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Hrvoje Šarinić describes Slobodan Milošević’s view that Bosnia and Herzegovina should be divided between Serbia and Croatia during a meeting on 20 September 1995:
"Actually, at that meeting the accused said to me, “Look, we've had enough of this, Hrvoje. Let's each of us take our part of Bosnia without the international community. The US,” that is the [United States of] America, “is cradling this bastard without themselves knowing what they're doing, nor are they familiar with our problems.” At the [upcoming] conference, he says conference, he didn't mention [the] Dayton [peace negotiations in November 1995] but it was a reference to that, “Be along our lines. We are against an unitary Bosnia. Let it be a Bosnia of two entities and three nations in which all decisions will be taken by consensus.” I think that that is the correct interpretation of the content of our conversation."
Hrvoje Šarinić relates Milošević’s views on Kosovo during a meeting on 10 March 1998:
And among other things, we discussed Kosovo. And this was an unavoidable topic in those days. And he said that he would resolve the problem of Kosovo. Or, rather, I said, “Tell me what your views of Kosovo are, because people from the international community are coming to Croatia and asking us for our opinion.” His response was, “We will organise a bicameral chamber in which there will be no outvoting, no possibility of outvoting one by the other.” And I said, “Well, President, that's fine, but that is far less than the -- than what Kosovo had according to the 1974 constitution.” He said, “Yes, but that was a mistake which we will not repeat at any cost.”
Hrvoje Šarinić tells the court about a meeting he had with Milošević which showed what his relationship was like with the Croatian Serb Prime Minister, Borislav Mikelić:
So we discussed these problems about opening the motorway and the problems that were outstanding, and I said, “This quite simply can't be solved in this way.” To which the accused said to his secretary, “Call Boro Mikelic up for me.” And I was rather surprised, because in ten or 15 minutes' time, he arrived from somewhere in Belgrade. And when he saw me in the office, he said, “What are you doing here?” And the accused said to him, “Sit down. Sit here and listen and don't ask questions.” But this was said in such a tone of voice that I saw their relationship and felt the kind of relationship they had, which was the relationship of a master towards -- not to use the word “servant,” but a master towards people who had to listen to him and who were in his service.
Hrvoje Šarinić met with Slobodan Milošević on numerous occasions and provided perhaps the most important testimony of any high-level official from the former Yugoslavia who testified in the case. Šarinić gave evidence that supported the Prosecution’s case that Milošević intended to seize a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dividing it between himself and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman (named as a co-perpetrator of crimes committed in Bosnia).
Šarinić related a number of conversations that he had with Slobodan Milošević which showed his designs on Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to the first statement excerpted above, Milošević told Šarinić that with Republika Srpska (the Serb-controlled entity in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina) he had resolved 90 per cent of the Serbian national question, just as President Tudjman had resolved the Croatian national question with Herceg-Bosna (the Croatian-controlled entity in the western part of the country). On another occasion, Šarinić asked Milošević why he did not recognize Bosnia and Herzegovina. Milošević’s response was: “Which Bosnia? Whose Bosnia? What kind of Bosnia?” In Šarinić’s view, Milošević was “absolutely denying the possibility of the existence of Bosnia.”
Šarinić testified that for his part, Croatian President Tudjman also had designs on Bosnia and Herzegovina. “President Tudjman, as an historian,” related Šarinić, “[said] that Bosnia was a historical absurdity resulting from Turkish conquests in the fifteenth century.”
Šarinić’s testimony revealed Milošević’s state of mind with respect to the Bosnian Muslims. Šarinić testified that after a meeting on 15 April 1991 between Milošević and President Tudjman, Tudjman showed Šarinić a piece of paper that he received from Milošević. It stated that the Muslims were “a major evil,” and that a “green band” of Muslim-populated areas stretching from Turkey, Bulgaria, Western Macedonia, Kosovo and Sandžak (located in southern Serbia) posed, as Šarinić described it, a “major threat for Bosnia and also for peace in the area.” During another meeting, Milošević also told Šarinić that the Muslims are a great evil also because of their demographic explosion.
Through a number of meetings, Šarinić was able to form an opinion of Milošević’s relationships with a number of figures in the Croatian Serb, Bosnian Serb and Yugoslav leaderships, which supported the Prosecution’s view that Slobodan Milošević effectively controlled a number of them. As can be seen in the third quote above, Šarinić saw Slobodan Milošević behave towards the Croatian Serb Prime Minister, Borislav Mikelić, as if he were a subordinate. Šarinić gave testimony that when certain officials were no longer in Milošević’s favour, he sought either to isolate them or replace them.
Šarinić also related a very interesting exchange that he had with Milošević that indicated that Željko Ražnatović aka Arkan, accused of numerous crimes, was one of Milošević’s men. During the 13 November 1995 meeting he had with Milošević, Šarinić asked him about Arkan, because he knew of the “evils” he had committed. Milošević responded laughingly, “Well, I have to have someone as well who is going to do part of the job for me.” Šarinić believed that, although the comment was said in a light tone, that Milošević meant that a capable politician needed men like Arkan. Šarinić said that he knew that Milošević stood behind him.
Hrvoje Šarinić was appointed as Croatian President Franjo Tudjman’s chef de cabinet in 1990, and served as his advisor through 1998. He served as Croatian Prime Minister from 1992 to 1993, and held other high-level posts in the 1990s, including chief of the Office of National Security, and chief negotiator with UN representatives and the United Nations peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNPROFOR). Šarinić was also President Tudjman’s confidential envoy to Slobodan Milošević.
Read Hrvoje Šarinić full testimony on 21 January 2004 and on 22 January 2004.