EDDY JOKOVICH is the editor of VolteFace, a new monthly journal focusing on international politics, and particularly the Balkans. He returned recently from a visit to Macedonia and Croatia. He spoke to Green Left Weekly's JENNIFER THOMPSON about the war between the states of the former Yugoslavia.
What was the purpose of the federation agreement signed between Croatia and Bosnia in February 1994? Is there anything positive in it?
The Washington Plan [which outlined the agreement] is just another way of carving up Bosnia — the agenda of the "great" powers all along.
The plan was promoted by the US. Franjo Tudjman [President of Croatia] had to go along with it because the other plans had failed. The common opinion is that the only thing worse than the failure of the Vance-Owen Plan would have been its implementation, because it contravened so many international conventions, for example on apartheid, and actively promoted genocide.
Now there's the Contact Group plan. If that falls apart, there will be further conferences or plans to negotiate the carve-up. The Washington Plan is exactly the same. It may be different in how the territories are dispersed amongst the different groups, but it still eliminates the Bosnian state.
Do you think there's any basis for an alliance between the Bosnian and Croatian governments against Serb aggression?
The media have often reported the Serbs as the only aggressors. They paint very complex political conflicts in very simplistic terms. The way things are going, the Bosnians will have to go along with [an alliance]. That is what the great powers wanted all along.
What we will see is the carve-up of Bosnia-Hercegovina into greater Serbia and greater Croatia. It's a complete sell-out by the United Nations and the western nations, all for the sake of Serbian and Croatian nationalism.
What is the situation for Bosnian refugees?
Basically, they are not wanted. Even for Germany and the countries that have taken Bosnian refugees, they've tried to do as little as possible, but enough to make it look as though something is being done.
It's a bit more complex in Croatia, because there are over 600,000 refugees there. They are more than willing to take in Croatian refugees from Bosnia or other parts of the former Yugoslavia, or ones that may have been shifted around through the ethnic cleansing in eastern Slavonia and other parts of the Croatian republic.
Serbian refugees are just not accepted at all. The Muslim refugees are not treated very well within Croatia; there is a lot of animosity towards them.
In many cases, the refugees who have fled to Croatia had to get out as quickly as possible. Without documentation, they can't prove where they came from or who they are.
There are huge problems with displacement. People do not know where their families are, or if they still exist. In some cases family members have been sent to Germany, Finland or Norway. Those who remain in Bosnia don't know if they're alive or how to contact them.
Bosnian Muslims are not respected within Croatia, and there is definitely an anti-Muslim feeling throughout Europe. That is what the conflict in Bosnia is about — to eradicate a so-called Muslim state. The propaganda machine of the US and western European leaders is opposing a Muslim state in Europe.
Bosnia was never going to be a Muslim state; it was going to be a multi-ethnic state.
One of the reasons the UN has given for staying in Bosnia is to give "humanitarian" aid. What is your view?
The UN has done a pretty hopeless job in the former Yugoslav republics. But it's not an inept, incompetent program that the UN has been running — it's a deliberate policy.
It has offered humanitarian aid to the so-called "safe havens" or to refugee groups. But why offer humanitarian aid if these people are ultimately going to be massacred, as in Srebrenica, Zepa and probably next in Gorazde and Bihac?
There is another, more positive, factor which we don't hear much about. The UN aid process has opened the doors for non-government organisations (NGOs), peace groups and reconstruction workers to exist alongside it.
These NGOs have done a much better job than the UN in conflict resolution, setting up rape crisis centres and helping people in the communities to get over their differences.
There is still a lot of suspicion amongst the communities. It hasn't got anything to do with "age old animosities" or "ethnic tensions" but rather with political opportunism and a grab for power after the collapse of the former state. There is a lot of fear in the communities, but it's an unnecessary fear built up by the Serbian and Croatian propaganda machines.
Do Croatians know about the level of US support being given the Croatian army?
Military Professional Resources Inc set up a long-term deal with the Croatian government to supply military hardware as well as logistical support and training. It could well be a lot more than that. The US is heavily involved in this conflict. That has been their military history, to keep the physical distance but to trade arms — usually with both sides. It wouldn't surprise me if the US is supporting the Serbian, the Croatian and the Bosnian arms trade.
The information about US involvement has only come up in the Western media over the last couple of weeks, and it wasn't in the media while I was there. But what is happening now in the Krajina, and in Western Slavonia in May, the Croatian public knew all about. Plans for the recent incursion into Krajina have been front-page news in the last two months in the Croatian newspapers.
The UN and members of the Contact Group have known about it despite their public statements.
What are the concerns of Macedonians?
Macedonia is a complex situation. One of the problems is the friction between the Macedonians and Albanians. It's not strong, but one that could easily be stoked up in the same way as happened in the other former Yugoslav republics.
Kosovo is 90% Albanian and, according to the Serbian propaganda, is the cradle of Serbian civilisation. Slobodan Milosevic's political platform is nationalistic, and he's using this in his reign of terror.
After Bosnia-Hercegovina is carved up, Milosevic will probably look towards Kosovo. Its autonomy [from Serbia] was wiped out in 1990, and Kosovo could be the next boiling point unless autonomy is given to the Albanian people there. If they do not receive some sort of political or cultural autonomy, they will want to link up with the Albanians in Macedonia and then perhaps with Albania proper.
The big problem for Macedonia is the economic embargo imposed by Greece. Macedonia can't trade with "Yugoslavia" because of the international sanctions; it can only trade with Bulgaria, which makes up only 10% of its pre-independence trade.
Cultural rights for non-Macedonian groups are guaranteed within the constitution. However, these rights are not enacted for the Albanians. They were not permitted to set up their own university in Tetovo, and there were riots in February which could have easily spilled into a major incident.
The Macedonian government, which believes an authoritarian state is necessary because of the economic embargoes and ethnic tensions, has clamped down on the media as well, allowing only one or two independent journals to exist.