Croatian National Ethics Tribunal
Saturday 11 February 2017
Photo: Oscar Sarunic

In July 2016 the globally influential financial analysts Zerohedge claimed George Soros “singlehandedly created the European refugee crisis”; Breitbart news said Soros’s funding of Black Lives Matter was part of an agenda to swing the US presidential election; and popular US radio host Alex Jones says “Soros is behind the Muslim takeover of the West”. In August 2016, hackers thought to be linked to the Russian government found thousands of documents from Soros’s foundation’s servers and put them online, the year prior to that Russian state prosecutor found that Soros’ Open Society fund was not desirable in Russia because it reportedly represented a threat to the national security and constitutional order in Russia. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has recently ousted all Soros’ non-government organisations because, it was said, they serve global capitalism and are seeking political correctness at the expense of national interests. US President Donald Trump has accused Soros of being part of “a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.”

George Soros
Photo: Bloomberg NE WP

As the world turns to the right more and more, Soros and his Open Society network of organisations are increasingly under the watchful eyes of political and economic analysts with view to unraveling the complex mesh of damage it has done particularly to the transition into democracy and independence in former communist countries. We remember – he was credited with goals to help countries transition into democracy from communism, but it appears that was a sinister mask and disguise. As the analyses and moves to distance Soros from influencing non-government organisations with money it is to be expected that all moves of such distancing will be attributed to some hatred or conspiracy theories by the left. But the fact remains that the conservative side of politics has “smelled a rat” in Soros’ operations and the rat is real!

And so, there are a series of reasons why Croatia still, after a quarter of a century since it began its path to democracy and independence, suffers chokingly from communist mindset and habits. While the high-profile politicians on the left (former communists of Yugoslavia) received a great deal of attention in Croatia as it proceeded to secede from Yugoslavia, get rid of communism and develop a full democracy mirrored on Western democracy, people tend to forget that they were only able to push and maintain their anti-Croatian national agenda because the society had money injected into it to do so. One of the major sources for that money: radical leftist billionaire George Soros, who is single-handedly funding many of the left’s projects that concentrated on a good part of civil society playing a part in stifling the transition from communism. He has also wielded influence upon Croatian governments to fund organisations that push his agenda.

George Soros, the ardent supporter under whose patronage grew pro-liberal associations and societies in the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe; his so-called Open Society operates in over 50 countries throughout the world, by rule and no exception its impetus is on destruction and the weakening of the conservative or the patriotic side of politics. Soros is said to come from an anti-Semitic Jewish family. “My mother was quite anti-Semitic, and ashamed of being Jewish,” Soros said in an interview with The New Yorker (2010). “Given the culture in which one lived, being Jewish was a clear-cut stigma, disadvantage, a handicap-and, therefore, there was always the desire to transcend it, to escape it.”  Soros later said in an interview with US 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft that he did not feel any remorse “about confiscating property from Jews as a teenager.” No wonder all the former communists or their supporters love Soros in Croatia – many still live in WWII and post-WWII confiscated/nationalised properties.

George Soros, or better said – his money, has been present in Croatia since 1993, when he (mainly due to the support he received from Croatia’s two former presidents, anti-Tudjman operators, anti Croatian independence operators, Stjepan Mesic and Ivo Josipovic) founded his Open Society branch there, under the guise that it’s important “to study the ways in which the existing system would push through so that it may be possible to act from within.” He had said that his goal was to topple “Franjo Tudjman’s dictatorship!” As years passed many associations and organisations were founded as part of civil society of non-government organisations. According to Kamenjar portal, out of 1400 associations formed in Croatia the strongest ones among them were the ones in the business of acting against the sovereignty of Croatia: Croatian Open Society, Croatian Helsinki Committee, Croatian Legal Centre, Centre for Peace Studies, GONG, B.A.B.E., Rekom, Platforma 112, Documenta (leader of which, Vesna Terselic, was personally ethically convicted by the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal for treason).

Prof. Zvonimir Separovic
President Croatian National Ethics Tribunal
Saturday 11 February 2017
Photo: Oskar Sarunic

“In the literary sense of the word they are destroyers. The are the opponents of the sovereignty of the Croatian state,” said Prof. Zvonimir Separovic, president of the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal in his summation on Saturday 11 February 2017, emphasising and paraphrasing Blessed Alojzije Stepinac that enormous effort is needed in order to sustain our sensitive, vulnerable Croatia and the lasting victim that Croatian people are. He added that Stepinac himself was a victim. Established in 2014 the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal is made up of distinguished Croatian intellectuals whose aim is and has been to examine ethically the behaviour of individuals and the operations of some institutions.

On Saturday 11 February 2017 the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal (members: Zvonimir Separovic, Nikola Debelic, Josip Pecaric, Josip Jurcevic, Nevenka Nekic, Zorica Greguric  and Zdravko Tomac) held its public meeting in Zagreb at which George Soros was declared persona non grata. In its conclusions the Tribunal said the following:

1. Ban George Soros’ and his organisations’ work in Croatia and declare George Soros a persona non grata in Croatia.
2. We need to examine the financing of the civil society in Croatia and place under strict control all form of financial assistance from abroad.
3. We propose to the government of Croatia and to the Croatian Parliament to pass a law on control of financing of non-government organisations, along with banning finances from overseas if the organisations are used for subversive aims against Croatia’s sovereignty and interests.
4. The meeting especially emphasised that it was essential to: condemn practices of hatred against Croatia especially in the media, to prevent the implementation of (Serbia’s) SANU Memoranum II that has the aim of destabilising Croatia, to protect the dignity of supreme authorities, Church and values in Croatia, to condemn corruption in Croatia, e.g. at HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre), to protect our citizens before the court in the Hague.
Well done Croatian National Ethics Tribunal and keeping pressing on! Ina Vukic