This article was sent to us by Nikola Vukobratović, who is the Chairman of the Socialist Youth of Croatia, the
youth organisation of the Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia. Since most of
our readers will not be familiar with the corruption scandals mentioned in the
article, we provide here a short introduction.
The
collapse of the former Yugoslavia
had led to a swathe of privatisations, cuts in social spending and a systematic
dismantling of all the gains of the past. But one event back on November
revealed that below the surface a new situation is brewing. Suddenly in
reaction to worsening conditions, the imposition and increase in fees and so on,
the students in one Faculty occupied the university building in an exemplary
manner.
We have received this article from the President
of the Workers' Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although we may not
agree with every point in it, it gives a very good idea of the totally negative
effects of the break up of the former Yugoslavia on the living conditions of
workers on both sides of the divide. But there are signs that the class
struggle is simmering below the surface.