Politics & Security of Croatia
BALKAN POLITICS
VĚRA STOJAROVÁ
STOJAROVA@FSS.MUNI.CZ

Croatian Kingdom 925-1102
uFirst King Tomislav
uAfter then Personal Union with Hungary, under Habsburg monarchy, within Yugoslavia
uOnly WWI Independent state of Croatia
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Croatia_Counties_10th_century_with_Gacka%
2C_Krbava%2C_Lika.png/1024px-Croatia_Counties_10th_century_with_Gacka%2C_Krbava%2C_Lika.png

NDH
uRegime targeted Serbs, Jews and Romas, anti-fascist Croats and Muslims
uSerbs: 1/3 killed, 1/3 expelled, 1/3 converted
uall parties but the Ustaše party were banned
uAn estimated 320,000–340,000 Serbs, 30,000 Croatian Jews and 30,000 Roma were killed
u including between 77,000 and 99,000 Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats, Jews and Roma killed in the
Jasenovac concentration camp while approximately 300,000 Serbs were forced out of the NDH
uthe Bleiburg massacre – NDH soldiers and civilians fleeing executed by Partisans, croat. Estimate
30 ths killed
uExodus to Argentina
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Flag of

Ante Pavelic
uBorn in BiH
uUstaša trying to destroy the Kingdom
u1934 assasination of King in Marseille
uNDH
uVodja vs Poglavnik
uZa dom spremni
uFled to Argentina, than hiding, died in Spain 1959 under the protection of Franco regime
Ante Pavelic
pavelic

Croatia and NDH
ucurrent Constitution of Croatia does not officially recognize the Independent State of Croatia as
the historical or legitimate predecessor state of the current Croatian republic.[
uCroatia rehabilitated the Croatian Home Guard, whose veterans have since received state pensions.
uZa dom spremni
uover 30 streets named after some 25 people connected with the NDH (Mile Budak, franjo Nevistic,
Ivan Orsanic, Branko Klaric,
uRevisionism and patriotism
uAnnual Bleibourg commemoration
uRevisionism Jasenovac: just a labour and punishment camp for enemies of the Croatian state.  Death
toll only about 1500 compared to 83 ths as stated in Jasenovac (Igor Vukic Labour Camp Jasenovac)
uUstasha symbols widespread visible, crimes downplayed
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https://balkaninsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/%D0%A2%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0_%D1%83%D0%BB%D0
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https://balkaninsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/h_00259894i-1280x1161.jpg Croatian President
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic poses during a recent trip to Canada with a flag carrying a symbol of her
country's wartime pro-Nazi regime. (Facebook)

Article 325 of the Croatian criminal code
upeople who “call for hatred or violence to be directed against groups… because of their racial,
religious, national or ethnic affiliation” can be punished with a three-year prison sentence, while
organisers of groups that spread hate can face up to six years in prison.
upeople who “publicly approve of, deny or significantly belittle criminal acts of genocide, acts of
aggression, crimes against humanity or war crimes” can face up to three years in prison.
uHowever, hardly anyone who chants ‘Za dom spremni’ or displays Ustasa insignia is prosecuted
according to Article 325. Instead they are usually charged under misdemeanour legislation and
fined.
uMarko Perkovic (Thompson) - concert 2017, chanted ZDS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1cnaSMtdS4
uThe court acquitted him, ruling that Perkovic was not inciting hatred by chanting “Ready for the
home[land]” and that the slogan was an integral part of the song he was singing at the time.
uCroatia’s government-appointed Council for Dealing with Consequences of the Rule of Non-Democratic
Regimes said in February this year that the authorities should allow the ‘Za dom spremni’ salute to
be used “in exceptional situations” under strict conditions, such as by Croatian Defence Forces
veteran
uJasenovac i gradiška stara, Ubij Srbina,
uBoj na čavoglave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfUCdsLgr4Y&t=11s
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Croatian spring 1967-71
uCodification of Croatian language
uDemands for increased autonomy
uPatriotic songs
uCroatian culture
uPlans for increased representation of Croatia-related materials in the school curriculum uCalls
measures to address the overrepresentation of Serbs in key positions in Croatia
uIncreased tensions between croats and serb
u1968 Student demonstrations in belgrade
u1972 oil crisis, IMF debt
u1974 constitution

