JUST LET THIS MADNESS STOP

An interview with Dr. Mirko Pejanovicc, member of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The interview with Dr. Marko Pejanovicc was scheduled to take place on the eve of the departure of Bosnian delegation to the new set of negotiations in Geneva, and it literally turned out to be a meeting of vital significance for me. Namely, just a few seconds after I had left my appartment and started on my way to meet Dr. Pejanovicc at the fixed time, the appartment was hit by a howitzer missile shot somewhere from the direction of Poljine. Sarajevo was shaking with tremendous detonations. It was more than a good reason for us to begin the conversation with a comment on what is actually expected of this meeting of the three parties in conflict.

Pejanovicc: I have a foreboding that these talks might have a specific result. Our attitudes have drawn nearer, and the European Union has manifested the greatest decisiveness ever to pressure the Serbian and the Croatian party to make concessions. In the talks that Haris Silajdzzicc had with Momchilo Krajissnik there was an announcement that the problem of territories will somehow be resolved, meaning that concessions could be expected to the 33.3% of territories. More difficulties arose because of the exit at the coast near Neum, but I believe that this issue is entering a more favourable phase after the pressure exerted by the European Union.

As concerning the Presidency of B&H, the legal authorities, that is, we have determined several attitudes as a minimum for the adoption of the agreement: taking the constitutional concept of the Union as the starting point, this being the framework which implies Bosnia & Herzegovina within the internationally recognized borders; the mentioned 33.3% of the territories as the minimum for the adoption of the solutions concerning territories; exit to the coast and the river Sava with all sovereign rights; placing of Sarajevo and Mostar under United Nations and European Union administration, respectively; and, finally, constituting and developing of the Bosnian Republic as a democratic state, which guarantees human and national rights.

AIM: It neverethelss, seems hardly probable that a a definite harmonization of opinions between all three parties could be reached on this occasion, that an agreement could be signed.

Pejanovicc: It depends on the readiness of the Serbian and Croatian side to make concessions. Should that take a favourable course, it is possible that a radical turn could be made. In fact, the only controversial issue is the issue of fixing the borders. And yet, I do not expect a solution in the first round of talks - but rather that they will pass in a search for the final solution. A definite response will require another month, but I am an optimist concerning the ultimate solution.

AIM: Actual division of Bosnia into three parts has practically already been recognized. Does that mean, according to your opinion, a definite breakdown of the concept of the state of B&H as a mixed, multinational land?

Pejanovicc: The proposed solution is a political solution and it is the foundation for peace. It is too compromising, not historical - because there were better ideas, like the one about B&H as a federal state, but one must admit that the document we have now is the actual sanctioning of the situation on the ground and the positions acquired by force, but the main emphasis is still on the end of the war. Whether this solution will hold in peace, remains to be seen - once it starts taking root in life, especially in economic relations. I, personally, am an optimist that the integrative factor will be much stronger in peace and that it will return confidence to the people that it is possible to live together, maybe without excessive love, but on the basis of common interests.

AIM: The fact that the solution for B&H was found in three republics within a Union, based ethnic principles, is also a solution imposed by force - by the forces who had, at first set out with the idea of national homogeneity, and then it to an end by war and by force, encircling their national spaces with unseen crimes. But, there are regions in B&H where people remained living together even in the war, and they will continue living together in the future. This is especially characteristic for the regions controlled by the Army and the Government of B&H, that is in Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar until the latest events, and so on. Our proposal for Sarajevo and Mostar to be under the jurisdiction of the United Nations and the European Union is a wish for them to remain the cores which will enable to preserve the multinational, multicultural idea in Bosnia, in order to reaffirm the possibility of such living not only in the cities, but in other communities, too.

AIM: Do you think that it is realistic that this is an episode before last in creation of the Great Serbia and Croatia, that the territories controlled by the Serbs and the Croats in B&H will be annexed to their respective mother countries?

Pejanovicc: From the beginning, national programs of "Great-statehood" in Serbia and Croatia had, as their ultimate goal, rounding up of their national territories, and Bosnia was the most significant knot in it, but the hardest to reach. In what form and how this will pass in this historical phase, remains to be seen, but I believe that the two B&H Republics, Herceg-Bosnia and the Republic of Srpska, will have the interest to remain and find their place within the Union. I do not support the pessimistic visions and anticipations that as soon as the Union is established, two republics will secede from it. On the contrary.

AIM: An opinion is already well-established that the remainder of the territory controlled by the Government in Sarajevo is the core of the future Muslim state. What are the chances for such a state to survive as a buffer between the East and the West, between the Orthodox church and Catholicism?

