Doris Pack (AFP Photo/STR)
“The European Parliament has never in its history had such a majority support for a country’s EU membership as it has in the case of Croatia,” she said.
What rock did Doris Pack climb from under, this week?
A week before the EU membership referendum Pack sent a message to the Croatian people that I interpret as follows: Oh sorry, we cancelled the Phare program on you, which excluded you from EU assistance to prepare for membership in 1995, but really it was because of Tudjman not because you were not wanted in EU.
What hogwash!
January 15, Doris Pack, a member of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) bloc at the EU parliament (also part of the parliament’s delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo) decided to stir the pot of the current confused climate in Croatia when it comes to EU membership. Pack worked within the EU in 1991 on the Croatian membership question, following closely the political situation and Croatian independence.
It would seem she didn’t do much for Croatia except contributed to making the life of decent Croatians who wanted EU membership then a total misery!
“EU abandoned Croatia for many years. If we had kept with the Phare program, we would have been there and we could have prevented many things from happening… It was only with the departure of Tudjman that Croatians began getting closer to Europe, although the path was very difficult and with much stricter criteria than for Romania, but I myself agree with this because there won’t be the problems we’re having with new members…” Pack said in Brussels and continued, “The European Parliament has never in its history had such a majority support for a country’s EU membership as it has in the case of Croatia. I believe that if people knew that they would vote yes at the EU referendum.”
I sincerely hope that people in Croatia saw through these words as insincere and damaging to the whole of Croatia and not just throwing mean-spirited innuendo against the late President dr. Franjo Tudjman.
Although Croatia’s acceptance among the international community by mid 1992, it still wasn’t allowed to commence accession to EU membership.
Brussels’ argument was simple: One does not negotiate with states that are partly occupied.
When in 1995 Croatia liberated the occupied areas from Serb occupation the EU pulled the Phare program from under Croatia’s feet.
Looking back at 1995, the EU cancelled its Phare program for Croatia with the excuse of drummed-up allegations that there was excessive shelling in Operation Storm when Croatia was liberating Krajina from Serb occupation. Brussels was unimpressed with the liberation of Croatia’s occupied territory, criminal accusations and allegations, based on lies and hunches, against Croatian Generals and Dr Tudjman began shooting from EU against “Croatia” like wildfire.
EU put Croatia’s membership on ice and began calling for Croatian generals to face war crimes charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Croatians had no chance, really, at competing for EU membership while Tudjman was alive not because Tudjman or the Croatian people didn’t want that, but because the EU had erected a “no-go zone” for Croatia. The EU hunt was on to equate the victim with the aggressor. And Pack was there – doing what? Loving Croatia? Please!
The charm of membership in the European Union certainly fades in the face of those like Pack and those who have forgotten how great on her own Croatia stands.
As European Union Beckons, Allure Fades for Wary Croatia – New York Times.
In preparation for this Sunday’s referendum on Croatia’s EU membership, most polls show that between 55 and 58% of Croatians will vote in favour of membership, compared with 28-30% against. So far only one poll, presented by a coalition of organisations against membership, showed a slight majority (52%) of citizens planning to vote against it. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb), B.A.,M.A.Ps.(Syd)
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Doris Pack is truly Misleading in the article.The reality of it is that once the Generals were arrested ( which was the plan all along to keep Gotovina from being President )no one in the EU moved forward to invest heavily in Croatia to prove to Croats that the EU was in their best interest.To this day there has been no heavy investment in Croatia. What they are wanting is Croatia to be in the EU then they will invest and control Croatia and steal it’s assets.One of the first things to be done by the EU is to start investing in the Slavonian natural gas fields which is worth Billions of dollars so that they can get rich. The people of Croatia will be the last to get anything from this. We have seen this in many countries already that have natural resources. In my travels to Croatia I have talked to many people about the EU. By far there are many that oppose the EU compared to those who want to join. Yes the younger generation seems to be in favor of the EU because they are promised everything will be better but the facts presented are flawed. ( Look at Greece and Hungary as an example ) The older generation understand more so that the EU is not in the best interest of Croatia. They understand that Croatia has been through hell and back and that Croats survived by their own will.Many people believe that Croatia with a stable government can do better with out the EU and once this issue of the EU is behind us we will still be able to get investment in our natural resources on our own which is to benefit the Croatian people first. Many Croats understand that once they are dominated by the EU that those who will work the natural gas field and control it will not care about Croats. Again It’s about Power,money,greed.
Slavonia on Croatia’s east holds vast amounts of oil and liquid gas that has not yet been exploited according to American research conducted in the 1990s.
Slavonia can yield some 86 million barrels of oil, 906 billion cubic metres of gas and 28 million barrels of liquid gas.
This is only the beginning of what Croatia has in the way of minerals. We know that once exploration starts it is much larger as suggested.
All these years wasted – Croatia should have had a ‘plan B’ and alternative to the EU; probably would have helped in negotiations with the EU. Like an insecure child Croatia compromised itself to be accepted by the EU, which greatly harmed it. The vote will pass simply because there is no unified credible alternative vision for Croatia. A ‘No’ vote seems to be a vote for emptiness. ‘No’ means rejection of something, but also acceptance of something else. If that something else is the status quo, then a ‘yes’ vote is indeed preferable. The ‘No’ organizers need an alternative credible vision, and more importantly a plan to achieve that vision.
There is no plan B. Any attempt at plan B was canceled out when the Generals went to the Hague. Plan B was to have General Gotovina as president and to have a Croatia First policy. The EU powers did not like this and were aware of this long before the Generals were even Indicted.The false indictments against the Generals were a way to remove them from any power. Those who sent the Generals to the Hague betrayed our country and robbed what little monies Croatia had and got drunk with greed with the EU telling them we will get Billions. We need to vote NO to the EU for now and allow a national referendum from the Croatian people only to impose a Croatia First policy before we go to the EU. When the Croatian people decide its policy and not the EU only then can we forward our Croatian First policy to the EU and have them accept it. This includes keeping our current money policies in place including the KUNA and not the Euro. Sadly the election will be manipulated to force entry into the EU by outside forces.