Debosnization of Croats: The key point of Lovrenovic's criticism, above all of the HDZ, as the most responsible political party, is the term "debosnization" of Croats, which was introduced to the public usage precisely by the abovementioned group of authors. There is no doubt that Lovrenovic et al. are right when they say that the creation of repulsion of Croats in Bosnia-Hercegovina with respect to their homeland Bosnia-Hercegovina and their neighbors, followers of Eastern Orthodox and Muslim faiths, inflicted the most damage precisely on the Bosnian Croats. Finally, the facts are undeniable: the number of Croats in Bosnia-Hercegovina has been halved with respect to 1991, and the trend of emigration to the Republic of Croatia and further abroad, continues. There are also problems with education, employment, return etc.
Reality and fiction: Lovrenovic's frustration with bad results of the Croatian policy with respect to Bosnia-Hercegovina is understandable. However, by writing an infinite number of articles about this topic (our public has especially noted those published in the weekly Dani and the Split weekly Feral Tribune), he has fallen in a trap, reaching the phase where his criticism frequently becomes a goal in itself and when, in order to justify in advance set conclusions, the author has to resort to distortion of facts and adapt reality to his fiction.
Consequently, especially recently, Lovrenovic's articles increasingly frequently include totally distorted or simply wrong assertions. The following example, from the article "Cardinal's betrayal", published in Dani is typical:
"Did Bosnian bishops notice that Croats who support the Alliance, especially those from the SDP, who according to Puljic are not the true representatives of their nation, do not have that double Croat life, but both their head and home and property (if they have any) are in Bosnia," writes Lovrenovic, adding that the expression "double Croat life" refers to apartments, houses, bank accounts, business endeavors and similar in the neighboring Republic of Croatia.
Parallel life: However, anyone even slightly knowledgeable about this topic knows that the above quoted assertion is simply wrong. A lot has been written about sudden enrichment, crime and corruption within the HDZ of Bosnia-Hercegovina, as well as about the fact that numerous "senior officials" have acquired property in Croatia. However, it is equally true that a majority of Croat politicians in the current administration formed by the Alliance for Changes also have apartments, bank accounts and shares in Croatia, and furthermore are educating or have educated their children in Zagreb.
Let us remind the readers about a few examples already known to the public. Croats are represented by Kresimir Zubak in the Council of Ministers. According to his own admission, he owns an apartment in Zagreb. Nikola Grabovac, the Federation deputy Prime Minister, has a house on the island of Brac [in Croatia], worth more than $50,000. Mijo Anic, the Federation Minister for Defense has a house in Croatia. Vlado Raguz, deputy head of the Sarajevo canton, has two apartments and a pizzeria in Makarska [in Croatia]. Jadranko Prlic, deputy Minister for Foreign Trade also owns an apartment in Makarska and it is unofficially claimed that he owns other property in Croatia.
In addition to Croat politicians some distinguished Bosniaks also possess Croat passports. Selim Beslagic, for example, and it is interesting that numerous Bosniak politicians own houses or holiday homes in Croatia.
Regarding "parallel lives" it is interesting that other Alliance politicians, ethnic Croats (including those from the SDP), have educated their children in Croatia. For example, Ivo Komsic. Besides Ivan Lovrenovic's two children have recently acquired new knowledge in Croatia, unlike hundreds and thousands young ethnic Croats (frequently, just like Lovrenovics, expelled from their prewar homes), who are acquiring education in their homeland Bosnia-Hercegovina. They did not have the privilege to study in the "beautiful Zagreb city". (Let us also mention here that Lovrenovic's son, at his first exhibition in Sarajevo had the privilege to appear with the exceptionally well prepared catalogue, which was beyond the reach of even world renowned artists such as Halil Tikvesa, author's remark).
Attacks on Cardinal: However, as far as Croat politicians from the Alliance are concerned it is interesting to mention one more example. Karlo Filipovic, the president of the Federation, under suspicious circumstances exchanged his prewar apartment in Pale for another one in Sarajevo. He thereby, which is considering the Alliance official policies outrageous, demonstrated total lack of interest in return to his prewar home, sending (similarly to the HDZ) a clear signal to thousands of Croats who are supposed to return to the Republic of Srpska, that they should not do so if at all possible.
Finally, it is not insignificant that the mentioned distortion of facts by Lovrenovic was employed as a part of a rather sharp attack on Cardinal Vinko Puljic, because of his testimony in front of the Foreign Policy Committee of the US Congress. It would be pretentious, of course, to claim that the Cardinal, unlike any other person, does not make mistakes. However, it is dishonest to attack the head of the Catholic Church in Bosnia-Hercegovina by using fake arguments. Especially because media attacks on the Cardinal, such as the primitive ones in Causevic's Walter and somewhat more sophisticated ones in the weekly Dani, are contributing to the creation of hatred against already small numbers of Catholics.
Consequently, even if the goal of such writing is the spiritual and real return of BH Croats to their Homeland, it can only have precisely the opposite effect.