Committee for Conflict Transformation Support |
CCTS
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'The War on Terror' and the Balkansby Goran Bozicevic (Croatia) The War on Terrorism is having an almost schizophrenic effect on the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Governments and populations in the region display no coherent attitude towards the topic and often make contradictory moves. If asked directly, everyone would give the same response: 'Yes, it is a very relevant and crucial issue. Of course we are worried about it. Very much so.' After that there would be silence. Apart from following the news in the rest of the world, there is a little or no public debate or concrete activity on the topic of 'What does it have to do with us?' The Croatian government was recently asked, 'What fuel reserves does Croatia have?' in case there were a sudden cessation of oil imports due to war in Iraq. The question received the unusually quick answer of 'three months.' That was the end of the debate. People are overwhelmed with their daily struggle for survival. The wars in the region are over and people are focused on trying to get their lives back to normal. Waves of strikes in Croatia reflect the reality that we now live in a capitalist society. People are waking up from the illusion that the ruling Social Democrats (SDP) would look after 'workers'. The real issue is: 'Who (politically) is left and who is right?' A couple of weeks ago Croatia - proudly - sent a unit of 44 Military Police to join the Peace Mission in Afghanistan. The Social Democrats (on the left of the political spectrum) say: 'How are we going to join NATO and the EU (the ultimate goal for Croatia, viewed as Paradise!) if we are not prepared to co-operate in joint actions such as these?' The Croatian Party of Right, the HSP, says: ' Why do we send our guys to Afghanistan? To do what? To defend whose interests?' The governments in the Balkans increasingly find themselves squeezed between protecting their own interests and falling in with the over-influential US - and to a certain extent EU - presence in the region. The governments are all, of course, 'supporting the War on Terrorism, fully and without doubt.' But in practice this approach brings problems. Whilst we are developing our own democracies, strengthening the rule of law (often at the behest of the USA), learning the importance of civil society and developing instruments for human rights protection, we are at the same time witnessing the fact that the War on Terrorism neglects all these standards. It is a tough task to explain to the public in the Balkans the inevitability of co-operation with the Hague Tribunal (ICTY), when they see the US administration obstructing the establishment of the new International Criminal Court (ICC) and pressure being put on governments in the region to sign bilateral agreements to prevent the extradition of US soldiers to the ICC. (This is particularly relevant here, since we have SFOR and KFOR stationed in the region). How can we promote human rights in our countries when we see Guantanamo Bay prison, the treatment of Arabic and Asian citizens in the USA, and the pressure that the Pentagon places on the media? As a leading human rights activist in Croatia says, 'It is difficult and perhaps impossible to build society based upon justice and rule of law when one of the biggest sponsors of the project is not respecting it.' There are sympathetic voices to be heard about the War on Terrorism as well. In Croatia, it is seen as validating the Homeland war of 1991-1995, which some now justify in terms of fighting Serbian terrorism. Similar euphoric statements can be heard in some circles in Serbia, where the attitude is: 'Now they (the USA and the EU) see what its like to deal with terrorists - only pure force and repression works. We were saying this all the time we were fighting Croatian and Bosniak terrorists, and particularly the Albanian terrorists in Kosovo. But then the USA and the EU did not want to listen.' People comfort themselves cynically here, thinking that the War on Terrorism will hit countries far away from home. They recognize that this is sad for the innocent victims but do not feel that they can help. They see it as something to be expected that terrorists attack rich West countries. And finally they see that they could benefit from not (yet) being part of the rich West. So the War on Terrorism exists and yet at the same time does not exist here. Our own wars are fresh in our memories, and there is a lack of mental energy to face the present threat of World War III. Our governments try to please those in power, but as in the case of the bizarre Croatian donation of landmines to Afghanistan, some months ago, it shows how lost they are about their role in the War on Terrorism. And perhaps this is for the best, because what sense does it make to fight a War against Terrorism?
Goran Bozicevic
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