analyst Slobodan Antonic and warns VANU are significant symbolically and that adoption of a “crypto-federalist says, “Revival of VANU is a symbolic Statute” and “institutional corpus prelude to creation of a new state and a separatum” would destroy the coun- new nation.” For a small country such as try’s constitutional whole. “Hence, Vo- Serbia, “regional academies of sciences jvodina will become a semi-state with sufficient resources of its own ena- bling its elite to rerun the scenario of 4 www.nspm.rs . Slovenian and Montenegrin separa- 5 Večernje novosti , 12. novembar 2009. 6 Isto. 7 Miroslav Alimpic, „Serbia and Vojvodina: People 2 Dnevnik , 28. novembar 2009. Must Know the Truth,“ at www.nemasale.rs . 3 Dnevnik , 2. septembar 2009. 8 Dnevnik , October 12, 2009. 2 are senseless and cannot be either ated bureaucratic monster may easily scientifically or functionally justified.” 9 transform into a quasi-nation and a Synod of the Serb Orthodox quasi-state,” say the authors of the letter Church also expressed its concern and, hence, appeal to the President of over the establishment of VANU. “Un- the Republic and MPs to deny “support constitutional establishment of the so- to this deadly concept for Serbia’s decen- called Vojvodina’s Academy of Arts tralization.” 10 and Sciences is supposed to endow Over the parliamentary debate the Vojvodina Serbs with a specific na- SNS leader, Tomislav Nikolic, asked, tional identity,” says Synod in a re- “How far you think you can go with the lease. “The Synod is much concerned so-called autonomy without anyone call- over sovereignty and territorial integ- ing you to account for making a state rity of the state of Serbia which were within a state? And how come that only first seriously undermined – and tem- Vojvodina is committed to European val- porarily, we hope – by seizure and oc- ues? What do you think the rest of us cupation of Kosovo and Metohija , and are? Savages?” 11 The Vojvodina Statute then by the attempt to turn the has a quasi-constitutional structure be- Autonomous Province of Vojvodina cause it has a preamble referring to citi- into a new state within a state,” zens of Vojvodina, which our Constitu- quotes the release. “As this draft stat- tion does not recognize, and because it ute opens the door to further decom- defines a territory, emblems, a capital, position and destruction of the already property…Since over one hundred com- shrunk and crippled Serbian state, we petences are transferred from Serbia to appeal to the President of the Repub- Vojvodina, we are going to get Serbia lic, the Premier and the Parliament to composed of two parts, politically and present this communication and re- administratively – Serbia proper as it was quest of ours to the parliamentary at the time of Brioni Yugoslavia and Vo- session discussing the issue, and jvodina,” said DSS Vice-president Slobo- hope MPs would consider our argu- dan Samardzic. 12 As for Dragan To- mentation with due attention and vote dorovic, SRS vice-president, adoption of against such an obviously unconstitu- the Statute will be among the govern- tional act,” concludes the release. ment’s “historically most harmful mo- tions,” even “more harmful that occupa- Final assaults at Statute tion of Kosovo.” “While Kosovo was snatched away from us, Vojvodina will be Ideological duo of the New Serbian given away with our blessing. By adopt- Thought magazine, Slobodan Antonic ing the Statute Serbia gives up Vojvodina and Djordje Vukadinovic, publicized and paves the way for a new federal an open letter to the President and unit,” he said.