Aleksandar Vulin – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Croatia: Repeat of Serbian Mind-numbing Political Violence

April 29, 2018 by inavukic 28 Comments

One doesn’t need to think too hard to clearly formulate an answer to the question: what does it say about Serbian society when a convicted war criminal, Vojislav Seselj (and others) is not made an outcast from the country’s political power corridors but is actually helped and promoted to pursue the evil and the hatred that had rather recently resulted in crimes against humanity! It’s a given that the boundaries of tolerance change through history – as do the methods – ostensibly for progress away from mind-numbing fear and violence. The political violence against sovereign Croatia (sovereignty won and defended amidst the 1990’s brutal Serb aggression) pursued relentlessly by Serbia must not remain unchallenged. Enough is enough.

The political violence is, after all, in the ontology and unbridled spreading of fear in Greater Serbia politics.

With this, there is simply no ground for mutually respectful conversation or reconciliation between Croatia (and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Serbia. Serbian violent politics must be defeated before any lasting reconciliation could be achieved.

Firstly, at the beginning of April when a Croatian delegation lead by the Speaker of Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandrokovic, entered Serbia’s Parliament they were met with a tirade of abuse and insults uttered by no other than the convicted war criminal Vojislav Seselj, who despite his war crimes conviction continues to enjoy parliamentary privilege in Serbia as well as continuing at the helm of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party. Seselj shouted insults, hatred against Croatian people and abuse at the Croatian official delegation and trampled on a Croatian flag. As any decent being the Croatian delegation turned around and left Serbia to return to Croatia forthwith. But, while Croatian politicians stood their ground in condemning the incident apart from a few criticisms from a few Serbian politicians and the EU of Seselj’s behaviour nothing of substance ensued that would give the world the justified hope that the politically violent maniac Seselj would be removed from the parliament, or his political party – and at least some semblance of neighbourly respect be achieved!

Then came last weekend when Serbia’s defence minister Aleksandar Vulin was all set and sharpened to visit Croatia near Jasenovac to attend a memorial service for victims of WWII. Given the insults and inflammatory anti-Croat bellicose rhetoric Vulin had uttered before at similar memorials and generally in Croatia, and given Seselj’s unsanctioned insults only days before, Croatia refused permission to Vulin to attend the memorial. Vulin response to that was that Serbia’s President and relevant Government Minister are the only ones, not Croatian, who could refuse his entry into Croatia! He blatantly disrespects and disregards Croatia’s sovereignty. Consequently Croatian authorities declared Vulin as persona non grata, not welcome in Croatia.

Instead of dealing with the problem both Seselj and Vulin had created in relations between Croatia and Serbia, on Thursday 26 April Serbia entered into a tit-for-tat response and banned Croatia’s defence minister Damir Krsticevic from Serbia! As part of Serb denial of crimes committed in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1990’s Vulin and other Serbian leaders keep on falsely accusing Croatia of nationalism and neo-fascism; they keep on falsifying the numbers of Serb victims in WWII on Croatia’s territory. This strategically destructive tactic, filled with deception, also serves Serbia “well” in avoiding the acknowledgement of its own WWII history against the Jews and its “Jew-free” status (May 1942), created through extermination of its Jewish population aided and facilitated by the then Prime Minister Milan Nedic.

Many in Croatia see Vulin’s comments and rhetoric as a bid by Belgrade to distract from the behaviour of Serbian ultranationalist leader Vojislav Seselj who trampled on and tried to rip up the Croatian flag and hurled insults at officials visiting from Croatia. The fact that Seselj, among other insults, yelled at the Croatian delegation in Serbia’s parliament calling them Ustashas presents the world not only with the ugly face of irony (as the persons in Croatia’s delegation have no family or personal affiliation with WWII Ustasha movement that fought for Croatia’s independence [from Serb-led Kingdom of Yugoslavia]) but it drives home the ugly and unwanted truth that Serbia’s leadership is much about violent hatred for and vilification of the Croatian nation.

According to Croatian media, some members of the country’s government want its ambassador to be recalled from Belgrade and for it to block Serbia’s membership talks with the European Union. Likewise the opinion prevails in Croatia that talks between Croatia and Serbia should be frozen until Belgrade stops advancing a ‘Greater Serbia’ policy towards Croatia and ejects convicted war criminal Vojislav Seselj from its parliament. Hear hear! Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aleksandar Vulin, Croatia, Damir Krsticevic, Greater Serbia politics, political violence, Serbia, Vojislav Seselj

Serbia’s Spineless Thieves Of Truth

October 3, 2017 by inavukic 9 Comments

There is no future without the past. If the past stands on false props, the future will be false. “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. Among psychologists of today something like this known as the “illusion of truth” effect. Once we know about the effect we can guard against it. Part of this is double-checking why we believe what we do – if something sounds plausible is it because it really is true, or have we just been told that repeatedly? This is why scholars are so mad about providing references – so we can track the origin on any claim, rather than having to take it on faith. But part of guarding against the illusion is the obligation it puts on us to stop repeating falsehoods. We live in a world where the facts matter, and should matter. If you repeat things without bothering to check all possible sources if they are absolutely true, you are helping to make a world where lies and truth are easier to confuse.

