SERBIA WATCH #83 - MAY 24, 1999

Serbia Watch, a bulletin on civil society, political and economic developments in Serbia and Montenegro, is issued by the Open Society Institute (Washington Office). Please communicate any questions, comments or requests to receive Serbia Watch to Jay Wise at 202-496-2401 or jwise@osi-dc.org.

"We do not want divisions, tribal and ethnic conflicts at the end of the 20th century. 'We want all the Albanian children and all the Albanian families protected, and we want them all to return to their homes." Verica Baric, member of anti-war "citizens' parliament" recently formed in southern Serbia
Quoted by The Guardian (London), May 21 ­ Cacak, Serbia

"He will have to be forced [to leave] as you are forcing him, by bombing… The most immoral thing would be to negotiate with him for the rights of Kosovars for free and fair elections when we don't have it in Serbia." Former Yugoslav Prime Minister and opposition "Alliance for Change" coalition leader Milan Panic
Quoted by Reuters, May 14 -- London

"Day-by-day, hour-by-hour, we are fighting with those who want to jeopardize statehood and democracy in Montenegro... The army, either wittingly or unwittingly, has put itself at the disposal of the Belgrade dictatorship, which is obsessed with the idea of conquering Montenegro." Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic
Quoted by Reuters, May 23 ­ Podgorica

"It is getting worse. They want to throttle us. They have effectively taken over our borders." Unnamed Montenegro government official
Quoted by Reuters, May 20 -- Podgorica

I. ANTI-WAR PROTESTS, LARGE-SCALE DESERTIONS APPEAR IN SERBIA

Spreading demonstrations in Milosevic stronghold, and crackdown * Reuters reported today that "antiwar protests in Serbia have gathered pace, with thousands taking to the streets in three towns to demand the withdrawal of reservists from Kosovo, the independent daily Vijesti said on Monday. The newspaper, describing the weekend protests in southern Serbia as "dramatic," said the largest demonstration took place in Krusevac, where discontent with the Kosovo conflict first surfaced a week ago. Smaller rallies were also reported in the towns of Aleksandrovac and Raska. A fourth town, Prokuplje, was also due to stage a protest on Monday after the bodies of 11 local soldiers slain in Kosovo were returned to their families on Saturday, the paper said."

* BBC reported today that "the Yugoslav general in charge of the war in Kosovo has been called in from the military campaign to placate thousands of mutinous troops and protesters, according to reports reaching the republic of Montenegro... General Nebojsa Pavkovic spent Sunday in the Serbian town of Raska, where many of the dead and wounded have been arriving over the past few days. He promised that those men who were sick or needed to provide for their families could stay at home, but others would still have to go to Kosovo to fight. His concessions did little to placate the more than 1,000 protesters reported to be rallying against him. In another town, Aleksandrovac, two Yugoslav army colonels sent in from Nis were said to be held by a crowd until they promised to deliver a petition to Belgrade." The Daily Telegraph (London) reported today that "anti-government protests flared across southern Serbia yesterday despite attempts by Yugoslav security forces to stamp out the unrest through arrests, the harassment of suspected activists and military checkpoints around restive communities. In the partly destroyed town of Raska, near the border with Kosovo, hundreds of residents protested yesterday after dozens of soldiers from the area were reported to have been killed by NATO bombing in Kosovo."

*The Observer (London) reported Sunday that "on Thursday, an antiwar rally was reported in the town of Brus. A source in the area said that, on Friday, soldiers [from the Yugoslav military's Third Army currently deployed in Kosovo] who had received their callup papers gathered at the mobilization point in Zabare and said they did not want to go to Kosovo. They sent a delegation to the municipal offices in Krusevac to demand demobilisation papers. Similar protests are reported in Raska and Paljevic, where villagers signed a petition and reportedly held up a banner saying: 'While one part of Serbia is screaming, another is singing', a reference to the rock concerts in Belgrade."

