Croatian Parliament – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Croatia: Still Trapped In Communist 1945 Despite 1990’s Victorious War of Independence

April 29, 2023 by inavukic 14 Comments

Croatian patriot wearing “For Home Ready” (Za Dom Spremni) jacket. Photo: Pixsell

One thing about Croatia that is crystal clear is that former communists and those carrying their flag to this day cannot forgive the Croatian people for fighting for and defending their absolute right for self-determination and freedom from communist Yugoslavia. That fact was evident in 1945 and decades that followed, with communist purges and mass murders of Croatian patriots and that fact is evident today, with laws passed during communist Yugoslavia still remaining in force, many without changes that reflect the values of the 1990’s Homeland War, which established the independent Croatia during 1990’s.

Walk into the Croatian Parliament today, observe and listen. You will end up thinking that the terrible war of aggression against Croatia did not happen. That the War did not obligate the independent Croatia and its people with the task of distancing from communist Yugoslavia and the totalitarian regime to the full extent so that Croatia could prosper as a true democracy.

It’s quite tragic, really.

32 years after breaking away from communist Yugoslavia there are a lot of people in Croatia who are very patriotic, but there are also a lot of other people caught in the situation where they force upon this independent nation communist values. The latter, tragically for Croatia, have occupied most of the positions of power who disregard, even punish the values of the patriots. Something like what used to happen during the times when Croatia was a part of communist Yugoslavia. The latter will hide behind the so-called European values of which they obviously know little, or simply ignore and breach them hoping nobody is looking from the outside.

It’s impossible to escape the sense of widespread melancholy and disappointment that pervade across Croatia. It is also impossible to escape the sense of a dying nation where rivers of young are emigrating, where those remaining either live in hope that things will get better or seem content should the status quo remain because they, themselves are OK if they do not rock the boat or complain.

I’m finding the experience as surreal as the independent from communist Yugoslavia country that truly isn’t.

No package of “de-communisation” laws has been passed in the past thirty years since seceding from former Yugoslavia at great human life cost by the Croatian parliament. On the contrary, the left-leaning parliamentarians would like to make us believe that nostalgia for communist Yugoslavia defines the nation and that those wanting to uphold and nurture the values of the war of independence are in the minority. Banning of all totalitarian regimes’ symbols has not occurred. Indeed, the former communists and lovers of Yugoslavia, those that deserted the fight for independence and defence of Croatia against brutal Serb and Yugoslav Army aggression in 1990’s, appear bolder in their communist propaganda than ever. They continue behaving as if they and not the real victors – Croatian patriots – won the war of independence and created the independent state in whose parliament they now sit.

This political turmoil that is increasingly taking hold on the streets in Croatia can perhaps be best portrayed through a day of the sitting of Croatian parliament.

Instead of drawing up a new law that reflects the needs and obligations of independent Croatia the Croatian Parliament 21^st April 2023, in a rushed procedure, voted to amend the Law on Offences Against Public Order and Peace, which foresees a drastic increase in fines for the offences, up to the cruel and oppressive four thousand euros. The law thus amended was the law that was enacted in 1977, in communist Yugoslavia, that is biased and discriminatory against patriotic Croatian behaviour, that has not been adapted fully to reflect the values of Croatia’s independence or the values declared by the European Parliament and Commission regarding condemnation of all totalitarian regimes, including the communist one.

This law before the Croatian parliament last Friday as far as I can see has no definitions of the offences it seeks to punish severely and so, just like it happened during communist Yugoslavia any policeman, anybody that has the authority to arrest, take away the freedom of the individual, can decide what is and what is not an offence under the said law! This has also been complained against by some right-wing opposition members of parliament.

While the law itself does not define the offences, which fact in itself is of totalitarian rather than democratic nature, it’s infringements would come from applying offences of this category under other laws in Croatia. And so, given that the patriotic salute “Za Dom Spremni” (For Home Ready) has been banned by other legislation as hate speech or disturbing the peace, while the communist red star and slogans have not, the Croatian media has created the atmosphere where the Croatian patriotic slogans are the ones that will attract the largest fines under this new legislative amendment, perhaps even imprisonment.

