KARADŽIĆ FLIES TO THE HAGUE WHILE BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA GOES TO THE EU

Prof. Mirko Pejanović, PhD, ●member of the war-time Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1996) ●dean at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the Sarajevo University, ●President of the Serb Civic Council – Movement for Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina and ●member of the Council of the IFIMES International Institute The International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, regularly analyses events in the Middle East and the Balkans. Prof. Mirko Pejanović, PhD, member of the war-time Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1996), dean at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the Sarajevo University, President of the Serb Civic Council – Movement for Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina and member of the Council of the IFIMES International Institute, in his article entitled “KARADŽIĆ FLIES TO THE HAGUE WHILE BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA GOES TO THE EU” presents his views of the apprehension of Radovan Karadžić and the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His article is published in full.

Radovan Karadžić was apprehended hale and hearty in Belgrade on 22 July 2008, after 13 years of hiding from justice. The news spread around the world with lightning speed, to the satisfaction of all those who believe in justice and truth. Especially it meant good news for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and for all of its nations who suffered during the war years 1992-1995 due to Karadžić’s politics of hatred and ethnic cleansing of civilians from their homes where they had lived for centuries. But most of all it brightened up the citizens who lost their fathers, brothers, mothers and children in Karadžić’s death camps and during the genocide committed at Srebrenica in summer 1995. Mass graves of Bosniaks in Republika Srpska and the graves of massacred Srebrenica’s are the work of those who followed and executed Radovan Karadžić’s politics. Where does this politics of atrocities come from? What are its main ideas? Which institutions and political forces of those institutions enabled the realisation of the politics of SDS and its leader Radovan Karadžić? Only history can provide the answers to those questions after sufficient time will have passed. However, the present insights and analyses can contribute to the formation of the objective truth on the patterns, course and ending of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Karadžić’s trial in the Hague Tribunal will definitely set the basis for revealing the previously unknown aspects and truths about the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the aspect of relations between the three national ruling parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDA, SDS and HDZ) on the eve of the war in 1990 and 1991, and the aspect of relations with the European states and the international community.

In order to answer the fundamental question of where this politics of atrocities appearing and personalising in Radovan Karadžić’s character comes from, we should return to the historical context of its origin. Radovan Karadžić’s ideas entered the political scene with the introduction of the political pluralism, i.e. the multiparty system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the singleparty systems and socialism in general were in decline in Europe at that time, it was not difficult for the new parties to gain power and take over the ruling position in the parliament. Accelerated democratic changes in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia also caught Bosnia and Herzegovina which was in comparison to other republic of the former Yugoslav federation late in the introduction of the multiparty system.

The formation of the multiparty system in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1990 coincided with the beginning of the Serbo-Croatian conflict on the territory of the Republic of Croatia. TuÄ‘man and MiloÅ¡ević were the ones who initiated the conflicts and negotiated on the remapping of the former Yugoslav federation and the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The fear that the conflicts and the war would spread from Croatia and the concerns about what would happen to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the future formed an appropriate psychological and historical atmosphere in the society, providing grounds for forming political parties on ethnic basis. Thus three national political parties were formed during the short period from March to August 1990: SDA – Party of Democratic Action (May 1990.), SDS – Serbian Democratic Party (July 1990. ) and HDZ – Croatian Democratic Union (August 1990). These three parties received a very high support from the electorate, winning as much as 84% of all votes of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Consequently, the opposition which was formed of the civic parties was marginalised. The three national parties self-proclaimed themselves as the representatives of the interests of their respective nations: SDS representing the Serbs, HDZ the Croats and SDA the Bosniaks (the Muslim nation at that time). Thus the articulation or the formation of political interests was brought down to expressing party interests as being the national interests. The interests of the party were presented as the interests of the nation. However, soon after having divided the power in the government and the ministries at the beginning of 1991, the three winning national parties were faced with the inevitable question on their agenda, i.e. the question of political status of the state and political future of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of the disintegration process which the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia was undergoing at that time. At the same time it should be stressed that during the 1990 election campaign all the three national parties skilfully and intentionally avoided determining their programme solutions on the political future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, knowing it was the point of controversy which might cause them to lose many votes. They knew it was attractive for the voters to hear about new citizens’ freedoms and about the progress which would resemble that of Switzerland. However, the complex historical developments led to the adoption of political decisions on the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second half of 1991. The conflicts between the ruling parties on the political status of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina culminated in October 1991 when the disagreements between SDS, SDA and HDZ on the political future of the country became obvious.

Radovan Karadžić was apprehended hale and hearty in Belgrade on 22 July 2008, after 13 years of hiding from justice.

