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MAY THE 15TH DAY OF WAR BE THE FIRST DAY OF PEACE
Adoption of the Brioni Declaration
Speech by the President of the Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia, Milan Kucan
Ljubljana, Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, 10 July 1991
"Through the Declaration we have gained three months of still uncertain peace. It is up to us to use these three months sensibly. In this way, after the three months we will be able to say that we have arrived at our independence on the basis of an agreement with the other nations or their republics. For in this process we have demanded nothing more than what we were prepared and able to admit to others. For this reason we agreed to our obligations and have also taken responsibility for them. In the interest of peace, in the interest of a more solid path towards Slovene independence and recognition, I call on you, honourable deputies, in the name of the Presidency, to adopt the Declaration and annexes. I know that you will do so under the great weight of a moral dilemma, just as the Slovene negotiators were under at the meeting on Brioni. We resolved it under the weight of the common European reality and through the understanding that peace outweighs any uncertain short cut to freedom. May the 15th day of war be the first day of peace" stated the President of the Presidency, Milan Kucan, in connection with the Brioni Declaration in which the European Community set the conditions to be fulfilled by nations of the former Yugoslavia in order that their sovereign delf-determination would be recognised and a peadeful and democratic resolution of the Yugoslav crisis guaranteed.
"In this process we have demanded nothing more than what we were prepared and able to admit to others. For this reason we agreed to our obligations and have also taken responsibility for them. In the interest of peace, in the interest of a more solid path towards Slovene independence and recognition, I call on you, honourable deputies, in the name of the Presidency, to adopt the Declaration and annexes. I know that you will do so under the great weight of a moral dilemma, just as the Slovene negotiators were under at the meeting on Brioni. We resolved it under the weight of the common European reality and through the understanding that peace outweighs any uncertain short cut to freedom. May the 15th day of war be the first day of peace."
Today marks the 16th day of Slovenia's independence and the 15th day of war. These few days have fundamentally changed our seemingly small world, and have changed Yugoslavia. They have also essentially changed Europe. Of this the Slovene Assembly must today be aware. Europe, too, is showing increasing awareness and recognition of this fact.
Europe, democratic and safe, constructed in Helsinki and Paris a solid vision of its future. It brought in an order which it has commanded upon itself and which it freely accepts in the interest of its security and peace, in the interest of democracy, economic and general development and of a higher quality of life of its people. Europe demands with justification that this order is observed consistently and without exception by all Europeans. We Slovenes are Europeans, and without doubt we desire to be so in the future. For this reason the path to full recognition of our independence is a long one. For it is a European path, and we ourselves desire it to be European. One of the steps now taken on this path which must be trodden is the Brioni meeting with representatives of those countries which are championing the cause of a united Europe, a meeting which has produced the Declaration on which you will today debate and vote. This is the result of the political reflection of the European Twelve, who have understood that the situation in Yugoslavia and the threat to the Slovene decision to exercise its right to self-determination represent a threat to democracy and to the very foundations of the values of modern European civilisation. The Declaration is based upon agreements with the ministerial troika from Zagreb, on which this Assembly has already debated and decided. The Declaration lays before the Slovene Assembly and before the bodies of the Yugoslav federation the conditions under which Europe is prepared to be involved multilaterally, such that it might contribute to peace and to the democratic resolving of the Yugoslav crisis, as well as to the exercising, by agreed routes, of the sovereign will of any nation of Yugoslavia regarding its own future.
It is up to us now to accept these conditions, and with the help of European countries and institutions to implement the will, as confirmed in the plebiscite, of the Slovene people to live in an independent, free, democratic and open state; or alone and without support to set off on the uncertain path towards our goal which, sadly as is now all too clear, has led only through war.
On Brioni, where we were invited by the troika of EC ministers, we decided between war and peace. And today, honourable deputies, you too will decide on this. Remember, that as the chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mr Van den Broek, said, war is not negotiated with friends but with enemies. And our enemy is hard! What you decide today will leave a deep mark on the future and the very existence of the Slovene nation. And for this you will hold full responsibility. I do not doubt that on the long path of the struggle for Slovene independence you will measure up to this task.
By adopting the Declaration and the two annexes we will still not gain international recognition. But we will gain the possibility of halting the political and military aggression which has been unleashed on us without control or justification, and in its place establish the path of understanding and mutual respect of interests.
