NFCA
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS SPEARHEADS DRIVE TO FORM CONGRESSIONAL CROATIAN CAUCUS
Washington, D.C. (February 3, 2005). The National Federation of Croatian Americans (NFCA) welcomed the official establishment of the Congressional Croatian Caucus which was formally announced at a reception hosted by the NFCA at the Rayburn Congressional Office Building on Capitol Hill last Tuesday evening. Approximately 150 invited guests attended the reception which featured an assortment of Croatia's finest wines and excellent Croatian cuisine created by Chef Ivo Svircic and provided by the Croatian Embassy. The NFCA reception was funded in part by special donations from Mike Grgich, Jure Sola, Tony Peraica, Janet Robert and Jamie Coleman.
The bipartisan Co-Chairs of this new Caucus, Rep. George P. Radanovich (R-CA) and Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN), welcomed all those present and discussed their long-standing desire to establish this important association of Members of Congress interested in promoting Croatian-American relations. That both Co-Chairs are of Croatian descent gives even further emphasis to this historic event for the Croatian American community.
Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) also addressed those present, noting that he too has a personal connection to Croatia through his daughter-in-law, a native of Split. Congressman Gallegly in particular noted his deep appreciation of Croatia's beauty which he experienced first hand when his son and daughter-in-law recently renewed their marriage vows there. Rep. Gallegly will chair the Europe Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee in the 109th Congress.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) gave a short but powerful speech in which he spoke about his personal involvement in Croatia's struggle to gain independence and freedom for its people. He said he admired the strength and resolve of the Croatian people during this difficult period.
The Croatian Ambassador to the United States, Neven Jurica, said a few words about Croatia's determination to join Euro-Atlantic institutions and viewed the creation of the new Caucus as a step toward fulfilling that goal. Ambassador Jurica also welcomed a number of honored guests from Croatia, including Bozo Biskupic, the Minister of Culture, and Dr. Mario Zubovic, a member of the Croatian Parliament.
NFCA President Edward A. Andrus gave remarks on behalf of the Croatian American community thanking the bipartisan Co-Chairs and Founding Members while pledging to support the Caucus as it engages on important matters relevent to the community and the Republic of Croatia. He noted that the structuring of the Caucus was a government relations task which demanded much effort and many resources, not only from the NFCA but from other individuals and organizations. Mr. Andrus specifically mentioned the assistance provided by the Croatian Fraternal Union, Dr. Frank Brozovich, the former President of the Croatian American Association (CAA) and Honorary Consul of the Republic of Croatia, and Cook County Commissioner Anthony J. Peraica, a former board member of the NFCA and President of the CAA's Illinois Chapter. Mr. Andrus also recognized in the audience the presence of Dr. Jasenka Piljac from Zagreb, who coauthored an English language book on the Croatian origins of the Zinfandel grape which the NFCA will be presenting to all 41 of the Founding Members of the Caucus as an expression of its appreciation for their efforts on Croatia's behalf. (A copy of the "Zinfandel" book can be ordered from NFCA Headquarters for $ 35.)
In addition to the four Congressmen who spoke, thirteen other Congressmen, both members and non-members of the Croatian Caucus made an appearance at the reception: Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), Rep. Judy Biggert (R- IL), Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), Rep. Phil English (R- PA), Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Rep. Rick Larsen (R-WA), Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV), Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). The event was also attended by scores of Congressional officials and staff members, representatives from the State Department, leaders of the Croatian-American community from throughout the United States, a number of prominent Croatian-Americans in the Washington, D.C. area and Dr. Thomas P. Melady, former US Ambassador to the Vatican and Senior Dipolmat in Residence at the Institute of World Politics. Tony Butala of "The Lettermen" singing group and members of the press were also present.
Speaking after the event, NFCA President Edward Andrus reiterated the importance of the establishment of the Caucus and the NFCA's role in same. "There had been talk for some time about the need to establish a Caucus. The NFCA had a number of discussions concerning the idea with Congressmen Radanovich and Visclosky and their staffs. They all expressed their enthusiasm and we worked closely with their staffs in order to contact members of Congress to encourage them to join the Caucus as Founding Members. In this regard, not only did we rely on our own members but we teamed with non-members as well to have them reach out to their Congressional contacts. After all, while the NFCA played the key role in moving this concept forward, the Caucus itself is not a creature of the NFCA but is something from which the entire Croatian-American community and the Republic of Croatia will benefit."
