Back from the Grave: Familiar stories in Croatia

Except in Fidel Castro's island prison and in the hermit Stalinist state of North Korea, it is widely acknowledged today that Communism is a spent force. This view is especially accepted with respect to Europe, where most would agree that the implosion of the Soviet empire swept Marxist-Leninism into the dustbin of history. Yet as Karl Marx himself once observed: "History repeats itself — the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."

Nowhere is this more true than in modern-day Croatia. As most of Eastern Europe continues to progress toward free-market reforms and Western-style democracy, this small Balkan state is even today making a return to Communism.

Socialist prime minister Ivica Racan came to power in early 2000 on a platform of economic reform, democratic renewal, and an end to the authoritarian policies of Croatia's previous president, the late Franjo Tudjman. But instead of ushering a Quiet Revolution, the current leftist government has returned the country to a neo-Titoist dark age.

The ruling coalition is full of former Communists who served under the old Yugoslav regime. Tito's police state persecuted the Croats and was responsible for the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of peasants, priests, intellectuals, and pro-democracy dissidents; long-term economic and environmental devastation; and the loss of basic freedoms and human rights. Both Mr. Racan and President Stipe Mesic were lifelong members of the Communist party; and, to this day, they retain a Marxist mindset.

Hostile to their country's successful bid for independence from Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, Racan and Mesic are promoting Croatia's entry into the Balkan Stability Pact — an attempt to reforge a Balkan union, minus Slovenia and plus Albania.

Racan and Mesic have never forgiven Mr. Tudjman for what they regard to be his greatest sin: breaking up Yugoslavia and forging an independent Croatian state. For the past three years there has been a systematic campaign in the state-run media (including television) to vilify Croat patriots. Prominent anti-Communist writers and journalists have been fired from newspapers and replaced with pro-leftist hacks, who spout the government's line on almost every issue.

A classic example of this is the country's preeminent weekly magazine, Globus. Globus regularly publishes articles and editorials that are more reminiscent of the Communist flagship, Pravda, in the Cold War years than of a modern, Western news magazine. Writers at Globus often inject their articles with factual inaccuracies and fabrications of statements in order to wage smear campaigns against government opponents. As one journalist in Zagreb told me: "They will frequently call someone for an interview and regardless of what that person says, they will print the story that they want — never mind about the truth."

Gordan Malic, one of the magazine's prominent neo-Stalinists, has stated that the Mesic-Racan regime should fire every conservative from the state-run media. Sadly, his views are echoed by many other leftists, both in the press and in the government, who seek to impose an ideological uniformity like that of the Titoist era, when journalists were expected to act as mouthpieces for the Communist party.

The attachment to old-style Communist practices can also be seen in Mr. Racan's economic policies. The government has vowed to bring Croatia into the European Union by 2006. Yet it has no viable plan on how to achieve that goal. Rather than implementing an aggressive pro-growth agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and free-market reforms, the ruling leftist coalition remains wedded to statism and massive government intervention in the economy.

The powers that be have made only tepid efforts at privatization — while doing nothing to scale back the bloated public bureaucracy that is stifling entrepreneurship and private investment. Moreover, they have also failed to clamp down on the economic culture of cronyism and corruption passed down from the Communist era. Bribery and payoffs to public officials remain a prominent fixture of business in Croatia. Rather than waging a war on corruption and providing an attractive climate for foreign investors, Racan's economic team has remained paralyzed. Having looked to Belgrade for decades to bail out inefficient state-run companies, Zagreb's former Titoists have based their economic strategy on milking international aid out of Brussels and Washington. Yet contrary to their expectations, significant Western financial assistance has not materialized.

