Yugoslav Army Eases Fears, Pledging Not to Interfere in Politics

The federal army broke a troubling three-day silence Tuesday, easing fears of an imminent military coup by promising not to interfere in Yugoslavia’s political crisis.

But the armed forces warned that they will “under no circumstances permit inter-ethnic armed conflicts and civil war” and also signaled their readiness to halt unrest such as the anti-Communist protests that paralyzed Belgrade last week.

The statement from hard-line Communists of the high command took no notice of Serbia’s deliberate destruction of the collective federal presidency, which has deprived Yugoslavia of a leadership and the armed forces of a commander in chief.

While the army has so far appeared reluctant to step in to protect the political power of Serbia’s Communist strongman, President Slobodan Milosevic, its statement left the door open to virtually any move it deems necessary.

Toeing the political line set by Serbia, the army vowed to protect existing borders throughout Yugoslavia and demanded fiscal and political discipline from all six republics, warning those trying to secede from the crumbling federation that they will be prevented from doing so unless they secure agreement of the other republics.

Slovenia and Croatia have recently announced their intent to pull out of the 72-year-old federation, which binds peoples who are divided by religion, language, culture and ideology. The two affluent republics that were long part of Austria-Hungary initially sought a new relationship within the federation, but Serbia has refused to negotiate any weakening of the current alliance.

“The Yugoslav People’s Army, as in the past, will not interfere in political talks on the country’s future,” the high command asserted, then issued a list of demands.

Most pressing appeared to be the call for each republic to pay its share of the federal budget and to guarantee normal recruiting for military service.

Angered by army threats to forcibly prevent its secession, Slovenia this month stopped sending recruits to the 180,000-man federal army and has been withholding much of its contribution to the federal coffers for months.

Only the multinational republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina is paying its full share of the federal budget--two-thirds of which is spent on defense. The financial crisis has virtually bankrupted the federal government and has held up paychecks for tens of thousands of state workers, including the army.

Slovenia and Croatia both vowed to defend their territories against any attempt by federal troops to disarm local militia units that have been brought under republic command in transition to independence.

“The army has shown that it no longer respects the authority of the presidency as its commander in chief and is openly acting outside the constitutional framework,” Slovenia’s leadership said Tuesday.

It dismissed the demands for full participation in the federal system as “in conflict with the will of the Slovenian people” who voted overwhelmingly in December to secede from Yugoslavia.

There had been strong speculation that the predominantly Serbian generals of the army high command would rush to aid Milosevic last week, when anti-Communist demonstrators confronted the hard-line president with his greatest challenge in three years in office.

Tuesday’s statement was the first word from the army since it threatened to take unilateral action after twice failing to win presidential endorsement for a state of emergency, setting off widespread fears of a military coup.

Croatia has mobilized police and paramilitary forces to defend against any federal aggression.

Milosevic then dismantled the eight-man federal presidency by orchestrating the withdrawal of four of its members, depriving the ruling body of the quorum it needs to make decisions or issue commands to the armed forces.

Slovenian President Milan Kucan and Croatian leader Franjo Tudjman jointly appealed to other republic presidents to gather in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, for an emergency meeting Thursday to defuse the political crisis.