In further discussing how the NFCA will work with the Croatian Caucus, Mr. Andrus said that the NFCA now has the enhanced ability to communicate with a group of Congressmen who have expressed a keen interest in issues related to Croatia. "Up until now, doing effective lobbying in Congress has been hampered without the Caucus. We had to concentrate on approaching individual Congressmen when we had some ideas or issues related to improving Croatian-American relations and the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina. Now we have a group which on its first day of existence consists of almost 10% of all members of Congress. This will, we hope, allow the NFCA and the Croatian-American community as a whole the ability to more effectively present their views to Congress and have Congress as a whole take those views under serious consideration."
Mr. Andrus noted that the establishment of the Caucus will now actually require the NFCA and Croatian Americans to "step up to the plate" in a more consistent manner. "We now have this most efficient means to have Congress listen to our concerns, and there are many of them. Croatia's entry into NATO and other Euro-Atlantic institutions continues to encounter difficult obstacles which our elected Representatives can help to remove. Our community must become more engaged to make use of this opportunity and in that regard I urge all Croatian Americans to join us in further building on what I believe to be one of the greatest successes the NFCA has had to date."
The 41Founding Members of the Congressional Croatian Caucus are as follows:
Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA) - Co-Chair, Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) - Co-Chair, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY, Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL), Rep. Bud Cramer (D-AL), Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), Rep. John Duncan (R-TN), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Phil English (R-PA), Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ), Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-OH), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (R-IL), Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Rep. Melissa Hart (D-PA), Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY) Rep. Tim Holden (D-PA), Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Rep. Rick Larsen (R-WA), Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA), Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS), Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT), Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), Rep. Lynn Woosley (D-CA), Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), and Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA).
The NFCA is a national umbrella organization of Croatian-American groups which collectively have approximately 130,000 members.
For more information, please call Joe Foley, (NFCA) Government Relations Director, at 301-294-0937 or Erik Milman, the NFCA's Director of Development, at the NFCA's headquarters in Washington at 202-331-2830 or by email at NFCAhdq@aol.com.
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NFCA - NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS CRITICAL OF COMMENTS MADE BY AMBASSADOR RALPH FRANK
Washington, D.C. (January 3, 2005). The National Federation of Croatian Americans (NFCA) today released the text of a letter written by its President, Edward A. Andrus, to United States Ambassador to Croatia, Ralph Frank. Copies of the letter were forwarded to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Ranking Members of Congressional committees dealing with foreign affairs.
Mr. Andrus' letter had been prompted by Croatian press stories which reported that at a December 16, 2004, press conference, Ambassador Frank had emphasized the overriding importance of the surrender of General Gotovina to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as a pre-condition to Croatia's entry into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Ambassador Frank's comments came in the wake of other press reports which stated that the United States had forwarded a so-called "non-paper" to the governments of members of the European Union (EU) urging them not to set a date of accession talks for Croatia to join the EU prior to the surrender of General Gotovina.
In his letter to Ambassador Frank, Mr. Andrus noted that Ambassador Frank's comments as well as the apparent position taken by the United States vis-½Ç-vis the EU ignored the strides Croatia had made not only with respect to cooperation with the ICTY "but the increasingly significant role Croatia has played in achieving regional stability and cooperation." Mr. Andrus emphasized that "Croatia has done more than any nation-state in the region to cooperate with the ICTY. Indeed, General Gotovina remains the only fugitive from Croatia."
Mr. Andrus wrote that even more importantly Croatia has become the leading democratic state in the region. Mr. Andrus pointed out that inter-ethnic relations in Croatia are today "better than in any of the successor states of former Yugoslavia, including Slovenia, an EU and NATO member whose de-recognition of its relatively significant ethnic minority population has remained widely ignored."