The country is now an economic basket case. The unemployment rate is over 23 percent — a significant increase since the anemic Tudjman years. Zagreb is also saddled with a nearly $10 billion foreign debt. Its annual per capita income is slightly more than $4,000 — half that of neighboring Slovenia and only 60 percent of what it was before Croatia became independent, in 1991. The government's dismal economic record — combined with its inability to defend the country's leading generals, such as Janko Bobetko and Ante Gotovina, from deeply flawed and weak indictments by the Balkans war-crimes tribunal — has led to a substantial loss of support among the electorate.

Mr. Racan is likely to lose the national elections to be called sometime this spring. Yet his greatest asset is the fractured conservative opposition, which remains mired in bitter infighting and which has been unable to coalesce around a unifying message or candidate. The main opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), is surging in the opinion polls. But its leader, Ivo Sanader, is a vacuous technocrat who has failed to articulate a coherent economic platform. Mr. Sanader's bigger problem is a political one: He fails to understand that in order to attain an electoral majority he needs to forge a broad, center-right coalition capable of assuming power. Rather than reaching out to potential allies, he remains obsessed with consolidating his hold over the HDZ by waging a nasty purge campaign against all opponents within his own party. The result is that the HDZ has peaked at 30 percent in the polls — a significant political force, but one that remains unable to attract a majority of voters.

Meanwhile, other rightist parties led by Tudjman's son, Miroslav, and Sanader's arch-enemy, Ivic Pasalic, are championing a xenophobic nationalism which does not appeal to the mainstream of the electorate. The danger is that the country's political landscape will become increasingly polarized between the governing hard Left and the right-wing, nationalist opposition, leaving Croatia paralyzed and unable to confront its economic crisis. The Bush administration rightly views Zagreb as pivotal to helping the region recover from the devastation caused by the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Croatia's slide into economic and social turmoil remains a threat to the long-term stability of the Balkans.

Yet instead of cultivating a viable alternative to the neo-Communists in power, policymakers in the State Department continue to insist that Racan's brand of leftist internationalism is precisely what the region needs following a decade of ethnic conflict. They are wrong. The problem in the Balkans is not the persistence of nationalism, but the emergence of imperialist ideologies that foster ethnic and religious hatred. The savage wars in the former Yugoslavia were unleashed by Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic's genocidal desire to forge an ethnically pure Great Serb empire stretching from the Danube River to the Adriatic Sea. Today, the greatest threat to peace stems from the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which seeks to either wipe out or convert all Christians in the region. The country now serves as a base for al Qaeda operatives. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, continues to send millions of dollars in aid to "humanitarian" agencies that encourage Bosnian Muslims to promote the doctrines of Wahhabism, a particularly intolerant and puritanical version of Islam. The result has been numerous acts of terror perpetrated upon innocent civilians — especially Catholic Croats. During the past several years, Catholic churches in and around Sarajevo have been vandalized by Islamic extremists. The latest incident occurred on Christmas Eve, when three Croats — a father and his two daughters — were gunned down in their home by an Islamic militant near the town of Konjic, for celebrating Christmas.

As the Bush administration remains focused on Iraq, North Korea, and other trouble spots, it has overlooked the fact that Bosnia is gradually becoming a haven for Saudi mullahs and the fanatical followers of Osama bin Laden. If unchecked, the growth of radical Islam will destabilize the Balkans, plunging it once again into bloodshed and religious conflict. Because Zagreb shares a long, porous border with Bosnia, it, more than any other regional power, has a profound stake in ensuring that Muslim fundamentalism does not emerge as a serious force.

A stable and prosperous Croatia is vital to Western security interests because it is a pivotal front-line state in the war against global terrorism. For centuries, the Croats served as the ramparts of European Christendom, protecting Rome and Vienna from invading Ottoman armies. Washington would be wise to demand that Zagreb again take up its historic role as a strategic bulwark against Islamic expansionism on the continent. But that can only happen after the reign of Racan and his allies has ended.

— Jeffrey T. Kuhner is an assistant national editor at the Washington Times. He is currently writing a book on the history of the Croat-Serb conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

Torie,let me make one thing clear:we had our desagreements on FR before,and,on many issues don`t see "eye to eye".But,I appreciated your posts.