* Reuters today cited a report by independent Podgorica news agency Montena-Fax "[that] Serb police arrested... several members of [Cacak's independent "Citizens' Parliament," including] lawyer Verica Barac, pediatrician Mirjana Hercog and businessman Vladimir Stegnjanjic." Deutsche Presse Agentur reported yesterday that "a citizen's group in the central Serbian town of Cack was forbidden Sunday by police to hold an anti-war protest. The opposition group, which has named itself the Independent Parliament of Citizens... were told they could not hold a demonstration because all public gatherings were banned for the duration of the 'war,' the Belgrade news agency BETA reported." Independent TV Crna Gora

[Podgorica] reported May 23 that the Citizens' Parliament in Cacak repeated a "request that the municipal institutions, the New Serbia party and the military district headquarters of the Uzice corps inform them about the whereabouts of the head of the Cacak municipal assembly [and Cacak mayor], Velimir Ilic." Western media have not yet reported Ilic's absence. TV Crna Gora had reported May 20 that "military police last night tried to arrest and interrogate the mayor of Cacak... Since [he] was not in his house at the time, the military police arrested his brother, who was released after interrogation." The Guardian (London) reported May 21 that "the mayor of Cacak's house was reported to have been surrounded by Serbian police on Wednesday night shortly after his public denunciation of Mr. Milosevic...The internet web site run by the [opposition Serbian]

Democratic Party yesterday carried an article saying that Cacak had set up a 'citizens' parliament' to 'protect Albanian families in Kosovo and their rights'...The news agency said the group demanded that local television allow them to broadcast their views and that military equipment be taken out of Cacak, where a munitions plant has been a regular target of NATO bombing."

* Agence France Presse reported May 14 that "Ilic, mayor of Cacak, 160 kilometres [100 miles] south of Belgrade, where four people were killed and 13 injured in NATO air raids Monday, called on the authorities to do 'everything to stop the bombing. Destruction in the country is great, and there are more and more dead every day,' Ilic, leader of the opposition Serbia-Together party, told the independent Beta news agency, calling on the Serbian and Yugoslav parliaments to hold daily sessions."

* The Obsever (London) reported yesterday that "The Citizens' Parliament has sent an open letter to President Milosevic calling on him to stop the war immediately. 'We do not want further division among our people because of nationality, political party, religion or any other affiliation,' it says. 'We are asking you to bring our country into the international community, because the price we have paid in isolation and war is too great. We consider human rights as a fundamental value and we are calling on you to save the lives of all Yugoslav citizens by our actions.' The Cacak Citizens' Parliament is made up primarily of intellectuals lawyers and teachers. The pamphlet outlining their aims takes good care to make no mention of Kosovo, but demands 'an end to the further killings of civilians and soldiers' and 'the return of all refugees and displaced peoples to their homes."

* Independent TV Crna Gora [Podgorica] reported the Cacak 'citizens' parliament' yesterday sent a letter to Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic: "The Cacak citizens' parliament calls on you not to allow yourself to be sucked into this morass of madness, caused by an adventurist policy based on the ideology of collective suicide. Given that there is a number of our citizens among Yugoslav Army units in Montenegro, we assure you that they will not allow themselves to be manipulated by irresponsible politicians and that any attempt to provoke clashes between two brother nations will be doomed to fail in advance. The democratic consciousness of Cacak's citizens is a guarantee that it will come to a true democratization in Serbia, which you have already succeeded in starting in Montenegro."

* The Scotsman (Edinburgh) reported May 21 that "for the past few days mothers have demonstrated in Krucevac, Aleksnadrovac and Cacak... the crowds ranged from 1,000 to 3,000, depending on the source of reports." The New York Times May 21 reported that "five days of demonstrations by women in who were angry because their men had been drafted for military service in Kosovo ended [Thursday] when many of the men returned home... The army commander in Kosovo, General Nebojsa Pavkovic, intervened to defuse the anger of the women... who were demanding news of the men... He met with hundreds of women on Wednesday in two separate meetings... At the same time, soldiers began arriving home in army trucks and cars, apparently given permission to return from Kosovo in large numbers." BBC reported today that "Montenegro's independent daily Vijesti said on Thursday that Gen Pavkovic, who was dispatched to Krusevac to talk to the men, had failed to persuade the deserters to return to Kosovo. Gen Pavkovic said the army would view their return home as temporary leave, but Vijesti said this offer had been refused. '(The soldiers) want a permanent end to the war," the newspaper said in an article headlined "Not even Pavkovic can make the troops return to Kosovo.' " The Independent (London) reported May 21 that "heavy police reinforcements, including military police with dogs, have been brought to Krusevac from Nis, but the situation remains tense."