One must conclude that communist sympathisers have on purpose excluded symbols from communist Yugoslavia as offences against public peace and simply kept those that relate to Croatian patriotism. The amendments to the law proposed by the current government and communist or left-leaning politicians are a brutal slap in the face to patriots and those who sacrificed their lives for Croatian independence.

It is yet to be seen whether such brutality will be tolerated or whether the newly enacted penalties under this law will be tolerated. They divide a nation even deeper than what it already is, evidently in the odious environment where many in power appear to subscribe to the destructive social and political currents where “the kettle calls the pot black” – every day!

The video of the 21 April 2023 sitting of the Croatian Parliament may be accessed via the following link:

Hot discussions, recriminations, insults … hurled from all sides of the House. The reason: unfinished and rushed requirement to vote on this day on Amendments to the Law on Offences Against Public Order and Peace. Such hurling of insults and dissatisfaction are not unusual or concerning in parliaments or congresses around the world, but they painfully stand out as such, heavily laced with depravity, in a country like Croatia that is supposed to be anti-communist and pro independence from any totalitarian communist regime.

Amidst the heated discussions and hurling of personal insults in the Croatian Parliament on Friday 21 April 2023, the Speaker of the Parliament, Gordan Jandrokovic had the gall to say:

” …So, I think that discussing this topic in this way is not useful because the citizens are watching us. If you really care about the history being revalued in an adequate way to condemn really all totalitarian regimes, the Ustasha regime as well as communist Yugoslavia. We can do it in a different way, not like this…” (at 3hr 57 min of the video at link above).

Hence, confirming that the amendments he and his HDZ government are pushing through parliament have nothing to do with Croatia that was created as independent among the 1990’s War of Independence. It aims to maintain 1945 status when the communist regime overthrew the Ustasha! Utterly unacceptable and disgusting in today’s world where there are no Ustashas apart from the manufactured ones existing in the communist propaganda mindset, and certainly, as the communists were rejected by the very victory of the bloody War of Independence.

Nino Raspudic said: „This is a very dangerous thing, an introduction to future totalitarianism and repression…if we are talking here about European values then it is clear that we must condemn all totalitarian regimes from the past (WWII) … Croatia had from 1945 had the rule of those who came by force … let’s be consistent in the condemnation of all totalitarian regimes…”

Zeljko Sacic said: “…this proposal for this Act is deeply, deeply in breach of the Constitution, is unlawful, it breaches the principles of rule of law, jeopardises our citizens legal safety. Why? Because in its Article 5 it states that anyone who in a public place displays or reproduces songs, compositions, texts, wears or displays symbols, pictures, drawings, disturbs public peace may be penalised with a fine from 700 to 4000 euro plus 30 days imprisonment… the thing is that this Act is extremely undefined, it is contradictory to the principles of law that tell us that there is no infringement if it is not defined by law (that seeks topenaliseoffences) … we need to first define what are those symbols, what are those pictures … like civilised European countries have…and then we can debate what exactly we can penalise… this way we are only undermining citizen’s legal safety …this way we are handing over to the police and the state attorney the penal procedure … do not agree to that.”

Ruzica Vukovac said: “ …the threat of draconic penalties to those who in their own way express patriotism, are, and nobody can dispute it, a relic from the past, relic of a society from which this nation has exited with a bloody fight against the aggressor. The people have exited from communism and one mindedness, but our leaders evidently have not. How could they when that war had nothing to do with them and they did not feel it on their skin. Our leaders today are from the shadows, they watched the outcome of the war and planned this what we have today. Occupied all positions of power and then, in a peaceful way, slowly destroy the national marrow of a nation of people. From today I will be coming to St Marks Square, to my workplace, with anxiety because it will not surprise me if someone’s move results in the erasure of the first white square on the coat of arms on the roof of St Mark’s church.”

