One might forget for a moment that the same leaders, now giving euphoric welcomes to the new Yugoslav president and praising the Serbian people for their move to "democracy," launched a murderous bombing campaign against Yugoslavia just 18 months ago. These leaders were found guilty of war crimes at trials held in Yugoslavia and at people's tribunals in countries around the world.

The imperialists' current aim is to make Kostunica look like he can win quick relief from sanctions and military pressure. They want to bolster him against the Socialist Party and help him tear down the Yugoslav state, especially the army.

A look behind the diplomatic facade reveals that new demands on Yugoslav and Serb sovereignty lie in Kostunica's future, presenting a threat to the population and especially the workers of Serbia and Montenegro.

The first top-level visitor to Belgrade after Kostunica's election was French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. Like all NATO military powers, French imperialism participated in the war. But of them all, a French representative would probably arouse the least hostility from the Serbs, especially compared to Germany or the U.S.

Vedrine promised a rapid lifting of sanctions and on Oct. 12, in President Jacques Chirac's name, invited Kostunica to attend a European Union informal summit in Biarritz, France, on Oct. 14-15.

U.S. sends two agents

Clinton's top adviser on Yugoslavia, Jim O'Brien, also was in Belgrade to meet Kostunica. William Montgomery--who was running the U.S. office in Budapest, Hungary that gave funds and advice to the opposition during the election--also went to Belgrade. But the State Department thought better of having Montgomery, who was obviously the center of the conspiracy to defeat and overturn the Milosevic government, be the first U.S. representative to meet the new Yugoslav president.

Montgomery's presence in Belgrade saved those working with pro-NATO politician Djindjic or with the counter-revolutionary leaders of the student group Otpor from having to travel to Budapest for funds or instructions.

The biggest public event was Kostunica's reception at the European Union summit. He was not only "welcomed to the European family" with words of praise from Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, he was offered $173 million in "emergency aid" to help Yugoslavia get through the winter.

If the same countries' militaries, plus the Pentagon, hadn't bombed away $4 to $40 billion of Yugoslavia's infrastructure and factories and hadn't been blockading the county, it wouldn't need the aid. But Kostunica, though he claims to be a Serb nationalist, didn't mention that at the meeting.

Instead he immediately conceded that Milosevic should be turned over to a U.S.-dominated "war crimes tribunal" in The Hague, though not right away. During the election campaign, he had correctly denounced that tribunal as a political tool of NATO and not a true international court.

Later he also conceded that the people of Montenegro, which is now led by a pro-West president, should vote in a referendum on splitting from Yugoslavia. He made no demands about returning Kosovo to Serbian sovereignty, though he had criticized Milosevic for "losing" Kosovo.

And he approved having a French manager direct the sensitive work of clearing the Danube of bombing debris instead of a Yugoslav, as Milosevic had insisted on.

Kostunica is discovering it was easier to be a staunch nationalist while in the opposition than it is to face down the heads of 15 imperialist states--even without a U.S. presence--and stand up for sovereignty.

The stick behind the praise

In the shadow of the welcoming praise from the top imperialist officials are the comments behind the scenes. A news item from AP Germany on Oct. 11 reported that Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer welcomed the changes in Yugoslavia but noted that a German army presence would be needed there.

Christian Democrat Karl Lahmers also said a "revolution in the minds of the Serbs" would be necessary, meaning an admission of collective guilt.

While the Clinton administration has only had welcoming words for Kostunica and the Serb people for overturning Milosevic, other U.S. politicians have been more open in attacking Serbs in general.

Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, is chair of the Senate appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, and Patrick Leahy is the ranking Democrat. The two wrote an op-ed piece in the Oct. 16 New York Times that demanded Yugoslavia turn over all those accused before The Hague tribunal before it gets further relief from sanctions.

These demands on Yugoslavia's sovereignty aim at a complete takeover. A report in the Oct. 10 USA Today gave an idea of the economic side of that takeover: "While European companies, already busy with Balkan projects, have a home-court advantage, U.S. companies such as infrastructure specialists Brown & Root, AES and General Electric could get a piece of the action.

"European companies such as Telecom Italia, Italy's biggest phone concern, and Germany's Commerzbank have an eye on Yugoslavia."

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