by Ivo BONKOVIC and Josko RADIC, photos by Mario TODORIC
The rally was announced for 5pm, and according to the plan about ten musicians were supposed to appear first, after which the gathered protesters were supposed to be addressed by several speakers. About ten musicians had been invited, among whom were Thompson and Drazen Zecic, but only Ivanka Luetic showed up and sang several patriotic songs. We managed to find out from the organizers that only Thompson apologized to organizers using his previous engagements as his excuse.
That did not prevent the organizers from playing for about thirty minutes Croatian patriotic songs that were supposed to warm up the protesters over the public announcement system. And exactly Thompson's Cavoglava threw the first rows into rapture.
That much about musicians. Besides them, various politicians failed to demonstrate zeal to share the stage with representatives of various organizations of defenders [war veterans]. The exception was county head Branimir Luksic, whose appearance was warmly rewarded with applause. However, he also did not speak at the rally. The official MC of the rally, Alen Basic, otherwise the vice-president of the county HVIDRA, greeting Luksic, stated that "mayor Skaric was also invited but he urgently had to travel to Zagreb," which provoked salvoes of whistles.
Therefore, there were no disturbances or incidents at the rally, but it definitely did not lack fierce speeches, criticisms and heated reactions of the protesters at the mention of the name of Split mayor Ivica Skaric, Prime Minister Ivica Racan, president Stipe Mesic, Minister for War Veterans Ivica Pancic, president of the Parliament Zlatko Tomcic, and Minister for European Integrations Ivan Jakovcic.
Also, it should be mentioned that the first rows in front of the stage frequently raised arms in the Ustashe [fascist] salute, and a number of them displayed appropriate insignia and hats and caps with well-known letter U. They were always ready to sing "Jure and Boban" [an Ustashe song], which they proved during the rally.
The gathering was first addressed by Alen Basic, and then Ivica Orkan, representatives of the volunteers from the Sisak-Moslavina County, who came to the gathering in large numbers and were the most numerous group of war veterans outside the Split-Dalmacija County. Rumors about the arrival of columns of buses from Hercegovina [western Hercegovina is a Croat majority part of Bosnia-Hercegovina] remained only that, rumors.
"I hail from the same region as the current first lady of Croatia, who is not a Ukrainian [during the recent presidential campaign Slobodna Dalmacija's columnist and editor-in-chief Josip Jovic claimed that presidential candidate Mesic's wife was a Serb. Milka Mesic denied this and claimed that she was actually of Ukrainian origin], as a rumor has it; I come from the same region as the current Minister for War Veterans, who claims to be a Croat from Boka Kotorska [the bay of Kotor in Montenegro]," emphasized Orkan, greeted by fierce approval.
After him, another Sisak native requested to speak, Stjepan Piskor Bambino. He used even stronger rhetoric, stating that "once upon a time, I knew the name of our Minister for War Veterans, and today I do not, nor do I want to know it." He then emphasized:
"Now they are forcing us to become Ustashe! Let them arrest and kill us. We shall die for the glory of our sons and our Croatian people!"
Damir Zukic from the Split organization of HVIDRA said that "we are not fascists, are not anti-state elements, are not a handful of extremists. We are a part of this people, we do not fight for our own interests".
"It is not true that the people is hungry because of our rights, that we are a burden on this nation. If we are, we shall give up all our rights. Let them put aside a field for us and fence it off by barbed wire and we shall gather there, together with our families, all for the benefit of our people," said Zukic.
"Those who dislike the Croatian state are attacking us, because we are the backbone of that state. The authorities are fabricating incidents and setting up an atmosphere of chaos to hide their incompetence".
Ivan Protrka, the head of the county organization of UHDDR, regaled the gathering with the statement that he had deliberately put on a white shirt that day "since they are already calling us black shirts". He also said:
"We are not destroying the Croatian state. We destroyed a state that wasn't ours, and no one shall destroy this state".
