More of Yugoslavia Grows Restive

MILOCER, Yugoslavia — Even when vacationing here on the Adriatic coast, Milo Djukanovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, is accompanied by bodyguards. Armed and wearing swimming trunks, the guards trudge through the beach sand after their leader or sit nearby in palm-shaded cafes.

And no wonder: Djukanovic is waging a political battle against the most powerful and ruthless man in Yugoslavia, and for now Djukanovic appears to be winning.

The result is a growing movement demanding equal rights for Montenegro, the tiny republic that is Serbia’s partner in today’s rump Yugoslavia. Some Montenegrins want more: independence.

Djukanovic and his supporters have been labeled secessionists by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s regime, which has reverted to the same kind of rhetoric used against Slovenia and Croatia in 1990 before those onetime republics bolted from the Yugoslav federation and war engulfed the region.

Djukanovic says that splitting what remains of Yugoslavia is not his intention. His aim, he says, is to gain more freedom for Montenegro and to prevent Milosevic from swallowing up the republic as he expands his own power.

“I’m fighting to provide for Montenegro a dignified, equal position within the Yugoslav federation that will provide a higher degree of freedom for its citizens,” Djukanovic, 35, said in an interview, taking a break from his holiday on the scenic coast. “I think it’s worth developing a more democratic political and economic system within the federation, but whether that is possible or not, time will show.”

Montenegro, with just under 650,000 people, has about 1/16th the population of Serbia. For years, it was a compliant ally in Serbia’s war with Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The mountainous republic produced some of the conflict’s most virulent nationalists, including Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader indicted on war crimes charges.

But finally, Montenegrins tired of suffering from the same pariah-state status as Serbia. International economic sanctions that crippled Serbia’s economy also hurt Montenegro and fed a booming sanctions-busting smuggling business over Montenegro’s borders.

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The breaking point came this year when Milosevic, barred by the Constitution from running for reelection as president of Serbia, decided to become president of all of Yugoslavia. He suddenly needed Montenegrin cooperation, especially as he tried to change the Yugoslav Constitution to transfer powers to the federal presidency, which had been largely a ceremonial post.

The issue is not just political. Analysts say Montenegro’s economic interests, particularly the thriving black-market cigarette trade that Djukanovic is reputed to be godfather to, are also at stake.

Djukanovic, already on the outs with Milosevic because he refused to help the leftist party run by Milosevic’s wife set up shop in Montenegro, announced his opposition to the formidable Balkan leader.

He initially refused to give Milosevic the votes he needed to become Yugoslav president and has since taken on Milosevic’s personal representative to Montenegro, President Momir Bulatovic. Djukanovic and Bulatovic are fighting publicly for control of their political party. Djukanovic is now blocking Bulatovic’s attempt to run for reelection in Montenegro’s presidential race in October.

“When Milosevic was president of Serbia, he was happy to have power concentrated in the [two] republics,” said a Western diplomat. “Now that is not so. His move to a federal position means he needs more control if he wants to be as comfortable as he was before. That is the showdown we are seeing now.”

Milosevic plays hardball. In recent weeks, military flights over Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, have increased; Yugoslav naval patrol boats are plying the waters off this coast, which is the country’s only access to the sea. The vessels are believed to be blocking boatloads of cigarettes destined for Montenegro. Inland, border guards have begun obstructing the passage of Montenegrin goods.

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Djukanovic also knows how to compete. He has gradually taken control of most levers of power in Montenegro. As prime minister, he already oversaw the police and secret police; then he brought most Montenegrin media under his sway with the appointment of a new television director.

Dueling graffiti now cover buildings throughout Podgorica and other Montenegrin cities. “Milo! You thief!” say some; “Momo! Haven’t you had enough of war?” say others, addressing Bulatovic.

To be sure, Milosevic has many opponents. But Djukanovic is the first to have had this level of success, diplomats and Yugoslav analysts say. Djukanovic was part of a generation of young, attractive Communists who helped build party structures throughout the country.

In the Serbian and Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, newspapers and television controlled by Milosevic are dedicating enormous space to the dispute--in what analysts see as a way for Milosevic to cast himself as the guarantor of Yugoslav unity and stability. “It is the same platform he used to win in 1990,” wrote the respected weekly newsmagazine Vreme.

In a sign of his disdain for Milosevic’s scheming, Djukanovic arrived late at the new president’s inauguration last month. (Djukanovic said he was simply caught in traffic.) And on July 28, a delegation representing Milosevic and including his handpicked replacement, Zoran Lilic, the former Yugoslav president, traveled to Podgorica and was greeted by a mob hurling tomatoes and stones. Police under Djukanovic’s control stood by and watched.

“We are all aware of Milosevic’s firm determination at any cost, even at the cost of a serious lack of democracy, to preserve his own power,” Djukanovic said in the interview. “But we have to fight against that.”

He charged that Milosevic and his supporters want “Montenegro to be hopelessly dependent on Serbia, cast in the role of the blind follower.”

Although only about 20% of the Montenegrin population supports independence, Djukanovic asserted that the movement is growing and that it will continue to grow if Milosevic plows ahead in his totalitarian way.

Djukanovic said accusations that he is trying to destroy Yugoslavia on the one hand and that he is a mobster who has criminalized Montenegrin society on the other are attempts by Milosevic to discredit him.

He conceded that some people may have enriched themselves illicitly during what he called a period of economic transition in a Montenegro suffering under sanctions. But he said he is trying to rein in criminals and is seeking to integrate Montenegro with a developed, market-oriented West.

Slavko Perovic, head of an opposition party in Montenegro that advocates full independence, said the showdown is “without scruples” and has involved abuse of state institutions by both camps. He and other critics say power, and not democracy, is the real issue. Djukanovic turned against Milosevic out of his own quest for political survival, say the critics, and his actions tend toward the autocratic and belie his pro-West words.

“The best thing to come out of this,” Perovic told the Belgrade newspaper Nasa Borba, “is that the Milosevic cult in Montenegro is shattered for good.”