SERBIA: KRUPANJ A NATIONALIST VESTIGE OF CONTRADICTION AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 001030 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (P. PETERSON) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SR SUBJECT: SERBIA: KRUPANJ A NATIONALIST VESTIGE OF CONTRADICTION AND CONFUSION REF: BELGRADE 258 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Serbia's small western municipality of Krupanj highlights how economic destitution and the lack of a national vision have spawned a muddled relationship between citizens and nationalist parties in local government. All roads literally end in Krupanj as does, apparently, all logic. Though the local government is led by a Serbian Radical Party (SRS)- New Serbia (NS)- Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) coalition, economic hardships blur the relevance of party allegiance as citizens struggle to make ends meet. The perception of local Democratic Party (DS) officials as "crooks" and confusion about President Tadic's intentions devalue the attractiveness of a DS alternative. Economic woes and the ability of even ultranationalist followers to change stripes to suit the occasion indicate that local citizens are most apt to follow political leadership that they see as tangibly improving their own lives. End Summary. Impoverished Municipality of Contradictions -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Krupanj, a small municipality not far from the Serbia-Bosnia border opposite Zvornik, reflects the POLITICAL confusion in the isolated townships of Serbia wrought by persistent economic hardship. Mayor Savo Doric, a medical doctor and member of the NS executive board, explained to the Charge on August 22 that the lack of roads and the closure of the local polyester plant severely hurt Krupanj's economic potential. Doric claimed he knew NS President Velimir Ilic and explained away some of Ilic's recent irrational behavior as the result of Ilic's recent brain hemorrhage which kept him from thinking clearly. Charge reminded Doric about Ilic's comments describing the February 21, 2008, attack on the U.S. Embassy as a "form of democratic expression," to which Doric responded that "Ilic was never rational anyway." Doric then proceeded with what was to become his leitmotif: Krupanj was poor because of bad roads. When Charge asked why Doric never got any roads out of Ilic he said, "Ilic makes a lot of promises." Charge asked why DSS was not part of the Krupanj ruling coalition and Doric said "personality conflict," and started on his second leitmotif - parties don't matter in Krupanj, personalities do. ¶3. (SBU) In response to Charge's question about what the Radicals �00A;were up to (the majority of the municipal council),he said they were not thinking about politics, but rather how to make ends meet. He seemed to think the Radicals were not thinking about a Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) alternative. After Charge pointed out that the SNS successes in Vozdovac, Zemun, and Kosovo and the apparent decline of the SRS, he seemed contemplative. Turning to the Socialists, Doric said it was unclear whether the SPS electorate was buying off on SPS President Dacic's vision of the "new SPS." "That's a hard sell," he said. ¶4. (SBU) The mayor then made a pitch for U.S. assistance. Charge outlined the individual projects, non-governmental types people from his municipality could apply for, including exchanges, democracy commission, humanitarian assistance and possibly USAID competitiveness projects, but said it was doubtful the government would qualify for assistance as long as the electorate voted in a majority party who considered Vojislav Seselj and Ratko Mladic as heroes, and who treated Serbian basketball player Miladin Kovacevic (reftel) as a Serbian victim. Charge said she doubted such folks would welcome U.S. assistance. "You're wrong," he said. "Our Radicals are local and they're not anti-American. And besides, they would be happy to re-christen themselves into anything in order to get assistance." ¶5. (SBU) In a brief response to Charge's question about why DS had lost Krupanj in the last municipal election, the mayor said, "they're crooks." ¶6. (SBU) When Charge asked about Slobodan Milosevic's lasting popularity in Krupanj, the mayor agreed folks still considered him a hero. Why? "Ignorance," he responded. "Our folks here don't read the paper much." He said Krupanj historically had been very pro-Partizan and was the site of one of the first uprisings against the Nazis. He said at the beginning royalist "Chetnik" forces and Partizans had fought together, but not for long. Milosevic was able to capitalize on somehow being the continuity with the Partizans. ¶7. (SBU) Doric said people in Krupanj were confused about President Tadic. "He campaigned on a pro-EU platform, but now is in BELGRADE 00001030 002 OF 003 