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B92 Naslovna » blogs » Hugh Griffiths Killing & remembering Zoran Djindjic: a loose tobacco conspiracy Hugh Griffiths (19 Februar, 2007 - 21:33) Wednesday will mark the fourth anniversary of the reported attempt to kill Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic on the road to Surcin airport. The failure of the authorities to properly detain and question the driver of the truck - Dejan "Bugsy" Milenkovic - was symptomatic of a string of - and I use the term loosely here - intelligence failures - leading up to the actual murder on 12 March 2003. Bugsy's premature release from custody gave ammunition to people close to - and I use the term loosely here - intelligence services - who, after the Djindjic murder busied themselves by alleging the other faction did it. One of the stories floating around these groups was that Djindjic's assassination was somehow connected to Serbia's upcoming - and most lucrative - privatization deal to date: the sale of the tobacco factories at Nis and Vranje. These were eventually sold to Philip Morris and British American Tobacco (BAT). While there is no evidence that I'm aware of to support such an outlandish theory, what did become clear from talking to people around the privatization deal was the intimate involvement of - and I use the term loosely here - diplomats - from the U.S. and U.K. These diplomats attended meetings with Serbian government officials to discuss the privatization, and openly lobbied in favour of Phillip Morris and BAT. Four years on, and plus ca change. This time it is a respected and high-ranking U.S diplomat - the U.S Ambassador to Serbia himself no less - who on Monday issued a statement on behalf of Phillip Morris's interests, telling the Serbian government that they had better "find a solution to the problem" that Phillip Morris is facing. What makes this case somewhat interesting is the fact that Phillip Morris's "problem" is a rules-based regional trade treaty designed to hasten movement along the yellow brick road leading to EU membership. The "problem" is the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) which stipulates that, among other things, custom tariffs and import/export taxes have to be harmonised. CEFTA is viewed as a good thing by many economists as an element in Serbia's transition to that of a free-trading liberal democracy, part of a wider regional economic area, too busy engaging in seamless free-trade to bother too much about emotive issues like Kosovo and the alike. Thus one would think that the economic liberalization principles of CEFTA would be warmly welcomed by the U.Sembassy and indeed, over the years U.S government agencies and associated NGOs in Serbia have spent millions in tax dollars promoting such principles as part of their democratisation programs. Unfortunately the CEFTA free trade arrangement threatens Phillip Morris's interests because, among other things, they will lose a protective import tax that made buying the factory so worthwhile in the first place. Clearly, the U.S Ambassador's very public call to "solve the problem" that the tax abolition would cause is in no way influenced by the fact that this multinational company paid millions in campaign contributions to the party of the President who sent Mr. Polt to Belgrade in the first place. The fact that Phillip Morris employs - and I use this term here loosely - former intelligence officials - who once worked for the self-same U.S government has no bearing here. Such thinking would be far too cynical, no, the Ambassador is merely doing his job as a diplomat - Phillip Morris is a U.S company and the embassy is charged with representing U.S commercial interests in Serbia. Nevertheless, over the past 15 years, voters throughout the U.Sand the EU have elected politicians on platforms which have dramatically curbed the influence of the tobacco multinationals. Thus it might seem strange to some that U.S diplomats are attempting to buck this democratic, consumer-orientated trend beyond the shores of the United States to ensure that one company's deadly product can be sold at the lowest price possible to as many as possible for as long as possible. Others with longer memories may recall that it was precisely because of such democratic, consumer-orientated trends in the U.S and the EU that forced the tobacco multinationals to seek new markets in 1990s, new markets in what we will charitably call less-regulated regions, like the Balkans, where hundreds of thousands of tons of Phillip Morris and BAT product mysteriously found their way into and out of the region, despite the crippling sanctions which helped pauperise a generation. They might also recall that according to some very detailed investigations, such activities enriched networks associated with nearly all the U.S's strategic adversaries between Italy and North Korea, with the possible exception of the Taliban. They might also recall that although the tables are now turned - Phillip Morris is threatened by CEFTA, a step toward the EU - the EU has, in the past, felt threatened by Big Tobacco. Threatened to such an extent over tax issues that ten years ago, intelligence-led cross-border customs investigations were initiated throughout the EU. These in turn led to inconvenient law suits in the United States and all sorts of revelations. One of these law suits was dropped when by strange coincidence Phillip Morris agreed to "anti-smuggling measures" and the payment of up to 1.25 billion euros to the EU while stressing absolutely no connections to tobacco smuggling in the Balkans whatsoever. Phillip Morris has linked the tax issue to jobs at the Nis plant, which cynics might regard as some kind of implied threat, were it not for Phillip Morris's reputation as one of the most ethical companies in the world. For their part, U.S diplomats in Belgrade might like to reflect on past history here, and whether the disparity between what has been preached and practiced of late may engender further local cynicism which in turn stimulates the inat upon which their declared adversaries, the Radicals, suckle. And the majority of Serbia's politicians, currently so publicly committed to maintaining and strengthening the State of the Republic of Serbia might like to reflect on whether acquiescing to a multinational's demand at the expense of a step towards that Safe European Home we all dream of for our children is really such a good idea. I like to think I know what Zoran would have done. » Hugh Griffiths | [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
