The friendship between Klara Mandic and Radovan Karadzic did not prevent Bosnian Serbs soldiers from desecrating Sarajevo’s ancient Jewish cemetery. The cemetery, which sits high on a hill overlooking the city, was ringed by mines and turned into a front-line position. Perched on the centuries-old gravestones of long vanished Sephardi dynasties, the Serbs swigged plum brandy and fired down into the city centre.
Tudjman pulled ahead of Milosevic by attending the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., on 22 April 1993. He was roundly booed. Just one week earlier, his client army, the Bosnian Croat HVO, had massacred over one hundred Bosnian Muslims at the village of Ahmici. And there was still no invitation to Jerusalem. He decided to make contact with the Israeli government. The man he chose for these sensitive missions was, naturally enough, Hrvoje Sarinic, his secret envoy to Milosevic. Sarinic recalled: ‘The Israelis were very against the setting-up of diplomatic relations. They thought Tudjman was a big Ustashe leader. I was in touch with the Israeli foreign ministry, and with some people from their intelligence services. I told them, you can have your opinion as far as Tudjman is concerned, but it is not in your interest to blame all the Croatian people.’9
In Jerusalem a growing body of opinion began to think that Sarinic was right. Israel was taking an increasing interest in the Yugoslav wars. Zagreb was a transit point for fighters from Arab and Islamic countries who joined the Bosnian army. The Dutch report into the fall of Srebrenica claimed that in exchange for free passage out for Bosnia’s Jews, Israel supplied arms to the Bosnian Serbs.10
Even so, Sarinic was told clearly, there would be no progress until Tudjman changed his book. ‘This became my personal battle with Tudjman. I told him, Mr President, if you want to go to Israel, and you want diplomatic relations, with your book as it is now, it is not possible, it is as simple as that. He said to me, “What do you want from me, you discuss my book, and then you say the same thing they do.” We worked on it, until he told me one day, “OK you can correct something, but only a little.” We pulled out about eighty pages.’ Sarinic presented the new version to the Israeli foreign ministry. It was accepted and full diplomatic relations were opened in the autumn of 1997.
As Mandic steered the SJFS further into the orbit of Serbian nationalists, the guarded welcome it had received within the Belgrade Jewish community faded. Mandic was also connected to Dafiment, the pyramid scheme run by Dafina Milanovic. The report of the Serbian Public Revenue Agency describes Mandic as Dafina’s ‘ambassador’.11 It became clear that the Society was exploiting a genuine goodwill among Serbs towards the Jews, for suspect political – and business – purposes. There were fears the whole venture could backfire, and trigger anti-Semitism from those disappointed by the ‘failure’ of the Jews to help the Serbs in their hour of need.
‘Klara Mandic’s role was positive in the beginning. She did a lot for relations between Serbia and Israel. Why should there not be a society in a country where there was not much anti-Semitism? She liked publicity, she was eloquent,’ said community leader Misa Levi.12
‘She was friendly with Karadzic, but when she realised she could take advantage of her easy access to him and to Milosevic, the problems began for us. But she got involved in politics and businesses with bad results, which were also bad for the Jewish community. At that stage most Jews withdrew. You can suffocate in such an embrace as this.’
Eventually, the SJFS faded away. Any vestigial sympathy most foreign Jews had for the Serb cause faded when news broke of the concentration camps in summer 1992. As for Klara Mandic, she was murdered in her apartment in Belgrade in May 2001.
Appendix 2
Terms of Surrender
The letter on the following pages was handed to Slobodan Milosevic shortly before he finally agreed to surrender in the early morning of 1 April 2001. The typewritten annexes on the reverse were added in response to Milosevic’s demand for guarantees that he would not be extradited to the ICTY at The Hague. Cedomir Jovanovic, who signed Annexes I and II under the authorisation of Zoran Djindjic, later told the Belgrade press that the guarantee that Milosevic would not be extradited to the ICTY only applied to the date on the document, i.e. 31 March 2001. A copy of this document was given to the author by Mira Markovic. The translation was prepared by Vesna Peric-Zimjonic and the author.
STATEMENT
We, the signatories of this document, as senior officials of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia, being clearly determined to establish and apply the rule of law, with the aim of preventing further unnecessary victims, hereby state:
The criminal proceedings before the Belgrade District Court against Slobodan Milosevic, former President of the Republic of Serbia, FRY, and President of the Socialist Party of Serbia, were not undertaken in response to the demand of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, but because of reasonable suspicion that he has committed a criminal act as defined in Article 26 of the FRY penal code, and will therefore be heard before the judicial organs of the FRY. We guarantee to Mr Slobodan Milosevic that he will have unimpeded communication with his family during the court proceedings.
The members of Mr Slobodan Milosevic’s family have also been granted guarantees for their personal safety, and that of their property, as well as the right to use the residential premises at 11–15 Uzicka Street in Belgrade.