Beijing talking about China being just as important and a few weeks ago said the same thinking about the Non-Aligned Movement. Until Tadic makes his message more clear, folks like ours can't understand him," the mayor said. Doing Business in Krupanj -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Though the mayor complained bitterly about population loss due to the lack of economic opportunity, he seemed disinterested in three of Krupanj's more successful enterprises-a fruit processing plant, the local hotel, and a local priest's charming construction of a 15th Century church as an "ethno-village." Representatives from all three enterprises mentioned, even in the mayor's presence, that the municipality was not providing enough support. They later alluded to Charge that they were unwilling to give Doric a "cut" of their revenues, which explained his disinterest. ¶9. (SBU) When the mayor and Charge arrived at the USAID-assisted fruit processing plant, they mayor seemed unimpressed with what appeared to be, by any measure, a wildly successful privatization effort. The company exports frozen raspberries and blackberries, as well as prunes and fresh zucchini to European markets. A massive enterprise, with state of the art equipment, receiving fruit from over 1000 local farms and employing over 100 in Krupanj alone, the factory representative said orders were up and capacity only was limited by supply of fruit. The representative said the firm was buying up plots of land from farmers who retired, or opted out of agriculture, in order to have more of an economy of scale. The firm also was considering more product lines. The representative agreed with the mayor, however, that better roads would make life easier. In contrast, the mayor seemed more interested in showing Charge an abandoned Tito-era polyester plant, insisting that textiles were Krupanj's future. ¶10. (SBU) Doric also seemed to think Krupanj could become a tourist destination, if the roads were better. He took Charge up a steep winding road to a crossroads he said would link Krupanj to Ljubovija, which would make the whole area more accessible to Bosnia-Herzegovina and increase trade. He said that in a pre-WWII arrangement, Krupanj had been subordinate to Sarajevo and that Sarajevo in some ways was a more natural hub. In response to Charge's question about Krupanj's ethnic structure, Doric said out of 20,000 residents, 500 were "Muslims," but he was unsure whether they were Roma, Slavic Muslims or Turks left over from the closure of the local Ottoman fortress in the 19th Century. "But many of them are Radicals," he said and one of them was a Radical municipal council member. "They were even pro-Milosevic during the war," he insisted and said there had been little friction during the war. Doric thought he could attract tourists because of this history and Krupanj's fresh air, and pointed out a hotel one of his friends was building. ¶11. (SBU) In spite of all the mayor's talk about tourism, the local downtown hotel owner had a different story. Even though her hotel provides almost 100% of the city's tourist income from running a series of children's sports camps, she said the city treated her like an alien because she lived in Novi Sad, Vojvodina. She bought the hotel because her husband was from Krupanj and the air was fresh. She said the town council made it almost impossible for her to do business, and she was convinced they burdened her with unnecessary paperwork. The hotel is - by far - the most imposing structure and focal point of downtown Krupanj. Undaunted she said she intended to open a wellness center to attract adults, in addition to the children's camps. In response to the hotel owner's complaints, the mayor reminded Charge that his own friends wanted to build a hotel. ¶12. (SBU) Krupanj's most charming tourist attraction, an ethno-village centered around a reconstructed 15th Century church, also illustrates the problems with getting municipal support if one does not play into the mayor's priorities. The local village priest has made construction of the village - including museums, grottos and picnic sites - his life's work and said in the mayor's presence that he would appreciate more support from the municipality. The mayor did not respond. Comment -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Krupanj's problems and contradictions reflect a lack of clarity in understanding where President Tadic is taking Serbia. Mayor Doric is more a caricature of a corrupt local mayor than a representation of an ideological threat to the pro-European coalition. The ability to change stripes and spots to suit the BELGRADE 00001030 003 OF 003 occasion would seem to contribute to the argument that these simple folk would follow a direction they could understand as improving their lives - if that direction were explained to them clearly. End Comment. BRUSH