This brings me to the illusion of truth Serbia has been reverberating based on lies and denials regarding the war of brutal aggression it waged against Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in early 1990’s, as these countries set upon a path of secession from communist Yugoslavia. for decades. Considering the hard-won independence Croatia has had since the early 1990’s war against its independence from communist Yugoslavia, imposed by Serbia and Serbs, through both Serb paramilitary forces and Serb-controlled remnants of the Yugoslav People’s Army, a future with reconciled absolute truth seems more improbable today than ever before. And without more active attacks from Croatia against this illusion of truth coming from Serbia, the illusion of truth stands to gain more ground and create a future that is based on falsehoods. A tragedy for the people wherever they may be; a tragedy for moral standards humanity should uphold.

On Friday 29 September 2017 in Belgrade, Aleksanader Vulin, Serbia’s defence minister, attended the raising of a monument to Milan Tepic, an officer in the former Yugoslav People’s Army, who on 29 September 1991 caused an explosion at the military storage facility in Bjelovar, Croatia, blowing it up and in that, killing 11 Croatian soldiers.

Attending Sunday 1 October the installation ceremony for Bishop of Serbian Orthodox Church Nikodim Kosovic in Sibenik, Croatia, Vulin was faced with questions from Croatian journalists about the monument to Tepic erected in Serbia. “I could try to explain to you now that four Yugoslav People’s Army officers were shot on that day and that a court process is underway against the man that allegedly did this. It makes no sense for us to do all of this. In every civil war there are as many truths as there are sides in the civil war, and now for me to convince you that the Serbian truth is the truth for Croatia or the Croatian truth is the truth for Serbia – that’s not correct nor is it possible, nor should this be done”, said Vulin.

Vulin’s statement is a blatant lie, a purposeful and focused distortion of the historical and legal facts (also ruled on by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia/ICTY in The Hague) about the war in Croatia.

On Monday 2 October Croatia’s defence minister Damir Krsticevic gave a public, televised, reply to Vulin’s lies that the war against Croatia in early 1990’s was a civil one.

“Today, as vice-president of the government of the republic of Croatia and as its defence minister, but also as a general of the victorious Croatian army, I wish to send this message to all: Two truths do not exist, only one does. The Republic of Croatia did not lead any ‘civil war’, but a just and defensive Homeland War against the brutal greater-Serbia aggression. The Croatian soldier fought during that imposed war within the borders of the Republic of Croatia for peace and freedom and we had defended ourself and won the war. Today we are focused on the future, on strengthening Croatian Army’s abilities and on the development of homeland security system, in order not ever to find ourselves in the situation like we were in in the early 1990’s.”

These words Krsticevic uttered represent the absolute truth. They need to be repeated over and over again if we are to prevent Serbia’s servings of lies that have the potential of creating an illusion of truth. Vulin’s words undoubtedly represent a profound lie and, given that they were spoken by one of Serbia’s ministers, they are taken as representing the views held by that country’s leadership; they are an embarrassment to human decency itself. They wee spoken on Croatian territory, to boot!

Why Vulin was permitted to remain in Croatia after giving the scandalous and evilly premeditated statement to cause Croatia harm is beyond my understanding. The man should have been escorted out! How can Croatia’s leaders even think that reconciliation is possible with Serbia after such a statement!? Such statement demonstrates the deformed and evil state of mind Serbia as a nation was/is in when it comes to matters of truth about its aggression against Croatia. This was not the first time on Croatian soil for Vulin to make statements using blatant lies against Croatia, so one would hope that this time around Croatia’s leadership will finally close its doors, remove the welcome mats at its border with Serbia. One simply cannot even hope to achieve any justice for Croatia’s victims of the brutal Serb aggression, let alone achieve a tolerable reconciliation.

It is not the first time that Serbs have come out with a lie of magnitudes that destroy the truth of nations. Many from the “West” have already become the victims to Serbia’s peddling in illusion of truth propaganda method, with view, of course, to distance from itself any guilt for the brutal and genocidal war. It’s the same tactic Serbia has used for decades, since WWII in fact, with regards to its factual history of being one of the first European countries, May 1942, to declare itself Jew-free through mass murder of Jews (94%). The lies it used in this, by blaming Croatia and Germany for the mass killings of Serbia’s Jews that occurred under the actions and directives of Serbia’s WWII Milan Nedic government have, it seems lulled the world into believing a lie to be a truth! The same is occurring regarding Serbia’s genocidal role in the war against Croatia! This must not be permitted to acquire a life of an illusion of truth.

