The crisis in eastern Europe is taking a special form in Yugoslavia - the break up of the multinational state into warring nations. Yugoslavia's spiralling economic crisis, and the dissolution of the League of Communists, has brought regional and national conflict back onto the stage of history. The prospect of any federal solution has been sabotaged by the offensive of the ex-Communist leadership of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, which is attempting to make the whole of Yugoslavia a Serbian fiefdom. Here MICHELE LEE charts the end of Yugoslavia. YUGOSLAVIA today is split into two irreconcilable camps; those who want a free association of equal nations and those who want a Serbdominated central state. The earlier Federal order, based on national equality has been destroyed - C process which started with the Serbian destruction of the autonomy of the province of Kosovo. The latest crisis - with Serbia blocking the election of a new Yugoslav president -has substantially increased the likelihood of a full-scale civil war.
Break down The latest crisis is the culmination of a four-year process of destroying the allYugoslav constitutional order, by Milosevic's Serbian regime. Formally speaking, Yugoslavia is a federation of eight members: six republics (Slovenia, Croatia, hornia Bosnia-Herezgovinia, Macedonia, Montenegro) and two provinces (Kosovo, Vojvodina).
But over the past three years Serbia has unilaterally altered the character of Page 8 June 8, 1991 No. 3 the federation, swallowing up the two provinces (Kosovo is in the third year of military occupation), and engineering a coup d'etat in Montenegro which has reduced it to satellite status.
This has destroyed the national-political balance in the federation. Milosevic's trick consisted in robbing the provinces of their real autonomy, but keeping their representation at federal level - a repre sentation which is under his control. Thus while Serbia had been one among equals, its weight in federal bodies has quadrupled.
Federal Yugoslavia may continue precariously to exist in a formal sense, but in reality the federation has been dead for some time. Its only significant remnants are the federal government and the army.
The federal assembly, to which the federal government is responsible, is made up of two chambers, one repre senting the republics and provinces, other all citizens. The make up of the former was altered by the republican elections of 1990, but elections for the second chamber have not taken place and probably never will. members - by strict rotation.
In May 1989 this post went to Slovenia (Janez Drvnosek), in May 1990 to Serbia (Borisav Jovic) and in May 1991 it was to go to Croatia (Stipe Mesic). This latest change was however blocked by Serbia. By refusing to allow Mesic to become president, Serbia destroyed the federal presidency and delivered a mortal blow to Yugoslavia as a single political entity.
Over the past year, the ability of the Yugoslav presidency to make decisions has in any case been severely jeopardised by the illegitimate Serbian control over the votes of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Montenegro. Serbia thus commanded four out of the eight votes, three of them outright. The regular 4-4 tie on the presidency became a rule, paralysing its work on all important issues.
Despite its impotence the presidency, and the other federal institutions did provide a minimal all-Yugoslav framework, within which different op tions could be presented and argued Why then did the Serbian leaders decide to finish it off? The answer is to be found in the nature and politics of the Milosevic regime.
Greater Serbia?
The period during which the Serbian representative Jovic was Yugoslav president - May 1990 to May 1991 - was a crucial period in Yugoslav history. The demise of the League of Communists (the Yugoslav CP) in February 1990, put paid to Milosevic's plan to use the party to take control of Yugoslavia.
Jovic's accession to the top of the Yugoslav state during this period allowed Milosevic's regime to stabilise itself during the turbulent period, and cloak anti-Yugoslav acts in pro-Yugos lav rhetoric. As the resistance to Serbia's aggression grew in the other republics. strengthened by theelectionofnon-communist and nationalist governments -Milosevie turned to the army for sup port.
The army, hostile to the new order in Slovenia and Croatia, proved willing to go along with this, giving Milosevic the illusion that he was above all laws.
However, in March this year spontaneous mass anti-government nia-Herzegovinia, Slovenia and Croatia - voted for Mesic, while Serbia and its satellites voted against.
In the short term, Serbia's problem with Mesic lies at a symbolic level; as Serbian president Mesic would outrank Milosevic. Given the cult of the personality which Milosevic has fostered and the anti-Croat hysteria he has fanned, it is possible the Serbian regime would not long survive such a change at the all-Yugoslav level.
In the long run Milosevic is working for the creation of a Greater Serbia. Such a Serbia would embrace, in addition to the two provinces, most of the territory of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovinia, Montenegro and Macedonia. That is why, over the past year, Milosevic has encouraged armed Serbian rebellion in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovinia with the aim of breaking them up.
Much of the Serbian opposition has united with Milosevic on this issue, help ing him to survive the March demonstrations and a strike involving 700,000 workers that followed within days. Since then, the Serbian regime has shifted still further to the right, embracing semi-fas cist political groups.
Milosevic's strategy was clearly summed up in the statement issued in response to the breakdown of the presidential system by the Serbian
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SLOVENIA I agree HUNGARY SIERPIEN 1980 Warszona FSO * CZASOPISMO * L10 Marce Tymczasöwej Międzyzakladowej Komisji NSZZ „Solidarność '80" » FSO POLAND HAS BEEN the testing ground for IMF shock-tactics in Eastern Europe. But signs of resistance have appeared, with a wave of strikes organised by Solidarnosc. This text was published in Workers Unity by the Factory Commis1981 1981 rok