East and West Republic of Srpska

Balcanization goes on

Two years ago, or was it three maybe, there was a film presented at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival about Republika Srpska. In that film a sort of a cabinet meeting was filmed in which somebody had to explain to Biljana Plavsic just why Serbs could not successfully violate the no-fly zone (because everything could be seen from the satellites).

Today, Ms. Plavsic enjoys support of the State Department, SFOR, OSCE, NATO, etc. in her court battle with Radovan Karadzic, a designated war criminal, who apparently still control most of the Republika Srpska.

The lines of support between Plavsic and the rest of Republika Srpska political scene are telling: Plavsic is supported by the West, by dissenting politicians in Montenegro, by Serbian political opposition (SPO), and Republika Srpska parliament, allegedly close to Karadzic, is supported by Milosevic regime. The geographic location of Plavsic and Republika Srpska parliament is, also, telling: Plavsic rules from Banja Luka, while the parliament confers at Pale.

Croatia, Bosnia and the West, perhaps, enjoy the recent destabilization of Republika Srpska: after all, it might lead to two republics of Srpska, following the well established pattern of balkanization endemic to the region (heh, Balkan is balkanizing, what else is new?). The joy of seeing Republika Srpska falling apart, kind of blinded us from the facts about the differences between Plavsic and Karadzic.

As Djindjic might be a vehement nationalist, like or even more than Milosevic, so can Plavsic outextreme Karadzic - particularly because *unlike* Djindjic, who besides his ill-directed support, did not actively participate in the Bosnian mayhem together with Milosevic sponsored soldatesque, Plavsic and Karazdic sit in the same cabinet throughout the war: they were parts of the same government, hence they share the responsibility for decisions that government has made.

Recently I stumbled upon the testimony of certain Kemal who was a prisoner of war and a slave (forced laborer) in Republika Srpska for a few years: he remembers seeing Karadzic and Plavsic shoulder to shoulder in official outings, celebrations and stuff. It was clear that Karadzic was the boss, but it was also clear that Plavsic was in a firm agreement with him.

It seems to me that now everybody has a vested interest (like everybody is washing his or hers hands from the Bosnian blood that inadvertently - because of the inaction or because of the wrong directed action - came all over them) in supporting Plavsic against Karadzic, but if the goal of that is not to break Republika Srpska in two, I fail to see any justification for that.