* The Independent noted May 21 that "the men apparently returned to their original recruitment points in Krusevac and Aleksandrovac on Wednesday where negotiations with the military authorities.... took place. The result is said to be that the soldiers had handed in their weapons and been issued with demobilization certificates noting that they served in Kosovo and authorizing them to return to their homes." The Christian Science Monitor reported May 20 "NATO sources... say that 1,000 conscripts deserted Kosovo because of rough police behavior at the demonstrations. NATO says some of the soldiers actually shot their way through a police checkpoint on the homebound route between Pristina and Nis."

* The Christian Science Monitor reported May 21 that "the Yugoslav Army has acknowledged the protests and accused the organizers of 'undermining the defense of the country, treason and direct collaboration with the enemy.' According to sources, Yugoslav officials are debating whether to prosecute the AWOL soldiers or to make it look as if they are part of an announced partial troop withdrawal from Kosovo." Agence France Presse reported May 19 that "the command of the Krusevac garrison was quoted on local television accusing the demonstrators of weakening Yugoslavia's defense and collaborating with the enemy. Describing the protest as 'subversive,' it said that judicial proceedings had been launched in accordance with the state of war declared by Belgrade." The New York Times reported May 21 that during a meeting with the protesters "General [of the Third Army Nebojsa] Pavkovic "described the March 1998 class of draftees as 'real heroes.' " Belgrade news agency BETA reported May 20 that Serbian Radical Party leader and Serbia's deputy prime minister Vojislav Seselj said May 20 "that the demonstrations in Krusevac and Aleksandrovac had been provoked by 'anti-Serbian and traitor elements, coordinated with NATO forces.' " The Guardian (London) reported May 21 that "special police reinforcements were alleged to have been sent to western Kosovo to deal with continuing military ill-discipline."

* The Independent noted May 21 that "the mass desertion is said by informed sources in the capital to have thrown the government of President Slobodan Milosevic into 'near panic'...of particular significance is said to be the fact that many of the men come from agricultural villages around Krusevac, long a heartland of Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party. "This shows that people there are turning away from Milosevic,' one source said. In Belgrade, informed sources are reporting deep official disquiet over the desertions." The Christian Science Monitor noted May 21 that "despite the protests, however, analysts in Belgrade say such events are unlikely to loosen Milosevic's grip on power... [an independent Belgrade analyst said] 'These are three tiny towns. The only thing they will get from protesting is a greater police presence.' "

* Agence France Presse reported May 14 that "Zoran Zivkovic, mayor of the southern town of Nis, heavily hit by the NATO raids, urged Belgrade to support the G-8 nations' plan for Kosovo, as a 'basis for political solution' for the conflict. 'No idea is worth the death of whole population. Patriotism is not to push the whole nation towards death, but to ensure the future for them,' Zivkovic, a top official in the Democratic party (DS) of Zoran Djindjic, told reporters here."

Unrest in the north

* The Financial Times reported May 20 that "anti-war protests yesterday spread to the northern industrial city of Pancevo where, according to one local reporter, several hundred people, many of them women, demonstrated against the mobilization of reservists. 'This might become serious for the army. It's very dangerous,' said one Serbian editor." The Independent (London) noted May 21 that "steps [have] apparently been taken to prevent serious unrest among garrison forces near the capital, some of which have been subjected to heavy NATO bombing. Soldiers serving near Belgrade were reported recently to have been ordered to hand in most of the ammunition in their possession. They had earlier been issued with 150 rounds per rifle."

* The Financial Times (London) reported May 20 that "residents say the popular mood is starting to swing against the authorities in Belgrade too. Electricity and water supplies have been disrupted, more buildings have been targeted and the prices of some basic commodities are rising. The daily, anti-NATO pop concerts that drew thousands a month ago now only attract a meager audience. 'NATO is still the first enemy, but people are asking more and more about their leader and why he has not addressed the nation since all this began,' one Serbian journalist commented.

* US Ambassador to Macedonia Christopher Hill told CNN Sunday that "in Macedonia, we hear many business people here who have friends and relatives and even former business associates there, with the sense that there is a real feeling that this can't go on forever. And that I think Milosevic is getting the message, based on my discussions with him, there's a point at which a certain rationality will kick in."