In his letter to Ambassador Frank, Mr. Andrus raised Croatia's leading role in the reconciliation process in the area. "As a signatory to the Adriatic Charter . . ., Croatia has shown that it is committed to regional cooperation as it . . . seek[s] entry into NATO. Moreover, Croatia has continued its efforts to establish friendly relations with Serbia and Montenegro, as evidenced by the recent trips to Belgrade by both Croatian President Mesic and Croatian Prime Minister Sanader . . . ." Mr. Andrus further noted that the Ambassador should keep in mind that such trips took place in an atmosphere marked by the rise in power of "the Serbian Radical Party of indicted war criminal Vojislav Seselj, a Party which has not renounced its claims to territory in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina."
Mr. Andrus criticized Ambassador Frank's claim that the surrender of General Gotovina formed a precondition to achieving stability in the region. He noted that such statements are inaccurate as Croatia has already achieved a stable democracy in the region. Further, he questioned the continued emphasis being given by the United States to the case of General Gotovina. Unlike Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, General Gotovina has not been charged with genocide.
Moreover, Mr. Andrus noted that even assuming that the charges against General Gotovina are provable, they "pale in comparison to those committed by Mladic and Karadzic. General Gotovina commanded an operation which took place over a matter of days, an operation carried out with the open support of the United States. Mladic and Karadzic, on the other hand, engaged in massive murder and genocide over a 4 years period."
Mr. Andrus further criticized statements made to the press by Ambassador Frank in which he implied that all of what Croatia has done to date is not as important as finding General Gotovina. Mr. Andrus questioned how such a surrender could ever be deemed as important as "the strengthening of democratic institutions, reconciliation with neighboring states, and the [on-going] cooperation between the Croatian government and [Croatia's] major ethnic Serbian political party."
Mr. Andrus also found fault with the United States' position requiring General Gotovina's surrender even though he may no longer be in Croatia. He noted that Croatia is a relatively small country, having a population only half that of New York City. "Croatia simply does not have the resources to conduct a world-wide hunt for one person. Furthermore, your statement that it is Croatia's sole responsibility to apprehend General Gotovina for delivery to the ICTY, may not be practiable, fair, or as easily fulfilled as initially assumed. American and other NATO forces, who have had significantly greater resources than Croatia and full reign over Bosnia and Herzegovina for 9 years, have a failed record when it comes to seizing Mladic and Karadzic. This underscores that your demands of Croatia are neither constructive nor realistic."
Mr. Andrus went on to note that the close cooperation Croatia has shown over the years in allowing American naval and air forces use of their ports and air fields, sending units to assist in security and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, and in assisting the United States in tracking the activities of Islamic extremists in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina seem to have been forgotten. He wrote that the role played by the United States in attempting to influence the judgment of the members of the EU against setting a start date for accession talks "reflects a lack of balance and proportionality."
Mr. Andrus called on the United States to "reconsider its position on General Gotovina and work to quickly change its treatment of Croatia with regard to this matter, from one which is punative to one in which it appreciates the outstanding successes Croatia has achieved and the important contributions she has made during the past few years."
The NFCA is a national umbrella organization of Croatian-American groups which collectively have approximately 130,000 members.
For more information, please call Joe Foley, Government Relations Director, at 301-294-0937 or Erik Milman, the NFCA's Director of Development, at the NFCA's headquarters in Washington at 202-331-2830 or by email at NFCAhdq@aol.com.
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NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS CRITICIZES TESTIMONY OF DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE ROBERT A. BRADTKE
Washington, D.C. (July 8, 2004). The National Federation of Croatian Americans (NFCA) today released the text of a letter written by its President, Edward A. Andrus, responding to the June 16, 2004 testimony of Robert A. Bradtke, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, given before the House of Representative's International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Europe.
