Word: yugoslavs
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...voicing separatist ambitions for months, few could have predicted that the situation would career so quickly to the edge of civil war. Time and again during the past year, ethnic and political tensions in and among the six republics and two semiautonomous provinces have threatened to rip apart the Yugoslav nation. But Slovenia's quest to extricate itself from the quarrelsome federation had been relatively peaceful. The sudden eruption of armed hostilities between Slovenia and the central government in Belgrade raised fears that Yugoslavia's breakup might be at hand...
Last Monday both Slovenia and Croatia vowed to declare independence by midweek. Yugoslav federal Prime Minister Ante Markovic warned, "We would find ourselves sitting on a bomb, which could destroy us all." His words proved prophetic. On Tuesday each republic proclaimed its sovereignty. The next day tank columns moved toward border crossings, and the 20,000 federal troops in Slovenia were placed on combat alert. In the early-morning hours of Thursday, 40 tanks and 20 armored personnel carriers rolled toward the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana to secure the republic's main airport, and traded artillery and antitank fire with...
Plainly the Slovenes have no interest in maintaining a joint tenancy. Their independence declaration states that Slovenia "will no longer be a part" of the federation and that the Yugoslav constitution will no longer apply. The longing to carve out a separate state is lodged deep in the Slovene soul. Because the republic shares a border with Austria and for centuries was a part of the Habsburg empire, Slovenes feel a greater historic, social and psychological kinship with Europe than with the poorer southern republics, which languished under Ottoman rule. Says Vladimir Mljac, the mayor of the town of Lokev...
...Slovenia had hoped to use its bold declaration of independence as a negotiating card, by week's end the republic had its stalwart performance to buttress resolve. The Yugoslav army, by contrast, will have much to explain. The use of missiles on Ljubljana's airport seemed excessive, given the purported objective of restricting access to Slovenia. More inexplicable still, Yugoslav jets fired on civilian trucks and reportedly entered Austrian airspace...
There is reason to hope calmer emotions will prevail. Slovenes are ) undoubtedly dismayed that no country has recognized their independence. The Yugoslav army, in turn, has received no encouragement for its actions, and speculation is keen that senior officers will be held accountable for excesses once civilian order is restored. Perhaps the most encouraging sign is that many among the estimated 500 prisoners of war taken by Slovenia turned themselves in. If civilians and troops alike can signal their interest in cooling the hotheads, perhaps there is still hope that Yugoslavia can settle its differences peacefully...