
Wishing you all a Blessed and Merry Christmas 2020 from the joy of nurturing Croatian culture and traditions in Australia since 1850’s!
Blagoslovljen i Čestit Božić 2020. iz radosti održavanja hrvatske kulture i običaja u Australiji od 1850-tih!

Croatia, the War, and the Future
Ina Vukic - Croatia: people, politics, history, economy, transitioning from communism to democracy
Wishing you all a Blessed and Merry Christmas 2020 from the joy of nurturing Croatian culture and traditions in Australia since 1850’s!
Blagoslovljen i Čestit Božić 2020. iz radosti održavanja hrvatske kulture i običaja u Australiji od 1850-tih!
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)
Same to you my friend
Merry Christmas Osarobohenry
Sretan Bozic Ina!! Xxx
Sretan Božić. Merry Christmas, Anna
Merry Christmas!
A Blessed and Joyous Christmas to you and yours also, Ina!
Merry Christmas Maryann
Sretan i blagoslovljen Božić ! ! !
Merry Christmas Carl
I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Good New Year Ina.
Merry Christmas Ronnie
enjoyNOWvisitLATER – Sve u Hrvatskoj
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEuyAEjLo8F4M1mhUvKJJ7w
Ah, nothing beats the traditions of those who came before us. Merry Christmas Connor!
You know that you want this 🙂
Merry Christmas , INA ! 🙂
https://youtu.be/nfhnFuUcT_A
Alioșa ! 🙂
Merry Christmas Aliosa
https://www.animatedimages.org/data/media/570/animated-merry-christmas-image-0152.gif
Merry Christmas Cindy
Happy Christmas
Merry Christmas sedge
A blessed and Merry Christmas season! And a virtual glass of Christmas mead. Or Dalmatian wine. They’re both good picks! 😁🎄
Merry Christmas Elisa
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas daneelynus
Wishing you the same and your family 😊
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you z1steve – I wish the same for you and all those you love!
Dear Ina! I feel to refer to you in endeering terms is not out of place – as it is a reflection of the dept of what I felt receiving the messages about our Croatia on your blog – the truth about it- something that is not often heard. With this Christmas message you have awaken my conscience out of slumber about the importance of keeping the home fires burning with our sarma, our mlinci, our orahnjaca, our kiflice – our psenica under the tree. For that matter all our traditions – so we do not forget those who kept them alive for us- who kept the spirit of Croatia alive.! Best wishes to you, to your dearest, to all Croatian sisters and brothers!
Thank you Maria Luise for your great feedback, it touches me. And, by the way I had the turkey with mlinci I made for Christmas day 😀 Traditions are all about heritage and without heritage and holding it dear to the heart one can easily feel out of place and lost in life. Without keeping our own traditions we cannot truly appreciate other people’s traditions and respect their identity. Happy Christmas and a safe New Year!
Christmas is not just a time for festivity and merry making. It is more than that. It is a time for the contemplation of eternal things. The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving.” ~ J. C. Penney
Have a wonderful Christmas and joyous days ahead with warm laughter. Take care.
Yes Kally it is so! Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!