This thread was amusing .But,"you don`t know the boma fides" of the author!?How do I know them,then?Go to the Washington Times site and check him out,it`s easy!

Everything that I have posted here is true(and not only me!).But,if you don`t like it ,than,"it is a biased view!"That`s a BS,and you know it!

I don`t need Tropoljac,also HDZ member from Supercooldude`s neighborhood,to explain to me "objectivelly" what is happening in Croatia.I read Croatian press on daily basis,for years.

And,I think that in one of my previous posts,I have explained,in a very rational way,why former Communist politicians are making come backs in Eastern Europe.

I suppose,if political map in UK,for instance,is changed,that 90% of current politicians (Labour,Tories and Liberals) would be the participants in the future political contest!Under a diferent name and,different political programs.

It is so logical.

I guess I didn't make myself clear. I had no intention of ridiculing your point of view. By "miserable plot in the south" I meant the part that would go to Albanians IF Serbia opted for partition.

No, I don't think Serbs should consider partition to please NATO. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that Kosovo has always been a huge financial drain (black hole -- as in much investment with no return and no practical hope of return in the future) on the rest of Yugoslavia. From reading press accounts in the 1970s and 1980s it is obvious Croats were resentful about having to pay for Kosovo. It's also one of the reasons most cited by Croats to me why they wanted independence. They felt they could have a much better economy without having to support Kosovo.

Press accounts from the 1970s and 1980s are also full of horror stories about the treatment of Serbs by Albanians.

The 1990s saw the emergence of a shadow economy in Kosovo mainly funded by crime, supplemented with forced donations from the Albanian diaspora, but generating no taxes and no contribution to the official economy.

As I've stated on FR before, I don't know Kosovo well. I passed through with my family as a child back in the 1970s. Even as a child I could see it was a rather awful place, not at all like the rest of Yugoslavia. But maybe I got the wrong impression about it. What I saw in and around Pristina was men sitting around and drinking coffee and smoking, not working, and little boys begging cigarettes along the roadsides. It was dirty, nasty, ugly, and, well, not a nice place -- had a sinister aura about it. The countryside was picturesque, with herders and so forth. I liked the countryside.

Actually, I do hope Serbia does well. But what it does about Kosovo isn't my business. It's the business of the people of Serbia (keeping in mind that by "Serbia" I mean all of it, including Kosovo). I surely do wish Clinton and NATO had stayed out of the whole thing, though.

The danger I see with partition is that it will encourage further expansionist adventures by those who seek a "Greater Albania." And that's also the business of Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Montenegro. Another danger is that the southern part of Kosovo relinquished to the Albanians will continue to be dominated by KLA mafia, and that's the business of all of Europe and INTERPOL.

I don't see any good answers for Kosovo. Maybe you do or someone else does. Maybe there aren't any good answers.

If Serbia re-takes possession of Kosovo, what then? How to deal with all those Albanians? How to clean up the crime, the terrorism, repair the infrastructure, provide services, welfare and pensions to a huge population of ethnic Albanians who would then constitute nearly 20% of the total population (who contribute nothing in taxes or to the economy and who have an extremely high birth rate) when the other 80% (with an extremely low birth rate) who would have to pay for it all is barely making it now? It would take a heck of a lot money and government-funded (read tax-funded) manpower -- would it stretch Serbia past the breaking point?

From a purely economic standpoint, it makes sense for Serbia to keep the north with Trepca and let the independent southern part of Kosovo serve as a pool of "guest workers" to fill in and help pay the pensions for Serbia's declining and aging population (what the Germans and Swiss have been doing officially for decades first with Italy and now with many countries and what the USA has been doing unoffically with Mexico). The "guest workers" would be those left out of the KLA crime syndicates, and such workers will increase over time what with the high birth rate.

