A statement of Mr. Janez Janša to STA regarding the resignation of General Kadijević

Ljubljana, 9 January - The Slovenian Minster of Defense, Mr. Janez Janša, gave a statement to STA regarding the resignation of the Federal Defense Minister Mr. Veljko Kadijević. "The decision regarding Gen. Kadijević's resignation was apparently reached at the same time that Gen. Negovanović became the Serbian Defense Minister. The realization that Yugoslav Army finally remained an army without a state in search of a state to which it could serve, probably buttressed this decision. This realization was probably followed by a sort of an agreement leading to the appointment of Gen. Negovanović, who is the second most influential person in the Military Headquarters, as the Serbian Defense Minister. The radical line thus probably prevailed in the military leadership and Gen. Kadijević's resignation was just a matter of proper timing. It is quite probable though, that the resignation was spawned by the shooting down of the European Monitoring Mission helicopter, that to a certain point implicated the methods that the military leadership is all to ready to follow. Regarding Slovenia this resignation can be for better or for worse. If the Serbian extremists will prove to be unable to master the situation, this can spawn the disintegration of the whole structure or its transformation into a Serbian army without any aspirations regarding Slovenia. It will be however bad for Slovenia if the new organization will be able to set things straight in the army or even to maintain the present level of its operativeness. This turn of events could lead to aircraft provocations or even to rocket attacks. We should keep in our mind that Gen. Adžić is a very revengeful personality."