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| 1991 US State Department Country Report. January 1992 YUGOSLAVIA The Yugoslavia of 1991 bears little resemblance to the one established by the 1914 Constitution that set up a Federal State comprising six republics (with two autonomous regions in the republic of Serbia) and a collective Federal Presidency as the supreme state organ. Effective civilian federal authority collapsed in 1991 as the republics and various independence movements decisively rejected that authority and escalating ethnic animosities propelled the country into a vicious armed conflict. The Federal Government?s attempts to introduce multiparty elections at the federal level and to advance economic reforms were blocked by republic governments. Several republics adopted legislation and new constitutions that gave primacy to republic-. level rather than to federal laws and routinely ignored federal legislation. Blocked by Serbia in their attempts to restructure Yugoslavia as a loose confederation, the republics of Croatia and Slovenia on June 25 declared complete independence and sought international recognition. In walking out of the Federal Assembly (legislature), they effectively denied it a quorum. In October Serbia end its allies in the Federal Presidency assumed the right to act in the name of the Presidency and to take over the Federal Assembly?s authority. Federal Prime Minister Markovic. a Croat, lost effective power and finally resigned in December after Serbian—dominated rump federal institutions sought his ouster. In December Stipe Mesic. the President of the Federal Presidency and a Croat, resigned his office. The breakdown of federal authority seriously compromised the principle of federal civilian control over the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) which, along with elements of other security and police forces, technically remained under federal civilian jurisdiction in 1991. After its nominal Commander in Chief, the collective Federal Presidency, became paralyzed, the JNA allied itself squarely with Serbian politicians in the armed conflict with Croatia. The size and activities of other military, paramilitary, and police units increased dramatically in 1991, including those of the Croatian army and the irregular units organized by Serbian residents of Croatia. The outbreak of fighting between these groups and the aggressive role of the JNA in support of these Serbs led to many civilian casualties, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of persons from the war—torn areas, and widespread brutality and disregard of the Geneva Conventions and other international norms. In the economy, the workers self—management system, which purported to enable workers to run their own enterprises through elected workers? councils, is being phased out. The Federal Government?s economic reform program4 aimed at converting to a market system and encouraging private enterprise, started promisingly in 1990 but collapsed under high inflation, plummeting production, and growing unemployment that were aggravated by the fracturing of the economy along republic and ethnic lines. The National Bank of Yugoslavia resorted to printing money and extending large credits to the Federal Government to finance its growing expenditures, primarily to support the military. Respect for human rights deteriorated drastically in the deepening political crisis and the breakdown of civil order. Extreme interrepublic and ethnic animosities and the spread of 46 |
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