Sandra Bencic said: “ …with this Act regardless of the raised fines the proper framework is not provided regarding the promotion of national socialism, Nazism and Ustasha …in this discussion in parliament we see that we still have political parties that hold that this is normal… advocating for and promotion fascism, national socialism and Ustasha as well as Chetniks we need to stop here and now … ask the government to amend the criminal acts law …to sanction the promotion of Ustasha ideology …”

Marko Milanovic Litre said: “…regretfully, we have not heard from Sndra Bencic a condemnation of the communist regime and the burden from the past we have from Yugoslavia which is today still felt by many families … we are not even going to hear about this from Bencinc because she promotes those ideas that were forced against Croats, but that is not important to her, only one side of the story…Colleague Bencic you should be ashamed for attacking here a general of the victorious army and you colleagues from HDZ think that is funny, you have not stood up to protest…you congratulate Bencic, I’m pleased to see that you have shown which values you promote…”

Marija Selak Raspudic said: “ In keeping with accentuation of European values I think that those among us who stand, the ones who would like to see Milka Planinc returned and whose PR professionals consider the murder of priests as good old times are truly the last people who could lecture anyone about the European values and the condemnation of totalitarian regimes’ deeds … our party MOST has condemned all totalitarian regimes.”

Clearly, independent from communist Yugoslavia Croatia is not independent. The Communist versus Ustasha battles continue as they did during World War Two as if Ustashas did not cease to exist as independence fighting force in 1945! As if 1990’s War of Independence did not occur in the 1990’s, with enormous costs to Croatia. Ideological battles – communist Yugoslavia versus independent and democratic Croatia – pervade the Croatian Parliament 32 years post secession from communist Yugoslavia! The Amendments to the Law of Offences Against Public Order and Peace were passed in parliamentary voting regardless of the protests from the opposition. What a tragedy for Croatian nation! Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Communist Yugoslavia, Communists, Croatia, Croatian Parliament, Croatian war of independence, decommunisation, Law Against Offences Public Order ndPeace, political crisis, Political turmoil, totalitarian regimes, transitioning from communism, Ustasha

When Croatia’s Antifa Hicks Try Stopping Church Repairs After Earthquake

March 28, 2020 by inavukic 20 Comments

Zeljko Glasnovic, MP for Croats living outside Croatia
Photo: Screenshot

During my latest visit to Croatia, March 2020, the country has not only had to deal with the vicious threat of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) spread, desperately trying to avoid the devastation that the neighbouring Italy was living, but a series of terrible earthquakes and aftershocks in Zagreb also forced the country to its knees. People may say that I must have had the worst time ever there during my latest visit, but actually it was a time that brought out much goodness in people, much bravery, good friends, clarification of what is the most important in one’s life. But it brought out much evil in people and especially the evil of communism, which still hovers above and in Croatia. For any reader who has ridiculed even the notion of Yugoslav communism being active in Croatia today can merely look into what has been said by some public personalities during this crisis and come to the conclusion that there is no conspiracy theory regarding this but that the undermining of people’s faith is, sadly, alive and kicking in Croatia (you take away a person’s faith, you take away their identity) just as it was during the communist regime in Former Yugoslavia.

For example, Mrs Rada Boric, a leftist women’s rights activist had via Facebook commented on the recent Zagreb earthquake and concern over the rebuilding of hospitals. In that situation, she did not forget to mention the churches! “I hope they can finally find their way! It’s been shown that one doctor was worth more than 20 priests. And the Church has enough of our budget money to repair the damages. After all, this vulnerable life is more important now,” Boric wrote.

Of course, Boric failed to demonstrate where or who has shown that “one doctor is worth more than 20 priests”; perhaps she was reminiscing upon the Yugoslav communist mantra to that effect, to which she undoubtedly subscribed and evidently still does.