Nationalism in the 1990´s in Croatia
uSerbs 12.2%  but 17.7% of appointed officials in Croatia, including police, were Serbs. umany
Serbs employed in the public sector, especially the police, were fired and replaced by Croats.
uremarks, i.e. "Thank God my wife is not a Jew or a Serb",
uMilošević's media :new "Ustashe state".
uHelmut Kohl and Slobodan Milosevic in TV: accusing the two of plotting "a Fourth Reich".
u  šahovnica (Croatian checkerboard)
uNew constitution: define Croatia as "the national state of the Croatian nation and a state of
members of other nations and minorities who are its citizens: Serbs ... who are
guaranteed equality with citizens of Croatian nationality

Referendum on independence
uOn May 19, 1991,
uSerb local authorities called for a boycott of the vote, which was largely followed by Croatian
Serbs u with a turnout of 83.56% and the two referendum questions answered positively by 93.24% and
92.18% (resp.) of the total number of votes uindependence of Croatia, on the blue ballot, passed
with 93.24% in favor, 4.15% against, and 1.18% of invalid or blank votes. usecond referendum
question, proposing that Croatia should remain in Yugoslavia, was declined with 5.38% votes in
favor, 92.18% against and 2.07% of invalid votes.

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ethnic-yugo


War in Croatia – 1991-1995
uWar for independence, Homeland War, Greater serbian aggression
uCivil war vs  war between states
uCroats want to leave, Serbs want to stay
u25. june 1991 declaration of independence
uRepublika Srpska Krajina
uOperation Storm, Operation Flash 1995
u1998 UN transitional authority for Eastern Slavonia integrated into croatia
uAround 500 000 IDP s and 20 000 dead people
uestimates 1500 – 2500 rapes
uOn May 29, 2015, the Croatian parliament passed the first law in the country that recognises rape
as a war crime
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Mapa chorvatske mensiny

Governments – between SDS (Social democratic party) and HDZ (Croatian democratic community)
u1995-1999 Franjo Tudjman HDZ
u2000-2003 SDS  Ivica Račan SDS
u2003-2009 Ivo Sanader HDZ
u2009-2011 Jadranka Kosor HDZ first and only female PM
u2011- 2016 Milanovic  SDP
u2016 Oreskovic, Andrej Plenkovic HDZ
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Parliament
n1990-2001 two chambers:  National assembly and the Regional assembly
uSince 2001 – 1 chamber – minimum 100 and maximum 160 MPs, 4 years term,
uDiaspora

Franjo Tudjman 1995-99
uDuring WWI fought with partisans
uMilitary career
uFirst president of presidency of Croatia 1990
uNationalist
uAuthoritarian
uAnti-Serb
uEra of catholic revival
uICTY prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said in an interview that she would have indicted Tuđman had he
not died in 1999
uRelativisation of history, historian
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Franjotudjman.jpg

Andrej Plenkovic
uPro-European
uModerate
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BSF 2021 Andrej Plenković (cropped).jpg

Presidents, 5 years, direct vote, 1 re-election
u2000-2010 Stipe Mesic
u2010-2015 Ivo Josipovic SDP
u2015-2020 Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic HDZ
u2020 Zoran Milanovic SDP
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Stjepan Mesic (2) (cropped).jpg Ivo Josipovic 15012012 2.jpg Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (2017-10-18)
06.jpg Zoran Milanović at Palazzo del Quirinale 2021 (11) (cropped).jpg

Kolinda Kitarovic
uFirst woman president
uThompson - she “never heard” such songs glorifying Ustasha regime nor “seen any evidence that they
exist”, was "very fond" of some of his songs and that she did not see any evidence for the
controversies associated to him
uHDZ – populist, nationalist, modern conservative?
uSame sex marriiage yes except of adoption
uNot ban for abortion
uSuppor for green initiatives
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Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (2017-10-18) 06.jpg