Belgrade
31 March 2001.
PRESIDENT
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Signature
Dr Vojislav Kostunica
PRESIDENT
Republic of Serbia
signature
Milan Milutinovic
President
Government of the Republic of Serbia [i.e. Serbian prime minister] Dr Zoran Djindjic
ANNEX I
Slobodan Milosevic will not be handed over to any judical or other institution outside the country
ANNEX II
Slobodan Milosevic is guaranteed the right of daily visits by members of his family.
Under the authorisation of Dr Zoran Djindjic, the president of the Serbian government, Annexes I and II are signed by
Cedomir Jovanovic
Belgrade, 31 March 2001
Acknowledgements
My thanks, firstly, go to those who granted me interviews, especially individuals from the former Yugoslavia. They gave their time generously, often at some emotional cost, relating the details of their lives and their involvement with Slobodan Milosevic and his regime, whether chosen or not. Such encounters have deepened my understanding of the complexities of his rise and fall, and of the destruction of Yugoslavia. Bleak subject matter aside, I have also been fortunate to experience many stimulating and enjoyable discussions in the cafés of Belgrade, Zagreb and Sarajevo.
I have benefited greatly from the guidance and advice of my editors at Bloomsbury: Bill Swainson, a steady hand at the tiller through sometimes dark and choppy waters, and Pascal Cariss, whose eagle-eye has helped hone a manuscript into a book, Katharina Bielenberg for her meticulous proof-reading and Douglas Matthews for his excellent index. Thanks also to Ruth Logan and Katherine Greenwood for keeping the wheels rolling. As ever, I am very grateful to my agent Laura Longrigg, always a source of encouragement and inspiration. Many thanks must go to my present and former colleagues at the Budapest International Press Centre, who have freely shared with me their knowledge and experience of reporting on the former Yugoslavia: Neil Barnett, Christopher Condon, Simon Evans, Jim Lowney, Mark Milstein, John Nadler, Erwin Tuil and Robert Wright. Their advice, input, good humour and steady supply of coffee – and occasionally stronger Balkan libations – is much appreciated. I am also grateful to Celia Hawkesworth of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London for her advice and expert knowledge, and to the Society of Authors for a generous grant.
The genesis of this book was my experience as a reporter for the Independent and The Times during the early 1990s, covering the Yugosla
v wars. As a young and then inexperienced foreign correspondent I was fortunate to meet a fine group of colleagues. In places such as Sarajevo and Split, Vitez and Travnik, Zagreb and Belgrade, their comradeship eased the passage of sometimes unnerving days and nights. They know who they are.
It would be near impossible to write a book of this kind without considerable local assistance. Many have been generous with their expertise, contacts and good offices. In Belgrade: the staff of the Belgrade Media Center, Charles Crawford, Mihailo Crnobrnja, Braca Grubacic, Tahir Hasanovic, Ljubica Markovic, Nebojsa Radic, Aleksandar Nenadovic, Seska Stanojlovic, Milos Vasic, Buca Zimjonic and especially, Mark Tomlinson. Thanks to Dragan Milanovic for an illuminating walk around Pozarevac. Thanks also to three fine journalists who have helped in many ways: Vesna Peric-Zimjonic, Daniel Sunter and Vlastimira Stankovic. In Zagreb: David Austin, Sanja Markusic, and especially Laura Irena Lui. In Ljubljana: Natasha Gorse. In Budapest: Agnes Csonka for virtuoso French translations, Hugh Martin for politesse at its best; Vesna Kojic for many hours of interpreting, Janet Garvey, Pablo Gorondi, Lutz Kleveman, David Landsmann, Dr Robert Ligeti, Dr Jancis Long, Djordje Radic, Rob Scott, Julius Strauss, Vladimir Vlaskalic, and also Dusan Mitevic for granting me a series of lengthy interviews.
Thanks to Tony Lang at Bestsellers bookshop for his support over the years, the same holds true for Roger Boyes in Berlin and Justin Leighton. In London: Sir John Birch, Adrian Brown, Yigal Chazan, Leonard Doyle for a steady supply of accreditation letters, Tim English at the BBC press office, Tim Judah, Dessa Trevisan and Francis Wheen. I am especially grateful to Norma Percy, Paul Mitchell, Angus Macqueen and the staff of Brook Lapping Associates for their generous provision of video tapes and transcripts of the six-part series The Death of Yugoslavia, an invaluable resource for any student of this period. In the United States my thanks go to Charles Lane and Peter Maass, and in Moscow, Matthew Chance and Ian Traynor. Several others in various cities have also helped with their knowledge and expertise, but have asked not to be named. De a legnagyobb köszönettel életem fénysugáranak, Ligeti Katalinnak tartozom.