The decision to pursue a democratic path, with the cooperation and support of the European countries, who in this way are taking on some of the responsibility for the fate of the Slovene nation, is also a decision in favour of early international recognition and inclusion in European and international institutions.
This represents an offer of involvement from the EC and CSCE countries. Under conditions which have been explicitly and irrevocably set down in writing, they are prepared to be involved through their people, their knowledge, institutions and means. This is done, of course, also in their interest, in the interest of their own peace and security; to prevent war and help by peaceful means to get beyond this crisis and the very challenging relations between the Yugoslav nations. We should not forget that this senseless war, which has violently blocked the path to Slovene independence, is raging in the very heart of Europe, that rockets have fallen on people on the borders of Europe and very close to European capitals. Europe is shaken. A wave of angry protest has come down upon Europe's political leaders. They in turn have not forgotten that Yugoslavia signed the Helsinki Final Act, by which it bound itself to refrain from actions which would threaten the peace and security of European countries. Through resolutions which demanded that the YNA close the borders and the military force be used in place of and to halt the democratic process, the Yugoslav government has crudely violated its commitment, and in this way the full responsibility for establishing peace has fallen unilaterally on the European Community.
The EC has shown an entirely different kind of understanding of this responsibility. It reacted to the threat to peace and democracy immediately. It formulated its offer in cooperation with all the parties directly involved in the conflict. It proposes to us that we accept it in its entirety, and with this it offers its full involvement and responsibility. In the event that we reject this, the European countries will be justified in their belief that their mission is over and that they cannot and do not wish to take any kind of responsibility for the unfolding of events, for the uncertain fate and for the future of the people and nations in this area. They have no desire or capacity to force their help and cooperation on us.
The Declaration and annexes represent one of the first instances of the European method of resolving conflicts, as determined in principle by the Paris Charter. There is no doubt that from the aspect of our historical Slovene desire, this proposed package is not ideal, and that it demands considerable self-denial in the interest of common peace. This is, however, the balance, the delicate balance of interests, the delicate balance of peace which was extremely difficult to establish and into which has been invested the great efforts of the Slovene delegation. We are bound in any event to offer our thanks and full recognition to those people who on behalf of the European community made extraordinary efforts to halt the aggression and madness, especially the troika of ministers. I am convinced that our people will be able to value properly this effort and that the acceptance of the Declaration will be understood as confidence in the good intentions of the European Community.
The Declaration is of course not the solution to the problem, and it is not yet peace and recognition of Slovene independence. But it is a fundamental guarantee that there will be peace and that it will be possible for us to pursue a peaceful and democratic path, without aggression and war, towards that recognition; as indeed we promised to our people, who showed us in the elections that they have faith in us. Would we achieve any more through war? At the end of every war come negotiations. But by then, many lives have been sacrificed. There are too few of us Slovenes for us to allow ourselves except in absolute extremity, where our own freedom and existence are at stake, to lose our lives. Our mothers and wives bear sons for peace and not for war.
The problem of Slovenia, our independence and international recognition has now been internationalised. With the inherent guarantee that Slovenia will gain international recognition immediately, without waiting for all the agreements on settling relations with the other republics, if military force is again used against us, Slovenia has now gained a powerful guarantee. This is in our interest and in the interest of European peace. Only international monitoring and assessment can halt the vengeful rampaging of the Yugoslav Army and those who have exploited it against Slovenia.
The Declaration, and all the efforts needed to bring it about, have established Slovenia as an international European negotiating force. We are able and ready to negotiate, flexible and rational enough, we respect the interests of others and do not set ultimatums. The issuing of ultimatums is a sign of poor, uncreative and undemocratic policy. They announce wars, and do not end them. In this way Slovenia has gained its first dimension of international recognition. By agreeing to the Declaration we will in three months be much closer to our independence, and to the fulfilment of our right to self-determination, which no one, either in Europe or Yugoslavia, disputes in principle. We will achieve it in the way we desired, not to the detriment of the interests and rights of others, without endangering the free flow of goods, people, capital, information and other European values, and without jeopardising the peace and security of European countries. This we stated publicly and long ago. Our decisions were legitimate and legal. No one can reproach us for them.
