NORMALIZATION OF NORMAL WILL LAST LONGER

Earthquake in Ston and Montenegrins

AIM Split, September 28, 1996

The watch on the ancient building of the Town Hall shows exactly 10.44. At that hour in the night of September 5, Ston was struck by a catastrophic earthquake which destroyed or badly damaged houses in the old city centre mostly constructed during the 14th century. Fortunately, there were no victims among the population, and the earthquake as the days which followed showed, did not last just a moment. In the past three weeks, more than 200 earthquakes hit the region of Ston, Slano and Dubrovnik coast, and an equally destructive earthquake as the one on September 5, between seven and eight degrees of Mercalli's scale, shook them again on September 17.

Population of Ston, probably instructed by their painful experience of refugees during the war, refused to move out from their place. They will remain in camping trailers and wait for the promises that they will be provided lasting accomodation in prefabricated buildings to be fulfilled. Aid is arriving - primarily from the Croatian government, but from other donors as well. And they have acquired the status of banished persons and refugees, for the second time in the past five years. The first time they were banished from their homes by people, and the second time by nature and vis major.

"This is worse than grenades, you can hide from the grenades, but you cannot hide from this", says Maita Barkidzija, comparing the two misfortunates Ston was struck by. In 1991, the frontline passed between Ston and Zamasline, a place where Peljesac peninsula starts. This is where Peljesac, and indirectly the port of Ploce and the Neretva river valley were defended from the aggression by the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) assisted by volunteers from Serbia and Montenegro. Just as the war wounds have healed, especially in Mali Ston, a new disaster struck this region. "As if the devil had taken hold of it", an old citizen of Ston, Jerko Milinaric, says.

Nowadays, five years later, instead of the army and the volunteers, a different kind of offers is arriving to the Ston region. Croatian public was informed about it on September 15, by a short news in Vjesnik: "Podgorica - Cultural Organization "Matica" of Montenegro, independent Montenegrin weekly Monitor, Montenegrin PEN centre and Montenegrin society of independent writers have initiated collecting of contributions for Ston and the entire Dubrovnik region stricken by the recent catastrophic earthquake".

"Memories are still fresh of the great aid sent by Croatian people to Montenegro after the catastrophic earthquake on April 15, 1979", it is said in the appeal for collecting aid, along with the number of the bank account of Monitor where aid can be paid during the following month.

This attempt of normalization and friendly offering of assistance is received by the people in Dubrovnik and its surroundings in different ways.

"First, I know nothing about that aid. I would not accept that aid, but, of course, I will not be the one to decide about it", says President of the District Crisis Headquarters, Luka Siljeg, person responsible for the situation in the earthquake stricken area, and Vice-District Prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva District and prominent member of the HDZ in the region. Since this issue is not only humanitarian, but also political, the Government will decide about it.

"So, if this aid is sent by the opposition and if this move will make it stronger, in other words, if it will weaken their authorities, and be of help to us, why not accept it", says a citizen of Ston who wishes to remain anonymous.

Some will note that there had been opportunity before the earthquake to show solidarity, and clearing the conscience, however innocent those who initiated the aid may be.

"You have seen Slano and what was left of it after the war? There is no earthquake that could demolish it like this", our anonymous interlocutor reminds us.

"I would rather not comment this collecting of humanitarian aid. I have commented on it so many times since 1991", says the head of the Croat Peasants' Party, Vido Bogdanovic, from Dubrovnik, who was also an active defender of it, and continues: "These individual attempts, such as this initiative, are marginal in reference to their global 'geopolitical aspirations'. There are groups in each nation who think differently, the question is what is the support they enjoy. Such initiatives serve only to fill newspaper columns, but there is no practical use of them".

Pero Portolan, President of Social Democratic Party in Dubrovnik-Neretva District, does not share this opinion: "After those ugly things which happened, maybe it is one of the ways to reestablish confidence in this space. Some people may not think so, but since it is not an initiative of state agencies but people who are opposed to Bulatovic and Milosevic, as well as the opposition which had a different disposition concerning the problems on the territory of former Yugoslavia at the moment of its dissolution, I think that this initiative may be interesting. If this is really humanitarian aid, then I understand it, of course, if there is nothing else behind it. In any case, this gesture at the moment of normalization of relations is perhaps one of the ways to start slowly bringing relations between our two countries, although the opposition is initiating it, or perhaps for that very reason, back into their normal courses. Although it is very difficult after everything the Montegrins have done to us...".

Therefore it remains questionable what will be done with the collected aid, how and whether it should be accepted? Will the answer to the question who is offering aid be pushed aside by the answer to the question where it is coming from? Whether the fact that the southern neighbours of Dubrovnik remember the Croatian aid sent to them in 1979 should be accepted, and Montenegrin "aid" to Ston, Slano, Dubrovnik and the surroundings sent in 1991 disregarded (if judging by Vjesnik's news and collecting aid for Ston)? According to the indirect answer of Vice-District Prefect, Siljeg, this will not be decided by people in Ston and Dubriovnik, but in Zagreb. The blood-stained traces of ruthless aggression against Dubrovnik and its region are still too hot to eliminate suspicion caused in the south of Croatia by the initiative of Montenegrin independent and opposition public, cultural and other workers and their organizations. While the states are normalizing their relations, victims of their "abnormal" relations will need much more time to overcome the clash of quite understandable rejection of collective guilt on the one hand, and also quite understandable existence of collective memories on the other.

That is why, only apparently absurdly, normalization among those who are normal will last much longer than normalization of the others.

GORAN VEZIC