Bosnia, Kosova & the West — The Yugoslav Tragedy: A Marxist View

242 Pages·2000·1.924 MB·English

by  Mike Karadjis

Bosnia,
Kosova
& the West
The Yugoslav Tragedy:
A Marxist View
Mike Karadjis
2 Bosnia, Kosova & the West
About the author …
Michael Karadjis has been active in left-wing politics in this country for some 28
years, beginning as a high school student who came out in solidarity with the
struggle of the Vietnamese people against US imperialist aggression. He has also
been involved in support for the struggles of the Palestinian people and against the
genocidal western sanctions on Iraq. He was active in left-wing politics in Greece
during parts of the late 1980s and 1990s, from whence arose his connection to the
issues in the Balkans. He has a Master of Letters in history from the University of
New England, Armidale, where his thesis was on the Yugoslav issue.
Author’s acknowledgements
I would like to warmly thank Eddy Jokovic and Jane Howarth in Sydney, and Sissy
Vovou in Athens, for their generous help in allowing me access to their impressive
collections of resources. I would also like to extend particular thanks to Mark Hayne,
of the History Department at the University of New England, who supervised my
masters thesis on this issue, which was a major step in writing this book.
Resistance Books 2000
ISBN 1876646055
Published by Resistance Books: resistancebooks.com
Contents
A Note on Language...........................................................................6
Abbreviations.......................................................................................7
Timeline ................................................................................................9
Introduction........................................................................................11
1. Yugoslavia in History...................................................................19
Yugoslavia’s nations............................................................................................. 19
World War II........................................................................................................ 21
New Communist-led federation......................................................................... 22
2. Keeping Yugoslavia United ........................................................24
Yugoslavia’s ‘special relationship’ with the West................................................24
IMF & World Bank insist on Yugoslav recentralisation.....................................27
Serbian domination of central apparatus............................................................29
Rise of Serbian nationalism..................................................................................31
’Rich republics’......................................................................................................32
Resistance by multi-ethnic working class.............................................................34
Milosevic begins drive to restore captialism........................................................35
Kosova.................................................................................................................. 38
Privatisation.......................................................................................................... 41
Three paths........................................................................................................... 43
West rejects confederation.................................................................................. 44
Did Germany ‘break up’ Yugoslavia?..................................................................46
Western opposition to self-determination......................................................... 49
3. Croatian War 1991 — Transition Stage.....................................50
Serb minority........................................................................................................ 51
Massive attack on Croatian cities.........................................................................53
Western divisions................................................................................................. 54
Milosevic saved by US.......................................................................................... 56
4. West Prepares the Ground for Assault on Bosnia.................58
Vance plan............................................................................................................ 59
4 Bosnia, Kosova & the West
Carrington-Cutileiro plan....................................................................................61
Independence referendum.................................................................................. 62
5. Western Intervention in Bosnia: To Whose Benefit? ...........64
Onset of the genocide...........................................................................................64
Arms embargo on Bosnia.................................................................................... 67
Sanctions on Serbia...............................................................................................69
UN intervention................................................................................................... 70
Threats of air strikes.............................................................................................71
Partition plans.......................................................................................................72
Vance-Owen plan.................................................................................................73
US policy reversal................................................................................................. 76
Owen-Stoltenberg plan........................................................................................ 78
6. Western Policy in Bosnia ............................................................80
Official explanation for “non-intervention”........................................................80
Western interests................................................................................................. 87
Avoiding “small states”.........................................................................................88
The “key to stability” versus the ultra-right........................................................89
Multi-ethnic Bosnia..............................................................................................90
Anxiety about Islam............................................................................................. 93
US re-enters the scene.........................................................................................95
US-French military rivalry.................................................................................100
Britain loses “special relationship” with US but maintains it with Serbia........1.01
7. Countdown to Final Solution....................................................105
Moslem-Croat Federation................................................................................. 108
