ABSTRACT: "As in the past, when we rebelled against the dominant culture according to which all we could do was coexist with the death by starvation of millions of people, today we are also saying loud and clear that it is possible to stop the havoc and avert the signals of death and war in the former Yugoslavia. It is necessary to immediately recognize the Republic of Macedonia; the embargo against Serbia needs to be enforced more strictly; it is necessary to guarantee the return of the Croatian refugees in the occupied territories; it is necessary to avoid the failure of the radical experiment, whereby members of parliament and militants of various nationalities "are actively involved in proving that in order to win the curse of the new nationalisms and racisms it takes not new slogans, but new political subjects, specifically constituted on the basis of the historical priority of federalism".

(L'UNITA', 7 November 1992)

Every evening, through the images on TV, we witness the updating of the macabre death toll of the war for the division of Bosnia Herzegovina, of the killings and of the bombs, of the torture and of the death camps: 10 thousand children have died or are dispersed, 14,364 people have died, 57 thousand people are "missing" or "eliminated". The Europe of Maastricht declares itself impotent and prepares to witness with unchanged indifference the signals of other deaths and other wars. In addition to Bosnia, ethnically "cleansed", the next "prey" could be Macedonia: the violations of the anti-Serbian embargo carried out through this country, the common problem of an Albanian minority, foreshadow more deaths and more war. Also, the tragedy of Kosovo: despite the nonviolent efforts of the political leaders of the Albanian minority, the population will hardly accept to spend the winter coexisting with the energy crisis due to the embargo and the brutal vexations of Belgrade. The armed conflicts and the killings of p

olicemen these days foreshadow further deaths, further war. In the meanwhile, we risk forgetting that a quarter of Croatia is still occupied by the Serbs, and that hundreds of thousands of refugees are pressing to return to their homes. All this fuels the expansionist tendencies of Herzegovina: more deaths, more war.

Lastly, the huge circle of interests and business brought about and fueled by this war in the Balkans: weapons and drugs circulate freely in all countries of the former Yugoslavia.

Bonn, Washington, Rome and Paris know this. But they believe that they can only contain the damage, not prevent the event. The alibi which the European countries, but the United States as well, have taken to justify this cynical passivity, and which is fed to us together with the images of death, is equally explicit: the only alternative to the impotence of the diplomatic pressure would be a massive military intervention which could involve everyone in a war more devastating that the ongoing one. Therefore, we can do nothing but sit and wait. As in the past, when we rebelled against the dominant culture, according to which the only thing that could be done was coexist with the death by starvation of millions of people, today we are saying loud and clear that it is on the contrary possible to stop the havoc and avert the signals of death and war. This is the message given by the dozens of Croatian parliamentarians and leaders from Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo who have joined the radical party, along w

ith many colleagues from the Italian or Russian parliament, precisely in order to oppose the revival of the demons of nationalism and of racism with the difficult but forced democratic, nonviolent, federalist and internationalist praxis.

The first objective should be the immediate recognition of the Republic of Macedonia. The fact of not recognizing this Republic makes it practically impossible to apply the U.N. embargo at the border with Greece. The only (unacceptable) obstacle is represented by the fact that Greece wants the new State to give up its name. At the same time, it is necessary to struggle for a strict application of the sanctions decided by the U.N. against Serbia and Montenegro in order to obtain the cessation of the operations of "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia, and to avoid the conflict from extending itself, involving Macedonia and Kosovo. It is necessary to raise the problem of the recognition of Kosovo at the level of the European and international fora. It is necessary to give back hope to a population which has been suffering intolerable vexations for decades.

It is necessary to guarantee the return of the Croatian refugees in the occupied areas, thus respecting the international decisions. This is the only way to stifle a breeding ground of continuous tension, to restore territorial integrity to Croatia without supplying arguments to those who push for its expansion to the detriment of Bosnia. Lastly, the European Community needs to overcome its selfishness and immediately propose a pact of political association, economic assistance and opening of the community market to those republics of the former Yugoslavia who will accept the European standards as regards the respect of human rights and the ethnic minorities.

This radical experiment, this transnational and transparty laboratory, unique in the world, where members of parliament and militants of different nationalities and of different political families, Muslims or Christians, black or white, are actively committed to prove that to win the curse of the new nationalisms and racisms it takes not new slogans, but new political subjects explicitly constituted on the basis of the historical priority of federalism, should not be made to fail. Who will give us a helping hand before it is too late?