As the visitor enters Dr. Vojislav Kostunica's headquarters the atmosphere
and decorum are-not only by Belgrade standards-eminently presidential.
The oak-paneled walls, the conference room with a magnificent view of
the Kalemegdan Park, the villa's elite neighborhood right next to the
French Embassy, all testify that the occupant is not just another opposition
politician.
That Kostunica, the last president of Yugoslavia, remains the people's
choice of future Serbian president, was reconfirmed by an opinion poll
published September 30. The leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia
remains the most popular politician in the country by far, although
his foes in the ruling coalition have systematically vilified and slandered
him for months. Kostunica has already won an election for Serbian president,
only to be denied the post last fall by a Milosevic-era law requiring
more than 50 percent of the electorate to vote in order for the result
to stand. The Serbian government has refused to repeal the controversial
turnout law, thus effectively compromising its "reformist" credentials
and displaying its willingness to resort to Milosevic's authoritarian
legacy in order to keep Kostunica out of office.
Kostunica regards his absence from top office as a temporary and not
unwelcome break in what has been and promises to continue being a remarkable
political career. Looking back at his turbulent two and a half years
at the helm of the last Yugoslavia he sees the problem of the relations
between Serbia and Montenegro as the greatest burden. "By reading Thomas
Fleming's book on Montenegro we get pretty clear picture of the situation
there," he says. "What we have here is a phenomenon of practically the
same nation, the same family, in some strange way being artificially
divided into two families and two nations":
Very important in these relations is the fact that Serbia Montenegro
were the only two independent states of the former Yugoslavia. They
reached their independence after the Congress in Berlin in 1878 and
both of them-but particularly Montenegro-are very conscious of its statehood.
We've tried to resolve this with a very strange sort of Constitution,
the so-called Constitutional Charter that will enable these two state
units to remain within one state from the international point of view,
but also to save their own autonomy … We are in favor of a larger state.
It is very important that this state is both middle European and Mediterranean.
The advantage of this strange state union is that Montenegro is on the
coast of the Danube and Serbia is on the coast of Adriatic Sea. [There
are] other advantages of this state union, like the fact that Serbs
and Montenegrins are of the same origin, and that many of them live
in Serbia-proper. On the other hand we have all witnessed problems and
difficulties when states disintegrate, such as social problems and vengeance.
I am still an optimist. I think anything is possible in the Balkans.
This state goes through the American experience with federalism. Being
first a loose federation and than becoming "a more perfect Union."
What we have today will develop in the direction of a more perfect Union.
Montenegrins are divided, Kostunica says, and in a referendum it is
not enough to have a bare majority. He invokes the Canadian experience
with the referendum in Quebec and the Clarity Act of 2000:
I believe that under normal circumstances-that means free and fair elections
or referendum-there would be a majority, not overwhelming, but a majority
nonetheless, in favor of Montenegro staying within the state union…
As things have changed in Serbia after Milosevic, they will change in
Montenegro as well after Djukanovic. They were partners in this game
for years. Djukanovic would have never made his career without Milosevic.
As for Kosovo, Kostunica is adamant that resolving its "final status"
by granting it independence is out of the question. He believes that
all sides will be forced to look into some unconventional solutions
that will make Kosovo a part of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro with
a high degree of autonomy, with the Serbs in Kosovo and their historical
and cultural monuments enjoying a high degree of autonomy within Kosovo:
One might think of the institutional solution such as the Republika
Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina or South Tyrol in Italy. That solution
must be within one state, however: Kosovo must stay within Serbia, and
Serbia and Montenegro within their Union. The idea of an independent
Kosovo would cause immediate and enormous problems not only to Serbia-Montenegro
but also to other states in the neighborhood, and specifically to Macedonia
and Northern Greece.
As for the internal situation in Serbia, Kostunica sees the biggest
problem in corruption and organized crime that have jointly established
control over Serbia's government:
It is not only a specific relationship and a marriage between the government,
the organized crime and corruption in Serbia. It is more serious. In
many ways the organized crime is controlling the government. One might
say that we have some sort of para-government in Serbia, with an official
and an unofficial government. This may be compared with the experience
of some Latin American countries, but in my estimation in some ways
it is even worse than that … We lack the rule of law, or as the Germans
would say, Rechtstaat. The institutions are weak and the criminals are
strong … [which] is why we have ministers that have their own private
businesses and firms engaged in all sort of illegal activities.
Kostunica is adamant that fresh parliamentary elections must be held
before the presidential ones. The parliamentary elections in December
2000 were against the former regime, says he, they were not for something
positive:
The only solution for Serbia to go on is to have an early election.
It is regularly scheduled for December 2004, but that would be too late.
The situation in the society I very difficult. The rate of unemployed
has increased since October 2000. The economy is practically dead, and
its profitable parts have been sold. The government tries to use tricks
to show that things look better than they are. For example the average
salary is calculated according to the number of persons who actually
get their salary. But, we have many people who are employed but have
not received their salary for a few months, or a year, or even more
than a year. These people are not included in these numbers.
On the external front Kostunica sees more support for the integrity
of the common Serbian-Montenegrin state in Brussels that in Washington.
This, he says, is partly due to the power of money deployed by the Albanian
mafia in the US:
The most prosperous, the most dangerous and the most influential criminal
group, not only in Serbia and Montenegro but also in the region as a
whole, is the Albanian Mafia. It is engaged in all sorts of trafficking,
drugs and so on. It poses a serious danger to the region as a whole.
Practically all the activities of the supporters of Kosovo independence
and also some American lobbies are financed by the Albanian Mafia.
Had there been more reasoning and will in Serbia not to accept everything
and not to offer more that it is asked by the international community,
Kostunica says, the country would have been better off. When it comes
to the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal there would be more space
for maneuvering if there was will for that maneuvering, like Croatia.
And also, I think that there is a chance if you rely more on Brussels
and European countries such as France, Italy, and Russian Federation.
It is possible, particularly after this division over the Iraq war.
There is a room for that. But there must be a will and common strategy.
Looking to the future, Kostunica sees as his first task after returning
to power the drafting of the new Constitution; then an effort to make
the current loose link with Montenegro stronger; to strengthen links
with the Serbs living in the Serbian entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
and to build the rule of law within Serbia:
From the very beginning of my career I got two characteristics: One
was that I was a nationalist, or as they would say in Washington, a
"moderate nationalist." The second one was the "legalist"
label. That has to do with my efforts to build a rule of law as a basic
principle in this country. I was attacked because of that … We really
need to have strong institutions, rule of law, stable state and an independent
judiciary. Our judiciary has been destroyed, abused by the minister
of justice who controls the apparatus, dismisses judges etc. The most
important institution in the Federalist Papers is the least dangerous
branch of government-the judiciary. For countries in transition the
most important branch of government is the judiciary. The rule of law,
an independent judiciary, giving Parliament a chance to be independent
of the government, that is the separation of powers, and something we
need.
Kostunica concludes by stating that he would not run in the recently
called presidential election. He says that that the purpose of the authorities
was to call a presidential election that is certain to fail in order
to postpone the parliamentary elections at any cost. And yet parliamentary
elections are badly needed, for many reasons. He repeats that people
voting at the previous general election in December 2000 were voting
"against" the old regime rather than "for" the government we have today.
The result, he says, is an Assembly that does not represent the will
of the people today, and no longer reflects the will of the people back
in December 2000.
