ABSTRACT: Here is an account of the action taken over the last few months via nonviolent direct action, to persuade the international community to intervene in the dramatic situation in ex-Yugoslavia.

Irresponsibility, weakness, cowardice, conflicting interests, and the lack of adequate institutions have all contributed to the current tragedy.

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As early as 1979, while the western governments were extoling Yugoslav "non-alignment" and "national independence" we were asking the European Parliament to consider the Yugoslav issue as the concern of the European Community. We wanted Yugoslavia in Europe, in a politically united Europe. Only a politically united Europe, with supranational democratic institutions, where the social and economic requirements of the weaker sectors and regions may have some weight at a parliamentary and legislative level, can guarantee a future for central and Eastern Europe where a dialectic and tolerance between conflicting interests may be established.

We have acted in the last few months, also by resorting to direct nonviolent action. As we write this, on 24 May 1992, Marco Pannella has reached his third week of hunger strike against the massacres in Bosnia-Herzegovina, perpetrated due to the irresponsible lack of international institutions.

(THE PARTY new - N. 7 - May 1992)

On 26 June 1991, after the news of the Yugoslav federal army's attack on the Republic of Slovenia, the Radical Party and Marco Pannella took a stand on " the recognition of the national sovereignty of Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia, and of the human, political and democratic rights of the Albanian people of Kosovo". During the first session of the Federal Council, held in Rome from 19 to 22 September, Zdravko Tomac, vice president of the Croation government became a member of the Radical Party - together with other personalities from Slovenia and Kosovo - and Marco Pannella announced a nonviolent hunger strike that was to last until 3 November.

Following on from the Federal Council motion, parliamentarians who are members of the Radical Party presented similar texts to the European and Italian parliaments.

The second session of the Federal Council took place in Zagreb from 31 October to 3 November - interrupted several times by air raid warnings - and and was attended by many members of the Croation government who also took an active part in the discussion (Franjo Gregoric, president of the Croatian Council was among those who became Radical Party members). Also participating were Carlo Ripa di Meana, EEC Commissioner, Mairead Corrighan, winner of the Nobel peace prize, Iliaz Ramajli, president in exile of the Kosovo Parliament (also members of the Party) and 60 parliamentarian Party members, from 10 different countries. The motion deliberated many initiatives to support the international recognition and the respect of the human rights of all the minorities in ex-Yugoslavia.

From 8 to 15 November, the Radical Party organized demonstrations in front of the ex-Yugoslav embassies in Brussels, Budapest, Madrid Moscow, Prague and Rome to demand independence for the Republics and invite the ambassadors to resign.

When news arrived of the fall of Vukovar, after a three-month seige, Pannella went back on hunger strike. Some Russian, Czechoslovakian and Croatian deputies join the nonviolent initiative.

On 9 and 10 December, in Maastricht and Strasbourg - during the European summit - hundreds of Radical militants and Croatian citizens demonstrated for the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia, the admission to the Hague of the legitimate representatives of Kosovo and the withdrawal of ambassadors from Belgrade.

On 22 December, over 100 deputies of the Italian parliament signed an appeal, promoted by the Radical party, for the recognition of Slovenia and Croatia and for the commitment not to recognize the Serbian Republic if it does not guarantee the rights of the minorities.

At the same time, during a press conference in Strasbourg - attended by the leader of Kosovo, Adem Demaqi, who was awarded the Sacharov Prize, at the suggestion of the European parliamentarians who are Radical Party members - Marco Pannella explained his reasons for taking "direct, nonviolent action at the front of democracy, peace and liberty, with the Croatian defenders of Osijek", the Slavonian city that had been under attack for months. The Radical parliamentarians Roberto Cicciomessere, Lorenzo Strik Lievers and Alessandro Tessari, and the militants Lucio Bertè, Olivier Dupuis, Renato Fiorelli, Sandro Ottoni and Josip Pinezic also joined Pannella in this action. On the night of New Year's Eve the unarmed Radicals joined the Croatian defence forces at three points along the front.

From 9 to 12 January 1992 the 4th Congress of Italian Radicals was held in Rome. During the proceedings seven soldiers of the federal army imprisoned in Croatia became Radical party members.

During the first session of the 36th Radical Party Congress, in Rome, a common position was outlined in speeches by personalities from Macedonia, Voivodina, Kosovo, Serbia and Croatia, which was expressed in the motion presented by Zdravko Tomac, appealing yet again to the international community and to its great responsibilities. Hundreds of signatures were collected from Party members and personalities for the European Community initiative, for the liberation of prisoners of war in Serbia and Croatia.

At the same time the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina escalated and destruction reigned in Sarajevo. The president of Bosnia, Izetbegovic was arrested by the federalists. The Congress announced a nonviolent march to the Italian Parliament to urge immediate Italian and European measures: the Prime Minister Andreotti received Tomac, Pannella and a delegation from the Congress during the night of 3 May.

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"The criminal conduct of Italy and the European Community, the pacifist forces, the forces of the left, and the forces of the Italian government, towards the actions of the militarist, antidemocratic forces of power that dominate Belgrade and from Belgrade, must be effectively condemned and find an effective solution. May the right to life and the life of rights be asserted and defended immediately! For this reason I'm going on hunger strike from tomorrow and resorting to other political and parliamentary actions".

In this statement, made on 6 May 1992, Marco Pannella announced his nonviolent hunger strike. During the days that followed he was joined by over 2,000 militants and two deputies from the Croatian parliament, Ivan Bacic and Josip Valincic, of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), both Radical Party members.