Pejanovicc: Many are pushing this space to become a Muslim state, but fortunately during the war, people have persevered in solidarity and suffering, living together. In these parts, out of the total population, about 2.5 million, as expected, will live in the Bosnisan Republic, when the refugees return, of course. About half a million of the people belong to the Serbian and the Croat nation, in other words 12.5% are Serbs and 12% Croats. These percentage will be a factor of integration and refusal to accept creation of a single-nation state here, and become a buffer in this sense.

AIM: How do you explain the fact that the European Community has intensified its effortsb now, and to what extent do you consider the international community responsible for everything that has happened in B&H?

Pejanovicc: During all this time of this war drama and unseen evil, the EC had a general viewpoint that the war must first be stopped in B&H, and that the political solution for the realtions between the three people is our internal affair. They did not want to interfere much. By these latest moves, the European Twelve have done something that should have been done much earlier, and the number of victims would have been smaller. Now they are aiming directly at pressuring Serbia and Croatia and this resoluteness shows how much united Europe can do in favour of peace here if it wants to and if it is unanimous. Hence, it is a shame it had not done more before, but it is never too late for peace.

AIM: The public is puzzled about your true role in the Presidency of B&H, especially after the latest statement of Izetbegovicc that there is no need for Serbian and Croat representatives in the leadership of the authorities. What is the extent of your impact on the decision-making?

Pejanovicc: The present representation in the Presidency and the legal authorities are the solutions which are the outcome of the results of the first multiparty elections. I think that Izetbegovicc was speculating about the times which will come after the end of the war and establishment of the three Republics. Therefore, this is just a momentary opinion, because anything as radical as that is out of the question. In the Bosnian Republic, participation in power will be in proportion to the number of inhabitants of various nationbalities.

AIM: You are aware that opinions vary about your role in this war: some accuse you that you are a traitor of the Serbian people and Izetbegovicc's "Personal Serb", and the others think that you deserve great credit for practically enabling protection of the remaining Serbian population especially in Sarajevo. How do you feel about it?

Pejanovicc: When Professor Kecmanovicc and I entered the Presidency, I publicly declared that my starting point is the platform of civil rights, so that my participation in the authorities does not refer to the problems of Serbs alone, in the parts controlled by the Army of B&H, but the problems of all the people living there, because, after all, the votes I received in the elections, were the votes of all the citizens, of the people, and that I am behaving accordingly. I think that I have not betrayed anyone in this respect. My attitude towards the members of the Serbian people who have remaned together with the Muslims and the Croats in their common resistance to anything that means fascism, will be assessed and judged as soon as the war ends. War propaganda distorts the picture: in one moment I am a traitor, and the other something elese. What keeps me going is when they recognize in my acts the struggle for universal human values, so I remain firmly to fight for the issue above all issues - for peace.

AIM: Despite your explanation, you are still considered to be the most eligible to answer the question how many of the Serbian population still remain on the territory controlled by the Army of B&H, and what is their actual position?

Pejanovicc: You could see for yourself how they live. The first months of chaos are long gone, when the people were separated from their homes for the smallest reason or doubt, when they disappered during the night, to find out later that they were taken to some semi-private jails... But, this is a long way behind us. I think that Professor Kecmanovicc and I devoted special attention to these things and some time in August last year finally resolved this issue and put a stop to it. Minor, individual problems remained. After the decision to dismiss the commanders of two brigades, the notoriouse Caco and CCale and the efficient implementation of this decision, all aspects of arbitrariness of armed men were prevented and interrupted. Now, people walk freely down the streets, if we exclude the granades, of course. Everything that was happening was the result of the war, the tremendous aggressiveness which brought destruction, burning, death... As concerning the figures, the largest concentration of the Serbian population is still here in Sarajevo, in an urban environment. According to the assessment of "Dobrotvor" (a humanitrarian Orthodox organization), there are still between 60 and 70 thousand Serbs in the city. In Tuzla, where I come from, the situation is from the very beginning quite stable and the participation of the Serbs in the population there has been preserved, and it is assessed to be about 7 thousand; there are data that in Zenica there are about 10 thousand of them, etc.

AIM: You like to say about yourself that you are a warrior of peace and a nationalist for human rights of all. With all that in mind, it seems impossible that optimism has still not left you...

Pejanovicc: It has not left me because I was lucky to be visited by people of all nations, citizens of Sarajevo, and I was able to see how this war drama reflected on all the people - I learnt a great deal from them. That is why I insisted on the point in the program orientation which gave priority to a peaceful solution, because by military means nothing much can be achieved. All my efforts were directed towards searching for a formula of a peaceful solution. The fact that we are not fully satisfied is a historical fact, but what gives me optimism is the wish for peace. When it comes, everything will be different.

Goran Todorovicc