The Parliaments of the Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia overwhelmingly passed declarations of independence Tuesday that could lead to full secession if their demands for a new, more loosely bound Yugoslavia are not met by Belgrade.
After an emergency late-night meeting, Yugoslavia's federal Government responded early this morning by calling the republics's actions illegal and ordering national army and police units to seize control posts along Slovenia's borders.
It remains uncertain when the military and police forces would attempt to take control of Slovenia's border crossings, which now include posts along the republic's border with Croatia. A Slovene government official reached by telephone this morning said that the federal troops had not yet taken such action,
It is clear, however, that the battle of wills between federal authorities and the leaders of the two renegade republics has entered a new phase that raises the possibility of bloodshed. Army Intervention Sought
Leaders in both republics have said that federal authorities, including the national army, would be required to ask for permission to move across the republics' territories.
"We still favor negotiations," President Milan Kucan of Slovenia said Tuesday. "But in order that real negotiations take place, we have opted for independence."
Even though the Slovene and Croatian leaders clearly prefer to remain in a decentralized Yugoslav federation, the political atmosphere is charged because of the possibility of bloodshed and instability through miscalculation.
Citing such concerns, the European Community and the United States have both said they will not recognize the independence of Yugoslavia's two most pro-Western and wealthiest republics. Many Western leaders have recalled that World War I had its roots in the fiery nationalism of this region.
In response to the action by the two republics, the federal Parliament in Belgrade asked the national army Tuesday evening to intervene immediately to prevent the country's dismemberment. The national Parliament, however, has no power to order the army into action.
Prime Minister Ante Markovic has repeatedly warned that he would resort to all legal means to prevent the republics from becoming truly sovereign states, as the declarations say they now are.
Both Slovenia and Croatia have warned for a year that they would secede from Yugoslavia if the country was not recast as a loose confederation. But even now leaders of both republics are insisting that despite the independence declarations they are still eager to discuss creation of a new Yugoslav union with the other four republics.
Both independence declarations spoke of "disassociation" from Yugoslavia. A draft of the Croatian version, obtained by The Associated Press, proclaimed a "sovereign and independent state" and declared: "By this act the Republic of Croatia initiates the process of disassociation from the other republics."
Slovenian and Croatian leaders maintain that the national army, whose Serbian-dominated officer corps commands a multi-ethnic force, would disintegrate if it were ordered to put down the movements toward independence. 'A Few Armored Cars'
"Any military action would amount to occupation," said Janez Jansa, Slovenia's defense minister. "It would take more than a few armored cars."
Yugoslavia's currency, the dinar, will remain the sole legal tender in Slovenia and Croatia for the time being, although the parliaments of both republics have adopted laws providing for the creation of their own currencies and national banks.
