Parliamentary elections in Croatia are just around the corner – 17 April 2024 for constituencies located  within Croatia and 16 and 17 April 2024 for the 11th Constituency, i.e. for voters (citizens of Croatia) living outside Croatia, in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad (known as the Croatian diaspora or emigration).  While Croatian governments have since 2010 done everything they could to undermine the human right of suffrage for Croatian citizens living abroad and cut drastically their seats of parliamentary representation there are still three seats for them, which is far from adequate and fair given that just under one million of eligible Croatian voters live outside Croatia and just of three within it.  Both HDZ and SDP political parties have truly shown a mean spirit towards its diaspora when it comes to voting equality and respresentation and yet that same diaspora sends more money into Croatia than what it receives from its leading industry – tourism! Both HDZ and SDP governments have bombed the access to polling booths in the diaspora by introducting polling booths only at consular and diplomatic mission centres, which are to say the least, few and far between! Scandalous! But, I happily see that diaspora shall not give in or give up any time soon.  

In the deluge of political parties in Croatia of all shapes and sizes, there is one that catches the eye of trust in a better future and while all others, some for decades, promissed to fight corruption and lustrate the cancerous judiciary but delivered zero steps in that direction, Determination and Justice party (OiP), led by a seasoned public activist for justice and journalist who delivers results, Karolina Vidovic Kristo, means business like no other! I myself am standing behind Vidovic Kristo and am a candidate together with a leading worldwide renowned philantropist and patriot, Australia-based Mr Marko Franovic, who heads the electoral list for the XI Constituency.  I translate into English an intervju with his recently published on the Croatian War Veterans portal  

Here is that interview:

Due to the long distances from the polling station and during the election on a working day, it is especially difficult for Croats living in the diaspora to vote in the elections of the Republic of Croatia. As far as the constitutional right to participate in the political life of the Croatian homeland is concerned the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and the relevant laws in Croatia consider the diaspora part of the being of Croatian citizens, and yet, there is such cruelty in the denial of suffrage towards the diaspora that beggars belief. Why do you think this is so? Why do the authorities of the Republic of Croatia make it so difficult for Croats living outside the Republic of Croatia to exercise their human and constitutional right to vote in elections?

“All that was planned by the Yugoslavs, that is, those nostalgic for the former state, and imagine the awful irony here – almost 94% of Croatian voters voted in the 1991 referendum to leave communist Yugoslavia, and how very much blood was shed to defend Croatia in the Homeland War. The Yugoslavs never loved nor will they ever love the Croatian emigration or those who fled communism because they also invented the word ‘diaspora’, too many foreign words are used, ’emigration’ should be used, I am not the one to speak modern, I speak the common language, the first Croatian language, they want to remove us from our homeland in every way . When the liberation of our homeland came, we had polling stations in all the Croatian clubs, you could vote all over Australia and also all over the countries where the Croats of the emigration lived. When the new President of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic, who has been called a perjurer – who tried to criminalise the Homeland War and turned our defense against aggression into equating the victim with the aggressor – and Prime Minister Ivica Racan, who destroyed the most by selling off Croatia to foreigners, came, the evil-doers were saying that Franjo Tuđman had sold it out. Namely, all that was sold in the beginning were small things, and a lot of smaller companies were bought by Croats from the emigration, with the plan to help the development of the newly independent Croatia. So all these were little things compared to everything that was sold out when Ivica Racan came. During the mandate of Ivica Racan, INA (the biggest petroleum company) was sold off, and this trend of sell-offs continued in that mandate and then in the mandate of HDZ after Racan, Croatian banks were sold off, first they filled them with money and then gave them to foreigners. Today, we only have the Postal Bank, all the others were given to foreigners and other foreign banks were brought to Croatia. And these same banks in Croatia charge much higher interest rates than they do in other countries. That’s what Racan and Mesic contributed to us, and all that continued with Zoran Milanovic as Prime Minister. Nothing was done better, not even with Mr. Andrej Plenkovic as Prime Minister, all the investments he brought to Croatia were mostly Serbian investments. Normally, European Union funds fall into an another category because the European Union would provide funds regardless of who is in power in Croatia because it is of interest to it. And you see, emigration sends to Croatia more money than tourism contributes to it it, which is Croatia’s biggest industry, so they also disparage us and steal our right to equality in voting. There you have the media, almost all the media in Croatia work for Plenkovic, not only the main televisions but also internet portals have been bribed by his politics. I became convinced during the last six months that he therefore also bought the portals. Well, he didn’t bribe Z1 television, that was taken by Mario Radic, but Mario Radic obviously works for him, for Plenkovic, so it’s the same as if Plenkovic also bribed Z1 television; and today we know very well ‘what a drill can’t do, money can’.

If you were to win the elections and become a member of parliament for Croats outside of the Republic of Croatia, in unison with Karolina Vidovic Kristo’s Determination and Justice party, what would you fight for the hardrst in the Croatian Parliament? What changes would you fight for the most?

