Chapter 285 Civil War in Yugoslavia
Facing the irrefutable evidence, Yazov was speechless in surprise. He never expected that the enemy would penetrate so deeply. The fortress is always breached from the inside, recalling all the amazing actions Ulyanov made when he was the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. Yazov was even more convinced of the veracity of Kryuchkov's allegations.
"Who else knows these things?" Yazov asked Kryuchkov cautiously.
"Except you and me, and one of my subordinates, there is no one else!" Kryuchkov replied in a low voice.
"Don't make this matter known to the outside world. Find an opportunity to ask other comrades for their opinions. Remember! Any comrade who has publicly expressed his support for Ulyanov must refrain from probing, so as not to startle the snake!" Yazov explained. .
"Can't we work together to control Ulyanov?" Kryuchkov asked puzzled.
"Comrade Kryuchkov, unless you want to turn the Soviet Union into a country ruled by a military government! The military has never had a good reputation for meddling in politics! Ulyanov's problems are too complicated, and the economic lifeline of the Soviet Union is almost in his hands We have to admit that his contribution to the Soviet Union is still great. But he also committed an unforgivable crime. If the Soviet government is continued to be controlled by these people, according to their current policies, what is the difference between the collapse of the party and the collapse of the country? ?” Although Yazov is a soldier, he still knows the importance. Soldiers can defend the country and control Ulyanov in the name of quelling traitors, but they cannot really replace the government to maintain the operation of the country. The strength of the KGB and the Ministry of Defense alone can deal a fatal blow to the enemy, but in that case, the Soviet Union will face a blockade from all over the world, and the economy that has just seen improvement is likely to slide into the abyss again. So the military must unite with the politicians in the party. The army does what the army should do, and the politicians do what politicians should do. Only in this way, the harm to this country will be minimal.
Although the Ministry of National Defense and the KGB knew part of Serezha's secrets, they still decided to stand still. First accumulate more power in the dark. It would certainly be the best choice if more party comrades could be brought under control to control Ulyanov through non-military means. Otherwise, the consequences would be unpredictable.
Kryuchkov and Ulyanov had already conspired secretly, discussing how to deal with Seryozha. But Seryozha did not know this. At this moment, he is still running around for the economic construction of the Soviet Union. Construction of the pipeline from Kuwait to the Mediterranean has already begun. Seryozha intends to invest in the construction of a large petrochemical base in Syria, the staunch ally of the Soviet Union, to radiate the entire Arab region. For Syria, an Arab country that has always been friendly to the Soviet Union, Seriosha really wanted to support it. For Seryozha, Saddam is too difficult to control, Kuwait is too weak, and only Syria is the most reliable in the Middle East.
Economic matters are of course important, but Seryozha's ultimate goal is to make the single market organization he created to replace the future EU and become the largest economic and political organization in Europe. Currently in Eastern Europe, apart from the former East Germany being merged into West Germany, there is still one last piece of the puzzle in the socialist camp that has not been incorporated into the unified market. And this last and most important piece of the puzzle is now a hot potato. It lies in front of Albania, which is eager to join the unified market, so that the unified market cannot be completely connected geographically.
This hot potato is Yugoslavia, and the reason why Seryozha excluded it from the unified market is because Yugoslavia is now experiencing serious civil war conflicts. The Balkan Peninsula has been the powder keg of Europe since ancient times. Just a few days ago, after Slovenia declared its independence, the Serbian-dominated Yugoslav army launched an attack on Slovenia, followed by Croatia's declaration of independence, and armed conflict broke out again between the local Serbs and Croats. The current Yugoslav leader Mi Losević called on the Serbs to go to Croatia in the form of volunteers to maintain the unity of the country.
Then the fighting escalated again. In addition, the Albanians in Kosovo province also declared independence earlier. Now Yugoslavia has a total of two union republics and one autonomous province at war.
Yugoslavia, as an alternative in the socialist camp, always kept a respectful distance from the Soviet Union when the Soviet Union was at its strongest. Yugoslavia is the only European socialist camp that did not join the Warsaw Pact. When Tito was alive, no nation dared to declare independence. However, with the series of influences of Gorbachev’s new ideas in Eastern Europe, nationalism in Yugoslavia, a union country composed of six republics, began to rise. Constant conflicts. National grievances are also deepening day by day.
In addition to ethnic issues, religious issues are also the biggest headache for the Yugoslav government. In this small southern European country, there are three forces: Orthodox, Catholic, and Islamic. Although Bosnia has not yet been involved in the war, the fighting between Slovenia and Croatia obviously set a bad example for the Muslims in Bosnia.
The Yugoslav civil war was of course unfortunate for the Yugoslavs. The same is true for Albania, because Albania is separated from the main countries of the single market by Yugoslavia, which is very detrimental to the Albanian economy. At the same time, the European Community, which is in serious competition with the unified market, is actively competing for the right to speak in Yugoslavia, and the United States also intends to deepen its influence in Yugoslavia. Therefore, for Seryozha, if the power of the European Community and the United States is not to be allowed to expand their voice in Eastern Europe, the issue of Yugoslavia must be resolved.
Just before the outbreak of the civil war, the Yugoslav government submitted an application to join the unified market. But this application was shelved by Seryozha at that time. One reason for this was that Seryozha knew that Yugoslavia was a troublemaker. But now that the European Community has taken action, the United States is eyeing it. Seryozha had to think about Yugoslavia in advance.
Most of the ports of the unified market organization are concentrated on the Baltic and Black Sea coasts. In the Mediterranean region, although Albania's ports are crucial to the unified market, Yugoslavia has isolated Albania from the unified market countries by land, making it impossible for railways in the unified market area to lead to Albania. Once the European Community takes Yugoslavia away, Albania will sooner or later be the main dish of the European Community, and Seryozha's unified market will completely lose its Mediterranean port. So Yugoslavia must not be lost. ...