The three months which we now have are possibly of critical importance, given the events taking place in Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. We would be short-sighted and irresponsible towards our own fate if we allowed Slovenia to be the final excuse and reason for an attempt to unite the backward-looking forces in the outmoded concept of Yugoslavia and the even more outmoded ideological foundation on which it rests. The process of democratisation cannot be reined back in any Yugoslav nation. With this process and the values of European democracy, we might expect among the nations of Yugoslavia a different attitude towards fulfilment of the right of nations to self-determination and towards the foundations of future relations. This must be the goal and essence of negotiations with the other republics and bodies of the federation, including the question of gradual withdrawal of the YNA from Slovenia.
There was absolutely no justification for the war and the aggression on Slovenia's sovereignty. When it was forced upon us, we showed as we have done twice before in recent history that we are prepared and able to defend our freedom. We are not a nation of war, we are a nation of peace. Yet we should be aware that without victory in this first, decisive battle of this forced war, there would be no Declaration today, and peace would be much further away from us than it is now. For this reason enormous gratitude and recognition is owed to all the members of the Territorial Defence, the Republic of Slovenia police forces, and indeed to all our people. They have fought with determination and courage, in the eyes of all the world. They have done what their homeland demanded of them, and more! Now we have the chance to sow peace in what they wrenched out of war; and to preserve the capability of Slovenia to protect its independence in these uncertain conditions.
It is beyond all understanding that the highest generals in the YNA are now labelling as traitors those people who did not wish to participate in the war against Slovenia, and who did not wish to fire on their own people. We are duty bound to protect these people, Slovene patriots, with the full authority of the Slovene state. We are also duty bound to ask the question who is to blame for creating the unbridgeable gulf between the conscience and the commands among members of the YNA, who have been trained for war against an external enemy; who is guilty for exploiting them in a war against their own people and against an entire nation. This represents abuse of the popular, Yugoslav and defence nature of the YNA, abuse of its many excellent, capable and decent officers. We can no longer accept such an army as our own or even as Yugoslav. The demand for release of all Slovenes serving in the YNA is therefore entirely justified. All the more so, because this army is becoming increasingly replenished and reinforced by members of one single nation, who also cannot see the sense of a war outside the boundaries of their homeland.
And finally, in Slovenia there has been war; for the moment we only have a ceasefire. Combat operations have been conducted in Slovene territory, and people have died here; not just Slovenes. And not those who would come here to wage war in such an arbitrary manner. Little more than children, whom their parents entrusted to the army. It is they who have been exploited more than anyone, and to them we owe our deepest sympathy and condolences. We would be advised to remember this fact in our future negotiations; both ourselves and the European negotiators. War has radically changed many things. New facts have emerged, as well as deep human wounds, which in the future it will simply not be possible in any way to ignore.
We need not waste too much energy debating whether it would have been possible to achieve a better basic agreement with the European Community. Let us rather concentrate our strength and pull together our capabilities, so that in the negotiations we may use opportunities and time better than our opponent, and prevent the restart of war now that it has been halted. Let us not lose patience, no matter how acute becomes the arrogance and cynicism of the propaganda offensive which has now been initiated with all force against Slovenia. At this time we must continue our efforts to secure international recognition for Slovenia. But the struggle for international political recognition can be transferred to the economic arena. The opening of European markets to our economy, the removal of artificial economic, trade, customs and other barriers is a part of the common responsibility to which Europe is also bound. Europe must know that our goal includes an economically successful and socially just, not simply independent, Slovenia. And let us show them this!
Through the Declaration we have gained three months of still uncertain peace. It is up to us to use these three months sensibly. In this way, after the three months we will be able to say that we have arrived at our independence on the basis of an agreement with the other nations or their republics. For in this process we have demanded nothing more than what we were prepared and able to admit to others. For this reason we agreed to our obligations and have also taken responsibility for them. In the interest of peace, in the interest of a more solid path towards Slovene independence and recognition, I call on you, honourable deputies, in the name of the Presidency, to adopt the Declaration and annexes. I know that you will do so under the great weight of a moral dilemma, just as the Slovene negotiators were under at the meeting on Brioni. We resolved it under the weight of the common European reality and through the understanding that peace outweighs any uncertain short cut to freedom. May the 15th day of war be the first day of peace.
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