Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic (L)
President of Croatia
Aleksandar Vucic (R)
President of Serbia
Photo:Pixsell
Metaphorically speaking, “give yourself a tattoo with a razor blade without anesthetics” is the kind of feeling many people in Croatia are expressing as an intended impact of their president’s current invitation to Serbia’s president for a state visit.
A very significant number of Croatian people are outraged at President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic’s invitation to Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic for an official visit to Croatia mid-February. How Grabar Ktarovic indends to dust off the red carpet to greet Vucic in Zagreb is indeed proving to be a vexing question that goes to the core of the Croatian still largely uncompensated and unrecognised suffering at the hands of Serbia in the early 1990’s.
Serbia’s President Vucic has long, using blatant lies publicly despised, denigrated, vilified and maligned Croatia and Croatian people. Vucic, as did all Serbs who were active during the aggression, embarked on a personal mission during their aggression against Croatia in the early 1990’s to occupy and ethnically cleanse of Croats and other non-Serbs one third of Croatian territory. Croats liberated that territory but were faced with incalculable costs to Croatian lives and at enormous cost to Croatian property by the enemy’s hand. None of which damages have been reconciled to a degree that could satisfy at least a part of due justice.
At the time when Serbia holds its exhibition in UN New York building through which, using lies and half-truths, purposefully tries to show Croatia up as the worst Holocaust perpetrator in Europe the Croatian president invites its president on a visit!
The invitation at such a time may indeed prove to be a gaffe of monumental proportions by the Croatian president, whose approval ratings are already floundering.
It’s a known fact that apologetic gestures via their implications of recognition of past wrong doing contribute positively to a reconciliation process. However, there’s no sign that Vucic intends to offer any apologies with regards to the bloody, murderous aggression against Croatia in the early 1990’s in which he himself actively participated by fueling the Serbian intent to kill, plunder and rape in Croatia.
Given the public outcry and condemnation in Croatia regarding this invitation, including from some well-known intellectuals and politicians, the only way this meeting could end “well” is that Croatia’s president takes Serbia’s president to one of the monuments dedicated to victims of Serbia’s aggression; such as the one in Vukovar, in Skabrnje, in Tovarnik … to mention but a very few.
Anything less certainly appears as a betrayal of Croatian trust and interests that is almost treasonous in its own right; for untold number of unresolved Serb perpetrated crimes during their aggression against Croatia and untold Serb pursuits to vilify Croatians on a world stage even to this day draw one to such a conclusion.
Negotiating successfully with the enemy, an unrepentant one such as Serbia, on points that are outstanding as a matter of reconciliation would indeed be a political art of high-ranking. In essence, Vucic has taken, for the moment at least, the no-concessions view to ongoing requests from Croatia for the location of the many hundreds of Croat victims still recorded as missing from the Homeland War, Vucic continues equating the aggressor with the victim, he continues usurping politically superior rights over the Serb minority of Croatia even if they are Croatian citizens bound to Croatian laws thus maintaining Serb-imperialism over Croatia…
He said a couple of days ago that he “will seek the assistance of authorities in reviving Serb villages and speak of what Serbia can do for their Croatian minority.” The fact that Serb minority has three seats in the Croatian parliament whose line of representation and the fact that Croatian state budget channels significant funds in support of its ethnic minorities doesn’t appear praiseworthy to Vucic – he intends meddling in Croatia’s affairs over its own population, he continues denigrating Croatia in business that is not his!
Milijan Brkic
HDZ Member of Croatian Parliament
and Deputy Speaker
Photo:MP
One must wonder why deputy Speaker of Croatian Parliament (HDZ), Milijan Brkic, stated on Friday 2 February 2018 that he supports President Grabar-Kitarivic’s invitation to President Vucic because “Serbia is our friendly and neighbouring country. Mr Vucic has had in his history some derailment from the path, he wandered a bit, but its time we all take our foot off the ball, all together and that we stop concerning ourselves with the past.”
