Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
aggrieved Serbs in Kosovo, pledging that Serbia would come to the aid of its brothers (fam-
ouslyasserting,“Noonehastherighttobeatyou”).Hereturnedtwoyearslaterforthe600th
anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo Polje, arriving by helicopter to evoke old prophecies
of a winged savior coming to unite the Serb people. Once there, he delivered another in-
flammatory speech (“Six centuries later, now, we are being again engaged in battles....They
are not armed battles, although such things cannot be excluded yet”). With these visits,
Miloševi
ć
upsetthedelicatebalancethatTitohadsocarefullysought,whilesettingthestage
for his own rise to the Serbian presidency.
When Miloševi
ć
-led Serbia annexed Kosovo soon after, other republics (especially
Slovenia and Croatia) were concerned. The Croats and Slovenes had always had reserva-
tions about Yugoslav unity, and with the sea change indicated by Miloševi
ć
's rhetoric, they
decided it was time to secede. Some of the leaders—most notably Milan Ku
č
an of Slove-
nia—tried to avoid warfare by suggesting a plan for a loosely united Yugoslavia, based on
the Swiss model of independent yet confederated cantons. But other parties, who wanted
complete autonomy, refused. Over the next decade, Yugoslavia broke apart, with much
bloodshed.
Slovenia was the first Yugoslav republic to hold free elections, in the spring of 1990. Voters
wanted the communists out, and they wanted their own independent nation. The most eth-
nically homogeneous of the Yugoslav nations, Slovenia was also the most Western-orien-
ted, prosperous, and geographically isolated—so secession just made sense. But that didn't
mean it would be achieved without violence.
Aftermonthsofstockpilingweapons,Sloveniacloseditsbordersanddeclaredindepend-
ence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991. Belgrade sent in the Yugoslav People's Army to
take control of Slovenia's borders with Italy and Austria, figuring that whoever controlled
the borders had a legitimate claim on sovereignty. Fighting broke out around these borders.
Because the Yugoslav People's Army was made up of soldiers from all republics, many
Slovenian troops found themselves fighting their own countrymen. (The army had cut off
communication between these conscripts and the home front, so they didn't know what was
going on—and often didn't realize they were fighting their friends and neighbors until they
were close enough to see them.)
Sloveniancivilians bravelyenteredthefray,blockadingtheYugoslavbarrackswiththeir
own cars and trucks. Most of the Yugoslav soldiers—now trapped—were young and in-
experienced, and were terrified of the improvised (but relentless) Slovenian militia, even
though their own resources were far superior.
After 10 days of fighting and fewer than a hundred deaths, Belgrade relented. The
Slovenes stepped aside and allowed the Yugoslav People's Army to leave with their
