Word: croatia
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Despite daily charges of truce violations, the fragile cease-fire between the secessionist republic of Slovenia and the Yugoslav government held last week. Both are publicly committed to a three-month cooling-off period, yet the agreement has done little to quell tensions in independence-minded Croatia, where conflict between Croatians and Serbs threatens to erupt in warfare...
Most ethnic Serbs, who number 600,000 among Croatia's 4.6 million residents, are so integrated into the republic that they voted in favor of secession in the May 19 referendum. But a core of radicals, bent on preserving ties with Serbia, are waging a guerrilla war in Croatia's northeastern region of Slavonia and the southern pocket of Krajina, where the patchwork dispersal of both groups makes a peaceful solution difficult. The goal of the radicals is a Greater Serbia that would absorb Serbian enclaves; arrayed against them is Croatia's ambition to form a separate nation...
Civilian authorities were ill positioned to impose a truce; a sense of powerlessness was endemic. Many admitted being as shocked as the rest of the world by Adzic's bellicose statement and by the dispatch of the menacing column toward Croatia's border. Asked if he thought Adzic was a loyal supporter of the federal government, Prime Minister Ante Markovic retorted, "I don't know, you'll have to ask him. Why are you asking...
Whom to ask, then? The military high command? The mixed signals emanating from Yugoslavia's generals increased speculation that even the army itself did not know what its next move would be. No sooner had Adzic issued his belligerent warning than another general, Andreja Raseta, a Serb from Croatia who is deputy commander of the Yugoslav army units deployed in Slovenia, announced that federal troops would not fire unless they were fired upon. The Defense Minister, General Veljko Kadijevic, in the meantime assured the federal presidency that the army would abide by the cease-fire. Long considered a moderate...
...that he would recognize the republics, provided independence was achieved peacefully. In Europe, where public sympathy for the secessionists runs high, Germany made the sharpest U-turn. "Countries cannot be held together by tanks and force," said Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He warned Belgrade that an attack on Slovenia or Croatia could affect German economic aid to Yugoslavia, which last year totaled $550 million. Britain, France and Italy are also considering joining the Western swing toward recognition...