The problem with this is that Serbia has clearly shown via its UN exhibition last week that it is still no friend to Croatia. And that is only a small part of its unfriendly and aggressive activities against Croatia and its people. People are neither fools nor blind and to call an active enemy a friend is insulting to human intellect.
The situation on the ground regarding President Grabar Kitarovic’s invitation to President Vucic is that a significant number of people within the HDZ ruling party do not support it and the same goes for the opposition. Besides the sentiment expressed by Milijan Brkic the following exemplify the ones that are opposite to Brkic’s or deal with outstanding issues Serbia is expected to deliver:
Stevo Culej (L), HDZ Member of Parliament
Zeljko Glasnovic (R), Independents Member of Parliament
Photo: Screenshot
Stevo Culej (HDZ Member of Parliament) said: “75 Croatian citizens were killed in Tovarnik and no one has been made duly responsible for these killing nor have the remains of the killed been found yet, and I expect, if Serbia’s president comes to Croatia to try in his Serbia find information for at least one person still missing killed in Tovarnik and bring that information to Croatia with him…”
Josip Dakic (HDZ Member of Parliament) said: “as you know, I would rather he is in Remetinec (prison in Zagreb) than on a visit to Croatia…”
Zeljko Glasnovic (Independts Member of Parliament) said: “we have $34 billion war damage, and what’s with the raped, with the murdered, what’s the damage to the victims … since 1945 Germans paid $89 billion in damages to the victims of Nazism, what have Serbs the Greater Serbia imperialists done? I mentioned it before the youngest victim murdered in Croatia was 6 months old and the eldest 104 years old, the youngest rape victim was 5-year-old girl and the eldest 80 … who will pay for these people’s destroyed lives, families etc…”
Another concerning thing is for certain and that is that by inviting Serbia’s president to visit Croatia at this particular time when Serbia’s international propaganda activities based on lies are particularly viciously geared against Croatia President Grabar Kitarovic has served an unpleasant and disquieting surprise to her people. The surprise whose goals and reasons that justify this timing are completely obscure to the masses and politicians as well as the government itself. How is that for preparing the terrain for a visit Grabar Kitarovic claims is good for Croatia when its people are vulnerable still from the ravages and devastation of Serb aggression and are deeply insulted by Serbia’s recent UN exhibition? Grabar Kitarovic would presumably have had a more accommodating public reception to her invite had she clearly stated to the people at least some of the important points on her meeting agenda – which coincide with people expectations – with Serbia’s president on Croatian soil. Ina Vukic
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OUCH! So unfair!
Indeed robrob
Serbia and Croatia will have to be friends in the future said late 2017 Serbia’s president Aleksander Vucic and the beginning of 2018 Serbia stages is appalling UN exhibition vilifying Croatia… who can believe such a man!
And who could get away with THAT without correction, Masna laz.
Croatia might try hard to be friends but the trying in this case is a losing battle. Serbian imperialism is in its people’s genes. Wake up!
Hopefully an awakening is around the corner, Spectator
I’ve really heard it all now! My gosh! He should never allowed to be set foot in the country unless it’s to apologise!
Exactly, Anna
I feel, living here, that we are going through a surreal time; demonstrations of outrage against all the governments we had had since I got here, 2002, should be held accountable for the situation Croatia is in at the moment, and for participating in opening the EU door to Serbia. We should make a big bloody fuss.. But most Croatian people are tired…they think …let the next generation deal with it. Who is the next generation with so many young leaving, professional families leaving, and who is left – a large majority of Croatians who are struggling on low salaries and figuring out how to make money … with what they have, but their are a lot of social cases who can’t. Its hard to get Croatians to the street. Any revolt has to again come from Croats in Australia, Canada, etc
Jadranka, you mention the next generation and it was for the next generation, for future children that most diaspora Croats helped enormously toward freedom because we wanted the children of Croatia to have same or similar opportunities for life that children in democracies have. I’m sure that such was the motive also in Croatia – but something terribly went wrong! If not fixed there will be nothing to save really, nothing for the children to pay off or not much anyway. A sad state of affairs but the good thing is that there are still a good number of good people with a fighting spirit so let’s hope it is sustained
I can so see why this would wound Ina..
