Wednesday, April 28rd, 1999

    This is a testemony of an editor in cheif of an indipendent student newspaper

Two days and one night in Zrenjanin

    When I received the invitation from S. to come to Zrenjanin, I asked her did we need the war so she could do that. What scared me the most was would the Pancevo Bridge survive before my return back home, since it is the only connection between Belgrade and Zrenjanin.

    I went on the trip on Monday early morning. As we were approaching the bridge through my mind slipped the thought: "I hope, they won't strike now." After a one-hour trip we arrived to Zrenjanin. S. was waiting for me on the bus station. I was in Zrenjanin the last time in 1993. The war was raging then too, but then it was about 300 km away, in Bosnia.

    It took us about five minutes to get to her home. On the doorstep the whole family started to press me with questions: "What's up in Belgrade? How do you survive? What happened to Curuvia? What TV channels you can watch?"

    No one Milosevic likes. Everyone thinks that he wrapped us in the black. But they also say: "Isn't it enough that he is destroying us? Did they have to help him?"

    People don't believe any media. A friend, who could watch SKY NEWS until recently tells me: "I don't believe ours nor to their media. But before I could hear the other side and find something in between." The cable TV provider had to disconnect SKY NEWS, as the police ordered them.

    One of the richest people of Zrenjanin, owner of two restaurants and known for his pleading for bigger autonomy of Vojvodina was sentenced for two years, because when he heard first news about bombing he shouted: "Here come the liberators. Drinks on me for all." An Albanian's, who is the bread supplier of half of town, few stores were demolished. McDonald's restaurant had the same destiny. And the news about dead soldiers are arriving. Public transport works from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. All clubs and cafes are closing at 8 p.m. Everyone lives under the psychosis of the next target. Zrenjanin is one of the rare bigger towns in Vojvodina that wasn't bombed. What scares one is especially that this town has nine bridges, which are sweeties for NATO generals these days. They even have one bridge on the land.

    You can hear many local jokes about bombings. Zrenjanin has a new name Clinton Town. There is a suburb called Little America and a Hungarian village. And the most frequent Hungarian feminine name is Monica. So these are the reasons why Zrenjanin hasn't been bombed yet.

    In the evening we went to our friend Z. There's a party. They made LAN of two computers and organized Quake tournament. They say that all these labyrinths and passages are used as instructions for city fights. Zrenjanin will not fall in the hands of the enemy.

    We are heading back to the home of S. Midnight passed. We hear sound of airplanes in the sky. In the streets people gathered watching the sky and trying to find where these airplanes are going. To Novi Sad, Pancevo, Belgrade, they are guessing.

    Tomorrow, when I was on my way back to Belgrade, I decided to sleep during the trip. I couldn't go over the bridge awake once again.

Alex Corova