yugoslavias implosion

242
ChApter 3
In view of this pronouncement, the following statement made
by Zoran Lilić comes as no surprise: “If we are attacked, our legitimate
right is to defend ourselves. Those who think that the question
of Kosovo and Metohija can be solved through military intervention
must reckon with a war of wider proportions and on the destabilization
of Southeastern Europe.” 426
Milošević reiterated to Richard Holbrooke that “foreign troops
have no business on Yugoslav territory” and that “solutions which
substantially deviate from equality would mean Albanian preponderance
at the expense of all other national communities, which
would no doubt cause a new ethnic cleansing of Serbs, this time
from Serbia Proper.” 427 Milošević’s wife, Mirjana Marković, let it
be known that “we will not assume the role of new Jews without a
major battle.” 428
True to his role as Milošević’s chief warmonger, Šešelj
announced to the Serbian people that they should brace themselves
for intervention. “We are firm in our position that there will be no
foreign troops in any part of Serbia and Yugoslavia; Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milošević told u.s. envoy Richard Holbrooke this to
his face, all the envoys before him were told this, and Mr. Ivanov, the
Russian foreign minister, will also be told this.” 429 Šešelj was defiant
and stern:
They cannot occupy us even temporarily without heavy fighting and
staggering losses; if we fight, we stand a chance of defending our country,
for this is our country; if they attack us and we declare a state of
war, there will be no mercy for deserters and those who spread panic,
civilians, including the most prominent leaders of the Albanian community . The original text is
posted at http://www .danas .org/programi/interview . He repeated the same claim as a witness
in Milošević’s trial, see http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/020515ED.htm .
426 Glas javnosti, March 10, 1999 .
427 Glas javnosti, March 11, 1999 .
428 Glas javnosti, March 12, 1999 .
429 Glas javnosti, March 13–14, 1999 .