September 10 - 12, 1999
Cleveland, OHIO

I have a great pleasure to address the Serbian Unity Congress 10th Anniversary in Cleveland, in behalf of the Republic of Srpska and to do it in the town in which you have met for the first time in 1990. I bring you brotherly greetings from your motherland, wish you a lot of success in your work and all the best in this moment, so dramatic for Serbs, since a million of them are refugees and displaced persons denied the right to return to their homes from which they have been living for centuries, that is to Kordun, Lika, Banija, as well as Kosovo and Metohija recently.

I am grateful for the honor and opportunity to address this eminent gathering of Serbs from USA, Canada and all around the world, and to say a few relevant words from the perspective of the Serb issues and relations of Serbs from the other side of River Drina, that is from the RS, about the topic "Ways of the National Unity and Freedom," which is always current and present for us Serbs.

I believe that my presentation about the frame of the Serb moment in RS will be implemented in our joint vision of Serb unity and freedom. Exactly, where are the Serbs at the beginning of 21st century, in relation to the developed democratic world, Europe and especially USA, in relation to its territorial unity, situation of the internal inter-Serb relations, as well as the situation of the Serbs' national spirit in general? I believe I shall not have many oppo-nents who will disagree with my opinion that Serb countries, and especially FRY and Serbia are disturbingly far from a developed and de-mocratic world, with an abyss in between, which threatens to grow and to make Serbs living in several dispersed units, further dispersion of which is, unfortunately, their only perspective. A perspective, because there is no cohesive factor in our nation, which would unite it in religion, determination, idea, national interest, because we have not used the past 10 years of crises in the Balkans the best way for the Serbs. We are meeting an outcome, which is rising now as a nation, divided, destroyed from the inside, alienated from each other, with no clear and generally accepted national idea - where and how to go on? If we do not arise above this, weakened as a state, nationally and spiritually, at this wind-swept area of different world's interests (or is that interest clear now), we could meet the situation settling at this unstable region in a hu-miliated position, even in relation to our small neighbors, who have always been learning from us and for whom we have always been a model and a force.

Our homeland, and I believe a homeland of many of you, the RS and Serb nation have ended an era in the .... of Balkan's Yugoslav's drama, which was a road of national survival and identity, in a 3.5 years long war for national survival, territory and people, a statehood and autonomy, or as some say, a major part of that, but lagging behind, some say at this half of the road to the realization of a dream of our divided nation's all generations - a total Serb unity.

It is not possible to make war at Balkans any more. What has been achieved by war now can only be built by peace. New ages ask for new forms and ways of national struggle and perspective, respecting a general dominant environment. It could be said, from a perspective of someone with an objective and unemotional approach, that our people in RS have relatively succeeded to preserve a whole of national interests at the crossroads of different roads and directions, and that it could certainly walk down a secured road of perspective nations, if only our nation to the abyss by the principle of the linked dishes, and if only internal situation and division of leaders in RS would not be threatening to de-stroy and darken everything our nation got in blood.

Preoccupied by the war and dominating struggle for autonomy in relation to BiH, RS did not do enough on the development of democratic society and its instructions, so a cruel struggle for power helped by the growing foreign influence has been inflamed during the past 3 years. Two major and divided Serb blocks - coalitions, although with similar programs, are accusing each other of treason and collaboration, they have developed their differences to an unimag-inable scale, wrecking our people who rightfully asks a question: "Is this the Republic of Serbs we have been fighting for?"

I am one of the RS politicians who thinks that its leadership should be more responsible to its people and that the people have a right to know where they are being led. They have that right and they want to hear clearly that this Republic was made by all its nation and that all its leaders, commanders have, since 1990 up to date, in their own way, implemented a part of themselves in it, and that all of them are our common values, everyone for his own time. This kind of national understanding and conciliation, unreasonably non-rooted here since everyone thinks "history starts from me", is a necessary precondition for creation of the future compro-mises and agreements between political parties and leaders in the RS, for what I stand for, so the minimum of the Serb national interests, as we name it now, could be achieved.

I think it is possible to find a thin line of compromise and a connective tissue between a strong step forward, integration into Europe and estimation that we are under protectorate and that it is historically good for the nation to be Obrenovic at this moment, an option supported by almost half of the Serb political forces in Republic, and the other half which stands for the constant affirmation of our statehood and stronger relations with Serbia and Montenegro, that is two options which oppose each other only at the first sight.

Our reality today is a Serb country on the other side of the Drina River - Republic of Srpska. Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a thin roof for two republics and three nations is reality, too, as well as international community strongly present in this part of Europe. Our young nation wants to take a road of progress, to join integration with a developed world but also wishes permanent and unlimited relations and connections with Serbia and Montenegro. A free world can certainly go together with conscience and necessity for the unity of the Serb national space.

