Josipović: Dačić forgets that the Holocaust also happened in Serbia, just like in Croatia

ZAGREB, (Patria) - Former President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipović, in an opinion piece for Voice of America, writes about the latest round of strained relations between Belgrade and Zagreb, about the time when he and Boris Tadić led the countries, about hate speech, the victims of Jasenovac and the Holocaust, Ustaše sympathizers in Croatia and the glorification of Chetniks in Serbia, as well as about the announced summit between the two countries and his expectations from that meeting.

- It is good that President Grabar-Kitarović invited President Vučić to Croatia, and it is good that he accepted the invitation. Perhaps this meeting is an opportunity for Croatia and Serbia to finally end the "war by other means" that has been waged between the countries for a long time.

The rise and significant improvement of relations, but not the resolution of all and numerous open issues, characterized the tenure of Presidents Tadić and myself. Our cooperation was subjected to criticism from nationalists and right-wingers in both countries. Ultimately, right-wing, nationalist parties have taken all levers of power in both countries, and the result has not been absent: relations between Croatia and Serbia, marked by constant verbal conflicts, media provocations, and serious political disputes, have been set back a good number of years.

The roar of nationalist hatred heard from stadiums, the flood of Facebook hatred, the immoderate and offensive statements of politicians from both sides seem to have established a kind of perpetuum mobile – interstate policy of hostility in the service of domestic policies that are radicalizing and seeking ever harsher words on the international stage. And this war by other means is senseless. It harms both countries, harms the peoples, harms individuals. Grabar-Kitarović and Vučić have the opportunity to break this vicious spiral and return our relations to calmer waters - emphasizes Josipović.

The former Croatian president also touched upon the recent speech by Ivica Dačić at the UN.

- The polemic that Dačić, in his speech at the UN, and the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs had regarding the commemoration of the Holocaust is a continuation of the "war by other means" between Serbia and Croatia, precisely what the presidents should stop. I myself have criticized the Croatian president and prime minister for not commemorating the Holocaust with a remembrance of the victims of Jasenovac and other Ustaše execution sites. I constantly criticize them because they contribute to historical revisionism and the relativization of Ustaše ideology.

Ustaše sympathizing in Croatia is truly worrying.

Dačić is right when he says that Jasenovac was one of the most horrific execution sites of World War II. He is right when he sees Ustaše-sympathizing forces in Croatia. However, Dačić's manner and motives in criticizing Croatia at the UN were neither honorable nor correct.

Not only was the tone of the speech largely in service of daily political bickering between Zagreb and Belgrade. Not only because of the considerable number of inaccuracies he stated, which cannot be accidental. Among other things, he mentioned hundreds of thousands of victims in Jasenovac, the partisan movement in which, according to him, Serbs were practically the only ones, and he invoked Ivan Goran Kovačić as a witness to Croatian crimes against Jews, Serbs, and others, without mentioning that he was slaughtered by a Chetnik hand. He, and many, many others, both Croats and Serbs.

It was a subtle, skillful, inflammatory speech, which has the terrible truth about Jasenovac at its foundation, and yet, it is so wrong and dishonorable - believes Josipović.

Josipović adds that he does not resent Dačić's criticism of Croatian revisionism, but rather the absence of criticism of Serbian revisionism.

- The main reason why I assess Dačić's speech negatively is not the criticism of Croatian revisionism, which it certainly deserves, but the absence of criticism of Serbian revisionism. The day we commemorate the Holocaust should primarily be an opportunity to look into our own backyard and our own sins. Dačić forgets that the Holocaust also happened in Serbia, that out of about 17,500 Jews in Serbia under the puppet government of Nedić's Serbia, about 15,000 were killed. He forgets that Jews in Serbia also wore yellow stars and that as early as 1942 it was stated that Serbia was Judenfrei.

Along with the accurate statement that the Independent State of Croatia was a criminal and collaborationist creation, he could have remembered Serbian collaborationism and crimes. But he could also have remembered the no less horrific Chetnik crimes. And also that the Ustaše and Chetniks fought together on the side of the Nazis against the partisan resistance movement led by Josip Broz Tito, who, it is not the most important thing, was a Croat.