At that moment Karadžić and his SDS revealed their political concept which was based on the following ideas: there should be no independent state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosniak nation should disappear, the Serbian nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina should spiritually, culturally and politically unite into one Serbian state, the interests of the Serbian nation are to be represented by Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević. These ideas formed the basis of Karadžić’s and SDS politics.
At that time Karadžić addressed the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the known threat that Bosniak nation would disappear. For this politics to become the reality it had to be formed into a political movement with the established institutions within which it would be realised. Thus, in October and November 1991 the Serbian National Assembly was formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina comprising the Serbian deputies elected in 1990, except for the Serbian deputies from the Social-Democratic party of BiH who rejected to be a part of it. This was followed by the decision on the formation of the Republic of the Serbian Nation (Republika Srpska) with its own government and president, which was adopted in January and February 1992. Karadžić was appointed president of Republika Srpska. In April and May 1992 the Army and the Television of Republika Srpska (RS) were established, completing the institutional aspect of the political entity called the Serbian Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina which was being formed at the time when Bosnia and Herzegovina was given the prefix “former”. Thus only one, though the most important aspect for the creation of the Serbian national entity remained unresolved: the territorial aspect. The formation of the territory of the political entity of the Serbian nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was defined in May 1992 at the Serbian National Assembly in Banja Luka where it was decided to separate the Serbian nation from the Bosniaks and the Croats. Plans were made to expel or extinguish Bosniaks and Croats from 70% of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were controlled by the RS Army at that time. The realisation of such a project meant committing a crime. Why? First of all, because such a project could not be carried out on an ethnically mixed territory without using force in order to expatriate and kill the civilians, and this was a clear act of atrocity. On the basis of the agreement made with MiloÅ¡ević at the “Karadjordjevo meeting” TuÄ‘man left the Posavina region to the Serbs. At the very beginning of the war the Bosniaks in Bosanska krajina, east Herzegovina and especially in east Bosnia were exposed to expatriation, deportation to concentration camps and to death. In April and May 1992 Bosniaks were expelled from the regions of Zvornik and Vlasenica. The SDA leaders in Sarajevo lacked the appropriate organisation and international support to respond and save the Bosniak nation in those regions.

At that time Karadžić addressed the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the known threat that Bosniak nation would disappear. For this politics to become the reality it had to be formed into a political movement with the established institutions within which it would be realised. Thus, in October and November 1991 the Serbian National Assembly was formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina comprising the Serbian deputies elected in 1990, except for the Serbian deputies from the Social-Democratic party of BiH who rejected to be a part of it.

On the basis of the above politics and assisted by MiloÅ¡ević’s regime and the military forces which Serbia sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Radovan Karadžić managed to put 70% of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina under his control until 1992. At the beginning of the Geneva negotiations which were launched in September 1992 Karadžić’s negotiating team proposed to Vance-Owen and the Peace Conference presidency only one issue of common interest which could be included in the eventual peace solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina: the issue of electricity supply. Clearly, all the electricity sources were located throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and everybody needed that energy.

Radovan Karadžić based his politics on the presumption of the centuries-long hatred between Serbs and Bosniaks and on the non-recognition of the Bosniak ethnic identity. He continued the Second World War politics of Draža Mihajlović who was known for his submission to Hitler’s politics. It is a known fact that during the Second World War Draža Mihajlović’s military units carried out a massacre against Muslims in east Bosnia.

The practical application of the above politics during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina led to mass violations of human rights, resulting in the expatriation of over two million civilians from their homes. The dreadful consequences of the war roused the democratic public in the European states and the USA which resulted in the formation of the Contact Group for finding the peace solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The solution was found under the USA leadership together with the leading world forces in the Contact Group: the Russian Federation, Germany, France and Great Britain. The basis for the solution was the two-entity structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A compromise was made according to which the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina was based on the Dayton Peace Agreement and Republika Srpska was recognised as an entity within the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were also formed according to the Dayton Peace Agreement and comprised the Parliament, the Government, the Central Bank and the Constitutional Court. The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina received international guarantees of sovereignty, integrity and international legal personality. The international peace and civil forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina ensure the implementation of the Dayton Peace agreement. At the historical level and in the context of the major world changes at the end of the 20th century, the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement represents the building of peace, the development of state institutions and the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Euro-Atlantic integration. This leads to the point where the historical internalisation of the Bosnian issue should end in the conclusion of the historical process of establishing a sovereign state and developing Bosnia and Herzegovina into a self-sustainable and democratic state within the European Union.

Bringing Radovan Karadžić to justice represents an important step forward for the political future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The judgement against Radovan Karadžić for the crimes he committed would also mean the judgement against his politics of delusion and against his goals which made him perpetrate those crimes. The politics of Radovan Karadžić are turning into history while Bosnia and Herzegovina and its democratic pro-European forces are entering the EU integration and the European future. The politics based on force and crime, ethnic hatred and divisions can never again be repeated in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will become a constituent part of the democratic world where the democratic standards of the free and integrated Europe are respected.

The article was in the abbreviated form published in the “Dnevni Avaz” daily newspaper on 2 August 2008 in Sarajevo.