Hungary – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Refugee Crisis Diverted To Croatia As Hungary Seals Borders

Refugees walking into Croatia from Serbia,
Wednesday 16 September 2015
AFP Photo

As Hungary completed its fence and closed all access to it from Serbia on Tuesday 16 September, declared a state of emergency, brought in the new law to impose a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone breaking through the fencing, Serbia – as expected – has commenced loading buses filled with Syrian and African refugees sending them to Croatia’s border. Refugees keep saying they want to get to Germany or Sweden and there seems to be no end in site of those saying that. Germany is tightening its border controls and so is Austria – another “stepping stone” to Germany from the route that starts in Turkey, hops onto Greece and then towards Germany. Early this morning the first group of migrants has reached Croatia – a new route to northern European Union countries, a day after Hungary sealed its border with Serbia.
The migrants had travelled by bus from southern Serbia. Hundreds spent the night in the open. Alerted to the possibility of refugee influx, Croatian interior minister Ranko Ostojic said on Tuesday 15 September that Zagreb had prepared an “emergency plan in the case of an influx of thousands of refugees”, but did not give details. “The government will quickly activate that emergency plan if need be,” Mr Ostojic said.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has Tuesday 15 September written to Croatia’s Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic seeking an emergency meeting of Croatia’s National Security Council on the issues of the refugee crisis and its possible effects upon Croatia.

President Grabar-Kitarovic considers that such a meeting of National Security Council needs to be called as soon as possible due to the waves of refugees and their social, economic and safety implications.
“It’s necessary to examine what has been done so far, and especially that which is in front of us, finding appropriate measures for the appropriate public administration or government authorities with which we could respond to this question, which is not only a humanitarian one but also one of security. Based on the information I have, I hold that the migration crisis will not settle down any time soon even if the EU did come to an agreement regarding quotas for member states to take, and having in mind the restrictions and measures being placed at borders of EU and Schengen countries (Hungary, Austria, Germany, Slovakia) that could bring this crisis to Croatia consideration of these matters at a national security council meeting cannot be postponed,” she said.

Syrian refugees reach Tovarnik in Croatia
Photo: Marko Mrkonjic/Pixsell

President Grabar-Kitarovic considers it necessary to avoid possible scenarios of raising physical barriers at border between Croatia and some neighbouring EU member country or turning back large numbers of migrants into Croatia in cases where they pass through its territory on their way to desired destination.

Recent history has taught us that numbers of refugees swell overnight and alarm bells sound everywhere. Fear of the unknown mixes uneasily with the wish to help a fellow human being. New border restrictions and rows over allocating migrants have shown bitter divisions in Europe over the crisis.

Europe is facing the biggest asylum crises since World War II, and it is not disappearing any time soon. Because most have not been processed and declared refugees in need of asylum, claims that illegal migrants are using the crisis as a way of reaching a country of their choice for a better life are attracting more and more believers.

Marine Le Pen

Today, the French presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen has raised the fear factor a notch when she compared the surge in asylum seekers coming into Europe to the invasion of Rome by barbarians.

“Without any action, this migratory influx will be like the barbarian invasion of the IV century, and the consequences will be the same,” the Front National (FN) leader told supporters during a rally ahead of December’s regional elections in Arpajon, a suburban town in southern Île-de-France, the region that includes Paris.
“We must immediately stop this madness to safeguard our social pact, freedom and identity.”

Over 1 million asylum seekers are expected to arrive in Europe by the end of this year, more than twice as many as last year.

Croatian police guide refugees Wednesday 16 September 2016

Croatian police
guide refugees
Wednesday 16 September 2015

So far all we’ve heard coming out of EU are ideas for and pleas of fair burden-sharing – setting quotas of refugees each EU member state should take in. Given that most refugees interviewed – that I have heard, anyway – talk of going to Germany or Sweden this should have been a signal enough to the EU and UN political leaders that pleading to countries to take in their “quota”, their “fair share” of refugees, is ludicrous. The refugees know only too well that Germany and Sweden have the best welfare system, better welfare payments than most other countries, so why should they settle for the poorer countries! If they are forced to go to a country with lesser welfare benefits most may indeed keep on trying to get to the richer countries one way or another. Certainly, many refugees are of the age and apparent stamina not promising a productive working life, so welfare is what gives them hope.

