UNDERSTANDING AND COOPERATION: Prime Ministers Ivo Sanader and Vojislav Koštunica;...
If an uninformed person were to judge the relations between Croatia and Serbia only by what was seen a few days ago in the meeting between the two prime ministers, Ivo Sanader and Vojislav Koštunica, he would inevitably conclude that the relations between the two countries have never been better, with all the prospects of getting even better.
There were almost no controversial issues between the interlocutors, who normally see each other (and, judging by both sides' statements, wish to meet again) in European villages in the association of people's or people's parties, of which HDZ and DSS are members. It was emphasized this time that it was the "first visit of a Serbian prime minister" to Zagreb since the breakup of our common state, as it was emphasized a year ago, when Sanader visited Belgrade, that he was the first prime minister who came to official office since the independence of Croatia. a visit to Serbia (Sanader's predecessor Ivica Račan, in fact, broke his mandate from January 2000 just long enough to attend the funeral of Zoran Đinđić in March 2003).
...presidents Boris Tadić and Stjepan Mesić
All the tones that the prime ministers uttered after the meeting in Zagreb were pleasant: "We will solve every concrete problem", concluded Koštunica optimistically, after the usual questions from Croatian journalists, whether they would "apologize for the aggression". "Problems left by the war are not solved by words, but by deeds," said Koštunica and added this as well: "There is a firm will to solve problems in personal contact, and not to multiply and enlarge them - and that is valuable in itself ."
That value aside: the former presidents, Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman, also got along well, even hanging out in Karađorđevo on several occasions and planning "humane population exchanges" and placing spots on the "leopard" map of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
BORDER: Unlike those at the top, ordinary residents and commoners do not see room for great optimism, although the fact that the authorities are still talking should not be underestimated. In the ten years since the arms fell silent, namely, at the state level, progress has only been made in a few formal matters: the visa regime for SCG citizens was temporarily suspended (the suspension is renewed every year), a number of international agreements were signed, the most important of which are the Agreement on free trade and the Agreement on Mutual Protection of Minorities, as well as others, and thanks to the compatibility of the economies of the two countries, economic cooperation is quite lively, and the exchange - at least the optimists hope - could soon reach a billion dollars a year.
Apart from these economic developments, which are taking place regardless of the constant obstructions from one side and the other, in the whole story about normalization, only the employees of the newly composed variety show are doing well, and this is denied only to Svetlana Ceci Ražnatović, who today, ten years after the war , in the same situation as in wartime Đorđe Balašević: whoever wants to hear her live, has to travel to Ljubljana, Maribor or Celje, which - to the horror of "national purists" - Ceci's fans do.
All other problems are still mostly unabated: there is still no agreement on the border on the Danube, which, like hell, changes its course over the years, so what was on our side is now on theirs, and vice versa. The Croatian side refers to the immutability of ex-republic borders and the Badinter Commission, the Serbian side dreams of a border in the middle of the Danube, and citizens on both sides of the unestablished border are still struggling with problems. What we got again after the meeting between Koštunica and Sanader was a new promise that the interstate border commission would meet "as soon as possible", and according to Sanader, the border issue should be agreed upon before Croatia completes the highway to Serbia (which is being built extensively). , so that Koštunica's proposal to meet on the highway along the border could be realized, which would show the countries that the problem has been solved.
No matter how serious the borders are for a part of the population of both countries, there are also those problems that arose in the past war, which still haunt many: the problem of the missing in war, the return of refugees and the return of property. Namely, before the war, about 12 percent of Serbs lived in Croatia, today less than five percent remain, but the property of the majority remains. Croatian authorities claim that around 200.000 people have returned to Croatia in recent years, while Serbian organizations (including some international ones) warn that this number is much lower, and that there are many who return, take documents and go to live in Serbia again, because they do not have the basic conditions for a normal life - primarily a job - in Croatia. For those who decided to return forever, it is also not easy to realize the right to restore their property, and there are also those who still live in some necessary accommodation, because someone else - not necessarily the same unfortunate and war victim - with the blessing of the state itself, usurped their property. The Croatian Prime Minister announced that the intention is to complete the voluntary return by the end of 2006, and he asserted that the problem of property restitution has mostly been resolved, specifying that there are still only "several dozen cases" that are in court, for which he expects "that will be resolved quickly". The lost tenancy rights were only mentioned in passing: "Tenancy rights are not property or ownership", Sanader reiterated the hard Croatian position, adding that "there is a problem of people who have paid into the housing fund for a long time, which should be refunded in one way or another", and will the Government solve this problem in an agreement with the international community and following the "decision of the previous government". The problem, however, is that the previous government, Račan's, did nothing on the subject - nothing at all, and it is easier for this government to return the property to the Germans, according to the recent agreement with Vienna, confiscated after the Second World War (so far, according to the minister's statement, of Justice Vesna Škare-Ožbolt, about 440 requests arrived), than to do it when Croatian Serbs are in the middle.