In his testimony, Deputy Assistant Secretary Bradtke discussed Croatia's prospects for NATO membership. Bradtke said that Croatia needed to show further "progress" on the case of Croatian General Ante Gotovina, pending before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), as a condition to NATO membership. Bradtke further placed the ICTY indictment against Croatian General Ante Gotovina on par with the indictments brought against Serbian General Ratko Mladic and Bosnian Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic. Bradtke also discussed the "successes" NATO had had with respect to its peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mr. Andrus initially pointed out that the indictments against General Gotovina cannot be compared with those against Mladic and Karadzic. He noted that unlike the indictment against General Gotovina, both Mladic and Karadzic have been charged with the crime of genocide. Mr. Andrus emphasized that "Mladic and Karadzic are unquestionably responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Kosovo. Historical facts show that they directed and commanded Serbian forces to engage in systematic killings, rapes and destruction." In comparison, the indictment against General Gotovina "is solely grounded in the claim that he did not take adequate actions to prevent criminal acts by soldiers under his command following the liberation of Serbian occupied territory. Allegedly, no more than 100 to 400 civilians were killed as a result. There is no evidence that General Gotovina directed such killings. In any event, the magnitude of those allegations is a far cry from those crimes alleged against Karadzic and Mladic," he noted.
Mr. Andrus further questioned the reasons behind tying "progress" on the General Gotovina case with Croatia's prospects to join NATO. "Surely, there is no precedent that one can point to where the arrest of a fugitive, whose whereabouts are unknown, forms a stumbling block to greater integration into Western institutions." Mr. Andrus argued that such a policy is especially troublesome in connection with Croatia. Mr. Andrus noted that even President Clinton admitted in his recently published memoirs that Croatia "acted as America's proxy in the region in re-establishing a balance of power in Southeastern Europe. It was military actions undertaken by such men as General Gotovina which achieved this balance. These military successes led directly to the foundation for the Dayton Peace Accord."
Mr. Andrus emphasized that Croatia allowed NATO use of its airspace during NATO's 1999 war against Serbia and has played an active role in the war on terrorism, including sending a military police contingent to Afghanistan and assisting U.S. efforts in monitoring Al Qaeda activities in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Andrus wrote that "Croatia's cooperation with NATO and the United States in these matters is an out growth of its status as one of the most stable, democratic, and prosperous nation-states in Southeastern Europe."
Mr. Andrus further took issue with NATO's claimed successes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to noting that NATO's greatest failure in its mission has been its inability to capture Karadzic and Mladic despite being in control of the country for almost 10 years, Mr. Andrus stressed that the peace which NATO has secured in Bosnia and Herzegovina "has come at the expense of establishing a functioning democratic state which respects the rights of minorities. Croats are the smallest of the three constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their rights to cultural autonomy and religious freedom have been increasingly trampled on . . . . This bodes ill for the future stability of that country and the ultimate success of the NATO mission there."
Mr. Andrus concluded his letter by noting that the "Croatian community in the United States fully supports" the entry of Croatia into NATO and that of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Partnerships for Peace. Mr. Andrus called on the United States to "move energetically" to secure the rights of all of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina to peace, democracy, and security. With respect to Croatia, Mr. Andrus wrote that the NFCA believes that the Republic Of Croatia "has shown that it has more than adequately met the criteria for membership in NATO. We urge that the United States support Croatia's entry into NATO at the earliest opportunity."
The NFCA is a national umbrella organization of Croatian-American groups which collectively have approximately 130,000 members.
For more convention information, please call Joe Foley, Government Relations Director, at 301-294-0937 or Erik Milman, the NFCA's Director of Development, at the NFCA's headquarters at 202-331-2830 or by email at NFCAhdq@aol.com .
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NFCA
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS
? National Federation of Croatian Americans (NFCA) Instrumental in Amending 'Sense of Congress' Resolution on Serbian Elections in U.S. House of Representatives"
Washington, D.C. ( October 12, 2004) - As the U.S. Congress hurried toward its elections adjournment, the Europe Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee marked up and passed H. Res. 726 on October 5th. The Resolution commended the people of Serbia for conducting free, fair, and democratic Presidential and municipal elections on June 27, 2004. It encouraged newly elected President Boris Tadic to further pursue democratic reforms, cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and continue down the path toward regional cooperation.
