NATO bombinbg not an answer, says Serbian student

Zeljko Petrovic is a college sophomore, majoring in Economics and currently playing lacrosse. His hometown is Knjazevac,Yugoslavia. His family still lives there, so the conflict in Yugoslavia is close to his heart. He said that if NATO sends ground troops in to Yugoslavia, he will leave Oberlin and the United States to fight to defend his homeland.

We wanted to get a first-person, immediate perspective on how the military action in Yugoslavia is affecting both the people there and the people who make the United States their temporary home. Z agreed to talk with the Review about the NATO air campaign and the events that led up to the current conflict.

OK, Z... let's start off with this: if you had five minutes to talk to President Clinton about his actions, what would you say?

I would first ask him to define his policy toward Yugoslavia: what specific things he wants to accomplish there, what are his concerns and ideas about Yugoslavia. After that, I would try to show him how stupid the idea of bombing actually is and tell him that the air bombing campaign made things worse, not only in Kosovo but in other regions of Yugoslavia. I would try to convince him that political negotiations and political settlements between two sides involved in conflict is the best thing and the right thing to do.

How do you feel about the media portrayal of Serbs and Yugoslavia in the U.S. media? Do you feel that they've been unfairly negatively portrayed?

Definitely. All you hear on CNN, read in the newspaper, is about ethnic cleansing, these genocides ... if I don't know anyone from Yugoslavia and I pick up the New York Times, the only thing I see is this talk that Serbs are butchers, killers, all that shit. I'm really sick of that stuff. You know me, a lot of people in Oberlin know me. I would like those people who know me to judge me. None of the people from the New York Times or media ... they don't know me or my friends or my family. They can't talk about us like that. That's one thing that's really been bugging me lately. I wish if they could come, any American could come and spend some time with my family or any family in Serbia, they would see the good side of Serbia. They can't be talking shit about my people.

Do you feel that Yugoslavian nationalism has increased as a result of this NATO campaign?

I truly believe that Yugoslavian nationalism reached its highest point during this campaign, because when the nation is in danger, people come together.

By "people" do you mean both Albanians and Serbs?

Serbs in Yugoslavia perceive NATO as trying to help Albanians in Kosovo get their independence.

Will that create more of an ethnic conflict between Serbs and Albanians?

Yeah, I think so, because I know that Serbs are never going to give up Kosovo. Now when they see Albanians supported by the rest of the world, I think Serbs will fight even stronger to preserve their holy land. All these refugees fleeing from Kosovo ... I don't see what will happen with their future ... I don't see what will happen with them. And that's another negative side effect from this terrible NATO bombing campaign.

While in Yugoslavia, did you see any problems between Serbs and Albanians, personally?

From my personal experience in Yugoslavia, I always kind of felt some kind of tension, especially in Kosovo, but in other parts of Serbia and my home town, specifically, I never experienced any problems with the Albanian minority. I have a couple of Albanian friends. They are a part of our community in my home town and a lot of them work hard for their existence and make our community better.

Do you think there are any parallels between race relations in the United States and the relationships between Albanians and Serbs in Yugoslavia?

No. I can't see any comparison, because the only difference between Albanians and us is really religion, so I don't see any parallels.

Regarding President Milosevic: what are you opinions of him? I heard you say that Yugoslavians might rally behind him because of this conflict - do you think that this will happen?

I was never a big fan of him. I though he made some crucial mistakes and a lot of people in Serbia, in Yugoslavia, thought that way, especially in the last couple of years, when opposition had huge demonstrations all over the country. That particular time was the best time to get rid of him. And nobody from the West saw that and helped our position then.

So, what's happening now is a case of "too much too late," then?

Yeah. Today the NATO campaign helped him preserve his power and even strengthen his position by eliminating all sorts of opposition, because now everybody in Yugoslavia is behind him.

By everyone you mean everyone except the Albanians, right?

Yeah. Everyone's behind him, trying to defend the country from foreign aggressors.

What do you think will be the end of all of this? That is, how do you think the conflict will end?

The question is, how is this gonna end...

(pauses, shakes his head)

The only solution to this crisis is a political solution. That's the only way we can stop the killings, on both sides. But the consequences of this NATO campaign are going to be present for a long time. This is going to surely effect the relationships between Yugoslavia and the West and the relations between Russia and the United States. I kind of feel like every country in the world feels a kind of insecure, because in this case, the US attacked a sovereign country. Obviously, the United States doesn't respect the sovereignty of other countries.

What do you think of the parallels drawn between Yugoslavia now and the Holocaust in World War II?

Total nonsense. Part of the propaganda. It's totally ridiculous to draw those parallels. But, if someone wants to draw parallels about what happened in the second World War, let me remind them that Belgrade was bombed by the Germans, the Nazis, April 6, 1941, and that's today [Tuesday]. That's the parallel that you want to draw with the second World War. And the same thing is happening today. And because of that, all the politicians in the West should be ashamed of themselves.

I've got something else to say. I just want to thank all the people that supported my friends Maja and Sanja and me in this terrible situation for us.

For those people that gave comments in last week's Oberlin Review saying that they support NATO action, I just want to ask them this: will they feel the same if NATO or whoever is bombing their parents and families?