Slovenia Government

Slovenia on Friday declared its intention to secede from Yugoslavia later this month while Croatia boycotted critical negotiations aimed at saving the federation, portending an ominous turn in relations among ethnic groups already poised for civil war. All six Yugoslav republic presidents were to have met in Belgrade in an eleventh-hour attempt to avert a violent breakup of the federation.

Slovenia slid into political crisis Saturday as Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek's government collapsed after failing to win approval for his new Cabinet. Drnovsek was seeking parliament ratification for a Cabinet reshuffle after his junior coalition partner, the Slovenian People's Party, pulled out of his government.

Apprehension is growing among economists and Western diplomats that Yugoslavia's economic reform program, which has achieved at least limited success in beating back inflation and stabilizing the currency, may be running up against the brick wall of Yugoslav nationalism. The reform plan introduced by federal Prime Minister Ante Markovic, elected in 1989, has been praised by Yugoslavs for its success in curbing inflation, which exceeded 2,600% a year when he took over.

Under the sodden skies of an unseasonably raw evening, President Clinton delivered a message of hope and support Monday to this sliver of a nation that broke away from Yugoslavia eight years ago, opted for democracy and hasn't looked back.

A flicker of candlelight in the recess of a pale yellow chapel illuminates an alabaster likeness of the Virgin Mary. The 18th-Century shrine is one of hundreds of architectural footprints left on Slovenia by half a millennium of Austrian rule. The red-tiled roofs and arched bell towers of the churches and monasteries that crown the surrounding foothills show the Italian hand that governed by turns with the Hapsburg Empire until World War II.

Under the sodden skies of an unseasonably raw evening, President Clinton delivered a message of hope and support Monday to this sliver of a nation that broke away from Yugoslavia eight years ago, opted for democracy and hasn't looked back.

In this mountain resort where an act of violence led to the birth of Yugoslavia, leaders of the crisis-ridden federation agreed Friday to consider ways to grant the 72-year-old state a peaceful and dignified death. At a closed session more remarkable for its absence of disaster than its accomplishments, presidents of the six fractious republics decided to appoint a committee to weigh the various options for Yugoslavia's future, including a controlled breakup.

Slovenia slid into political crisis Saturday as Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek's government collapsed after failing to win approval for his new Cabinet. Drnovsek was seeking parliament ratification for a Cabinet reshuffle after his junior coalition partner, the Slovenian People's Party, pulled out of his government.

Matjaz Sinkovec concedes that it is going to take some getting used to--the idea that he would have to show his passport to get to his family's summer home on the Adriatic Sea in neighboring Croatia. International borders lacing Yugoslavia will be one of the numerous changes necessary to create a confederation along the lines sought by the self-styled sovereign state of Slovenia.

To Slovenia's declaration of sovereignty and independence from Yugoslavia, Serbs respond unemotionally, "Bon voyage." But if Croatia decides to leave the crumbling federation, the remaining republics will want to exact a price: rich stretches of Croatian coastline. In the province of Kosovo, which Serbia has already stripped of political autonomy, troops are poised for an insurrection, and Serbian nationalists are pressing for expulsion of the Albanian majority.

A flicker of candlelight in the recess of a pale yellow chapel illuminates an alabaster likeness of the Virgin Mary. The 18th-Century shrine is one of hundreds of architectural footprints left on Slovenia by half a millennium of Austrian rule. The red-tiled roofs and arched bell towers of the churches and monasteries that crown the surrounding foothills show the Italian hand that governed by turns with the Hapsburg Empire until World War II.

In this mountain resort where an act of violence led to the birth of Yugoslavia, leaders of the crisis-ridden federation agreed Friday to consider ways to grant the 72-year-old state a peaceful and dignified death. At a closed session more remarkable for its absence of disaster than its accomplishments, presidents of the six fractious republics decided to appoint a committee to weigh the various options for Yugoslavia's future, including a controlled breakup.

Slovenia on Friday declared its intention to secede from Yugoslavia later this month while Croatia boycotted critical negotiations aimed at saving the federation, portending an ominous turn in relations among ethnic groups already poised for civil war. All six Yugoslav republic presidents were to have met in Belgrade in an eleventh-hour attempt to avert a violent breakup of the federation.

Apprehension is growing among economists and Western diplomats that Yugoslavia's economic reform program, which has achieved at least limited success in beating back inflation and stabilizing the currency, may be running up against the brick wall of Yugoslav nationalism. The reform plan introduced by federal Prime Minister Ante Markovic, elected in 1989, has been praised by Yugoslavs for its success in curbing inflation, which exceeded 2,600% a year when he took over.

Matjaz Sinkovec concedes that it is going to take some getting used to--the idea that he would have to show his passport to get to his family's summer home on the Adriatic Sea in neighboring Croatia. International borders lacing Yugoslavia will be one of the numerous changes necessary to create a confederation along the lines sought by the self-styled sovereign state of Slovenia.

To Slovenia's declaration of sovereignty and independence from Yugoslavia, Serbs respond unemotionally, "Bon voyage." But if Croatia decides to leave the crumbling federation, the remaining republics will want to exact a price: rich stretches of Croatian coastline. In the province of Kosovo, which Serbia has already stripped of political autonomy, troops are poised for an insurrection, and Serbian nationalists are pressing for expulsion of the Albanian majority.

Armed clashes in the breakaway republic of Croatia continued unabated Saturday, with authorities reporting an overnight death toll of about 30 despite pleas from the government to disband local militias to make way for a political settlement. The Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported fierce mortar and machine-gun battles in Glina, south of the republican capital of Zagreb, with Yugoslav federal army troops pounding back at separatist militia units.

A large area in the wooded mountains of northern Yugoslavia was a "forbidden zone" for 40 years. With the erosion of communist power, the people finally are learning why. An underground warren was built in the mountains to protect the Communist Party elite of the Slovenian republic from any disaster, ranging from nuclear war to insurrection.