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Yugoslavia The Military in Domestic Peacekeeping
The YPA became involved in internal security when unrest in
Kosovo escalated in 1981. Under a declaration of national
emergency, the army intervened to stop demonstrations by ethnic
Albanians beyond the control of the LCY, People's Militia, and
local militia. Hundreds of citizens were injured and some were
killed during the YPA's suppression of the demonstrations. Some
reports indicated that one-fourth of the YPA's total manpower
remained in Kosovo to maintain order throughout the 1980s. The
YPA presence added to local resentment; demonstrations resumed in
1987 and continued through the end of the decade.
Use of military force against the domestic population to
maintain order aroused controversy. Top government and party
leaders, rank and file military, and government critics expressed
varying opinions. Political leaders expected the military to
ensure the unity of Yugoslavia and preserve its constitutional
order against internal threats. Yet the internal security mission
put the YPA under great stress because it was not structured or
equipped for such activity. In Kosovo the YPA suffered intense
hostility from the entire ethnic Albanian population, including
armed attacks by local militants. Some officers believed
involvement in ethnic problems put the army in a dangerous
position of opposing large segments of society. More importantly,
they believed that such involvement might weaken or divide the
YPA. Many in this group preferred to stay in the barracks and
concentrate on defense against foreign aggression. Outside
critics of the YPA also argued that its only legitimate role was
external defense, and that the army was a bulwark of the
excessive centralism opposed by many citizens. The YPA seemed to
be involved in all Yugoslavia's political and social crises. Some
citizens looked to it for solutions; others viewed it as part of
the country's problems.
The controversy surrounding the role of the YPA in 1990 meant
that the political and social tensions of Yugoslavia had finally
begun to affect the last bastion of all-Yugoslav solidarity.
Significant reduction in the threat of foreign invasion and the
urgent need for reduction in a high military budget also brought
major changes in actual Yugoslav military practice--although in
1990 the World-War-II-vintage doctrine of civilian defense forces
and preparation for invasion remained in place. At the policy
level, Yugoslavia's nonaligned military position remained firm;
greater emphasis on domestic arms manufacture and reduced
reliance on the Soviet Union and other suppliers, strengthened
that position. Meanwhile, Yugoslav security forces continued to
monitor dissident activity at home and abroad. As nationalist
political activism increased in the 1980s, the role of the
security forces increased, particularly in turbulent Kosovo. By
1990, however, the democratization of neighboring countries and
the pluralization of Yugoslav society exerted substantial
pressure to abolish laws that justified arbitrary prosecution of
domestic dissident activity. Many observers believed that the
fragmentation threatened by reduced control of nationalist
activity might become a justification for military intervention
in national politics, or for expanded use of the YPA in quelling
civil disturbances.
* * *
In Yugoslavia's Security Dilemmas and numerous
articles, Marko Milivojevic shows that he is the foremost student
of Yugoslav security and military affairs. A number of Yugoslav
authors describe well the country's military history and
doctrine. Walter R. Roberts's Tito, Mihailovic and the Allies,
1941-1945, a vital work on Yugoslavia during World War II,
was revised and updated in 1987. Although articles by former YPA
officer and émigré Milan N. Vego are somewhat dated, they offer
first-hand experience with the subject. The Radio Free Europe
reports of Slobodan Stankovic and Milan Andrejevic are useful
sources of up-to-date information on external security matters.
The Daily Report: East Europe of the Foreign Broadcast
Information Service is important for obtaining translations of
illuminating articles from the Yugoslav military press. The
United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency's annual report
World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers is a source
of data on the economics of national defense in Yugoslavia.
Amnesty International reports provide reliable coverage of the
internal security and human rights situation in the country. (For
further information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1990
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