Opposition politicians ponder post-war scene

* The Christian Science Monitor May 21 reported a spokeswoman for the opposition Democratic Party "says they would not support the demonstrations because they 'can only bring trouble to the whole country. We will not ask party members to come to the streets... It's irresponsible. There have been enough victims here already ­ and we want to avoid making more at all costs.' " Radio Pancevo Sunday broadcast a statement by the Serbian Renewal Movement (led by Vuk Draskovic, a Yugoslav deputy prime minister until Milosevic fired him April 27) official Ljubomir Ljujijevic: "We urge SPO activists not to make their contribution to similar events, and we plead with all other citizens to do the same. We also demand that our activists pass the following message: We are the victims of the aggression, we are not the side which started the war, hence it is not up to us but the NATO aggressor whether the war ends or not. At the same time, the aggressor's command sees these protests as internal rebellion against the country's defense, and it concludes on the basis of these events that it is necessary to step up the destruction of Serbia and the killing of our people." Belgrade news agency BETA reported May 20 that Serbian Radical Party leader and Serbian deputy prime minister Vojislav Seselj said that his party had 'reliable information' that the protests in Krusevac and Aleksandrovac had been organized by local SPO activists and asked investigative bodies to determine whether 'the SPO headquarters is involved in this as well.' "

* The New York Times reported May 21 that the Serbian opposition to Milosevic "is weak and fractured and is likely to remain so, with a great divide emerging between those who fled Serbia, like the Democratic party leader Zoran Djindjic...and those who remained under the double threat of repression and NATO bombs... Mr. Djindjic may have done his political future enormous harm by leaving Serbia, in contrast to a less popular opposition leader, Vuk Obradovic, a former general and leader of the Social Democracy party, who has remained in Belgrade while calling for Milosevic to resign or call new elections...Given Milosevic's political strength, some analysts here believe that succession will be most easily accomplished by someone perceived as transitional, who is not regarded as an enemy of the Milosevic government. That is likely to be a younger member of an allied party, such as the Yugoslav United Left. But among the opposition, Obradovic... could be such a person, or the former May of Belgrade, Nebojsa Covic, a Milosevic loyalist who broke with him on an issue of conscience. Mr. Draskovic, for all his critics, is still thought to have strong chances among a weak crew of democrats. "

* The Financial Times noted May 20 that "one Belgrade-based diplomat said the growing sense of malaise gave Mr. Milosevic the leeway to end the war, at almost any cost, but the hardline generals he himself appointed would not tolerate a capitulation to NATO... [In an interview, Serbian Radical Party leader and Serbia's deputy prime minister Vojislav] Seselj - regarded by most Belgrade analysts to be firmly under the control of Mr. Milosevic but seen by a few as a rival for power - set out tough conditions for a settlement. Kosovo and its ethnic Albanian majority could be given "maximum" autonomy within the republic of Serbia and the Yugoslav federation, but any UN mission must be civilian, he said. Belgrade must also demand war reparations and, if not satisfied, should seize foreign-owned assets, he said, giving the example of Telecom Italia's stake in Telecom Serbia."

* Reuters reported May 14 that former Yugoslavia Prime Minister Milan Panic "said on Friday only NATO bombs could force Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic from office and he urged the West not to negotiate with him."

Continued threats against Serb human rights, opposition activists

* Associated Press reported May 21 that "opposition Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic declared Friday he will defy an order to report for military duty, and his Democratic Party said military police are looking for him. ''I will not respond ... and I said this even before the war started...Those who started the war and who are advocating the war must go first.' Djindjic said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Vojislav Seselj, a deputy premier of Serbia and a rigorous nationalist, should get drafted first... Ljiljana Lucic, a deputy to Djindjic, said military police came looking for him Thursday at the party headquarters, presumably to deliver draft papers. Lucic said it was likely the military tried to serve draft papers when Djindjic was not in Belgrade so he could be charged with avoiding military service during the state of war."

* Radio Montenegro (Podgorica) reported May 23 that "yesterday, unknown individuals tried completely to remove the notice board, already damaged in an earlier attack, outside the Democratic Party headquarters in Belgrade." BBC reported May 22 that " Serbia's Democratic Party has accused the government of leading attacks on its property after the party's offices in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia's second city, were vandalized. A metal plaque bearing the party's name was torn off the building in the early hours of Friday morning, the Serbian news agency BETA reported." Reuters noted May 19 that "a stone-throwing crowd attacked the headquarters of Serbia's main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday for the third time in the past ten days. Several dozen men chanting 'traitors' hurled stones at the three-story building in the exclusive Vracar residential area in central Belgrade… The headquarters was first attacked on May 9, when a glass pane on a billboard outside was smashed. In a second attack on Tuesday the building's facade was smeared with red liquid and graffiti saying 'this is your blood too,' and '5th column.' " The Financial Times reported May 20 that "Democratic Party activists said demonstrators with cropped hair, wearing leather jackets, and arriving in BMWs and Mercedes, had briefly rallied in front of the party headquarters before throwing stones, eggs and red paint at the building."