WAR COMRADES: Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević
ESCAPED I MISSING: And many who are returning or have already returned to Croatia have a problem with the famous lists of suspects for war crimes. It is claimed that there are about a thousand names on that list, made as anyone wanted, which - despite promises - the Croatian side has not yet delivered to the Serbian side. Keeping such a list secret, in any case, is not a stimulus for returning to Croatia, considering that even international organizations warn about the ethnic coloring of the Croatian judiciary.
"There are also missing persons from the Serbian side, so every family and every person has the right to the truth," says Sanader. "Every human accident, regardless of nationality and religion, has something in common and we must do everything to solve the problem," says Koštunica. Those sympathetic statements are not the result of what the Serbian minority in Croatia has been asking for years: to unify the lists of missing Croats in the war (about 1100 more) and missing Serbs, Croatian citizens (about 2600 according to "Veritas", some missing, some still unidentified). . Regardless of the Prime Minister's statements, the victims are still in two columns, and even those innocent victims who fell at the hands of "Croats" in Gospić (about which we also have a final verdict against Tihomir Orešković and Mirko Norac), Osijek (about which investigation), Vukovar, Sisak, Paulin Dvor, and also in Zagreb (three members of the Zec family, including twelve-year-old Aleksandra, killed in a "legialist" manner, found buried in Sljemenu above the capital).
However, the world remains on the living, so one of the constant problems is the status of minorities, Croatians in Serbia and Serbians in Croatia. Both have reasons for dissatisfaction. While the Croatian party (Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina) recently warned about some problems in Vojvodina with a declaration - and some problems are, according to the authorities, justified, such as insufficient representation in the government, inadequate information, and even the failure to resolve the rebroadcast of the only show ("Divani ") that the minority in the Novi Sad televisor had - the Serbian side, whose three representatives in the Parliament support the Government, warns without declaration of very similar problems, but also of the fact that in Croatia around 40 incidents were registered on an international basis, including several murders. According to Milorad Pupovac, a parliamentary representative, only about ten percent of these riots have been resolved.
Just before Kostunica's trip to Zagreb, an Interstate Commission was finally formed in Belgrade, which should deal with all these problems in the near future. However, no matter how many mutually benevolent people there are in that commission, it is unlikely that even that body without real political will, as well as a more normal Serbian and Croatian atmosphere, will be able to solve the numerous problems faced by members of minorities. The signals of the majority nations, Serbs and Croats, are important for progress, which even today - according to what is at least thought, if not said out loud - sees Ustasha in every Croat and Chetnik in every Serb, just as, in accordance with state policy, they refuse to face the role of their own elites in killing Bosnia and declare anyone who mentions such a thing a traitor. A member of any minority cannot feel normal and a full-fledged citizen if he constantly listens to "Knife, wire, Srebrenica" in Belgrade, or "Kill, slaughter, that the Serb does not exist" in Zagreb.
After all, Prime Minister Koštunica came "on his own" in Zagreb. His colleague Sanader expressed to him the "extremely constructive and principled position" of the Croatian government on Kosovo: that the problem cannot be solved without the consent of Belgrade. And Sanader could derive reasons for satisfaction here: showing such an attitude, the European and general public could and had to conclude that, well, Croatian policy acts constructively and in principle towards its neighbors, and it is to blame for the exceptions - border scandals with Slovenia and stupid problems with Bosnia and Herzegovina - on the other side.
Be that as it may, until ten years ago, they talked through the scope, in the last year they travel, meet and talk. The only possible conclusion is: it still moves.
Graph