The National Federation of Croatian Americans (NFCA) was instrumental in encouraging changes in the Resolution which noted additional steps the government of Serbia and Montenegro can take to protect the rights of minorities currently living in the Vojvodina Province of Serbia. Following
the collapse of Yugoslavia, the defenseless Croats of Vojvodina suffered as a result of ethnic cleansing actions carried out by indicted war criminal
Vojislaw Seselj, were forced out of their homes in 1992, and fell victim to further upsurges in ethnic attacks in 1995. Recent violence against Croats and other minorities residing in the Province has been attributed to the resurgence of support for the extremist Serbian Radical Party. Many of these issues were first brought to the attention of the U.S. Congress by NFCA Treasurer Zvonko Labas when he appeared before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus panel with representatives from the Center for Hungarian American Congressional Relations earlier in July.
NFCA officials, together with NFCA lobbyist Joe Foley of Foley Government and Public Affairs Inc., provided a number of suggested amendments to the Resolution which were included in the final version by the Europe Subcommittee. At markup, Chairwoman Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) offered the new language for the Resolution which passed unanimously. The NFCA suggested changes that were accepted as part of the passed bill are illustrated with appropriate quotations markings in the following paragraphs.
In the Preamble: Whereas Serbia and the Serbian people "are encouraged" to remain committed to democratic reforms and regional cooperation, "respect for the rights of all minorities, including in Vojvodina," and integration into Europe and Europe-Atlantic institutions, including NATO and the EU.
In the Resolved clause a new paragraph on the third page: That the House of Representatives (4) "reaffirms the importance of establishing security and stability by respecting and protecting the human rights of all people, including all minority groups throughout Serbia and Montenegro."
During the debate on the Resolution prior to its passage, Chairwoman Davis noted that the legislation "reaffirms the importance of respecting and
protecting the economic, social, cultural, and religious rights of all minorities throughout Serbia including those Hungarian and Croat people, and others, who live in the Vojvodina region as well as those Serbs who live in Kosovo. The Serb people and government must understand that if they are to demand respect for the Serb minority in Kosovo, they themselves must respect the rights of other minorities living in Serbia."
Due to the unique ending nature of this Congress, longtime Europe Subcommittee Staff Director Vince Morelli indicated that H. Res. 726 may see further action in the 'Lame Duck' session now scheduled to begin sometime the week of November 15th. However, Mr. Morelli noted that this is just a possibility due to the many scheduling intangibles on Capitol Hill at this time.
NFCA President Ed Andrus noted on hearing of the passage of the Resolution: "We appreciate the fine work of Chairwoman Jo Ann Davis and her perceptive Subcommittee staff members on these important personal security issues facing Croats and other minorities in the Vojvodina Province. The current situation remains a major concern to the Croatian American community. We are hopeful that the amended language will help the Croats of Vojvodina. Their status has been an issue that has been overlooked by many human rights activists for a long time. This should at least bring this issue to the forefront in America's dealings with Belgrade." Mr. Andrus also cited the important contributions of Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), Ranking Minority Member of the Subcommittee, and Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), as well as their talented staffs, on the success to date for this Resolution.
For further information or a copy of amended H. Res. 726, please contact Mr. Foley via www.foleycoinc.com or Mr. Erik Milman at the NFCA
Washington Office on 202-331-2830.
The NFCA is a national umbrella group of Croatian Americans whose member organizations collectively represent approximately 120,000 members.
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS
1329 Connecticut Ave, NW - Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 331-2830 Fax: (202) 331-0050
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NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CROATIAN AMERICANS TESTIFIES AT CAPITOL HILL BRIEFING CONCERNING STATUS OF CROATS IN VOJVODINA
(Washington, D.C., July 15, 2004). The National Federation of Croatian Americans (NFCA) presented a statement at a briefing on Capitol Hill on July 14, 2004 concerning the status of Croats in Vojvodina, a province of Serbia. The briefing was co-sponsored by the House of Representatives' Human Rights Caucus and Hungarian American Caucus.
