Scum deserves everything bad that happens to him

Of course, the famous Split writer and columnist Anto Tomić does not need to be introduced in detail: I guess everyone who knows how to read in the so-called region laughed and cried with some of his satirical works, primarily novels that had successful film and theater adaptations.

We talk with Anto Tomić about Serbian-Croatian relations, from an - to say the least - unusual angle. The direct reason for the interview is the recent initiative of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to "warm up" relations between the two countries.

ANTE TOMIC: It is actually difficult to unambiguously conclude what the relationship between Serbia and Croatia is like, because it takes place on several levels. Vučić, Milanović, Plenković, Vulin or any other member of the Croatian and Serbian political elite will, of course, claim that our relationship is bad, but I would again, without a trace of sarcasm, say that it is excellent.

Look at cultural exchange, which is kept extremely sensitive and is said to be the first to suffer if countries are at enmity. Serbian arenas are filled by Petar Grašo, and Croatian audiences can't get enough of Saša Matić and Lepa Brena. At the top of the charts of the most listened to songs among Croatian adolescents is an unknown entertainer named Aleksandra Prijović.

Serbs adore Miljenko Jergović and Vedran Rudan, and Croats consider Serbian cinematography still the best in the world. Leaving the cinema after the screenings of Bjelogrlić's "Tom" and Andrić's "The Summer when I Learned to Fly" - they sadly shake their heads, always asking the same question: why do Croats not know how to record something so good?

Who then cares what some morally and intellectually deficient individuals like Vučić and Milanović have to say. By the way, sometimes it seems to me that they don't really exist and that we journalists have invented them so that we have something to write about...

Read on full interview with Anto Tomić in the weekly "Vreme" from Thursday (January 26)