But that's taking the heart out of it. I really can understand Serbs wanting to keep the southern part of Kosovo even though it's a crime-infested economic basket case. I'm truly not making fun of the less practical reasons for wanting to keep it.

What do I think my own country should do, which is my business? I think they should apologise, say they made a huge blunder with the whole Kosovo thing (personally I think it was more of a crime than a blunder), pay reparations to Serbia, once again declare the KLA as a terrorist organisation and use their troops to disarm them, hand Kosovo back over to Serbia ... oh, so much more. But it's not going to happen.

Torie, my opinion is that the article is mostly ridiculous garbage and it's obvious that the author based it on the opinions of second- and third-generation members of the '40s exile community. Read the history of this exile community in the Americas (mainly Argentina, Canada and USA), how they organised themselves, etc., and you'll understand. Of course I realise my opinion doesn't count with you, as it doesn't match up with your fave authors' opinions.

As for a choice between "militant nationalists" and "communists", well, you can work that one out in your own head. Croatia was part of a communist country. Everyone in politics who came of age before 1991 was once a communist. So the pool of folks who can serve in higher political office were all once communists. Some of those communists, like Tudjman, turned militant nationalist and were heavily supported and funded by the 40's exile community and its successors (who are all militant nationalists).

There are former "communist" Croats who are truly capitalists at heart and who believe in democracy, and these may make good leaders for Croatia in future. But, right now, if they're not also nationalists the well-connected and well-funded nationalist exile community slaps the "communist" label on them. If they're not compliant enough for "the international community" they, too, slap the "communist" sign on their foreheads. It's easy to smear any politician as a "communist" because they all were once at least nominally "communists". They couldn't have got into politics otherwise.

It's just common sense. You don't need Trop or anyone else to understand it. BTW, I miss Trop too. We had some great conversations and he cleared up the 70 dead sheep question for me.

Daniel Server, Director of Balkan Initiative for Peace speaks for 'Blic News' about details of secret meeting on Kosovo status that he chaired himself Secret meeting about Kosovo in Washington
Belgrade - More than a month before Serbian Prime Minister started initiative for beginning of talks on Kosovo final status, a secret meeting dealing with the same topic was held in Washington.
The meeting was held on December 5 in the premises of the Institute for peace and chaired by Daniel Server, Director of the Balkan Initiative of this institute.
The leading American and European experts took part in the discussion as well as representatives of USA Government and EU countries. Server refused to tell 'Blic' News' any of the names of the participants.
Last week he was in Belgrade where he had a series of meetings with non-government organizations and representatives of certain embassies.
Both Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica refused to meet with him on account of to heavy schedule. The only high official that met with Server was Nebojsa Covic, one of Serbian deputy Prime Ministers and also Chief of state Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija.
Judging by the six-page report, some of the conclusions of the secret meeting in Washington might cause dissatisfaction of Serbian politicians since independence of Kosovo is being treated as a finished matter. Serbian politicians have been represented as completely indifferent when the future of southern Serbian province is concerned.
'This meeting was held before Serbian politicians have changed their stance towards Kosovo. At that meeting we have not thought that Zoran Djindjic would request that talks on Kosovo should begin immediately', Server says for 'Blic News'.
The report also speaks about the consequences of disintegration of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro for the future status of Kosovo.
American participants think that before beginning of talks USA should decide about its position regarding final Kosovo status and then support it in later on negotiations.
Server further says that there were participants that opposed independence of Kosovo explaining that it could cause instability in the Balkans, but none of the participants thought that Kosovo should return under the competence of Belgrade.
As regards Djindjic's latest statements, Server considers them as something to be connected with the home politics. 'Some Djindjic's statements are rather problematic such as suggestion that Serbia will request parts of BiH territories as compensation for the loss of Kosovo. I think that the international community will set the rules for negotiations about Kosovo. One of these rules will be that destabilization of Macedonia and Bosnia is not going to be allowed', Server said.

See what I mean?

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