SERB NATIONAL COUNCIL FOUNDED

AIM Zagreb, 21 July, 1997

On Saturday, 19 July, in Zagreb, in the premises of the Serb Cultural Society called Prosvjeta (SKD) - the Serb National Council (SNV) was founded. Dr Milorad Pupovac, assembly deputy from the SDSS, was elected president with a majority of votes, and Milorad Nenadovic from Darda was elected chairman of the assembly of the Council. The Serbs in Croatia in this way - after unsuccessfully attempting for five years - have finally got what in Croatian terminology is called an "umbrella association". The SNV is a consultative agency, the intention of which is to gather (elected) Serbs from Croatia, serving as a "bridge towards the Croation government, the parent state and the international community", and the institution which will "outline the ethnic identity of this national community, take care of assertion of the rights of the Serbs in this state warranted by the constitution and laws, and search for necessary solutions of all other problems the Serb ethnic community in Croatia is faced with". It is in fact a kind of an assembly, but indeed with no executive and legislative power.

    The Serb National Council has 96 councilmen elected

from majority of the Croatian districts, political parties, associations of citizens and cultural institutions. Representatives of the Serb Orthodox Church from eastern Slavonia also participated in its foundation. The objective of the Council - as could be heard at the founding assembly - will be realization of the personal autonomy of the Serbs in Croatia. "Personal autonomy is the type of autonomy which the Serbs had first the benefit of, in a certain form, in the Turkish empire - by preserving the autonomy of the church and its institutions, school, liturgical, and other traditions - and then this tradition was transferred to Austria-Hungarian, that is, the Habsurg monarchy", says Dr Milorad Pupovac, who wishes revival of that tradition in a modified form. This means that the Serbs in Croatia have given up on territorial and political autonomy.

"The territorial forms which were at first prescribed by Carrington's convention, after that partly by the constitutional law on minority rights, and after that by plan Z4, these concepts at this moment and with the current situation such as it is, are neither feasible nor possible", Pupovac explains. "What is realistic and an optimum for the Serbs in Croatia is personal autonomy along with the mechanism of municipal councils which guarantees that in a certain space and in a certain ambience, in two districts, the Serbs practise their rights within the municipal borders and that they associate with each other in compliance with their interest. Therefore, one element of territorial autonomy is present, but not in the form of a territorial unit, but in the form of the right of the Serb community on the territory of two districts to be interconnected through their municipalities and those who will be elected to be their representatives in the municipalities".

The Serbs look upon the Swedish community in Finland, on Aland islands, as their model. According to the words of Dr Sinisa Tatalovic, presonal autonomy of the Swedes in Finland, apart from proportional participation in the authorities, is supplemented by operation of the Svenska Finlande Folkting (Swedish Assembly of Finland). "In this 'unofficial parliament', the Swedish National Party and other parties which gather the Swedes, cooperate concerning issues which are of their joint interest and adopt the strategy of joint activities in resolving issues important for the minority", says Tatalovic. It is true, it will not be possible for the Serbs to achieve the standards of the Aland islands for a long time to come, if ever. It is, primarily, uncertain how many Serbs will remain in Croatia in the first place, but also how many of them will come back. Before even thinking about the Aland model, the Serbs will first have to ensure the fundamental issues of survival. Pupovac sees the strategy of survival in three main components: "The first is preservation of our identity. The Serbs in mixed environments where they live as a minority without their institutions, should do everything to develop their religious and cultural and educational institutions in order to preserve their global identity. The second issue is that of their human, civic integration into the Croatian society. In short, the Serbs must be given the opportunity to be able to participate in public activities in public places, like any one else. The third component is the issue of return of our compatriots to what is theirs, the right to return which can be neither alienated nor taken away". According to his opinion, "now it is quite clear that a significant number of people will return. Of course, this process cannot be completed overnight. It is a process which lasts and based on our knowledge, so far, about 10 per cent of the former Serb population returned to the territory which used to be the Krajina".

The Council was conceived as a "super-partisan and a non-partisan" organization which will unite the Serbs from eastern Slavonia with those who are in other parts of the state, with no intention to force any kind of false unity on them, says Dr Slobodan Uzelac, president of the SKD Prosvjeta. But this platform proved to be too broad. Although it was planned for the Council to gather all the Serb deputies in the Assembly - from the minority Serb list but also those from parties with a Croation prefix - Milan Djukic and Veselin Pejnovic did not join this agency, while Snjezana Biga Friganovic from the SDP just sent a letter of support. Some known individuals the founders had counted on - like actor Pero Kvrgic and writer Cedo Prica - refused to join the Council, while Rade Serbedzija also sent a letter of support from Los Angeles, although he did not manage to come because he is shooting another film there. At the founding assembly there was not a single representative of Croatian authorities, minister for the Serbs in diaspora from FRY, Radovan Pankov, also failed to appear (he too, sent a letter), and the ambassador of FRY in Croatia, Veljko Knezevic, who was present at its foundation, offered his support to the Council.

    Milan Djukic, until recently the first Serb politician

in Croatia, not only refused to join the Council, but sharply attacked this initiative. According to Djukic's opinion, it is a "shameful act" and "a private initiative of a few Serb alleged politicians", and foundation of the Council is "a shameful act with no precedent in all the tragic events of the Serb nation in Croatia". Djukic believes that the Council is an expression of "unsuccessful and known ambitions to be a leader of Pupovac and his sympathizers" whom he accuses of having fled to America and Serbia in 1991, and of having receiving various donations from the Croatian government. He also accused Veljko Dzakula, Miroslav Keravica and some other members of the Council of rebellion against the Croatian state and rejected "every responsibility in the face of the Serb nation and the citizens of Croatia due to unreasonable moves of the named and paid persons who have entered the parliament without votes and legitimacy of the Serb nation". From the ranks of the SDSS it was replied that "Djukic and Pejnovic are continuing to follow the police logic, and now Djukic is advocating quite firm stands which are harmful for the Serbs in Croatia". Veselin Pejnovic who wished to found a similar body last year - the Serb National Congress - is also against the foundation of the Council. "Now is no time for making institutes and at the same time avoiding to deal with real problems" says Pejnovic, and - as claimed by weekly Tjednik - he has in mind "shortage of money, return of displaced persons, reconstruction of everything demolished".

"It is primarily quite clear that the Serbs in Croatia in global resolution of their position should negotiate with those who have power", says Milorad Pupovac. "It is not an easy job and it is not a simple job. The fact that a part of the political public thinks on the basis of a previous pattern that it is necessary for the Serbs to direct their entire activity towards opposition activities, it is unfortunately - as concerning real interests of the Serb community in Croatia at this moment - impossible and unfeasible. We must now solve the question of our survival in Croatia and indeed we must do everything possible in order to broaden the space for this survival and this broadening cannot be achieved without democratization. It is in this sense necessary for us to preserve our autonomy in relation both to the authorities and the opposition and to act in compliance with our interests. This means resolution of our status in Croatia and further democratization of Croatia".

The Croatian state stimulates such and other divisions among the Serbs. At the moment when Tudjman's regime is subjected to semi-proclaimed sanctions, and open pressure of the international community to enable return of the Serbs and extradite war criminals to the Hague is not diminishing, creation of a strong and united Serb political organization is not at all convenient for the official Zagreb. Especially if the process of return of the Serbs from FR Yugolsavia does not take place quicker and in a larger scope, as President Tudjman

• in talks with the American ambassador with the UN, Bill Ruichardson for the first time openly said in Brijuni the other day, although just a month ago in Vukovar he swore that there would be no massive return of the Serbs to Croatia.

BORIS RASETA (AIM)