* The New York Times reported yesterday that Natasa Kandic, the head of Serbia's independent Humanitarian Law Center "[said] in recent weeks, several hundred people in Serbia, including a number of her own employees, have been invited by the police for an 'informal talk.' They were questioned about their work for the tribunal at The Hague and about other organizations and intellectuals. Several people have received anonymous letters full of abuse and threats."

* Reuters reported May 17 that "Politika Ekspress, part of a pro-government publishing empire [in Serbia] attacked Belgrade-based correspondents of Voice of America, US-backed Radio Free Europe and Germany's Deutsche Welle, but used no names. 'All these glorious Serbian 'independent' and 'free' journalists contribute in their own miserable and traitorous way,' the evening paper said in a commentary headlined 'It's treason we're talking about… Prominent opposition journalist Slavko Curuvija was shot dead outside his home by unknown gunmen in April soon after being accused by Politka Ekspress… of welcoming NATO bombs.' "

More reports of Milosevic seeking immunity on war crimes

* The Sunday Times (London) noted May 22 that "rumors are multiplying that Milosevic may be ready to hand over power, while retaining an official position to protect him from arrest. The NATO threat that he would be picked up and tried as a war criminal appears to have touched a raw nerve. In almost every scenario now being suggested in Belgrade, the emphasis is on Milosevic's determination to guaranty immunity from arrest for himself and his family."

* A report published May 13 on ABC News' web site noted: "Investigators may already have enough evidence to charge the Yugoslav president with atrocities carried out during the 3˝-year Bosnian civil war, which ended in 1995...ABC NEWS has obtained classified Yugoslav government documents that make the case for genocide against Milosevic in Bosnia clearer than ever before. They prove that top officials reporting directly to him were personally involved in a systematic attempt to destroy non-Serb ethnic groups of Bosnia... One 1994 letter from a Bosnian Serb arms maker reveals that the chief of staff of the Yugoslav army — who reported directly to Milosevic — approved a request by the Bosnian Serbs for Russian-made rocket launchers used in the shelling of Sarajevo... Another classified Bosnian Serb army document shows that Milosevic's government was paying the salaries of all Bosnian Serb officers — many of them directly responsible for many of the atrocities in Bosnia... ABC NEWS has also learned that Gen. Djordje Djukic — the highest-ranking Serb officer brought to The Hague for trial, although he was later released due to ill health — confirmed to investigators before his death from cancer that Bosnian Serb forces were directed by Milosevic's government. Some war crimes analysts say Milosevic was already indictable for genocidal campaigns but was never prosecuted because the United States and other governments treated him as a partner in the negotiations to end the Bosnian conflict." [The full text of the report can be found at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/kosovo990513_milosevic.html ; the documents referred to above can be found at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/kosovo990513_documents.html .]

* Moscow daily Kommersant reported May 21 it "has learnt that [Russia's President Boris Yeltsin and South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela on May 20] discussed South Africa's readiness to grant political asylum to Slobodan Milosevic. The report of the telephone conversation between Yeltsin and Mandela was hardly noticed against the background of the flow of information about [Yeltsin's Balkans envoy] Viktor Chernomyrdin's and [Russian Foreign Minister] Igor Ivanov's intensive negotiations for a Yugoslav settlement. But precisely that conversation could play the decisive role in ending the war in the Balkans. The report that Milosevic might leave Yugoslavia emerged several days ago, when it became clear that this time the Serbian leader would fail to conclude a deal with the world community and secure for himself the desired status of a guarantor of a Kosovo peace. This would have guaranteed Milosevic if not his continued stay in power, at any rate a tranquil old age. The West made it clear that "there will be no bargaining". Milan Panic, a former Yugoslav prime minister...who has extensive connections in the West, told a ' Kommersant' correspondent 'the Belgrade regime's days are numbered. Milosevic will be tried as a war criminal. Although he might move to Libya or South Africa.' "

II. BELGRADE STEPS UP POLITICAL, MILITARY PRESSURE ON MONTENEGRO

"Ring of steel" around Montenegro as Belgrade's "creeping coup" continues

* Reuters reported today that Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic said "more than 20 trucks, some carrying humanitarian aid, were stuck at a military checkpoint close to Montenegro's border with Croatia... residents near the [Croatian] border said on Sunday that... troops were digging new heavy machine-gun positions." Reuters reported May 20 that "Yugoslav soldiers have thrown a ring of steel around Montenegro, setting up checkpoints at all the main border crossings of this small republic, officials said on Thursday. Some people were being allowed into the country, but only if they had valid visas for Serbia. Local men of a fighting age can leave Montenegro only if they get special dispensation from the army."

