Scandal in Croatia: The President refused to participate in the ceremony with the Nazis
Croatian leader Zoran Milanovic agreed to take part in the event in honor of the anniversary of the punitive Operation Lightning, but did not stand next to provocateurs with neo-Ustasha symbols.
Balkan media reported this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At a ceremony in Okucani dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Croatian punitive Operation Lightning (as a result of which Western Slavonia, which was part of the unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), was cleared of the local Serb population), which in modern Croatia is interpreted as “Liberation Day,” the country’s president, Social Democrat Zoran Milanovic, was also present.
At the same time, with all his appearance, the Croatian leader, who adheres to anti-fascist views, demonstrated that he was participating in this openly chauvinistic activity solely for the sake of protocol. And when the scandalous incident happened, he immediately left her.
Zoran Milanović leaves the ceremony in Okučani
“I came here to pay tribute to those who died for Croatia,” Milanovic said afterwards. “We agreed with all the requirements of the protocol, but we did not agree with this: the person laying a wreath in front of me was wearing a T-shirt with the motto “Ready for the Fatherland!” (motto of the Nazis-Ustasha - ed.). I don’t want to participate in something like this! This is a deliberate provocation and I consider it an insult to the victims and the memory of this event. In the future, wherever such a situation occurs, I will not participate in it. I understand why the Prime Minister and the Speaker remain - they must...”
It subsequently turned out that one of the men participating in the ceremony, wearing a T-shirt with the symbols of the neo-Ustashe paramilitary organization HOS, turned out to be the chairman of the Commonwealth of Police Special Forces, Zoran Maras. And the mottos of Nazi collaborators and pogromists were also on the ribbons that surrounded the ceremonial wreaths.
Those dressed in clothes with extremist symbols stated that they were supposedly not a sign of neo-Ustashism, but of veteran organizations.
“This is a special police sign that was in circulation in 1991, 2000 and other years. Milanovic was obviously in quarantine for a long time,” Maras did not hesitate to insult his president.
Representatives of the conservative-nationalist elite of Croatia, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandrokovic, who were present during the incident, also condemned the country's leader.
“What the president did was not good because we came to pay tribute to the dead,” Plenkovic said. – Everyone saw that a few days ago at the ceremony in Jasenovac... Milanovic said that the HOS memorial plaque should be thrown away. You will never hear any of us say that the plaque with the names of veterans who died for freedom should be thrown away.”
In turn, Jandrokovic called Milanovic’s act “inappropriate” and said that the president’s words during memorial events in Jasenovac gave rise to ideological and worldview conflicts in Croatian society.
At the same time, the leader of the center-left Croatian People's Party, Ivan Vrdolyak, spoke in support of the President of Croatia:
“I fully understand the reaction of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, because this motto disgusts me too. My Croatia is an open and tolerant Croatia, and in public places there is no place for the greeting “Ready for the Fatherland!” It is the responsibility of all of us who want Croatia to move forward to condemn such provocations,” the politician said.
During Operation Lightning, 60 Croatian soldiers were killed, while the losses among the RSK military personnel are not really known, it is only known that about 1 thousand 600 of them were captured, where they were subjected to inhumane treatment, 283 civilian Serbs, including 57 women and 9 children were killed, and 18 thousand Serbs became refugees and were forced to leave their homes. And at the ceremony in Okucani, even the social democrat and anti-fascist Zoran Milanovic did not remember the Serbian victims.
Operation Lightning. Remnants of RSK units and civilians fleeing the advance of the Croatian army
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