Zoran Milanovic
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uSDP
uFirst trip to Slovenia
uAgainst curfew and lockdown during pandemic
uMilanović compared the lockdown in Austria to the methods employed in the era of Nazism
uretransmits Russian propaganda narratives, do not correspond to Croatia's consistent official
position in support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity
uconflict with prime minister Plenković undermine unity within the EU and NATO in the face of
current security threats in Europe
usuggested blocking Finnish and Swedish accession to NATO, until the electoral law in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
udid not veto Finnish and Swedish NATO accession
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Zoran Milanović at Palazzo del Quirinale 2021 (11) (cropped).jpg

Foreign relations
uEU 2013
uNATO 2009
uCroats in BiH – right to vote
uRelations with Serbia – history matters
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Croatia-Serbia relations
uWar for independence, Homeland War, Greater serbian aggression
uSmaller border disputes
uHistory matters
uCroatia filed a genocide lawsuit against Serbia at the International Court of Justice in 1999, and
Belgrade filed a countersuit in 2010. Both lawsuits were dismissed 2015, - committed crimes, but
they were not committed with genocidal intent
uSerbian minister Aleksandar Vulin was proclaimed persona non grata in Croatia
uEarthquake  2020 in Croatia : Miloš Stojković, a member of Serb delegation which was supposed to
bring the humanitarian aid to areas hit by the earthquake, came to Croatian city of Knin and
announced the "return of Republic of Serbian Krajina" and removal of Croatian flag from Knin
fortress
uCroatia announced in 2021 that Nikola Tesla be on its euro coins
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/NE_PRILAZITE_-_NA_OVOM_PODRUCJU_JE_VELIKA
_OPASNOST_OD_MINA_%28Hrvatska%2C_7_Travanj_2007%29.jpg/1280px-NE_PRILAZITE_-_NA_OVOM_PODRUCJU_JE_VE
LIKA_OPASNOST_OD_MINA_%28Hrvatska%2C_7_Travanj_2007%29.jpg Head-and-shoulder photograph of a
slender man with dark hair and moustache, dark suit and white-collar shirt

Croats in BiH
uDivision of bih, greater croatia
uAll Croatian citizens can vote abroad, in diplomatic missions and consular offices of the Republic
of Croatia – unique case
uDiaspora voting HDZ, securing so safe votes for HDZ
uProtecting, equal positions
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ICTY and Ante Gotovina
uAnte Gotovina – primary role in Storm, 2001 indicted by ICTY, hiding, 2005 found in canary
Islands, 2012 convictions overturned, released from custody, regarded as a hero uAfter the
generals' release, the Croatian government dispatched the governmental Bombardier Challenger
600 plane along with the Minister of Defence, Ante Kotromanović, and the Minister of Veterans'
Affairs, Predrag Matić, to bring Gotovina and Markač to Croatia.
uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxNLxHibSgs
uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6TGE8WuVjE
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Ante_Gotovina_Dubrovnik.JPG/1280px-Ante_G
otovina_Dubrovnik.JPG

Football hooligans
u13 May 1990 Crvena zvezda vs. Dinamo Zagreb at Maksimir stadium
uDelije vs. bad blue boys
uIs widely beleived to spark the war
uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxD2PXJXsZQ
uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV4boyQUvJE
uHajduk Split glorifying ustasha  - Maks butchers
uJosip simunic – fotbal player ZDS, disciplinary proceedings
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Image

Hajduk Split fans glorifying Ustasa killers. In February last year, during a match against HNK
Gorica at the Poljud stadium in Split, some members of Hajduk Split ‘ultras’ group Torcida raised a
banner bearing the slogan “Maks’ Butchers”.
It was a reference to Ustasa fighters who committed crimes against Serbs under the command of
Vjekoslav ‘Maks’ Luburic, who was nicknamed ‘The Butcher’. Luburic was the general commander of the
Ustasa movement’s Jasenovac concentration camp during World War II.
The term was popularised in a song by Croatian nationalist rock star Marko Perkovic, alias
Thompson, in which he sings that WWII concentration camps Jasenovac and Gradiska Stara are “the
house of Maks’ butchers”

Austria and NDH
uBleiburg massacre - "the largest fascist gathering in Europe„, motion to ban the event uBan
symbols that are tied to NDH – U, chessboard coat of arms 2019 uFlag, coat of arms of Croatian
defence Forces (HOS) - 2021 uThe maximum fine for using the proscribed insignia is 4,000 euro, and
those who repeat the offence can be fined up to 10,000 euro.
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