Refugees walk into Croatia from Serbia

So, what is the solution? Certainly political and practical order must be introduced. An orderly asylum system must be introduced across all EU so that the welfare system is equal everywhere and same rights and entitlements to refugees equal across all countries there. Then, the possibility of quotas or distribution could perhaps succeed. The other alternative is the collapse of the Schengen free-movement and each country fending for itself. We’re seeing this slowly occurring with the mounting of police forces and other resources to stop or divert refugees from Germany and Austria’s borders; a milder version for the time being of what Hungary has introduced.

Steered into Croatia from Serbia
after Hungarian border closed
16 September 2015

Without a standardised system, a standardised approach across Europe with regards to the refugees and asylum, xenophobia will blow out of all proportions and spin Europe into unrest and instability. Europe must take charge in this crisis and not permit refugees to steer it or be in charge of it. Refugees deserve protection and care but overwhelmingly on the terms of their host country and not the other way around. Europe must stop walking on eggshells and playing the game of hypocrisy: it must bring order into the processing of refugees since the UN is largely failing at this as some kind of a blanket policy and practice steering wheel. We live in democracies where compliance with the law is required of us; it should be no different for the refugees. Without order there is chaos and chaos leads to unrest. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Croatia: violent clashes involving Europe’s ultra-nationalists imminent

Ban Jelacic Square, Zagreb, Croatia

As I sensed in my previous post, Croatia’s minister of interior affairs, Ranko Ostojic, has Thursday 12 April banned International nationalists’ conference and rally that were organised by Croatian Pure Party of Rights.

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic confirmed the ban and stressed that the reasons for the ban had to do with one’s view of the world and political positions.

“Those who in their platforms call for destruction of Croatia’s constitutional order and lay claims to parts of Croatia’s territory – and such people have been announced as participants (in the gatherings) – they can visit Croatia as tourists, but they cannot come here as political opponents,” Milanovic said.

Milanovic said that the government had a responsibility towards its citizens to oppose such ideologies.

“Such things won’t be tolerated, not now and not ever,” he said.

Milanovic referred to the Hungarian ultra-right Jobbik party which has announced its arrival in Zagreb for the gathering and has publicly stated it wants to annex parts of Croatian territory to Hungary.

Such attitude could be believed if the situation was clear-cut. But it’s not.

To pour oil onto the already burning issue the Croatian Civilisation movement (Hrvatski uljudbeni pokret), right-wing political orientation, is attempting to playing a dangerous game it seems. It wants to hold a rally in Zagreb’s central Ban Jelacic Square around the same time when the banned rally was supposed to be held. It has received permission from the police to do so!

They’ve published Zagreb’s police permission, dated 11 April, to hold a gathering on Friday 13 April for “distribution of political material and expression of political views”.

While the international conference and rally organised by the Croatian Pure Party of Rights is banned, the rally being organised by the Croatian Civilisation movement is allowed!

Zagreb’s police reasons for denying the holding of the International nationalists conference and rally was that persons that engage in inciting violence were to attend (most likely meaning ultra-right parties and movements from other European countries), and Croatian law forbids such gatherings.

That’s understandable, but given that representatives from those European ultra-right wingers are going to be in Zagreb as planned, now merely as “tourists” as their events have been banned, there is every likelihood that they will be present at the rally organised by Croatian Civilisation Movement on Friday 13 April. Given that Citizens’ actions groups are geared up to hold their “Fascism – not in my city” rally the world can expect a rapid combustion of ugly proportions.

One frets that the world will not see these events in Croatia as free expressions of political views but rather as evidence, albeit warped, that fascism is still alive and kicking in Croatia.

Croatian government it seems has not thought this whole saga through, or perhaps they have? Perhaps the former communists want the ugly nationalistic scenes to occur in Croatia, to feed their rhetoric of antifascist righteousness?

And if the rally gets ugly and the Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, currently in the Appeals Chamber at the ICTY, are mentioned there, one can bet one’s last dollar that at least some of the world news headlines will not be kind to them even if they played no role in the rally nor have any control over it.

If Croatia’s Prime Minister Milanovic is truly serious about his statement that ultra-right gatherings will never be tolerated in Croatia then he has the responsibility to ban all gatherings where there is even a minute chance of violence occurring, ultra-right nationalists joining even as by-standers.

If he does not do that then he has failed to protect Croatia’s reputation as a country that upholds its laws that ban violence. There are oodles of signs that clashes are imminent between the ultra-right and leftists on Ban Jelacic Square in Zagreb on the evening Friday 13 April, and it’s not as if Milanovic could say “I didn’t know”. If he does nothing to stop any of the announced rallies his actions can justifiably be described as reprehensible – through and through. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)