BELGRADE : Cutting the Final Cord?

Foreign governments may have difficulty finding anything left of Yugoslavia to recognize after Wednesday if Prime Minister Ante Markovic is ousted, as expected.

Serbian politicians have usurped most central authority as the six-republic federation has unraveled during nearly five months of civil war and declarations of independence by Slovenia and Croatia.

One house of the federal Parliament--now controlled by Serbs--has already voted no-confidence in Markovic and Yugoslav Foreign Minister Budimir Loncar, the last two Croats in the multinational federation’s governing hierarchy.

The other parliamentary chamber and the Serbian-controlled federal presidency are set to endorse the ouster of Markovic on Wednesday, thereby removing the last trace of federal rule.