Yes, he could have remembered that the National Liberation Movement was strongest in Croatia, certainly also because Croats and Serbs, as well as many others, participated in it side by side. Speaking of revisionism, how did he not remember which war criminals, from Draža Mihajlović himself to Kalabić and other leaders of various movements that served the fascists, have been judicially rehabilitated in today's Serbia. And which parties, including those in power in Serbia, proudly cherish the Chetnik tradition and the tradition of some other collaborationist movements. And that he and his SPS are in coalition with some of these parties - states Josipović.

The former Croatian president adds that Serbia and Croatia have not sincerely commemorated the victims of the Holocaust.

- If Croatia and Serbia had wanted to sincerely commemorate the Holocaust, they would have first condemned the crimes of their collaborators. They would have paid homage to the victims without selectivity and haggling over numbers. Yes, and without evasion, they would have said that the greatest victims of Jasenovac were, above all, Serbs, Roma, Jews, but also Croat anti-fascists. They would have clearly stated that the history of the two countries is burdened by the service of parts of their nations to the Nazis and that these servants of evil committed terrible crimes. They would have changed the names of numerous streets in Croatia and Serbia named in honor of Ustaše and Chetniks and removed all monuments and all insignia that glorify Ustaše and Chetniks.

And they could have set up an exhibition about Jasenovac together, just as the Croatian Memorial Museum of the Jasenovac Memorial Area and the Museum of Genocide Victims in Belgrade, whose data on the number of killed in Jasenovac are almost identical, cooperate. And together they could have stated that the honor of both nations was defended by the partisans and that anti-fascism is a common achievement that both countries will proudly preserve - states Ivo Josipović.

Josipović does not expect much from the upcoming meeting between Aleksandar Vučić and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

- Certainly, there will be no agreement on historical issues at the meeting, especially not on the period 1991-1995. However, the presidents must find a way to de-ideologize the open issues and, because it is in the interest of both sides, finally continue to resolve them. First and foremost, the countries must do everything to determine the fate of the missing. Contrary to the myths on both sides of the Danube who see the missing only in their own nation, in Croatia today, the list of missing persons includes almost an equal number of Croats and Serbs.

Of course, the open issues of protecting minority communities, the return of refugees who wish to return, and the regulation of status and economic issues (service record, pensions, property, etc.) should also be resolved. It is difficult for me to believe that it will be possible to resolve the issue of the border on the Danube by agreement, so the resolution of this issue before the International Court of Justice should be agreed upon immediately.

The return of cultural treasures stolen from Croatia, economic and cultural cooperation are just some of the other issues that can and must be addressed. However, unlike in Serbia, where the president of the country, by also being the president of the ruling party, can be a guarantor of a possible agreement at the presidential level, this is not the case in Croatia.

The Croatian president, without the agreement of the Government and its cooperation, will not be able to guarantee that the nice words expected will be translated into practice. Therefore, I hope that the theses in Croatian newspapers that there is no coordination between the president and the government regarding President Vučić's visit are not true.

Be that as it may, the mere fact that Vučić is coming to Zagreb is positive and should be welcomed. Just as President Grabar-Kitarović should be supported not to succumb, as has often happened to her, to right-wing opponents of any cooperation with Serbia.

At the end of the text, Josipović directly addressed Ivica Dačić.

- Mr. Dačić, please send Prime Minister Plenković that list with which you "threaten" about 20,000 children killed by the Ustaše.

If the list we have in Croatia does not contain at least one name from your list, by sending the list, you will make an important contribution to establishing the truth and respecting the victims.

After all, you have no right to keep such lists in your drawer. The victims are not your private property.

Their names are part of the history of my and your people and part of the memory of the families of the murdered. And they are a prerequisite for us to fulfill our obligation to preserve the memory of the children whose lives were extinguished by the criminal Ustaše hand - concluded Ivo Josipović.