Croatian President in the Fight Against Historians: How to Equate Communism and Fascism

By: Haris Ljevo

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović gave an extensive interview to N1 television, in which she spoke, among other things, about the ban on symbols from "totalitarian regimes", the greeting "Za dom spremni", the rise of nationalism and fascism...

Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, for who knows how many times, spoke about all "totalitarianisms", which is the main asset in the hands of those who want to equate fascism and communism.

During the interview, the Croatian President made several truly controversial statements for which she could not find valid historical justification. Grabar Kitarović emphasized that serious politicians in Europe deal with vital issues, while here they talk about topics from the past, i.e., World War II.

- Ideological conservative and liberal parties in Europe today differ mainly on social issues and divisions. In our country, this has begun to transfer, not necessarily along party lines but generally to divisions in society, in relation to totalitarian regimes, the red star, Josip Broz, and the greeting "Za dom spremni" and everything else. Modern politicians in the EU today deal with the economy, living standards, trade, investments, opening up space for their economies – said the Croatian President.

The President of our neighboring country is completely right, but she did not explain why this is the case. The reason lies in the fact that in Europe, serious politicians do not negotiate with members of associations that spread hatred and fascism, while such individuals sat in the front row among the guests at her presidential inauguration.

In the EU, fascists are not negotiated with. In Germany, no one would dare to say that the greeting "Heil Hitler" was misused by the Nazis, unlike in Croatia where the Ustasha greeting "Za dom spremni" is treated as such. In the EU, they are clear when it comes to the attitude towards fascism and World War II, so they can exclusively focus on economic issues.

- As a rule, I am not for bans, we have the case of a young man from Umag who a few days ago shouted some slogans because of which he received a court summons. In my two and a half years in office, I have experienced all sorts of things, all sorts of slogans, but I think that we as politicians must be prepared for citizens to have the right to express their opinions and their dissatisfaction through shouts that do not suit us and that personally offend us, but I am absolutely against any verbal offense, but we need to find that fine line where hate speech begins, which creates trends in society that need to be stopped – said Grabar Kitarović.

She said she was against bans and that citizens have the right to express their opinions, but she forgot to say that in the civilized world there is a very clear distinction between expressing opinions and hate speech. Walking down the street and shouting Ustasha greetings and singing Ustasha songs is not and cannot be an expression of freedom of opinion, so it must require at least a misdemeanor charge, not turning a blind eye and pretending that such things are harmless.

Kolinda Grabar Kitarović stated that she agrees that historians should deal with historical issues, but when historians say that the greeting "Za dom spremni" is an Ustasha greeting, and that there is no evidence that it is an old Croatian greeting, then Kolinda disagrees with the historians. History is like a buffet for the Croatian President; she takes what she likes and rejects what she doesn't like.

The President of Croatia emphasized that passions around the "Za dom spremni" plaque have calmed down with its relocation from Jasenovac to Novska. Such a statement best reflects her attitude towards the Ustasha movement. For the Croatian President, a plaque with the Ustasha greeting is not problematic if it is moved a few kilometers away. It's like moving a plaque with the inscription "Heil Hitler" ten kilometers away from Auschwitz and the problem is solved.

No matter how much the Croatian President tries to prove that there is no fascism in Croatia, the annual report of the American State Department best refutes it, stating that nationalism and fascism are on the rise in Croatia.

The memorial conference dedicated to the victims of communist regimes, held in the Estonian capital Tallinn on August 23rd on the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance of Victims of All Totalitarian and Authoritarian Systems, also ended ingloriously and showed where serious European countries are currently, and where Croatia is.

The concluding statement on "crimes against humanity committed under totalitarian regimes" was signed by representatives of only eight out of 27 European Union member states. The representative of Croatia was among them.

In addition to Croatia, the statement was signed by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

The Greek Minister of Justice, Stavros Kontonis, stirred up a storm before leaving for Tallinn, reacting sharply to the content of the statement, forcing the hosts in Estonia to change the original content.

- The prepared text primarily refers to the victims of communism, not Nazism, which sends a wrong and dangerous political message – stated the Greek Minister.

In the end, most of the leading European countries avoided coming to Tallinn or sent lower-ranking representatives.

The statement was mainly signed by countries where fascism is currently on the rise and which do not respect the decisions of the European Court on the reception of refugees from Muslim countries.

What the so-called "fight against all totalitarisms" means is best described by Boris Buden, one of the leading philosophers in the former Yugoslavia.

- In Croatia, with the crisis, there has been an escalation of the ideological struggle, which results in the flourishing of anti-communism, which has never been stronger. And let's not be fooled, anti-communism is actually fascism. Sovereign Croatia was established as a product of a sovereign nationalist regime – said Buden at this year's Fališ (Festival of Alternative and Left in Šibenik).