Serb Civic Council.............................................................................................. 109
Contact Group partition plan............................................................................111
Final solution: from Srebrenica to Krajina........................................................114
Bosnian offensive blocked by US intervention.................................................116
Dayton partition plan.........................................................................................118
8. Post-Dayton Bosnia....................................................................120
9. Sowing the Seeds of Catastrophe in Kosova .......................130
Kosova and Dayton............................................................................................ 130
Kosova in Greater Serbia................................................................................... 131
Fears of destabilisation....................................................................................... 132
Growing Western economic interests in Serbia................................................134
Rise of the KLA & Serbia’s counterinsurgency war..........................................138
NATO “cannot be the KLA’s air force”.............................................................142
The Rambouillet plan.........................................................................................145
NATO launches terror, Milosevic launches genocide.......................................147
Contents 5
Serbian oppositionists against NATO and Milosevic.......................................150
Did NATO blunder?.......................................................................................... 153
Did NATO force Milosevic to say no?...............................................................154
Why did NATO want war?................................................................................ 155
Did Milosevic already have the genocide prepared?........................................ 158
What did NATO expect?....................................................................................159
NATO & the KLA during the war.....................................................................162
The KLA & organised crime.............................................................................. 168
The KLA & the Serb minority............................................................................170
Did NATO aim to destroy the Serbian economy?............................................174
NATO & the Yugoslav military..........................................................................176
Was the US aiming at the European economy?................................................178
G8 plan & ‘phase three’ of the war.................................................................... 180
New European defence identity.........................................................................184
US pushes rival bloc in Balkans..........................................................................186
Conservative & ultra-right opposition to the war............................................ 187
10. Postwar Kosova — Partition, Violence, Colonialism.........191
Towards partition?............................................................................................. 195
Attacks on Serb minority....................................................................................199
Who is ruling Kosova?....................................................................................... 203
Who owns Kosova’s resources?........................................................................ 207
Working-class revolt against Milosevic.............................................................209
The place of Serbia in the Balkans.....................................................................215
Conclusion .......................................................................................217
Notes .................................................................................................225
Maps
Figure 1: Ethnic distribution and republican borders in Yugoslavia.........................33
Figure 2: Distribution of ethnic majorities in Bosnia............................................96-97
Figure 3: Dayton partition plan................................................................................123
6 Bosnia, Kosova & the West
A Note on Language
The term “Chetnik” was used by anti-communist, Serbian nationalist fighters during
World War II, who fought Tito’s partisans. It was again used by the main parties
leading the Serb nationalist movements of the 1990s, in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, to
describe themselves. In most cases in Bosnia, its use is interchangeable with SDS or
BSA, and in Serbia, with SRS. Its use in this book to describe such parties is therefore
not a term of abuse, as it is their own. Its use distinguishes these political forces from
others among the Serbian population of these countries who did not share their views
or approve their actions. For this reason, general terms for whole ethnic groups, such
as “Serbs” and “Croats”, have been avoided when referring to particular parties or
armed groups, as is the practice in the mainstream media, in order to not give the
impression that Serbs or Croats as a whole approved of the actions of particular
political currents.
The Albanian spelling “Kosova” is used rather than the official Serb spelling
“Kosovo”, which is used by the Western media, consistent with support for the right of
nations to self-determination and self-identification.
The word “Bosnia” is generally used throughout as shorthand for the full name of
the republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina.n
Abbreviations
ABH Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
BSA Bosnian Serb Army, armed wing of SDS.
CSCE Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
FEC Federal Executive Council, federal ruling body of former Yugoslavia,
headed by the prime minister.
HDZ Croatian Democratic Community, ruling party in Croatia after 1990
elections, led by Croatian president Franjo Tudjman; a wing of this
party, with the same name, established among Croats in Bosnia, led in
1992-94 by Mate Boban; committed to right-wing Croatian nationalist
ideology.
HVO Croatian Defence Forces, militia of the HDZ in Bosnia.
IFOR NATO-led military forces in Bosnia following 1995 Dayton Accord.
JNA Yugoslav Peoples Army.
KFOR NATO-led military forces in Kosova following 1999 war.
KLA Kosova Liberation Army, military wing of LPK, formed in 1996.
LCY Yugoslav League of Communists, ruling party of former Yugoslavia.
LDK Kosova League for Democracy, main party of Kosovar Albanian non-
violent resistance, headed by Ibrahim Rugova; formed mostly by
branches of former Kosova wing of Yugoslav League of Communists
in 1991, many branches then went over to KLA in 1998.
LPK Kosova Peoples Party, radical wing of Kosovar resistance, established
in 1982 with Maoist ideology; main core group of KLA.
SCC Serb Civic Council, set up by Bosnian Serbs loyal to multi-ethnic Bosnian
state.
