International: Yugoslav Army Cracks Down on Rebels --- Militias Are Outmatched By Belgrade's Forces; Clash at Austria Border ---- By Roger Thurow Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
JEZERSKO, Yugoslavia -- On Wednesday, the Slovene soldiers manning this border post raised a new flag to mark Slovenia's independence from Yugoslavia. Yesterday, under artillery fire from the federal army, they waved a white flag and surrendered as Yugoslavia lurched closer to civil war. Less than two days after Slovenia and Croatia, two of Yugoslavia's six republics, unilaterally seceded from the nation, the federal government in Belgrade mobilized troops to regain control. Accompanied by tanks, jet fighters, helicopters, the regular troops, including paratroopers, battled Slovene militiamen across the breakaway republic. They surrounded the airport near Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, and retook Slovenia's main border crossings with Austria, Italy and Hungary, effectively cutting off international traffic. Local militiamen shot down a federal army helicopter as it flew over the capital, killing the pilot and co-pilot, the Associated Press reported.   There were no official reports of casualties. But Slovene Defense Minister Janez Jansa said in a television interview that fighting was going on in at least 20 places in Slovenia, and he estimated there were more than 100 dead and wounded on both sides. He claimed six government helicopters had been downed. "To put it briefly, Slovenia is at war," he said. Reuters news service reported from Ljubljana that thousands of local defense forces were patrolling with automatic weapons. Outside the Slovene capital, government armored vehicles smashed through barricades and road blocks, leaving a trail of twisted metal, flattened cars and shattered glass. In Croatia, the army moved into areas where fighting erupted between Croats and minority Serbs, Yugoslavia's two largest nationalities and historic rivals. Four people had been killed and 14 hurt Wednesday. The first shooting between the federal army and the militias occurred here, in the mountains that mark the border with Austria. Throughout the morning, federal soldiers, some bearing bazookas, fanned out in the woods surrounding the Slovenia customs house. Meanwhile, tanks and artillery wound up the narrow mountain pass. In midafternoon, the customs house was rattled with a burst of rifle fire and a few minutes later it was rocked by three projectiles from anti-tank guns. The blasts left holes in the roof and walls and shattered windows in the house. The Slovenes, about three dozen strong, waved a white sheet from one of the windows, laid down their weapons and were marched down the road. None of them seemed to be injured. The scene was like something out of the U.S. Civil War, where civilians gathered for picnics to watch the early battles. Here, the drama was watched by several Yugoslavs trying to return to their country from Austria; the cooks, waitresses and a few guests at restaurants on both sides of the border; several tourists who were caught on the Yugoslav side; and a dozen Austrian customs officers and policemen. Those on the Austrian side gathered near the restaurant's beer garden and watched through binoculars as the army soldiers moved through the forest, and then they scrambled for cover when shots were fired. No spectators were harmed. Slovenes watching the action were horrified, as the consequences of their independence grab became clear. "Yesterday we had a big party, and today we're fighting," moaned Bogataj Vejko, a truck driver from near Ljubljana, who had safely crossed the border early in the morning and was now trying to get back home. "We were hoping it wouldn't come to this." After the shooting stopped, he talked to a group of the federal soldiers, and discovered that some were conscripts from Slovenia. "This is what we have come to," he said. "Slovenes shooting at Slovenes." After the army established control, Milan Jelen, a Slovene businessman, reached into the backseat of his car and retrieved his son's toy slingshot. "Now I'll go at them myself," he joked. Then he turned serious, scoffing, "Some independence." Emil Herlec, a leader of the local Slovene mountain rescue team, scrambled up the mountain, through the woods, when he heard the shooting. "The first shots that have been fired in Slovenia since after World War II," he said. "If we want our freedom, we will now have to defend it." In Ljubljana, Milan Kucan, Slovenia's president, vowed in a television address that the republic's militia would respond with "all methods" to any aggression against his "independent state." He called on Slovenes in the federal army to desert and join the republic's militia. In Croatia, officials also vowed to defend their sovereignty. But the poorly trained and equipped Slovene and Croatian militias, formed in the past several months, are no match for the 180,000-strong federal army. The local militias also have nothing to counter the central government's several thousand tanks and other armored vehicles, not to mention the government's air forces. Politically, the two republics' declarations of independence have been ignored by the rest of the world, which supports a united Yugoslavia. So far, no foreign countries have recognized Slovenian and Croatian independence. On the contrary, the European Community and the U.S. have lobbied heavily for the maintainance of the Yugoslav state, and have threatened to withhold millions of dollars in aid if the country breaks up. But U.S. Secretary of State James Baker appealed to Belgrade to find a way for Croatia and Slovenia to express their "national aspirations" through "negotiations and dialogue" rather than bloodshed. Mr. Baker and White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater had suggested to reporters Wednesday that the breakaway republics be granted greater autonomy and sovereignty within a united Yugoslavia. The federal army, dominated by Serbs, has long warned that it won't stand by while the country disintegrates. And on Tuesday night, after the two republics declared their independence, the federal parliament called on the army to intervene. In a letter to Slovenia's premier, Gen. Konrad Kolsek of the federal military district that controls Slovenia said he had orders to seize all border crossings and would "crush" any resistence. The independence declarations came after months of unsuccessful negotiations among the leaders of the six republics over the post-Cold War shape of Yugoslavia. The Communist leadership of Serbia, Yugoslavia's largest republic, insists on strong central control from Belgrade, the capital of both Serbia and Yugoslavia. The nationalist governments of Slovenia and Croatia have been demanding a looser confederation of sovereign republics. Serbian attempts to deny Croatia and Slovenia their independence are motivated by two fears. They worry that the 600,000 Serbs living in Croatia (about 11% of that republic's population) will be discriminated against by the Croatian government. And they fear losing the economic support of Slovenia and Croatia, the two wealthiest republics. On the other hand, Slovenia and Croatia say they could no longer tolerate the erosion of their finances by the Serbian-dominated bureaucracy. Together, Slovenia, with two million people, and Croatia, with five million, supply nearly two-thirds of Yugoslavia's foreign exchange and about half of the country's gross national product. They are also Yugoslavia's gateway to Western Europe.
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