Croatia, the War, and the Future
Ina Vukic - Croatia: people, politics, history, economy, transitioning from communism to democracy
The place where you can get your: Colour Me Croatian
https://colourmecroatian.com
Welcome to my blog. Here I will bring to you a variety of topics covering the documented truth about that terrible war that Croatia had to endure during the period between 1991 and 1995 and about Croatian political history that shaped a wonderful nation of people.
Croatian people wanted independence for centuries, just as they had it until the twelfth century but fate was not on their side – others wanted their beautiful land. In late 1980′s the will to break free from Yugoslavia which suffocated freedom and self determination through harsh communist party rule finally bore the desired fruit.
In June 1991 Croatia declared its independence; soon after the aggressive war against Croatia broke out. The struggle of the Croatian people for self-determination was a just one. But I fear genuine justice has not been served as there have been, and there still exist, international covert and overt moves to equate victims with aggressors continue in attempts to change history. Truth often becomes obscured and lost and that is why I have chosen to write this blog, to concentrate on actual events and issues about Croatia – wishing it a bright and freedom-loving future.
It certainly was not easy to come out of the war that was fought on two fronts:
1. On the military front the world’s public has seen the indiscriminate bombardment of Croatian cities, towns and villages from land, sea and air; the destruction of civilian targets including homes, schools, hospitals, churches, factories and cultural monuments; the blockading and destruction of roads, bridges and ports; the blockading of power, water, food and medical supplies. What hasn’t been shown on our television sets is the forced clearing and evacuation of towns and villages, followed by looting, torture, rape and murder carried out by the Serbian forces, who were initially backed by the federal Yugoslav army that was largely constituted by Serb nationals; the transportation of multiple hundreds of innocent Croatian civilians from Croatia into concentration camps Serbia (Begejci, Stajicevo, Sremska Mitrovica… from October 1991, and later (1992) transferred into Serb-held camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Omarska, Keratern, Manjaca, Trnopolje).
2. The second front was the war of political propaganda centred on: misinformation about the rights of minorities in Croatia; portrayal of the Croatian people as Ustasha or Fascists; the representation of the Croatian defence forces as illegal paramilitary units; the representation of the Croatian and Slovenian republics as unreasonable secessionists who are unwilling to negotiate; a regurgitation of distorted facts about World War II.
Indeed Croatia had an absolute right to defend itself and this is often forgotten if not often denied it.
Ina has been a tireless volunteer on humanitarian aid and fundraising for victims of war in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially war orphans. From1991 to beginning of 1994 she contributed in lobbying for international recognition of Croatian independence and Croatia’s rights in defending its territory and people from military aggression by Serbian forces. For this dedicated voluntary work Ina was awarded two Medals of Honour by the first president of the Republic of Croatia in 1995 (Commemorative Medal of the Homeland War and Order of the Croatian Trefoil).Ina has also written hundreds articles for newspapers in Australia and Croatia on the plight of Croatian people for freedom and self-determination, developing democracy in former communist countries. She holds two graduate and one post-graduate university degrees, specialising in behaviour, clinical and political psychology and management.
Blessed Alojzije (Aloysius) Stepinac Feast Day February 10
“When they take everything from you, you’ll be left with two hands; put them together in prayer and then you’ll be the strongest.” Blessed Aloysius Stepinac (1898 – 1960)
“They could not, nor will they ever be able to kill our passion and our need to live in human dignity, in peace with ourselves and with the free nations of Europe. We have carved out that right at our first democratic elections. For this right and for our sacred land we are even ready to die” – Dr Franjo Tudjman (1922-1999) ( Addressing the Croatian nation at the moment of the start of Serbian aggression against Croatia, 16 October 1991)
As I was saying the interview was very informative and I congratulate Misha for her very candid and truthful responses as I surely would have been very harsh in my answers to Carla Del ponte.
( quote) Even though it seems that justice has prevailed, some think that the verdict was political.
It was actually 50/50. We all know that it was in fact political with the first verdict as it is proven that Carla Del Ponte twisted much of the facts. This was not by ignorance of the law or by incompetence because she was told that the case was not as she was claiming so one has to conclude that it was political. The politics of the trial was corrected because the judges in the Hague did not even consider at the time that there are many who would not allow the truth to be twisted and knew that their courts would be looked at as nothing more then another useless and tainted tribunal such as the United nations.
(quote) Presidents of Kosovo and Albania and Mr Gotovina’s lawyers have called on international authorities to launch investigations against Carla del Ponte for abusing her position while she was a war crimes prosecutor and for her recent statements after Gotovina and Markač were released.
In my opinion she is not worthy of an investigation and should be lynched in public as quickly as possible.She is worse then an evil witch!What she has done to our generals and others can never be corrected. Taking someones lives away for 7 years is not a laughing matter.Those 7 years of being incarcerated is like having your heart cut out. To attempt to discredit an entire nation and it’s people is truly unholy and she should be banned from ever stepping foot in Croatia.
(quote ) Young Croats are more and more abandoning Croatia in order to look for jobs and a better life. Would they find it in Australia?
The question should have been asked as what should Croatia do to stop the exodus of our people. No Croatians young or old would want to leave their country if there are opportunities. Our goverment must create jobs to ensure that they do not want to leave. Our current goverment is more interested in getting into the EU then investing in our own people.They must also make it easier for the diaspora to return so that the younger generation can see that we want to come back to our beloved country, invest in our people and help it to prosper. It is a nightmare and impossible to try to get papers to become a citizen based on ancestry. I probably would be dead by the time they accept any papers I give them.
( quote) This is to be expected, as it’s difficult nowadays to get the average person to read a news article to the very end let alone a whole book of a serious nature, but it bothers me that so few people want to know what happened during the 1990s conflict.
Misha, perhaps converting to an audio book would be helpful. I would also suggest sending copies to all journalists and publishing companies and donate some of the books to the schools in Croatia. One of the sad realities in life is that many times people only want to know what is happening now and forget about the past. I love reading and learning of the past of Croatia because of my families history of war and their loss of identity and where about. From reading I am able to put pieces of the puzzle of my families Croatian heritage together and your book is a fantastic book which should be read to every Croatian child for generations to come.
Good points and great ideas, Michael – thanks! Re. the verdict, I think the trial as a whole was highly political, especially the original indictment and trial judgement, but I think the final verdict was not, as evidenced by the fuss it has created. Re. ‘Fragments of War’, I hope it will one day be translated into Croatian, and if I had any free copies of my own I would certainly be distributing them, but it all comes down to money, alas….