We who lead the RS, have the biggest responsibility for it. If instead of the bear strug-gle for power and side interest we put survival of the Republic and nation into the first plan, we will have a chance not to be blown out from this insecure Balkan's wind-swept area in accordance with the principle "Once upon a time, there was a rebellion".

First, we need internal political and so-cial stability, and then defining of the common national interests or programs, which shall not be a subject of inter-party conflicts, then definition of our relations towards BiH and FRY according to the General Framework agreement for Peace, followed by the general democratization of our society through acceptance of the European standards, privatization, defining of the relations and involvement of our Diaspora into economical and spiritual reconstruction and renewal. The majority of big nations has found their ways of national existence, renewal, prosperity and political strength a long time ago. We are still small, divided, dispersed all around the world, with no clear and recognizable guiding, crippled and cut into halves by wars. Today, a half of our nation lives outside of Serbia and in Diaspora, with no significant influence on crea-tion of our people's and state's future. Although I have dedicated majority of my words to the situation in RS, a situation today's national spirit in Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro, is an unavoidable and major issue. This topic shall get the biggest attention in others discussions, so I shall present you with only a few of my observations regarding this issue. In big historical cycle, which repeats itself, we have been currently left without Kosovo, but no-one has won it yet. A time ahead us shall bring solutions, which have not still ripen in heads of those who decide the destiny of the world, and that is our chance for Serbia to achieve its sovereignty over Kosovo, integrated in the Europe. We should ask ourselves what has happened with us, who stopped a Mohammedan's worlds, 610 years ago in Kosovo, in its campaign for conquering the West, if the western world that has always been grateful for that has joined Mohammedans now against us. Although Montenegro is at the historical crossroad, one is certain and we have to have it in mind: if Montenegro separates, Kosovo shall definitely be lost, since there would be not a reason for existence of the Yugoslav Federation.

If we are strong enough to take the Serb nation on the way of unity and democracy, we shall need a lot of time to re-establish theshaken reputation of the Serb name in the world. A role of our educated and well recognized Serbs in USA, Canada, Europe and other parts of the world is going to be unavoidable, as well as their still unused role in reconstruction, democracy, economic renewal and union of our Serb countries, which I especially support, so Congress of the Serb Unity and other Serb organizations have an especial and major roll in this. Even more, having in mind that our nation and com-munity have not defined relation between Dias-pora and homeland and that there is no institu-tion such as Goethe's Institute for Germans and Institute of Dante Alligieri for Italians, etc.If I may conclude at this crucial moment for our nation, I would like to say that all of us, Serbs, wherever in the world we are - in Serbia, RS, USA or anywhere else, have a big national mission to fulfill. We have to develop an awareness on the totality of the Serb area, totality of our nation's being wherever is exists, unity of the national, cultural and spiritual interests and a Serb Orthodox Church as a soul of the nation. Interests of the nation in global have to be in front of the personal or political interests and we have to hear the opinion of all Serbs in the world regarding our national issues. As a wise Serb Mihajlo Pupin said, you can serve your nation regardless of where you are. The RS should pay sepecial attention to the unavoidable role of Serbs from Diaspora in our general development and life, and this is an opportunity to send them a public invitation to contribute creation of our future.

In the end, I would like to remind you of our Ducic, who once said that if there had not been Serbs with the extraordinary power of the collective spirit, South Slavs would have never preserved their name and language. But, he goes on saying that, if Serbs did not have, unfortunately, their tyrants and oppressors in every century, they could have been a big nation at this side on Europe by now. It seems we will need our always-present military skills in the future, but if we want to live in the well-organized democratic European world, we also need the civil virtues we have never had before. Because, we should not be mistaken in believing that the greatest merit is to die for the homeland, because the greatest merit is to live and to work for it.

He was born on September 16th 1956 in Rogatica. Finished the Law faculty in Sarajevo, 1979. Worked in economy for ten (10) years, within the Famos and the Unis systems, and for seven (7) years in the management bodies, as the Secretary of the New Sarajevo municipal, the Executive board President of the Municipal Assembly of New Sarajevo and the President of the Municipal Assembly of NeNv Sarajevo and the President of the Assembly in the town of Serb Sarajevo. Since September 1996 till 1998, he was the Deputy in two convocations of the National Assembly. And in two convocations of the National Assembly, he was the President of the judicial legal commission. He improved himself with post graduate studies in the area of law sciences. He has performed the duty of the Vice President of the Republic since the end of 1998.