Political propaganda such as the one Vulin has just used is the stuff that destroys people’s belief in humanity and justice, and generates victims of absolute truth, where victims should not exist. All Croatia’s leaders and politicians should pursue with condemning loudly Vulin and Serbia for attempting to create such an illusion of truth that has the potential of destroying more lives. The idea that the world is not blind to the truth is heartening. Humans are perfectly capable of reasonable judgments, and can use logical capabilities to guard against the effects of repetition of lies. But in an age characterised by competing political narratives and spin, there’s no room to be lazy about repeating the facts. Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aleksandar Vulin, Croatia, Damir Krsticevic, illusion of truth, no civil war, Serb aggression, Serbia, Serbia's denial of aggression

Slobodan Milosevic Not Innocent – Still, Serbia’s War Crimes Deniers Get Field Day

September 7, 2016 by inavukic 22 Comments

Former Serbian president
Slobodan Milosevic
is led into the courtroom
of the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague 2002
PHOTO : JERRY LAMPEN/AFP/Getty Images

Dubbed “the butcher of the Balkans”, Serbia’s late Slobodan Milosevic almost rose from the grave with a bright halo glowing above his head last month when a handful of apparent Serb war crimes and Slobodan Milosevic apologists briefly succeeded in convincing much of the unsuspecting world that The UN crimes tribunal in the Hague had acquitted/exonerated him of war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1990’s as part of joint criminal enterprise. Andy Wilcoxson and Neil Clark dropped into the world’s public arena a hotter than burning claim that sent members of Serbia’s leadership dancing in deliriums of denial and pathetic disregard for victims of horrible crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1990’s and false interpretation of justice – oblivious to truth and reality.

Neil Clark served the world (via RT) the evidently calculating sensational claim that the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, who died 2006 in The Hague cells, was “exonerated… for war crimes committed in the Bosnia war …”. Clark appears to have let himself loose and reckless, saying: “The ICTY’s conclusion, that one of the most demonized figures of the modern era was innocent of the most heinous crimes he was accused of, really should have made headlines across the world. But it hasn‘t. Even the ICTY buried it, deep in its 2,590 page verdict in the trial of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic who was convicted in March of genocide (at Srebrenica), war crimes and crimes against humanity…There was no official announcement or press conference regarding Milosevic‘s exoneration. We’ve got journalist and researcher Andy Wilcoxson to thank for flagging it up for us…”

Well, hello Mr Clark – Karadzic’s trial was not Milosevic’s trial and Milosevic was not tried – he went on and died in prison before the evidence against him could actually be tested in the court of law.

Ah, Andy Wilcoxon. Well, he wrote on a pro Slobodan Milosevic website in July 2016 analysing snippets of the ICTY judgment against Radovan Karadzic as if they were snippets from a trial against Milosevic where adequate or applicable evidence against Milosevic was tested! Wilcoxon in essence pronounced Milosevic innocent of war crimes by addressing a handful of paragraphs in the 2,615-page ICTY judgment against Karadzic. How calculating and cruel can some articles appear!

Radovan Karadzic
40 year prison sentence
for war crimes in
Bosnia and Herzegovina against
Croats and Bosniaks
Photo: AP

So, it was more than four months from the time the ICTY in the Hague delivered 24 March its judgment against Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and sentenced him to 40 years imprisonment for war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Croats during 1990’s war, which saw ethnic cleansing and genocide create the so-called ethnically clean Serb Republic within Bosnia and Herzegovina, that journalists Neil Clark and Andy Wilcoxson decide to interpret the ICTY Judgment against Karadzic as a finding of Slobodan Milosevic’s innocence and got the world thinking that Milosevic has in The Hague trial been found innocent of war crimes in Bosnia & Herzegovina. The full judgment does have 2, 615 pages (or 2,590 – depending on format at hand) and it takes time to digest that but one cannot but suspect that such articles purporting to confirm Milosevic’s innocence in Bosnia and Herzegovina were what “the doctor ordered” and to be used to feed Serbia’s deluded genocide denial, denial of any guilt in the war they started and played a critical role of aggression in it, regardless of whether that aggression was physical or verbal or political.

Truly disturbing stuff!