“First, I would work to introduce electronic and postal voting, because with that the matter of voting would be brought to its rightful place, The dead would no longer have to rise from their graves to vote, and emigrants, wherever they lived, would have the opportunity to vote and exercise their right. This is how they canceled everything for us, they kicked us out of the game because we are not desirable to them, they know what Arsen Bauk once said that there will never be electronic voting, as far as I remember, because if rgere was they would never come to power. And apparently, the HDZ government also thinks the same. If they deserved it and when the majority of citizens voted, they would come to power, but if they didn’t deserve it, then the people would vote in the majority for others. Since the year 2000, the results of the elections have revolved around political cliques, embezzlement, declared theft of votes and even dead bodies. The emigrants know very well who is for the homeland and who is not, and who is pretending to be a patriot while stealing from the state’s wallet.”

In your opinion, what are the biggest problems that hinder and block Croatia’s progress into a functional democratic state and the rule of law?

“The biggest problem is the judiciary. As we are all equal before God, so we must be equal before the judiciary (law), and not for judges to put cases that come to them in drawers. Cases should be solved as they come to them. Croatia has laws like any other country, but they are not used properly and no one controls it or bears the consequences for such incorrect work and such a terrible attitude towards justice and the judiciary. It is obvious that in Croatia the judiciary and the law work only for or in support of certain people or, rather, some political agenda. Those who rule protect themselves and this has been proven hundreds of times.”

You are 82 years old. It could be said that you have been working hard all your life, you have been helping financially and with kindness for decades a large number of needy people and associations in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Australia and all over the world, you are a leading businessman from any side of the world we look at. So what motivated you the most to support Karolina Vidovic Kristo and the party Determination and Justice?

“I saw that she is a real leader, and leaders are not born every day. We know that leaders are the most important element of everything, be it in war or in running the country, and I am convinced that Karolina Vidovic Kristo does not work for any foreign or domestic tycoon because she fights against any form of corruption and we know what tycoons are. I often see that tycoons come during the night as thieves do because most are the most ordinary thieves, there is no doubt about that as far as I am concerned. If someone says that he earned his wealth with his ten fingers, all credit to him, we should praise him, but we must not have thieves among us because they destroy the homeland. They are bigger enemies of our Croatia than its neighbours. Karolina Vidovic Kristo and her people have the strength to make Croatia into the one we shed our blood for. I am convinced that there is no compromise for her – because she knows that a thief is a thief, corruption is corruption, and the judiciary is Croatia’s biggest cancer. Croatia needs a strong and determined person like Karolina Vidovic Kristo at the head. “

You lead the OiP Electoral List for the XI Constituency in the upcoming elections for the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia, so tell us, are you hoping for good results?

“Here, a few days ago we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, the birth of new life and new hope, victory over death. I have a great desire to bring about changes in Croatia that will eradicate corruption to the extent that it no longer defines Croatia and to cleanse the judiciary of this scourge of oppression, due to which justice and fairness cannot rise to the surface and remain on it. And with that desire is my hope that is great. My hope did not appear now because it is in me and my work for a just Croatia and has been for almost my entire life. These upcoming elections are equally, if not more, important for Croatia and Croats around the world than those of 1990 and 1991. It is necessary for the needed changes in Croatia that as many people as possible vote and that the masses of people who, I believe, are disappointed in te leadership of the state and thus have stopped voting in elections a long time ago. I hope for a great voter turnout in the elections, and as I said, the Determination and Justice led by Karolina Vidovic Kristo has the strength, courage, and the knowledge to organise and fix Croatia into the country that our people with all their sacrifices deserve.

I am immensely proud that I lead a group of really great, capable and proud Croatian men and women on that electoral list. I think that my personal advocacy and financial assistance over the decades for the rights and well-being of Croats both in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina are widely known, so I would not talk about it now. It is a great honour for me to point out here that our electoral list includes a candidate who lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina – a well-known fighter for truth and justice, Mr. Mile Kovac. It could be said that Mr. Kovac was a Croatian defender even before the first gun was fired in the Homeland War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and his extensive experience in the media and his expertise in electronics and IT speak volumes about his ability to make changes, which the electoral list that I lead plans on delivering. On the electoral list that I lead, there are also other candidates whose lives are filled with expertise in various areas of life, Croatian patriotism and the fight for truth and justice, namely: Ina Vukic from Australia – known throughout the world as a decorated Croatian activist and expert in the field of mental of health and disability, Ivana Kovacevic-Mandac from Canada – law expert and awarded long-time Croatian activist, Ruzica Alvir – master’s degree and expert in social pedagogy and returnee to Croatia from Germany, and Ante Susnjara from Germany – successful entrepreneur. Normally, I could say a lot more good things about all the candidates on Election List No. 3 for Croats outside Croatia, but for now, when I look at that list of candidates, it, along with all the other election lists in all the Electoral Units in which OiP competes in the upcoming elections, is a great reflection of love and ability to fix Croatia, where law and justice reign for everyone equally, and we want to contribute to achieving that for Croatia and all Croats.”

IF YOU ARE A CITIZEN OF CROATIA AND VOTING AT THESE ELECTIONS CHOOS AWAYS LIST No.3!