Pity those that make decisions don’t seem to see, Sue. Hugs!
I agree with you Ina… Sadly,many of those who put themselves forward to be elected have only a one track mind.. To gain and fulfil their own agenda.. And do not care about the consequences of others..
Yes, sad state of affairs indeed, Sue
Indeed, the President’s reasoning concerning this state visit is obscure … so obscure that one feels the dread darkening the mere thought of it conjures up … ghosts of the dead, the pain of the babies who were killed as well as those who have not been born because of the PTSD with which their potential parents have been overwhelmed, the horrors of the infirm and the aged whose lives ended early because who among them could survive such an upheaval, the cries of the raped women, raped little girls and raped little boys which seem to echo in an otherwise soundless field where no one responds … the anguish of those who supported democracy and freedom from afar and from not so afar, the hurt that remains from the survivors of those who were murdered by the Serb dominated government which ruled over our sacred Homeland. Will either the President or the party which supported her survive this misjudgment without a plausible explanation?
When such important decisions for the people who suffered are made without regard for them, David, one truly wonders why and why. To reconcile is a great thing but it cannot be done without those mostly affected by the matters of reconciliation. There can be no real success of it without the people ingredient. Cheers!
The Serb President was one of the top men in Serbia in 1992 calling for the destruction of Bosnia. The people of Croatia should give him the warm welcome he got in Srebrenica 🙂
As a Bosnian Croat I am very angry by this news, I was fighting in two years in very brutal battles to defend Sarajevo during the war. I was defending women and children from being killed by the Serb Troops. A killing machine Vucic praised. Over 3000 Croatian men defended Sarajevo during the barbaric Serb attack on our city. And many Croat civilians was killed by Serb bombs in Sarajevo, Croatia is offending all those people by inviting this rat!!!
Know what you mean, exactly, Aleksandra. Remorse from Vucic would be my prerequisite before I even shake his hand let alone invite him to “our” home.
Enough of the secrete discussions, we are back to Croslavia. Most other counties have an agreed agenda before a invitation is even sent, it should be clear for all to see as per usual diplomatic protocol. What is to be achieved by this meeting? It will only be in Serbia’s interest.
The Croatian people will only do something when the Serbs arrive at their front door, as per 1990.
We need to appreciate 70 years of communism has really done some damage, hence the apathy. Unfortunately for the local population that has not been directly impacted by the 1990 War or Yugoslavia, these issues don’t bother them, just looking at the hip pocket.
Croatians are not able to think and plan for the future. Its just a week to week proposition.
Relatively poorly filled Hip pocket is exactly what the politicians use to create hope whose realisation never comes as constant political play and scandals are staged, diverting the attention from having to stick to programs and activities that would bring positive changes, Splithead. Observing the media from Croatia, all kinds of media, the insatiable appetite for scandals and shockers has the country locked in a grip of chaos. Hopefully there will be those who know how to work well within the chaos. People are distracted by unproductive politics too much I think and this is not good at all. And yes it does appear that it’s living from week to week.
Both are masons . They take their orders from above .
However we may wish for this not to be the case . That is the way that it is . All leaders have been groomed for their positions .
The international bankers rule , just like here in Oz .
Kolinda is ” stuck between a rock and a hard place ” and “she’s damned if she does or damned if she doesn’t .”
Communism is the banking cartels ultimate agenda for the new world disorder , where they have monopoly over everyone and everything .
There is a bigger mutual enemy in the neighbourhood now…
It appears so, yes, K
I know you aren’t speaking literally, but, I remember being in “grade” school there were a couple of older guys in class (they had no interest in school, and smoked….and may have been already driving, guys you knew would end up in prison someday), they took razor blades and cut/shaped tattoos on their wrists. I think they then, after the bleeding, took an ink pen and colored in the cut, to give it color/stain. You just knew something was wrong with them.
And imagine the sensation/pain it causes Arlin…