Yugoslavia Talk, Talk -- Fight, Fight

By William E. Smith

After more than a month of political unrest that has brought their country to the brink of civil strife, many Yugoslavs had been counting on last week's meeting of the Communist Party Central Committee to shake up the national leadership and address the nation's economic miseries. What they got was a three-day Belgrade talkathon that accomplished little -- and may in fact have worsened the political crisis. The biggest loser, at least for the moment, was Slobodan Milosevic, the demagogic Serbian party leader and Yugoslavia's most charismatic politician since Josip Broz Tito, who died in 1980. Afraid of Milosevic's success in exploiting nationalistic sentiment among Yugoslavia's 8 million Serbs, his enemies ganged up on him and won at least a temporary victory.

Milosevic has been campaigning for a drastic expansion of Serbia's power within Yugoslavia, including a tightened grip over the province of Kosovo, which is now only technically under Serbian control. Yugoslavia's Serbs regard Kosovo as their historic homeland, even though they now constitute little more than 10% of the province's population. At last week's meeting, Milosevic was opposed by the leaders of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, all of whom feared that his ambitious campaign would upset the fragile balance of power among Yugoslavia's six republics and two autonomous provinces.

In a particularly harsh rebuke, the Central Committee passed a vote of no confidence against one of Milosevic's allies, Politburo member Dusan Skrebic. It also accepted the resignations of four of the 14 Politburo members. But | what may have distressed Yugoslavs most was the Central Committee's failure to address the disastrous meddling of party apparatchiks in the country's economy -- a subject on which Milosevic has campaigned with marked success. While Yugoslavia's $21 billion debt worries Western bankers, its citizens have watched their standard of living decline steadily. Heating bills often consume half an average monthly income of less than $100, while housewives must stand in line for hours to buy bread.

After its setback last week, the Serbian party leadership canceled a mass rally in support of Milosevic that had been scheduled to take place in Belgrade at the conclusion of the Central Committee session. In Kosovo, however, thousands of Serbs gathered to boo, whistle and turn their backs on two Central Committee members who tried to address them. "You have betrayed Kosovo!" some cried. "You have sold your souls!"

Milosevic's defeat enhanced his popularity among his followers, to the detriment of national unity. Observed Kosta Cavoski, a Belgrade lawyer and political analyst: "Milosevic is riding a tiger. If he backs down on his demands, he will be regarded as a traitor by his strongest supporters. But if he continues to incite mass protests, he will be challenging the entire political order in Yugoslavia." Though chased off this time, the tiger remains on the prowl.

With reporting by Kenneth W. Banta/Belgrade