"We have heard that someone is shaking handcuffs, chains and shackles, as if Croatian defenders have no other option but slavery. Or let us pose this question differently: do jesters Ivica [Racan], Marica [probably president Mesic], [Vesna] Pusic [president of the Croat Populist Party], and Red Riding Hood think that we are scared and have forgotten where our house is? Those who think that we are finished, disoriented, and scared should know that they are wrong! We haven't felt the way we feel today for a long time," asserted Vladava and continued:
"We are prepared to again pass a difficult path in order to protect the Homeland War. We are not threatening our people from aircraft carriers and are not running scared if some General calls us [referring to Racan's visit to an American aircraft carrier]. We want to directly tell the Government to climb down from a tree and talk to us, because we do not bite.
"You are not leaving us any alternative and we are on the last line of defense in front of Diokom. We shall not allow that Croatian soldiers be sent to the Hague. The ball is in your court! Remember, no one is blind any more, our sight has improved a lot recently. We are paying dearly for you, and as far as we can see, you do not work very hard. Don't think you cannot be fired!
"We call on all those who on the other side carried out the aggression and genocide of Croatian people to get together with the current Croatian Government and dance a Serb folk dance at any Croatian killing field! That act of reconciliation would open our eyes.
"Gentlemen from the government, first hundred days are almost over, show us what you've prepared, what dish we are being served, and we know we paid for it dearly. In seems to us that instead of a European steak we are getting a Balkan stew. And finally we are warning you to leave Slobodna Dalmacija alone, since there are limits to our patience!" Ivica Vladava Dovani concluded his speech.
After his speech, 100 percent disabled member of HVIDRA from Imotsko and retired colonel Mirko Condric read the demands of the defenders. Then, Luka Podrug, the deputy president of the County Coordination of Associations Grown out of the Homeland War, was the last speaker at the rally. Podrug literally "inflamed" the crowd, and his speech was full of inflammatory statements. We give the speech in its entirety:
"Citizens of Sptil, Croats, Hercegovinans, Slavonians, Dalmatians, small groups of extremists, as comrade Racan likes to say, we shall send him a videotape so that he can see for himself what kind of a small group we are. Maybe he will get a cardiac arrest, maybe!
"Dear defenders, we have said everything we had to say. Respecting this gathering, all of you from Split, in spite of the making of a climate, chaos and trouble, in spite of mobilization of complete police forces, in spite of a ban to all active Army and Navy personnel (whistles)... No dear friends, do not whistle, the Croatian Police is the Croatian Police, but its bosses are not Croats. Ministers, Ministers, ask Ministers who want to set Croatian special forces police and policemen against us, ask them why they mobilized all of them today, why they banned Croatian soldiers from coming to this gathering?! Are we Chetniks [Serbs], who are we?
"I second the demand of the previous speaker and demand resignations of all state officials, all editors who pumped the atmosphere of chaos, created atmosphere of excess and said that Croatian defenders are destroying the Croatian state. They accuse us of destroying the Croatian state, and where have they been all these years? What is their contribution to the establishment of the Croatian state? Ask the Croatian authorities! I'm going to entertain you a bit with names, they will tomorrow deny this in pro-regime media: a reserve soldier from the island of Brac, 23-years-old, a SDP member, was appointed an assistant to the Minister of Defense only because he is an SDP member; Zdravko Tomac's sister was appointed assistant of the Minister for War Veteran affairs, one of god knows how many wives of our marihuana boy [Ivica Racan] was appointed assistant of one of the Ministers.
"Dear citizens of Split, Croatian public and pro-regime media, the ones that will ignore these words, since we today have democracy in Croatia, and yesterday TV Mreza failed to mention our statement, because we told the truth; we said that today in Croatia there are 75,000 fake Partisan pensioners [WWII war veterans who fought with Tito's forces], their average fighting age was between nine and eleven, 50,000 fake Partisan disabled veterans whose pensions are paid by the Croatian state. Their pensions have been increased 40%. That is why there is no money for Diokom and for a child supplement.
