Vitaly Portnikov. Tudjman. Milosevic. Izetbegovich

Tudjman. Milosevic. Izetbegovich
Vitaly Portnikov

Date of publication: October 16, 2000

At the end of last week, the chairman of the Presidium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegovic, fulfilled his promise: in a televised address to the nation, he announced that not only his term of chairmanship in the collective leadership of Bosnia was ending, but also his tenure on the presidium itself. Alija Izetbegovic, naturally considered the leader of Bosnian Muslims, resigns.

Aliya Izetbegovic first spoke about the possibility of his departure from the political scene of the former Yugoslav republic, the most unfavorable in terms of future prospects, two months ago. But he could hardly have imagined that he would be “the last of the Mohicans” of the Yugoslav collapse and the Dayton agreements, which determined the collapse of forces in the post-Yugoslav space. That shortly before his resignation, Slobodan Milosevic would agree with his defeat in the presidential elections in Yugoslavia, having prepared the weakening of his regime through his own efforts. And today in Serbia it is more about preserving the influence of the party led by Milosevic than about preserving the power of Milosevic himself.

Thus, on October 14, 2000, a situation arose in the post-Yugoslav space that would have been difficult to dream of over the past decade. The politicians who were the ideologists of not just the collapse of the SFRY, but the violent confrontation of its constituent republics and peoples, are no longer in power. The creator of independent Croatia and its first president, Dr. Franjo Tudjman, died shortly before his party, the Croatian Democratic Union, suffered a crushing defeat in the presidential and parliamentary elections and split. Having promised that “all Serbs will live in one power,” Slobodan Milosevic resigned under pressure from an enraged Belgrade, against the backdrop of growing separate processes in Montenegro and the practical loss of Kosovo. Alija Izetbegovic left the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian Social Democrats beat the party he led in local elections. Not only are the leaders themselves becoming a thing of the past, but the models they created turn out to be unpromising. The post-Yugoslav space is turning from a space of military confrontation into a space of regional cooperation, albeit forced, but necessary at least to receive Western assistance. In this situation, leaders like Tudjman, Izetbegovic or Milosevic become not only unnecessary to their people, they become dangerous for them.

Having stated this, I cannot help but pay tribute to the memory of Dr. Franjo Tudjman. When the President of Croatia was alive, many claims were made against him. Authoritarian tendencies in the leadership of the country, forceful methods of solving complex problems of interethnic relations - for example, in Bosnia, disrespect for freedom of the media, the dominance of the presidential family and immediate circle, in which the chief of security played an important role... All this happened. But at the same time, the Croatian president, who felt himself to be the “father of the nation” not in words, did not cut off the oxygen to the development of civil society. As a result, Croatia was transformed almost the day after the funeral of its president. The opposition won the presidential and parliamentary elections, and the process of integrating the country into Europe began. Franjo Tudjman turned out to be the “Croatian Franco” - a man who thirsted for power for himself, but not for the perpetuation of “Tudjmanism”.

Slobodan Milosevic chose a different strategy - while maintaining power, he destroyed his own country. His heirs received a plundered, embittered, impoverished, desperate Serbia, which has yet to understand the meaning and tragedy of the past decade, begin to improve relations with its neighbors, and recreate the civil society destroyed by the regime. Tudjman probably loved Croatia and the Croats - but himself even more. Milosevic loves only himself: he probably simply despises the Serbs... And Izetbegovic? Izetbegovic dedicated his life to his people - Muslim Bosnians. But, like any revolutionary, until the end of his political career he never felt that compromise is not a forced decision, but a benefit for the people living next to and together with the Serbs and Croats... It is no coincidence that recently more and more Bosniaks are casting their votes Social Democrats who advocate a secular Bosnia - a Bosnia not divided by ethnic boundaries. But Izetbegovic remained true to himself: he trusts only his party to represent the Muslims of Bosnia, not considering the Social Democrats as representatives of the Bosnian people. However - and this is the chance for the future of Bosnia - it is ultimately not the “patriarch” who decides, but the voters...

In any case, last weekend the era of confrontation symbolically ended in the post-Yugoslav space. The new leaders of the former Yugoslav republics will not have to build relations between their countries from scratch - but they at least have the opportunity to overcome the burden of irritation that has accumulated as a result of the activities of their large-scale predecessors.