by Ante NOBILO
Clearly, those who understand neither history nor politics and wonder lost in the past without any vision of the future have opened a broadside on president Mesic. Apparently, it's fine that Serbs apologized, but Croats have nothing to apologize for since we only defended ourselves.
I think that it is not necessary, especially not to readers of Nacional, to repeat that, unfortunately, our soldiers and policemen also committed crimes and we also need to make an apology.
However, if we are to make true progress in the relations between the two countries both sides must do all in their power to correct and compensate damages suffered by citizens and companies and organizations on both sides. We must not permit that countries, for the sake of interests of political elites, come to an agreement to ignore citizens who suffered damages and lost property in the war. Specific steps taken by each country will demonstrate the "quality" of that country and true readiness to create a modern European country and implement the rule of law.
Each one of the two countries approaches the solution of these issues with its specific burden. The sin of Serbia-Montenegro - their magnum crimen - is that they started the war, carried out an aggression against Croatia and perpetrated large-scale destruction and even crimes. Serbs will have to offer more than an apology - they will have to produce financial compensation. But Croatia also has its sin which boils down to violence against its own ethnic Serb citizens in the guise of terrorist actions with the goal of spreading fear among Serbs in Croatia so that they would leave their homeland, property, or apartments in which they lived. The Croatian Army engaged in large scale destruction of property belonging to Croatian Serbs in military actions "Storm", Medak Pocket and so on, and murdered many Croatian Serbs.
Since relatively few Croats were expelled from Serbia-Montenegro (very few lived there before the war) the mentioned problems are specific for Croatia and cannot be resolved through comparisons or on the base of parity with Serbia-Montenegro.
Besides criminal prosecution of perpetrators of crimes the current (and future) authorities in Croatia will prove their European credentials and demonstrate respect for human rights regardless of the religious or ethnic affiliation of its citizens by resolving concrete human problems.
Unfortunately, the current administration, although it has shown some progress, has also demonstrated quite a lot of inconsistency and equivocation in its European orientation. This government has to a significant extent rebuilt houses destroyed in military operations and is continuing to do so. It has adopted the Compensation of Damage for Bodily Injury and Death Inflicted by Members of the Croatian Army and Police Act. But this administration hasn't resolved the problem of tenancy rights of expelled Croatian Serbs hiding behind the fact that social ownership (and tenancy rights) do not exist anymore as a legal category, as if that issue could not be resolved using other legal means.
Croatian Serbs had for years invested a portion of their income in state managed apartment construction funds and have the right to use apartments and buy them under the same conditions as ethnic Croats. The fact that the category of tenancy rights does not exist anymore is irrelevant. The authorities should rent and sell apartments and houses in their ownership under favorable conditions. It is irrelevant whether they choose to call that tenancy rights or differently.
This administration has proposed and adopted the notorious Responsibility for Terrorist Actions Act in which it took a step further with respect to the previous HDZ administration and simply abolished the existing legal rights of citizens to compensation of damages suffered as consequence of terrorist acts. Moreover, the act was applied retroactively, covering terrorist acts going back 13 years. Such legal violence primarily targets Croatian Serbs, is worrisome, and throws in doubt proclaimed pro-European orientation of this administration. Croatia would like to join the EU in 2007. Croatia wants to have the rule of law and claims that, after Slovenia, with respect to development and politics it is the closest to the European union. Is that true? Not only is Croatia equivocating with respect to its attitude to the rights of its ethnic Serb citizens (tenancy rights, compensation for terrorist acts) but has in some important legal matters adopted solutions that are far inferior to those adopted in Serbia-Montenegro.
What am I referring to?
Recently we could have read numerous newspapers articles decrying INA's [Croatian Oil Industry] inability to recover its property in Serbia-Montenegro. INA's management is demanding that property belonging to companies and individuals from Serbia in Croatia be frozen, which is utter nonsense. First of all, if INA, as a respectable company, believes that it has suffered legal violence and been stripped off its property in Serbia, how could it advocate the identical approach of the authorities in Croatia with respect to companies from abroad? Secondly, Croatia cannot freeze property belonging to companies and individuals from Serbia-Montenegro because Croatia confiscated that property a long time ago and hasn't done anything to compensate them. That sensitive issue, among other, is regulated by the Succession Agreement, Annex G, which specifies that all private property and existing rights of citizens and legal entities from the former Yugoslavia will be protected by the new countries in accordance with Annex G. Furthermore, it is specified that real estate and other property that is located in new countries and was owned by citizens of legal entities on November 31, 1990, will be recognized as such by new countries, protected and returned to its rightful owners in accordance with established standards and norms of international law regardless of ethnicity, citizenship, current or earlier place of abode. De facto, the Succession Agreement annuls the mass robbery of the property belonging to individuals and companies from Serbia-Montenegro carried out by the HDZ and thereby at least partly corrects the criminal privatization pushed through by the HDZ that divided up the national treasure among 200 politically connected individuals.
It is absolutely clear that Croatia cannot join the EU before returning the looted property. However, although Croatia sees itself as a leader of countries created after the Balkan wars and the country from that pack that is closest to the EU, it still hasn't ratified (and consequently implemented) the Succession Agreement including its Annex G, despite the fact that all other countries created after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia have done so.
Therefore, as far as INA's demands are considered, in Serbia there is at least a legal framework that allows the company to fight for its property in court. However, Croatia hasn't done anything.
This administration will have a hard time proving its consistency and credibility if it does not demonstrate with its actions that it has rejected Tudman's and HDZ's dark policies. Excuses cannot substitute actions that would correct injustice suffered by individuals or legal entities, return property whenever possible and provide just financial compensation in cases when that is not possible. If Croatia can deal with consequences of the Communist nationalization that took place 60 years ago within a different country and a different system and state organization, it certainly can correct consequences of the criminal policy of the previous administration from ten years ago. Actual actions of this administration will provide true legitimacy and apologies will become only acceptable symbolic gestures that will be in accordance with actual actions of these authorities. If that does not happen, then the apology of president Mesic will become full of hypocrisy. I hope that European Croatia will not allow that to happen.