THE MOST EXPENSIVE MONTENGRIN WORD

Prevalaka once again

There has never been such a small patch of land with a longer story to tell. The rocky, tongue-shaped piece of land which plunges into the Adriatic near Herceg Novi, 2500 meters long and 500 meters wide, has been attracting attention of the public for the past few years and raised the political temperature in Montenegro, that is in the FRY, and in Croatia. The "short-lived" Yugoslav Prime Minister, Milan Panic, fond of broad moves and sudden gestures, at one moment had the idea that the simplest way to solve the problem of Prevlaka would be by means of explosives. Boom! - and the problem disappears together with the piece of land that shuts the entrance into the bay of Boka Kotorska. Since that idea has not been effectuated, Prevlaka remained to be the subject of indecisive haggling between the Croats on one, and the Montenegrins and the Serbs on the other side.

Not a long time passes, and something new about Prevlaka is heard. Not a while ago, the Federal Government, for instance, in its excessive concern about this piece of land, "stated the geographic terms unprecisely" and "caused unnecessary disturbance of the citizens and concern of the public". The Federal Government was reproached for it by noone but the Montenegrin authorities which should think of Prevlaka as its major concern. At a meeting with the President of Montenegro, Momir Bulatovic, attended by Montenegrin Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic, Navy Commander of the Army of Yugoslavia, Milan Zec, Republican Minister of the Interior, Nikola Pejakovic, and Head of the Herceg Novi Security Centre, Goran Zugic, it was concluded that the latest in a series of incidents and provocations in the region of Prevlaka was inadequately interpreted in the statement of the Federal Government. The mortar shell shot at out territory, it was stated at the mentioned meeting, did not hit the region of Prevlaka, nor the area referred to by the agreement between Cosic and Tudjman. At the same meeting, it was concluded that, apart from the mentioned problems, the situation at this part of the Yugoslav border was stable and that peace and safety of the FRY were not jeopardized, nor its citizens, and once again the unambiguous stance of the Yugoslav party was expressed that diplomacy was the only acceptable means for solving all controversial issues, the problem of Prevlaka inclusive. After the former President of FRY, Dobrica Cosic, and the President of Croatia Franjo Tudjman, had signed the agreement, the disputed area of Prevlaka was demilitarized and placed under the control of the UN, and it seemed that the issue passed into the hands of diplomacy with good chances to be resolved in favour of Montenegro and the FRY. Allegedly, a "gentlemen's agreement" about Prevlaka was reached with the Croatian party, that there would be no problem concerning it, once Croatia and the FRY recognized each other. It was agreed that it should not be publicized so that President Tudjman would not have porblems at home about it, and as a token of firmness of the agreement, a separate document was signed. Self-confidence of the Montenegrin authorities concerning this issue, indirectly points out that something of the sort has really been agreed. However, the latest moves of the Croatian party do not fit in the scheme. Almost three months ago, the President of the Croatian State Committee for borders, Dr. Hirvoje Kazic, explained that his Committee has drawn the bordering line with Montenegro, that is the FRY, which "starts from cape Kobila in the place called Kufin", meaning that the entrance into the Boka Kotorska Bay and the sea inside it were divided. According to that, Croatia would get 243 square kilometres of sea in the disputed area, and the problems would additionally multiply, should that really happen.

"Listen, that Prevlaka has become so notorious that it's unbearable. But speaking abstractly, if it's so important for Montenegro that it would offer, say, ten times more territory for the hinterland of Dubrovnik, such an agreement is possible", the Counsellor of the Head of the Croatian Office in Belgrade, Dr. Dusan Bilandzic, recently declared in an interview for the weekly "Monitor". Reminded by the journalist that this was a triple agreement, Dr. Bilandzic added: "Oh, yes, but such an agreement would be possible only if Karadzic created a state of Bosnia of his own. And Karadzic cannot create a state of his own... Therefore, formation of the independent Serbian state in Bosnia is out of the question. It is, therefore, absurd to expect that B&H should offer Croatia a territory in exchange for Prevlaka in order to get an exit to the seacoast to the East of Dubrovnik. Such a state already has an exit to the coast and it is near Neum."