* Reuters reported May 17 that Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic "met with EU [European Union] foreign ministers on Monday… Djukanovic's advice to the 15-nation bloc was: bypass Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and negotiate with someone else if you want a real deal. 'He does not think that Mr. Milosevic will be the person with whom one could have a political agreement on a lasting peace,' said an EU official who was present at a meeting between Djukanovic and EU External Relations Commissioner Hans van den Broek. 'There should be someone else other than Milosevic.' The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Djukanovic had told van den Broek that Milosevic was trying to impose his will on Montenegro… by stationing 45,000 Yugoslav army troops there and censoring state television."

* Reuters reported May 18 that "Federal authorities at the weekend [of May 15-16] refused permission for a shipment of much-needed flour to dock in [Montenegro], forcing the importers to divert their cargo to nearby Croatia. 'The aim of the federal government is to create shortages here and spark riots by making people unhappy,' Transport minister Jusuf Kalamperovic told Reuters in an interview on Monday."

* Associated Press May 19 reported that "Yugoslav troops… are hijacking Western humanitarian aid destined for Albanian refugees in Montenegro, a diplomat from the pro-Western republic said Wednesday. [Montenegro's envoy to Washington, Zorica Maric] said that relief convoys arriving from neighboring Croatia are being stopped by Yugoslav troops at the nearby military base of Kumbor, and the supplies and trucks confiscated. 'All vehicles are stopped and searched, including trucks with humanitarian aid,' Maric said. 'Humanitarian trucks are redirected to the Kumbor military barracks.' "

* Reuters May 21 quoted Wolfgang Petrisch, EU envoy to Kosovo: "When I was in Montenegro at the end of April I warned about what I called a creeping coup ­ attempts by the Yugoslav federal authorities and the Yugoslav army in particular to gradually take over power… That is a situation which is now unfortunately moving closer." As reported in Serbia Watch #82: "The International Herald Tribune noted April 27 that 'if Serbian forces seek to enter Montenegro to overthrow the government, [an unnamed senior] U.S. official said, NATO air power will attack the troops and their supply routes. His statement was the most specific threat yet to Belgrade about NATO intervention to protect countries supporting the allied campaign.' "

Increased Yugoslav army forces around anti-Milosevic town

* Associated Press reported today that "some 5,000 people ­ almost a third of the population of Cetinje [Montenegro] ­ protested on Friday recent Yugoslav army reinforcements around the city and demanded the military withdraw. 'The siege is tightening around Cetinje, but they will not frighten us,[Cetinje's mayor Savo] Paraca said. 'We are telling the army today that it is not welcome in our city. We are aware of Milosevic's insane policies and the devastation of the country… and we don't want to participate in it.' " Agence France Presse reported May 21 from the town of Cetinje that "according to local sources, the Yugoslav army has brought more than 1,000 reservists into the town, known for its anti-Belgrade sentiments. Cetinje 'looks like a town under siege,' one of the protesters said. 'The stationing and deployment of reservis units as well as the 'activities of some of its members are clearly not aimed at defense against an external enemy, as is claimed,' a statement from the local crisis center claimed." Reuters reported May 20 that "government officials... reported the army had positioned tanks and heavy artillery around... Cetinje."

III. INCREASED PRESSURE ON VOJVODINA

* The Boston Globe reported May 14 that in the ethnic Hungarian province of Vojvodina in Serbia, "there have been accounts of grass-roots harassment, officials said. Churches have been firebombed. Store windows have been smashed. Threatening phone calls are common. Recent arrivals [in Hungary] say Vojvodina streets are occupied by Serb military and the tension is mounting. 'They're not mistreating you, but it's tense, said one man who came… from Vojvodina… three weeks ago."

* Reuters May 19 quoted Britain's Secretary of State for Defense George Robertson, speaking in Budapest: "I don't think it is scare-mongering to say Vojvodina would be next in line for ethnic purity... We have seen a unique savagery and there is no indication [Milosevic] would stop there."

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