ZELJKO TRKANJEC
03.11.2010 @ 09:40 CET
The Serbian president believes that his historic visit to Croatia on Thursday (4 November) is more than a "symbolic gesture."
Boris Tadic spoke to Croatian daily Jutarnji List on the eve of his trip to Vukovar, the Croatian town that was the site of a massacre during the Balkan wars in the early 1990s.
03.11.2010 @ 09:40 CET
The Serbian president believes that his historic visit to Croatia on Thursday (4 November) is more than a "symbolic gesture."
Boris Tadic spoke to Croatian daily Jutarnji List on the eve of his trip to Vukovar, the Croatian town that was the site of a massacre during the Balkan wars in the early 1990s.
"My visit to Vukovar is not just a symbolic gesture and a message for the Croatian people," said Mr Tadic. "This is a message to all those living in South East Europe that something like this should never happen again."
Vukovar has become a symbol of Croatian resistance against an assault by the former Yugoslav National Army (JNA). The city on the bank of the river Danube, in the Croatian region of Slavonia, was under attack by the JNA, local Serbian forces (Territorial Defence, TO) and paramilitary units from Serbia for more than three months.
When the city was occupied on 18 November 1991, Serbian forces massacred more than 270 people in a nearby location known as Ovcara. Most victims were injured patients pulled out of the local hospital. Serbian commanders in charge at the time were indicted and found guilty of atrocities by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
The nature of the Vukovar attack has been one of the main political points of contention between Zagreb and Belgrade. For Croats it was an act of reckless aggression, but the siege is still seen by many Serbs as a legitimate operation aimed at protecting Serbs in Croatia. Mr Tadic's journey marks a political break with this deeply held belief.
The Serbian president will also visit Paulin Dvor, a small town where members of the Croatian Army committed a crime one month after the fall of Vukovar. Several soldiers entered Paulin Dvor, which was mainly inhabited by Serbs, and killed 19 people without provocation and at random – children, women and the elderly. Croatian authorities at the time tried to cover up the crime.
Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic will accompany Mr Tadic to both locations, continuing his round trip of sites of massacres committed during the war from 1991 to 1995. Mr Josipovic has visited Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) but his visit to a location in the Republika Srpska (RS) where massacres were committed against all three ethnic groupings – Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks – was even more significant.
Mr Josipovic told Jutarnji List: "Tadic's plan to visit Vukovar is extremely important because it will open the way for full cooperation and good neighbourly relations both politically and psychologically." He added that he believes Mr Tadic sincerely wants reconciliation and is ready to do his best to achieve it.
The announcement of Mr Tadic's visit to Vukovar provoked mixed reactions. Right-wing parties (one is not represented in Croatian Parliament, the other has only one deputy) protested loudly, but they were the only ones to do so.
Vukovar mayor Zeljko Szabo, a Croat by nationality, said he wants the visit to take place as soon as possible. Zoran Pusic, head of a human rights organisation, told Serbian media that Mr Tadic's journey would have a "cathartic effect" on the political scene and public opinion not just in Serbia but in Croatia as well, particularly in Vukovar.
This would be the best possible outcome of Mr Tadic's trip; building awareness of the crimes committed while searching for ways of overcoming them, in order to build a common prosperous future.
Mr Tadic previously visited the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where Serbian troops commanded by Ratko Mladic perpetrated the only officially recognised genocide in Europe after the Second World War, killing more than 8,000 Bosniak boys, girls, men and women, including old people. Mr Mladic, who is indicted by the ICTY, is still at large and widely thought to be hiding in Serbia.
In his interview, Mr Tadic admitted that Mr Mladic had the strong support of the former Serbian authorities until 2008, when his own government was formed. "Mladic will be arrested without question if he is within reach of the Serbian security services," Mr Tadic said.
The trip to Vukovar will not be official, Belgrade confirmed, but the Serbian president will officially visit Croatia at the end of November as a sign of improved relations between the two countries.
"An improvement of relations signifies a correct attitude towards a difficult history," said Mr Josipovic.
There is no shortage of questions still to be resolved, including lawsuits for genocide filed by both countries at the ICTY against each other. In the interview, Mr Tadic repeated that it would be very useful for both governments to withdraw their suits and find some bilateral way to sort out these issues.