Chronology
1937
Marriage of Svetozar and Stanislava Milosevic in Montenegro
20 August 1941
Birth of Slobodan Milosevic
October 1944
Tito’s Partisans and Soviet Red Army liberate Belgrade
1947
Svetozar Milosevic returns to Montenegro
June 1948
Tito splits with Stalin
January 1959
Milosevic joins the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Communist Party)
1962
Svetozar Milosevic commits suicide in Montenegro
1965
Milosevic marries Mirjana (Mira) Markovic Birth of Marija Milosevic
1966
Tito sacks his secret police chief, Aleksandar Rankovic
1968
Kosovo Albanians demonstrate in Pristina
1971
Crushing of the ‘Croatian spring’
1974
Stanislava Milosevic commits suicide
Adoption of the Yugoslav constitution that devolved power to the republics, and boosted the status of the Serbian provinces of Kosovo and Voivodina
Marko Milosevic born
Early 1970s
Milosevic works at Tehnogas
1978
Milosevic appointed President of Beogradska Banka
4 May 1980
Tito dies
1981
Kosovo Albanians demonstrate
1982
Milosevic appointed head of the Belgrade Stari Grad (Old Town) Communist Party
1983-84
Milosevic serves on the Kreigher (reform) Commission
1984
Milosevic leaves Beogradska Banka for a full-time position as head of Belgrade Communist Party
1986
Milosevic appointed head of Serbian Communist Party
Publication of the Memorandum by disaffected Serbian nationalist academics
April 1987
Milosevic travels to Kosovo Polje. Announces: ‘No one should dare to beat you.’
September 1987
Eighth Session of the Serbian Communist Party
October 1988
‘Yoghurt revolution’ in Voivodina
November 1988
Milosevic addresses mass demonstration in Belgrade
March 1989
Autonomy of Kosovo revoked
May 1989
Milosevic appointed Serbian President
28 June 1989
Milosevic speaks at the six hundredth anniversary of the battle of Kosovo Polje.
January 1990
Last congress of the Yugoslav Communist Party
April 1990
Franjo Tudjman’s Croatian Democratic Union wins first multiparty elections.
December 1990
Milosevic’s Socialist Party (formerly Communist) wins the first multiparty election in Serbia, Milosevic elected as Serbian President
March 1991
Anti-Milosevic demonstrations in Belgrade broken up by force
Milosevic meets with Franjo Tudjman at Karadjordjevo to discuss partition of Bosnia
May 1991
Croatian police massacred at Borovo Selo
25 June 1991
Slovenia declares independence, triggers the first Yugoslav war Croatia declares independence
Summer 1991
War spread through Croatia
19 October 1991
Kosovo Albanians declare independence (unrecognised)
November 1991
Fall of Vukovar. Croatian POWs massacred by Serb victors
March 1992
Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic declares the country independent
War breaks out in Bosnia. Serb and Yugoslav forces begin ethnic cleansing
June 1992
Federal Yugoslavia formed, consisting only of Serbia and Montenegro
Summer 1992
Serb concentration camps set up in northern Bosnia
December 1992
Milosevic and Socialists win Serbian presidential and parliamentary election
April 1993
Bosnian Croats launch offensive against their (intermittent) former Muslim allies
May 1993
Bosnian Serbs reject Vance-Owen peace plan
December 1993
Serbian parliamentary elections, Socialists largest party
March 1995
Mira Markovic launches the Yugoslav United Left party
July 1995
Fall of Srebrenica. Bosnian Serbs massacre over 7,000 Muslim men
August 1995
Croat army recaptures Krajina. NATO bombs Bosnian Serbs
November 1995
US brokers the Dayton Peace Accords to end the war in Bosnia
November 1996
Socialist-led coalition wins Yugoslav federal elections
Winter 1996-1997
Daily anti-Milosevic demonstrations in Belgrade after local election results are annulled.
July 1997
Milosevic appointed President of Yugoslavia
September 1997
Serbian parliamentary and presidential elections, leading to eventual ‘Red-Brown’ coalition between Socialists and ultranationalists
Autumn 1997
First public appearances of the Kosovo Liberation Army
February 1998
Serbs destroy home of Adem Jashari, senior KLA leader
Summer-autumn 1998
Serb ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians
January 1999
Serbs carry out Racak massacre of Kosovo Albanians
March 1999
NATO bombs Serbia, Serb forces launch massive ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians
27 May 1999
Hague tribunal announces that Milosevic is indicted for war crimes
June 1999
&nbs
p; Milosevic backs down, NATO forces enter Kosovo. Kosovo
Albanians ethnically cleanse Serbs
January 2000
Murder of paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznjatovic ‘Arkan’
August 2000
Disappearance of Ivan Stambolic
Opening of US Office of Yugoslav Affairs in Budapest
September 2000
Milosevic loses elections to Vojislav Kostunica, candidate of the Democratic Opposition
5 October 2000
Popular uprising topples Milosevic. Marko flees Serbia
March 31
Milosevic arrested at home in Belgrade
28 June 2001
Milosevic extradited to the ICTY at The Hague
July 2001
Milosevic appears in court, refuses to recognise jurisdiction
February 2002 to time of writing (April 2003)
Trial of Milosevic at the ICTY
January 2003
Milan Milutinovic, former president of Serbia, surrenders to ICTY, pleads not guilty to crimes against humanity in Kosovo Rade Markovic is sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiracy to murder opposition leader Vuk Draskovic in 1999