YUGOSLAVIA: GROWING UNREST

Created: 6/25/1988

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

YUGOSLAVIA:

Unruol

public protests are 'ncreaslno tha chances en*security forces end or^^nvernment crackdown,

Labor unresl with antigovernment overtones has intensified In recent days as Belgrade has begun implementing new IMF-Imposed austerity measures. More0 demonstrators marched on the National Assembly in Belgrade last week to protest the austerity measures, conupilon. anfl official incompuiunce. This week In

demanding higher wayes Cis'upted tail and street tratflc.ity- govemnjanj building, and called on the lederal government lo resign.JBjjV

0 Slovenes rallied this week to protest the arrest ol two Slovene |ournalists and an army sergeant. The military, angered by critical articles in the youttiprcss. l$ holding the three on charges ol betraying military sec rJt| y

Several hundred Albanians from Macedonia held unprecedented protests this week In Belgrade against discrimination by local officials. Ethnic Serbs In Kosovo Province this weeketition againsl discrimination by Albanians0 signatures to the National Assembly, according to press

^bTHHbssI Disorders arc at their highest level In recent years,iscalculation by prolbC'-rslocal authorities anywhere in Ihe country may spark violence. The odds are about even that Slovene and other authorities will take some repressive measures, such as bans on public gatherings or controls on the Slovene youth press. The chance of federal police or military units Intervening in Slovenia will grow turtherlf Belgrade concludes that regional leaders have lost control.

Belgrade probably will also try to head ofl greater unrest that threatens Yugoslav stability by backing down on Its more stringent austerity measures in the face of growing strikes and protests. The military may defuse Slovenestill showinggiving the Journalists light sentences. Any ethnic violence In Kosovo and Macedonia probably can be contained quickly by security forces