Text 7756, 94 rader
Skriven 2005-01-20 05:52:02 av Stephen Hayes (5:7106/20.0)
Ärende: family.debate: Croatian far-right
=========================================
* Forwarded (from: DEBATE_FMY) by Stephen Hayes using timEd/2 1.10.y2k.
* Originally from family.debate@family-list.org (8:8/2) to debate3.
* Original dated: Mon Jan 17, 04:52

From: family.debate@family-list.org(family.debate)
To: debate3@family-bbs.org
Reply-To: family.debate@family-list.org

From: "Steve Hayes" <khanyab@lantic.net>

CROATIA: FAR RIGHT 'PUNISHES' SANADAR

Spate of incidents linked to premier's efforts to boost European Union
membership prospects. By
Drago Hedl, regular IWPR contributor in Osijek

14/1/2004- Croatia's attempts to distance itself from its Ustashe past and move
towards European Union integration appear to have triggered a backlash from
far-right elements within the country. On January 9, an unidentified group
erected a memorial to Jure Francetic and Mile Budak
- notorious for their involvement in Croatia's home-grown fascist
movement, which seized power under Nazi auspices in 1941 and was responsible
for the deaths of tens of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma - in the village of
Solin, on the outskirts of Split. A couple of days earlier, a large poster of
fugitive war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina appeared in Kastel Stari, just
outside the Dalmatian port. This followed the destruction of a statue of
Yugoslavia's communist leader Josip Broz Tito in his northern Croatian
birthplace of Kumrovec, an act condemned by the authorities as "political and
cultural vandalism". Analysts believe that right-wing extremists have carried
out the acts to "punish" Prime Minister Ivo Sanader for what they see as his
"betrayal" in removing statues of Francetic and Budak from a town in central
Croatia. Sanader's centre-right government is due to begin negotiations for EU
membership on March 17, and analysts believe that the decision to take down the
statues was an attempt to dispel the belief that Zagreb condones displays of
public sympathy for fascism or its symbols. Just before Christmas, the
authorities also moved to take down a large portrait of Gotovina which had hung
in the centre of Zadar since the indictment against him was unsealed in 2001.
Police sources told IWPR that officers took the portrait down under cover of
night, to avoid any clashes with the fugitive general's supporters. The issue
of cooperation with the Hague tribunal - key to EU membership - has long been a
difficult one for Croatian governments, which have come under pressure from
nationalist elements and members of the public who see indictees as "war
heroes" who should not face trial for their actions. Political analyst Davor
Gjenero said the extreme right's alleged attention-seeking activities
demonstrated the level of their anger against Sanader for his hostility towards
the Ustashe era, and his cooperation with the tribunal. "Indirectly, their
messages are directed [towards Brussels] as well," he said.

For Sanader, the goal of EU membership and its financial benefits must be
balanced with the risk of offending right-wing factions of his Croatian
Democratic Union, HDZ, party - many of whom side with extreme nationalists who
oppose the tribunal. One HDZ official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said, "His opponents in the party - most of whom sympathise with the actions of
the radical right - criticise him for being too lenient with Brussels and for
not taking enough care to protect national interests." The need to appease
right-wing elements within his party has been cited as the reason why the
authorities permitted a pro-Ustashe demonstration in Zadar last month, when
Second World War veterans marched through the city carrying portraits of
fascist leader Ante Pavelic.  This was in stark contrast to the reaction when a
group of Serbian students unveiled a portrait of the Forties-era Serb Chetnik
commander Draza Mihajlovic in the middle of Zagreb. Two of the students were
jailed for 15 and five days respectively.  Analysts point out that, in spite of
the high profile publicity stunts carried out in recent weeks, the far right is
yet to capture a sizeable political constituency. In Croatia's recent
presidential election, anti-European and anti-Hague candidates Ivic Pasalic,
Ljubo Cesic Rojs and Tomislav Petrak won less than two per cent of the vote
each.  Pasalic, a former adviser to the late president Franjo Tudjman, who now
leads the small Croatian Block party, told IWPR that his party and the
right-wing movement in general had nothing to do with the vandalism. "[It has
been] organised by provocateurs - the leftovers of the old Yugoslav military
secret service or state security - who are now trying to portray right-wing
parties as being as anti-EU," he said. But Andjelko Milardovic, head of
Zagreb's Centre for Political Research, said, "This is a conflict of two
concepts - the pro-European option led by Sanader's government and the radical
populist right, which opposes it. "The same has happened in other tr

ansition countries such as Slovakia but in Croatia it has a more radical form."
 Milardovic added that as matters stand, the radical right was failing to make
much political headway.  "The fact that more than half of the population
supports the country's [bid for EU] membership suggests that the radical
nationalists will not be able to obstruct that path," he said.

Institute for War & Peace Reporting http://www.iwpr.net/home_index_new.html

-+- family.debate
Sponsored by FamilyNet International. Support FamilyNet at
http://www.fmlynet.org You can also read via newsgroups at
nntp://nntp.family-bbs.net

___ BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5
 - Origin: FamilyNet Sponsored by http://www.christian-wellness.net (8:8/2) 

--- WtrGate v0.93.p9 Unreg
 * Origin: Khanya BBS, Tshwane, South Africa [012] 333-0004 (5:7106/20)