As NATO enters its 51st year of operations, it is forging a new role of repression and intervention. Britain's Tony Blair has already authorised more Letter from Yugoslavia (1 Belgrade ur From democratic activists... "We have heard that the TV pictures of the Kosovo civilian exodus are horrible, encouraging people abroad to support NATO intervention "to stop ethnic cleansing"
As people in Yugoslavia do not see these pictures, conditions are very hostile for those of us who consider ourselves the "democratic forces" of Serbia.
The nationalistic, xenophobic homogenization of street life is increasing. It has reached an early stage of militancy, with "spontaneous masses" smashing the windows of foreign cultural centers, embassies, offices of western airlines, and Macdonalds restaurants.
Suspicious neighbors are looking for "spies" — a wartime psychology is at work. Anyone who tries to develop an alternative scenario has no chance to say even a word against the leader and the clique who actually produced all this.
The spokesman of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, commenting last night bombing, said "In Serbia now, we have 11 million Milosevics!"
A state of war has been proclaimed. All free media are censored and harassed. The rest are engaged in vulgar propaganda. The Internet news sites and short wave radio stations like Radio Free Europe and the BBC are just a drop of information in a sea of ignorance, irrationality and disorientation.
Rationing has reinforced the non- market food distribution system, at the expense of small private shopkeepers.
British air strikes than all British postwar leaders together. France's Socialist-
Communist-Green government is the first French government to authorise a
NATO war.
There is a third way
Europe's social democratic leaders know what kind of NATO they want. The best way to stop them getting what they want is to build a peace movement calling for an end to Serbian aggression against the Kosovars, an end to NATO bombs, and recognition of the Kosovars right to self determination. *
The author teaches at Paris University. She writes regularly on former Yugoslavia and E. Europe for the
French weekly Rouge and Le Monde Diplomatique nder fire
When citizens seize the chance di for a walk and some fresh air, they m discover "patriotic" pop-folk conin certs on the main squares. The na casual stroller is suddenly caught up in in a homogenized mass of people roaring against the western powers.
m
Russian pop-groups and even some Russian MPs exercise their
Cr singing abilities with Serbian fo patriotic songs.
Meanwhile, Russian monks carry pr icons of Mother Mary over the
Danube bridge, in a parody of religious symbolism.
da
Democrats are isolated
SI
If it was just a video-game one m could laugh. But it is an increasingly ar sad and dangerous reality. The na human suffering in Kosovo is th coupled with a growing frustration pe forces in of the democratic or
Belgrade. We are helpless. Any meaningful sign of resistance would place us in great danger.
The opposition newspaper ac
Republika has just been printed.
This "newspaper for civic self-liberation" cannot be sold in the streets th or kiosks. If we are lucky, the postal service will agree to deliver it to in subscribers. Only a few people have im
Internet access to the electronic version of Republika.
m
The only way out is an immediate ac ceasefire on all sides, followed by tic an international conference hosted by the European Union or the
United Nations. * in
12.
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* The authors are demo vists in the antic аст upporters of Republika, one and
Mic gazines. They have asked not of the
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