"This state is paying 40,000 federal pensions, Croatian state pays 20,000 pensions of the retired YPA officers, Croatian state pays pensions to Chetniks [Serbs] from Banja Luka, Belgrade, Beli Manastir and Knin since we enacted a convalidation law which recognizes their pensions. This is the truth that no one today in the Croatian state, in the so-called freedom and those pro-regime media is willing to admit. That is why there is no money for Croatian defenders!
"Dear friends, in our Split, in 1990 in front of the Banovina building we started a rebellion against the whole world and all those career politicians who claimed that we were extremists. We made Croatia in spite of all of them! Today, here in our Split, I beg you, call on you and plead with you, do not let them saw a seed of discord among us, do not let them use our differences. Do not pay attention to Stevo Letica [Croatian admiral Sveto Letica, deliberately branded with a "Serb" name] and those like him who will distance themselves from us: they are not true Croatian defenders. Credit to the honest members of the Croatian Navy. Stevo Letica is recruiting to the Navy all KOS [counter intelligence service of the former Yugoslavia] members whom we chased away from the Croatian Army [referring to the purge of Croats, former YPA officers from the Croatian Army].
"Do not pay attention to a handful of those who will be employed by the City Hall and paid to denounce the rest of us for the media. All of them are former YPA officers, ask them what they did during the war. Regardless of what will be said in the main news program tonight, what will be published tomorrow in Slobodna Dalmacija, let alone in Nacional, Globus, Feral, regardless of what a handful of UDBA [Serb and Communist] prostitutes at the top of Croatian media will write and regardless of what a group of vultures at the head of the Croatian state, who are doing all in their power to destroy the Croatian state, will say tonight; regardless of the so-called Minister of Croatian Lies, or War Veteran Affairs, he is the Minister of a handful of Communist war veterans; all ten of them, who participated in the war have so far given 333 interview, and I want to ask him on whose behalf does he speak, on whose behalf is he abolishing pensions of Croatian generals, on whose behalf is he insulting and slandering Croatian officers, disabled war veterans and generals? And do you know why he does that? Only to deliver some of the generals to the Hague! But we shall make sure he fails in that endeavor!
"If comrades in power intend to declare war veterans for thieves, drug addicts, criminals, fascists, men with fake disabilities, and expect that we greet that act with naïve applause, they are wrong! Any Croatian war veteran is worth more than all Croatian ministers put together. In the city of Split in which those who promised 200,000 new jobs have come to power, I as a child of blue collar workers, and all of us as sons and workers... I must say that those liars who lied about 200,000 new jobs, those so-called Socialdemocrats, ASH or whatever they call themselves are not defending the interests of blue collar workers. They live in their villas, holiday homes, they are all rich! And Croatian war veterans are not the opposite of Croatian blue collar workers, it is not their fault that Croatian workers have no jobs. We are prepared to give up all of our state benefits. But I tell you, they are now, in the Parliament, enacting laws that give federal pensions to members of the federal parliament in Belgrade.
At the next gathering... this gathering has been and will wrap up in a dignified manner. But at the next rally, to show to those politicos that we are serious, dignified, but also determined, at the next rally, there will not be only 10,000 or 20,000 of us, there will be 100,000 or 200,000 of us and we shall be in Zagreb! And all Croatian workers, all Croats with no rights and cheated workers, who voted against one bad government, but were cheated because they got in many ways worse government, which is doing all in its power to destroy the Croatian state, will be with us.
"This state is ruled, and I stand behind these words, I will be the happiest man alive if tomorrow the American embassy sues me, this state is ruled by a cloned American ambassador who is a member of the American Army that killed 3 million people in Vietnam! Not one honorable and honest man can bear to talk to such a monster, let alone accept his instructions. Who is that gentleman to decide for us what Croatia should be like?
"Dear friends, since the Croatian UDBA [Communist secret service] is taping all of this, publicly and secretly, since they will watch this tonight, since they will recognize small groups of extremists I salute you because of them - Za dom spremni!" ["For the homeland, ready!", Ustashe salute] Luka Podrug concluded his speech, after which the rally in Split ended.