The role of faith and the role of practicing medicine in healing the sick and the injured are roles that are inseparable from one another. The technological advances of the past century tended to change the focus of medicine from a caring, service-oriented model to a technological, cure-oriented model. Technology has led to phenomenal advances in medicine and has given us the ability to prolong life. However, in the past few decades physicians have attempted to balance their care by reclaiming medicine’s more spiritual roots, recognising that until modern times spirituality was often linked with health care. Spiritual or compassionate care involves serving the whole person—the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual. Such service is inherently a spiritual activity. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, who has developed Commonwealth retreats for people with cancer, described it well:

Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul (Remen RN. Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal. New York: Riverhead Books; 1997)

The Church teaches, promotes and encourages compassion. The Church is for great majority of people in Croatia the bedrock of spirituality and hope and this spirituality, this compassion, spills into health care via the very people who attend church and work in hospitals. Why someone would want to deny the Church to the people is a question that beggars answers, especially at this time of terrible crises with Coronavirus and earthquakes in Croatia. The answers do indeed lie with individuals (like Rada Boric) who will try any which way to destroy that wonderful Croatian spirituality and compassion that has created an independent democratic Croatian State away from communist Yugoslavia.

And hence, one response to Boric’s activities and sayings that is worth noting is the speech in the Croatian Parliament delivered on Friday 27 March 2020 by the retired General Zeljko Glasnovic, MP for Croatians living outside Croatia and it went like this:

“Dear colleagues, we live in the times of deep fake, fake news and mental coronavirus, and we have it here in Croatia as well. The crisis is not yet over, we have assessed the damage, and some are already calling for the collapse of the Croatian state and openly speak of hate against the Catholic Church. We are 80 percent Catholic and why are we tolerating that? That is a minority, which terrorises us. These moral typhus’s appear in the virtual world and on the web. We, for example, have some ‘centre for citizens’ courage’, what is that, is that one of the NGOs that receive 1.5 billion kunas from the government budget. Is that one of those? They are bothered by everything Catholic, they rejoice that the church in Palmoticeva Street has collapsed (in the earthquake), we have a journalist here too … some Bartolovic woman, I don’t see her here today, a hundred devils peek out of her, she receives money, calls upon the corona, the plague, to descend upon the Croatian state, I believe she writes for Serbian News, and perhaps receives some half a million kunas from the state budget.

Also, we have Rada Boric and she is bothered by some things. She says one doctor is worth more than 20 priests. Let’s talk about the data … where were these great civil rights defenders when I lay sick and wounded in Split hospital, when the corridors were full of the wounded and sisters, nuns, cared for them. No, they weren’t there, they were releasing wind in the Zagreb cafes, they did nothing. Community kitchens, thousands of meals – Caritas. Almost all care for the homeless – Catholic Church, charitable things were done by it, from Split to up here. That’s only a small drop in the sea of all that. Hospitals in America were built by the Catholic Church, all six hundred of them. I could talk about this all night. Let’s continue – Germany – the Catholic Church, the largest private employer in the country, half a million employed; they were sending money to us during the Homeland War. Croatian missionaries in Africa face danger every day, they are there in Tanzania, in Congo, every day death awaits them because they face the possibility of becoming victims of cannibalism. Where are those feminists, why don’t they go to North Africa, to Maghreb, and give talks there about sexual organ mutilation of women, about children there, but instead they sit here effusing brains to us; but that’s them and they are among us. There is no vaccine against them nor will there ever be. Let’s move on – Croatian Catholic Missions, who gathered Croatians living abroad into communities, preserved our collective identity, our collective memory, and sent millions upon millions of dollars to us during the war.

Now, these moral typhus’s, antifa hicks, are raising themselves on two feet secretly convening the downfall of the Croatian State. Don’t be fooled, they are here with us. They’re sitting here with us but they have disguised themselves and they’re only waiting for the Croatian State to fail while putting on an act of democrats and cosmopolitans…

When an end to all this will come I do not know, but would perhaps suggest, oh I forgot the universities – Oxford, Bologna, the oldest university in Europe – the Catholic Church – today people are waging war against civilisation and Croatia. I would perhaps suggest when they vacate other people’s apartments, which they took after half of Zagreb was murdered (after WWII) and live in them comfortably, they depend on Croats, we pay for their sinecures, their travels, for their children’s education abroad – they live well and they’ve created a second generation of emigrants. For them, the moral typhus’s, the Yugozombies, life is always good.