Wilcoxon in his article enumerates a selection of paragraphs from the Karadzic judgment that he says evidences Milosevic’s innocence but apparently fails to actually quote those paragraphs in full or link them to the actual ICTY Judgment (for the reader to access easily)! One of these paragraphs Wilcoxson heavily relies for his preposterous claim is paragraph 3460 and that one says:

“With regard to the evidence presented in this case (Karadzic case) in relation to Slobodan Milosevic and his membership in the JCE (Joint Criminal Enterprise), the Chamber recalls that he shared and endorsed the political objective of the Accused and the Bosnian Serb leadership to preserve Yugoslavia and to prevent the separation or independence of BiH and co-operated closely with the Accused during this time. The Chamber also recalls that Milosevic provided assistance in the form of personnel, provisions, and arms to the Bosnian Serbs during the conflict. However, based on the evidence before the Chamber regarding the diverging interests that emerged between the Bosnian Serb and Serbian leaderships during the conflict and in particular, Milosevic’s repeated criticism and disapproval of the policies and decisions made by the Accused and the Bosnian Serb leadership, the Chamber is not satisfied that there was sufficient evidence presented in this case to find that Slobodan Milosevic agreed with the common plan.” (Full Radovan Karadzic Judgment ICTY pdf here)

So, no sufficient evidence against Milosevic in Karadzic’s trial equals Milosevic’s innocence of the crimes as far as one can deduce from Neill and Wilcoxson’s incredulous claims. Wilcoxson enumerates several other paragraphs from the Karadzic judgment that mainly address meetings in Belgrade or in Pale (administrative centre of Serbian Republic then created by Serb’s as ethnically pure entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina) and tend to suggest Milosevic’s certain disagreement with the politics of Bosnian Serb leaders, but to me this is not evidence of Milosevic’s innocence. Indeed, Milosevic’s attitudes reportedly expressed at meetings do not necessarily automatically follow that he is innocent of the war crimes covered in Karadzic’s trial.

(L) Ivica Dacic, Serbian foreign minister
(R) Aleksandar Vulin, Serbian labour, employment minister
Photo: Tanjug/Nenad Milosevic

What’s even more disturbing is that most of Serbia’s media and some outside it promoted this deception for days, leaving that lie permanently available in the public domain. What’s further distressing and obscene is the fact that Serbia’s leadership via foreign minister Ivica Dacic (former member of Milosevic’s ultra-nationalist party) and labour and employment minister Aleksandar Vulin “have been expressing triumphant satisfaction for days about claims (Clark and Wilcoxson) that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia’s verdict convicting former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic also said that former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic wasn’t guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dacic has said that the Karadzic verdict also shows that Serbia itself was innocent of wartime crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But some Serbian analysts suggest that they are simply using these claims of Milosevic’s innocence in an attempt to rehabilitate the former leader’s policies and their own role in the wars of the 1990s, with which the country has never truly come to terms…”

Poor, wretched soul, Dacic, who accused the West of keeping quiet about Milosevic’s innocence because, if it spoke about the findings in ICTY Karadzic case about Milosevic’s innocence, then the West would tear down the justification for its politics towards Serbia! This man is truly mad! It doesn’t seem to cross his mind that Karadzic’s case was not Milosevic’s case and that the case did not pronounce Milosevic innocent nor would it have been just to do so (as all evidence tested was that to serve indictment against Karadzic).

An army of world’s top psychiatrists couldn’t heal this lot in Serbia from the devastating, dangerous delusions that include persistent and false sense of victimhood and denials of Serbia’s role in war crimes during 1990’s in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But, wouldn’t you know it – Russian Pravda swiftly published a piece after Clark’s article saying that “International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague quietly acknowledged the innocence of former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic and went on with an interview with the French/ Russian journalist Dimitri de Koshko, another Milosevic apologist it seems, who went on to say: “Today, we are talking about the trial in The Hague that has seen its legal ending only now. Milosevic was posthumously and very quietly acquitted by the Tribunal.”

Unbelievable garbage! Nobody can be acquitted or found not guilty via a trial held against someone else!

The Tribunal did not acquit Milosevic. Trial against Milosevic stopped when he died. Did not continue! Did not finish. Perhaps Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina should join forces and seek to have it finished posthumously.

The indisputable facts are that Slobodan Milosevic presided over and oversaw the worst atrocities committed against humanity since WWII on European soil. Serbia’s soldiers as they entered Croatia’s Vukovar in 1991 with guns, knives, bombs, tanks sang: “Slobo, Slobo (meaning Slobodan Milosevic) bring us some salad, there’ll be meat – we’ll slaughter the Croats”; thousands of Bosniak men and boys slaughtered in Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the banner of Serb superiority and land theft – to just mention the very tip of the horrendous iceberg of war crimes committed.

Has Milosevic been exonerated of war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Has he been found or declared innocent? Heck no – not by a court of law; just by handful of journalists twisting and bending facts about the most serious matter of human existence – crime – to suit a political agenda that has nothing to do with justice. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

US based attorney Luka Misetic, who has significant experience in ICTY trials and appeals for war crimes recently tweeted the following on the matter (click on image to enlarge):