Serbia Acts to Control Parliament and Dissolve Federal Presidency

Moving to consolidate control over what remains of Yugoslavia, the republic of Serbia announced Thursday that it is taking over the federal Parliament.

Although the Parliament is virtually defunct, the move appeared to represent Serbia’s effort to usurp what remains of federal power. A senior Western diplomat said the move effectively dissolves the eight-member federal presidency, which nominally controls the Yugoslav army.

The army, which launched a major assault against Croatia this week, bombarded areas around historic Dubrovnik, starting a raging forest fire, and closed in on the Croatian capital, Zagreb.

Croatian leaders say the attacks along the Adriatic Sea, on the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia and in Banija, south of Zagreb, represent a bid by Serbia to define a “Greater Serbia” that would include most of Yugoslavia. The republic of Slovenia and what remained of Croatia would then be permitted to become independent.

In Belgrade, representatives on the federal presidency from Montenegro, Serbia and Serbia’s two provinces decided to take over the federal Parliament at a meeting that included the defense minister and army commanders.

The presidency normally requires five votes for any decision, but its chairman, Stipe Mesic of Croatian, was not among those at the meeting.

Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic were reported to be heading Friday to The Hague, where peace talks sponsored by the European Community continued.