When the sun comes out, when this (coronavirus crisis) passes they will come out like rats from a lair, we could take a Canadian fire-fighting aircraft, holy water, holy salt, and perform mass exorcism. The smoke raised would reach the borders of Slovenia, like Hiroshima, we would see the mushroom all the way to the Austrian borders. That is perhaps one form of salvation for these people, we have no vaccine but we must understand and ask when someone says something, check on what is being said, there are many liars, it’s better to have a lie detector than a Kalashnikov and ask yourself who is saying things to you.

Some were baptised on a forklift and now carry the Crucifix and the medal of St Benedict around their necks. Caution! Event the devil can quote the Holy Scriptures.”

Then Goran Maras, MP for Social Democratic Party (former communists), raised an objection saying that Glasnovic had in his speech breached parliamentary Procedure Rules and “it’s hard for me that people in these hard times have to listen to such nonsense from Glasnovic. I’m sorry that you (The Speaker) are not reacting because he personally attacked Mrs Bartolovic, Mrs Rada Boric, a whole profession of journalists, our co-citizens who are at this time fighting against this plague and I think you should react. Hate speech should not be tolerated in the Croatian Parliament.”

Glasnovic’s reply: “There was no hate speech, the truth hurts, Mr Maras knows that, he is vaccinated against the truth and he confuses the people here, we know who here is the young Lenin.”

Speaker of Parliament: “Good. There was no breach of Procedure Rules.”

Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Antifa hicks, Communist Yugoslavia, Coronavirus crisis in Croatia, Croatia, Croatian Catholic Church, Croatian Parliament, Faith and medicine, Goran Maras, Rada Boric, Zagreb earthquake, Zeljko Glasnovic

Croatia: The Treason In Kreso Beljak

January 19, 2020 by inavukic 9 Comments

Today many countries’ laws forbid acts that are called treason, including insurrection and attempted coups (internal treason) and cooperating with foreign powers and enemies abroad. More loosely, people use the word to mean any serious betrayal of trust. Dictionaries define a traitor as a person who betrays someone or something, such as a friend, cause, or principle.

It is incredulous, gut-wrenching and above all improper that the Croatian Parliament has not, even after more than a week, found a way to suspend (pending inquiries) its Member Kreso Beljak from sitting in Parliament; from speaking in Parliament! Had a member of parliament of a truly democratic and statehood conscious parliament come out with such vitriol, blatant lies and hate speech against own people, against own country, as Kreso Beljak has in the past nine days, that member of parliament would be suspended immediately and investigations/discussions about the intent and effects of his/her statements undertaken with view to considering appropriate measures against that member of parliament.

Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) president and member in the Croatian Parliament, Kreso Beljak’s treasonous, shocking, depraved, reprehensible recent Tweet is not, by a long shot, a Tweet that is clumsy and unfortunate as he, in his unconvincing and cold apology Monday last, called it. His Tweet was yet another demonstration of the psychological violence and communist taunting against Croatians who rejected communism during and after World War II in Croatia and after WWII. This psychological violence continues to this day and is part and parcel of communist terror methods in their efforts to devalue and vilify, indeed, make life difficult in what the victorious Croatian Homeland War of 1990’s brought to the Croatian nation – independence and democracy.

What is equally reprehensible is the fact that “official Croatia” appears to have settled for Beljak’s apology for the Tweet and gives no indication of any plan to take Beljak down, suspend or remove him from Parliament pending investigation into the damage and inflicted offence his words have upon Croatian people.

Such suspension/removal would be, if for nothing else, justified for Beljak’s suggestion that the war in Croatia between 1991 and 1999 was waged and caused by Fascists in ex-Yugoslavia and those in other countries who escaped UDBa and Yugoslavia’s communist purges!

The truth is that the Yugoslav Army with Serbia and Croatian rebel Serbs attacked Croatia in 1990/1991(from Serbia and from within Croatia via rebel Serbs) when Croats showed intention to secede and then voted overwhelmingly in referendum to secede from communist Yugoslavia. The consequent war of aggression against Croatia (and Bosnia and Hercegovina) was indeed brutal, genocidal, bloody and merciless.

Beljak’s words are treasonous, against Croatia and its fight for sovereignty and democracy.

