http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=12311
Montenegro pays first 'war damages' to Croatia Observers are split over whether Montenegro's decision to pay war reparations to Croatia is a sincere move towards reconciliation or a bribe for Croatia's support for Montenegro's planned bid for independence from Serbia. By Anes Alic in Sarajevo for ISN Security Watch (29/07/05) Montenegro earlier this month agreed to pay 400,000 to Croatia in what amounts to the first-ever "war damages" paid out in relation to the 1991-1995 former Yugoslav conflicts. Montenegrin politicians, however, have refused to refer to the payment as reparations for "war damages", fearing reprisals from neighboring Serbia and pro-Serbian politicians at home. At the same time, critics have accused the government of buying Croatian support for Montenegro's planned bid for independence from its union with Serbia. Last week, Montenegrin officials announced they were making preparations for the transfer of 400,000 to the Croatian resort town of Dubrovnik in reparation for cattle stolen by Montenegrin forces during the war in 1991. Montenegro and Croatia share a short land border down the coast from Dubrovnik that was the scene of heavy fighting in 1991. Both Montenegro and Croatia were republics of the former Yugoslav federation, which was broken up into five countries, resulting in the 1991-1992 war in Croatia and the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the fall of 1991, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) began shelling the ancient city center of Dubrovnik. Damage was also done to the nearby resort town of Konavle and Dubrovnik's Cilipi airport, which was looted after an attack by the JNA. Most of the JNA recruits attacking the Croatian coastal area were Montenegrin. According to the Croatian government, 68 per cent of the 824 buildings in the old town were hit by projectiles in 1991 and 1992. Six buildings were completely destroyed by fire. The mayor of the Konavle municipality, Luka Korda, welcomed the agreement, but said Montenegro owed Dubrovnik a total of around 100 million in damages. Throughout the course of its ancient history, Dubrovnik had never before been attacked. The city, with its ancient fortress surpassed only by that of Athens, had historically relied on diplomacy, trade, and bribery to maintain its freedom. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who was also prime minister when the JNA began shelling Dubrovnik in 1991, denies that his government has offered to pay compensation for war damages to Croatia. After all, he says, it wasn't Montenegro that was at war with Croatia, it was the JNA. Instead, says Djukanovic, the payment is nothing more than a good neighborly gesture intended to speed up the post-war reconciliation process. "If war damages are paid, they should come from Serbia and [former Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan] Milosevic's politicians," Djukanovic told a 17 July press conference. "Montenegrins were just doing their citizens' duty by being members of the army." Serbia on the defensive Pro-Serbian opposition parties in Montenegro condemned the agreement with Croatia, saying it was inappropriate to pay war damages to a country with which Montenegro was never officially at war. Instead, some pro-Serbian politicians suggested that Croatia should pay compensation to ethnic Serbs who fled Croatia in the last phase of the war in the summer of 1995, when the Croatian army forced Serb forces from the Krajina, where they had attempted to establish an ethnically "clean" Serb entity. Furthermore, the Serbian People's Party (SNS) has called on the Montenegrin authorities to explain exactly where they intend to come up with the 400,000 in compensation for Dubrovnik. "Montenegrin citizens deserve an explanation as to why they are paying for something they do not approve of and which does not have institutional support," SNS Vice-President Goran Danilovic, told ISN Security Watch last week. According to the Montenegrin Finance Ministry's press office, the country has "money in the budget reserves and can handle paying reparations to Croatia" for war damages inflicted in 1991. Danilovic accuses the Montenegrin authorities of using reparations to Croatia as a smokescreen to try to avoid their share of responsibility for the war. He pointed out that most of today's top officials held high-level positions in the wartime Montenegrin and Yugoslav governments. Sharing responsibility The shelling of Dubrovnik has also found its place among the cases being heard at the UN's Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). According to ICTY documents, the JNA killed and wounded numerous civilians in and around Dubrovnik between 23 October and 31 December 1991, when the city was being shelled. Two former JNA officers were found guilty earlier this year of leading attacks on civilians in Dubrovnik. Retired lieutenant- general Pavle Strugar was sentenced to eight years in prison and Vice-Admiral Miodrag Jokic received a seven-year sentence. Former Serbia and Montenegro army chief of staff, Momcilo Perisic, was also indicted for shelling Dubrovnik, as well as for attacking Bosnian cities in 1992. In the fall of 1991, Dubrovnik was also shelled from the neighboring town of Trebinje, in a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina that was then under the control of Bosnian Serb forces. In intercepted conversations between Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and Trebinje Mayor Bozidar Vucurevic, the two discussed a coordinated attack of JNA forces stationed in Trebinje and paramilitary units. Karadzic expressed great interest in the progress of the Dubrovnik shelling, to which Vucurevic replied that the city would burn to the ground. Later on, Vucurevic issued orders to the JNA officers to increase shelling. "What's wrong, I don't hear you killing those beasts down there?" Vucurevic is heard asking the JNA commander in Trebinje, Bogdan Kovac. "Don't worry, we will do it," Kovac answers. Aside from the announced reparations deal, Montenegrin and Croatian Interior Ministry officials have also agreed to bring to justice all those suspected of involvement in war crimes in and near Dubrovnik. The Montenegrin authorities have said recently that they were preparing to launch an investigation into ten suspects. Buying independence? Some analysts believe that Montenegro's good neighborly reparations to Croatia are a thinly veiled attempt to buy support for its independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. During his visit to Montenegro in early July, Croatian President Stipe Mesic said his country would officially recognize Montenegro's independence if its citizens voted for independence in a referendum. The country is split between a government seeking independence from the union with Serbia and an opposition that wants to preserve the common state with Serbia. Last year, Montenegro's parliament adopted a new flag, its own national anthem, and marked a national holiday. In April this year, parliament decided to hold the referendum in the spring of 2006, asking Montenegrin citizens whether they wish to be independent or remain a part of the union with Serbia. A leader of the pro-Serbian Socialist People Party (SNP), Predrag Bulatovic, says he does not believe the referendum will be held at all. "I doubt that the international community is going to let another country split. Especially because some 40 per cent of citizens are against independence," Bulatovic said. He warned that eventual independence could negatively affect Kosovo, Serbia's ethnically tense Vojvodina province, and Bosnia's Serb- dominated entity of Republika Srpska - which have all had their eyes on an independence of their own. As such, Bulatovic suggests that Montenegro and Croatia could be playing an inappropriate game with insincere war reparations that are more likely to have a dangerous ripple effect across the western Balkans than they are to lead the region towards reconciliation. However, Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic says the war reparations are nothing more than the first step towards reconciliation. "Bilateral relations between Croatia and Montenegro are highly commendable and there is a political will on both sides for further development of multi-level cooperation," he told a news conference earlier this month. Anes Alic is ISN Security Watch's senior correspondent in Southeastern ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12h2ug4ta/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1122912466/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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