SDA Party of Democratic Action, main Moslem-based party in Bosnia, led
by Bosnian president Alia Izetbegovic; advocated secular, multi-ethnic
Bosnia.
SDP Social Democratic Party, former Bosnian wing of Yugoslav League of
Communists, committed to secular multi-ethnic Bosnia, took part in
8 Bosnia, Kosova & the West
Bosnian government throughout war, often providing its Serb
members.
SDS Serbian Democratic Party, set up by minority Serbs in Croatia and
Bosnia in 1990, led in Bosnia by Radovan Karadzic; committed to
extreme right-wing Serbian nationalist “Chetnik” ideology; armed wing
the BSA.
SPO Serbian Revival Movement, moderate Serb nationalist “Chetnik” party
in Serbia, led by Vuk Draskovic.
SPS Socialist Party of Serbia, set up by Slobodan Milosevic, from ruins of
the Serbian branch of the League of Communists, replacing former
ideology with virulent Serb nationalism.
SRS Serbian Radical Party, extreme Serb nationalist “Chetnik” party, led by
Vojislav Seselj, based in Serbia but with militia active in Bosnia
responsible for thousands of deaths; coalition partner with Milosevic’s
SPS in 1991-93 and again in 1998-99.
RS Republika Srpska, name of para-state carved out of Bosnia by SDS/
BSA.
TDF Territorial Defence Forces, popular-based defence forces of former
Yugoslavia.
UNMIK UN temporary government authority in Kosova following 1999 war.
UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force, UN forces in Bosnia 1992-95n.
Timeline
1987 October Slobodan Milosevic seizes power in Serbian League of Communists.
1988 May The “May measures” — IMF-demanded changes abolishing
socialist system in Yugoslavia.
September Milosevic forces topple Communist government of Vojvodina.
1989 January Ante Markovic becomes Yugoslav prime minister. Milosevic forces
topple Communist government in Montenegro.
March Milosevic clamps down on Kosova and sacks provincial assembly.
1990 January League of Communists collapses.
April Former Communists lose elections in Croatia and Slovenia.
Franjo Tudjman elected president of Croatia.
November Bosnian elections.
1991 March Milosevic and Tudjman meet and organise partition of Bosnia.
June US Secretary of State Baker declares Yugoslavia must remain united.
Croatia and Slovenia declare independence.
Yugoslav army launches limited attack on Slovenia.
July Beginning of Serbian/Yugoslav attack on Croatia.
September UN declares arms embargo on Yugoslavia.
1992 January UN envoy and former US defence secretary Cyrus Vance negotiates
end of war; Vance plan allows Yugoslav army to take heavy
weaponry into Bosnia.
EC recognises Croatia and Slovenia.
March First EC Bosnia partition plan (Carrington-Cutilheiro plan).
April EC and US recognise Bosnia.
Beginning of Serbian blitzkrieg on Bosnia.
December UN General Assembly calls for end to arms embargo on Bosnia,
but call is rejected by Security Council.
1993 January Second EC partition plan (Vance-Owen plan).
July Third EC partition plan (Owen-Stoltenberg plan).
December Bosnian army defeats Croatian Defence Forces.
10 Bosnia, Kosova & the West
1994 March Moslem-Croat federation agreement.
June Contact Group partition plan.
1995 July Chetnik forces seize Srebrenica and kill 8000 Moslem captives.
August Croatia retakes Krajina and expels entire Serb population.
US air strikes against Chetnik heavy weaponry.
September Bosnian army reconquers some of its territory.
October US demands Bosnian army end offensive.
November US negotiates Dayton partition plan ending Bosnian war.
1997 October Milosevic sells Telecom to Greek and Italian investors.
1998 January US and Milosevic cooperate to replace Karadzic leadership in RS.
February US Balkan envoy Gelbard declares KLA a “terrorist” organisation.
March Seselj and SRS rejoin Serbian government.
Serbia launches brutal counterinsurgency against KLA.
October US pushes new limited autonomy plan for Kosova.
1999 February US-inspired Rambouillet negotiations — US plan rejected by both
Serbian and Kosovar delegations.
March Second round at Rambouillet rejected by Serbia but accepted by
Kosovar delegation.
NATO launches air war on Yugoslavia.
Milosevic launches massive ethnic cleansing in Kosova.
June NATO war ends, new UN authority in charge of Kosova, which is
to remain within Yugoslavia.
September Disarmament of the KLA completed.n