Mr Tadic also emphasised the significant role of Zagreb and Belgrade in negotiations for a constitutional reorganisation of BiH. Mr Tadic said he supports a policy of Croatian and Serbian non-interference in BiH's internal politics.
A few years ago, Mr Tadic apologised on television to all members of the Croatian nation who suffered from wrongdoings committed in the name of Serbia and the Serbian people. His apologies were largely accepted by those he addressed, opinion polls showed.
Vukovar has become a symbol of Croatian resistance against an assault by the former Yugoslav National Army (JNA). The city on the bank of the river Danube, in the Croatian region of Slavonia, was under attack by the JNA, local Serbian forces (Territorial Defence, TO) and paramilitary units from Serbia for more than three months.
When the city was occupied on 18 November 1991, Serbian forces massacred more than 270 people in a nearby location known as Ovcara. Most victims were injured patients pulled out of the local hospital. Serbian commanders in charge at the time were indicted and found guilty of atrocities by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
The nature of the Vukovar attack has been one of the main political points of contention between Zagreb and Belgrade. For Croats it was an act of reckless aggression, but the siege is still seen by many Serbs as a legitimate operation aimed at protecting Serbs in Croatia. Mr Tadic's journey marks a political break with this deeply held belief.
The Serbian president will also visit Paulin Dvor, a small town where members of the Croatian Army committed a crime one month after the fall of Vukovar. Several soldiers entered Paulin Dvor, which was mainly inhabited by Serbs, and killed 19 people without provocation and at random – children, women and the elderly. Croatian authorities at the time tried to cover up the crime.
Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic will accompany Mr Tadic to both locations, continuing his round trip of sites of massacres committed during the war from 1991 to 1995. Mr Josipovic has visited Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) but his visit to a location in the Republika Srpska (RS) where massacres were committed against all three ethnic groupings – Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks – was even more significant.
Mr Josipovic told Jutarnji List: "Tadic's plan to visit Vukovar is extremely important because it will open the way for full cooperation and good neighbourly relations both politically and psychologically." He added that he believes Mr Tadic sincerely wants reconciliation and is ready to do his best to achieve it.
The announcement of Mr Tadic's visit to Vukovar provoked mixed reactions. Right-wing parties (one is not represented in Croatian Parliament, the other has only one deputy) protested loudly, but they were the only ones to do so.
Vukovar mayor Zeljko Szabo, a Croat by nationality, said he wants the visit to take place as soon as possible. Zoran Pusic, head of a human rights organisation, told Serbian media that Mr Tadic's journey would have a "cathartic effect" on the political scene and public opinion not just in Serbia but in Croatia as well, particularly in Vukovar.
This would be the best possible outcome of Mr Tadic's trip; building awareness of the crimes committed while searching for ways of overcoming them, in order to build a common prosperous future.
Mr Tadic previously visited the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where Serbian troops commanded by Ratko Mladic perpetrated the only officially recognised genocide in Europe after the Second World War, killing more than 8,000 Bosniak boys, girls, men and women, including old people. Mr Mladic, who is indicted by the ICTY, is still at large and widely thought to be hiding in Serbia.
In his interview, Mr Tadic admitted that Mr Mladic had the strong support of the former Serbian authorities until 2008, when his own government was formed. "Mladic will be arrested without question if he is within reach of the Serbian security services," Mr Tadic said.
The trip to Vukovar will not be official, Belgrade confirmed, but the Serbian president will officially visit Croatia at the end of November as a sign of improved relations between the two countries.
"An improvement of relations signifies a correct attitude towards a difficult history," said Mr Josipovic.
There is no shortage of questions still to be resolved, including lawsuits for genocide filed by both countries at the ICTY against each other. In the interview, Mr Tadic repeated that it would be very useful for both governments to withdraw their suits and find some bilateral way to sort out these issues.
Mr Tadic also emphasised the significant role of Zagreb and Belgrade in negotiations for a constitutional reorganisation of BiH. Mr Tadic said he supports a policy of Croatian and Serbian non-interference in BiH's internal politics.
A few years ago, Mr Tadic apologised on television to all members of the Croatian nation who suffered from wrongdoings committed in the name of Serbia and the Serbian people. His apologies were largely accepted by those he addressed, opinion polls showed.
waz.euobserver
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου