Zagreb, 15. 1. 1996. (IKA) – Srða Popoviæ, one of the leading opponents of Slobodan Miloševiæ, gave, recently, an interview to “Monitor”, the independent Monte-Negro weekly magazine. Canadian Catholic weekly paper “New Time” has printed recently the same interview under the title “Peace is signed, but nobody is happy”. Srða Popoviæ emphasized in the interview, that the war at Balkan did not started because of hatred, “for, the people did not hate each other so much that they could start the war because of that” . The conflict started because it suited to the high political interests of Slobodan Miloševiæ. “Serbs in Croatia were not so frighten of Tuðman, they were afraid of the way Miloševiæ was provoking Tuðman”, said Srða Popoviæ and added that he believes that all had started in cold blood, “with purpose to make arguments for the war”. Actually, “violence did not start spontaneously”. “That was ordered from above, and was controlled by the professionals. They produced violence, dead bodies, fear and hatred. So, the war destroyed everything, it was as usual, as an atomic bomb.” Talking with the journalist Milka Tadiæ about Dayton#!s peace agreement and the actual situation at the territory of former Yugoslavia, he emphasized that the agreement is signed, but according to his opinion there will be no peace for a long period of time, “because all parties will try to find some advantage”. The situation is, as we read in the interview, the worst in Serbia because the Serbs had lost the war. “All Serbs were diplomatic looser much before they had took the arms in their hands”, and “there are no such arms you could win the war with, if the war is lost on diplomatic ground”, “Miloševiæ has no long-term plan”, and “if it will be necessary, he will play with the card of the war again, and he, realty, will do it”,
emphasized Srða Popoviæ and continued: “He will destabilized Kosovo, Macedonia, he will do anything to stay at power. He is a manipulator. The western politicians can not understand him”.
There is only one positive side of the International Court for War Criminals in Haag, thinks Srða Popoviæ, the Court will write the history, and “that is very important for all nations of former Yugoslavia”. “Because, we all know that we have wrote our history as it had suited us”, emphasized Srða Popoviæ and continued: “There is no hope unless you don#!t have clear conscience about yourself, including the worst things about yourself. We, at Balkan, we have built our identities upon the standards of lies, upon
the historical lies, upon popular ballads, and that had brought us here where we are.”
“The most patriotic task in Serbia, today, is to recover the truth, not only the parts of the glorious past Serbs are proud of, but the whale truth: about defeats, massacres, horrible things Serbs have committed, and also about those done against Serbs. If the crimes were smaller, maybe they could easier admit them. That is why I am afraid that tomorrow, when it comes out that it all was a terrible mistake, it will be easier to repeat what Dobrica Æosiæ from Serbian Academy for science and arts said: #!Well, we are a cursed nation#! then #!We are a nation that committed horrible crimes.”