Prevlaka was actually the subject of negotiations between the Bosnian Serbs and the Croatian party once, but presumably they had a blessing of the Montenegrin and the Yugoslav political factors for it. A little over a year ago, the Assembly Chairman of the Republic of Srpska, Momcilo Krajisnik, spoke about it in a statement given to Radio Herceg Novi, stressing that the Bosnian Serbs had made two proposals to the Croatian party: "Either to enable us an exit to the coast South of Molunat towards the Montenegrin boarder, in exchange for certain territories in the henterland of Dubrovnik, or to enable us to have a part of Neum". According to the words of Mr. Krajisnik, " The Croats have agreed for the exit to be next to the border with Montenegro, but they conditioned it by normalization of the relations between the FR of Yugoslavia and Croatia".

Judging by Dr. Bilandzic's words, such a possibility is not considered in Zagreb any more, and the situation in B&H and concerning it, provides quite good grounding for such a stance of the Croatian party. It is therefore no wonder that an increase in the number of Croatian soldiers and policemen is observed in Prevlaka. According to the testimony of the members of Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior which guards the border from Prevlaka to Ravni Brijeg (the so-called "yellow zone"), and the fishermen, the Croatian army and police are constructing a fortification in the region of Krupica, Glavica and the Klacine bay. In other words, this is happening in the region controlled by the UN (the so-called "blue zone"). According to these testimonies, the Croatian party is constructing primarily bunkers and tunnels for storing arms, and the works are mainly carried out at night. Since October 18, the works were intensified.

A man who seizes every opportunity to remind the Montenegrin authorities of the problem of Prevlaka, the President of the National Party of Montenegro, Dr. Novak Kilibarda, appeared in public several days ago with new accusations. "Mr. Bulatovic has not uttered a single word about what will happen with the 'gentlemen's agreement' he had reached with Tudjman concerning the issue of Prevlaka. Mr. President says nothing about fortifications which Croatia is building in Prevlaka, and land mines it is placing there. He says nothing about the fact that the Croats in the yellow and the blue zone are fishing as if in their own waters, and that they catch our fishermen, and even condemn them... Mr. Bulatovic says nothing about the statements of high political figures of Croatia either, like Markovic, Kacic and Barisic about the possibility to have Prevlaka exchanged for broad regions in the space of Popovo Polje, in order to let their Dubrovnik have a safe hinterland. Mr. President says nothing about his stance concerning his "gentlemen's agreement" and whether it refers to the possibility to let Prevlaka become part of Alija Izetbegovic's state through such an exchange...", the leader of Nationalists accuses.

President Bulatovic really does not speak about the mentioned issues, except that he keeps repeating that "diplomacy is the only acceptable means for solving all controversial issues, the problem of Prevlaka inclusive". The others would like to make Prevlaka "the most expensive Montenegrin word". For the Croats, many are convinced, Prevlaka has no special significance, except as "a reason to annoy the Montenegrins". In such a context, perhaps, the explanation for drawing additional attention to this piece of rocky land should be sought: to annoy the Montenegrins to such an extent to make them exert pressure on Belgrade in order to recognize Croatia within its AVNOJ borders.

Should Prevlaka become Croatian, it would mean that both Croatia, and Montenegro, or the FRY, claim 15 miles of territorial sea each. The entrance into the Boka Kotorska bay would thus be divided, and international straits formed, and foreign commercial and war ships could pass through it unhindered, under the condition they do not disturb peace and order of the coast states. In its territorial waters, vis-a-vis the Montenegrin coastline, Croatia would be able to keep its war ships, which would create potential danger of constant war skirmishes and incidents, but the danger of waging a fishermen's war too. All this offers the Montenegrin (Yugoslav) party serious arguments in their terrirorial dispute with Croatia. But, this need not necessarily be decisive at all times.

Dusko VUKOVIC AIM (Podgorica)