Photo: Twitter screenshot

On 10^th of January 2020 a certain “Renato” published a Tweet that said: “My family was targeted as well but we lived in NY! Yugo-nostalgics fail to realize that there were over 100 political assassinations outside of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. The UDB-a was active in every Croatian immigrant community in the USA, Germany, Canada and Australia.”

Kreso Beljak on 11^th January 2020 tweeted a reply: “Over 100?? Obviously not enough. We sow (saw) who did the shit and who made all of the wars from 91 to 99. Fascist in ex-YU and in other countries who unfortunately escaped UDBa.” (UDBa being communist Yugoslavia Secret Police)

On 14 January 2020 Beljak published an apology: “In relation to my clumsy and unfortunate tweet. That tweet is a part of a wider discussion, filled with insults and lies. But, not important. I am sorry if my tweet was construed as my support for political assassinations. That, of course, is not true. I am sorry If I insulted anybody. I made a mistake.”

Further proof of Beljak’s treasonous mind and action is evidenced in his statement in publicly televised Croatian Parliament session on 15 January 2020. When Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reprimanded Kreso Beljak for his tweeted statement and called upon him to apologise more, Kreso Beljak replied: “…I understand the gravity of what I said (regarding UDB’s killings of Croats)… I wish that you had repeatedly asked for such an apology as you heard from me from those who supported terrorists who killed people for Croatia, instead of letting such people on your official site support your candidate… ” (meaning 2019 Presidential candidate Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic who was HDZs (Croatian Democratic Union’s candidate).

When and what terrorists killed people in the name of and for Croatia after the Second World War (the period to which Beljak’s words are related)!? The truth is that there were no terrorist killings from the Croatian side for Croatia and factual history has not recorded any. Indeed, the terrorist killings that did occur in relation to Croatia were the murders and assassinations of Croats by Serbs and UDBa (Yugoslavs), never the other way around!

When did terrorists after WWII kill people for Croatia? NEVER!

When did terrorists after WWII kill people to stop Croatia’s independence? ALWAYS!

Even if one looked into a number of court judgments from the West (e.g. Australia from late 1970’s to early 1980’s re the Croatian Six; in the USA 1970’s re Zvonko and Julienne Busic and others plane hijacking/aircraft piracy) etc. there were no convictions for terrorism, let alone for killing people! One may find in these judgments the words “attempted terrorist acts” (such as in the case of Croatian Six/ which attempts were a fabrication by Serbs) BUT, likewise, one will find that terrorist acts were not proven nor evidenced by any acts the accused had performed. Aircraft piracy was at the centre of Busic case in New York. In the case of Croatian Six there was no deaths in question and in the Zvonko and Julienne Busic case there was an incidental related death of a policeman, however that death was not brought about or caused by Busic’s hands nor had they intended for the death to occur (official US court judgments and documents show this). The death of the NY policeman was reportedly and evidently caused by the policeman’s failure to follow procedure in deactivating a bomb to which Zvonko Busic had alerted, in a timely manner, the NY police.

It is utterly unacceptable to permit a member of parliament to get away with such hateful, treasonous speech and profound lies about Croatia’s path to independence with a “please apologise” slap on the wrist as it is happening currently in Croatia. These statements by Beljak are treasonous and hateful. A government that fails to protect the honour and good name of the country it leads, like Croatian government and Parliament has done in the past week, is a government and Parliament that are not fit to lead a nation! We must not forget that the very same Parliament was inaugurated on 30^th May 1990 and that soon after, in August, the Log Revolution (Balvan revolucija), an aggressive insurrection by ethnic Serbs in Croatia had announced the bloody war of Serb aggression to come. Croatians, both those living in Croatia and abroad, defended Croatia’s independence from communist Yugoslavia in the Homeland War of 1990’s. It is due to that very courage and suffering that Croatia is today a member state of the European Union; it is, thanks to the victorious Homeland War that Croatia currently presides over the Council of the European Union. It is the duty of Croatia to deal swiftly and decisively with those like Beljak who continue running the nation down, distressing its people with lies, psychological violence and political taunting.

What are you waiting for Croatian Parliament, Croatian Government!?

Your duty of care towards your people and your State is evident!

Ina Vukic