In addition to the NFCA, presentations at the briefing were given by Mr. Charles English, the Director of South Central Europe at the U.S. State Department, Mr. Ivan Vujacic, the Ambassador of Serbia and Montenegro to the United States, Mr. Nenad Canak, President of the Vojvodina Parliment, and Mr. Sandor Nagy, President of the Center for Hungarian American Congressional Relations. Treasurer Zvonko Labas presented the statement on the NFCA's behalf. Mr. Labas noted that the centuries' old Croat community in Vojvodina has been subjected to relentless Serbianization pressures. This can best be seen by the drop in the number of Croats in the Province from approximately 138,000 in 1961 to less than 75,000 in 1991.
Mr. Labas noted that the following the collapse of Yugoslavia, the defenseless Croats of Vojvodina suffered as a result of a number of ethnic cleansing actions carried out by, among others, indicted war criminal Vojislav Seselj. The most well-known of these attacks occurred in the village of Hrtkovci where approximately 350 Croat families were forced out of their homes in 1992. A further upsurge of violence against Croats in the Province occurred in 1995. The tragic results of these campaigns condoned and encouraged by the Serbian government can be seen in the census figures for 2002 which show that only 56,637 Croats remain in Vojvodina, 25% less than the previous decade. Mr. Labas pointed out that observers have noted that many villages which had previously had Croatian majorities have since become purely or majority Serb villages.
Unfortunately, Croats and other minorities in Vojvodina have recently once again been the victims of renewed attacks coinciding with the recent rise in political fortunes of Seselj's Serbian Radical Party. Mr. Labas listed a number of "incidents" which have occurred since December 2003 alone, including attacks against the Croatian Home in Somobor, the toppling of a bust of Matija Gubec (a 16th century Croatian peasant leader) in the Croatian-populated village of Tavankut, anonymous death threats made to consular authorities of the Republic of Croatia in Subotica and the staff of the Croatian-language weekly Hrvatski rijec, the desecration of Catholic graves in a cemetery in Subotica and in Backa Monostor, and the breaking of windows of the Franciscan monastery in Subotica. Mr. Labas noted that just earlier this month, during the night of July 2-3, 2004, the Catholic cemetery in Somobor was hit, with 20 Hungarian, Croat, and other graves damaged.
Mr. Labas argued that "these incidents are tied to the resurgence of support for the extremist Serbian Radical Party. The SRP unabashedly calls for the creation of a Greater Serbia, at the expense of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina . . . . Since its members cannot conceivably turn their violence against internationally recognized sovereign states, they can only do so against [unarmed] minority groups within their borders." While Mr. Labas noted with approval that the Croats of Vojvodina had recently won the right to educate their children in the Croatian language, he expressed concern that the growth in power of such openly racist parties as the Serbian Radical Party presents a threat to the continued stability of the region and to the "day to day lives of Croats and other minorities living in Vojvodina."
In addition to Mr. Labas, Erik Milman, the NFCA's Director of Development, and Joseph Foley, the NFCA's Government Relations Director, attended the briefing.
Mr. Edward Andrus, the President of the NFCA, commented afterwards that he was very pleased that the NFCA was able to bring to the attention of American elected officials an issue which has been clearly overlooked by many human rights organizations. "The Croats of Vojvodina have been subjected to an unprecedented level of ethnic cleansing in the past decade. Western institutions, agencies, and governments have brought pressure to bear on other players in the region to reverse the effects of ethnic cleansing, and they need to now step-up pressure on Belgrade with respect to Vojvodina. Clearly, this has also become an issue of concern to America's Hungarian community and it should become one of concern to American Slovaks as well, as both their minority counterparts have recently experienced increased harassment in Vojvodina. Hopefully, our contribution in this matter will serve as a catalyst to initiate needed changes in the Province."
The NFCA is a national umbrella organization of Croatian-American groups which collectively have approximately 130,000 members.
For more convention information, please call Joe Foley, Government Relations Director, at 301-294-0937 or Erik Milman, the NFCA's Director of Development, at the NFCA's headquarters in Washington at 202-331-2830 or by email at NFCAhdq@aol.com.
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THE ROLE OF CROATIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE 21ST CENTURY
By John Peter Kraljic
Why is role of Croatian immigrants today so important? It is not only important because those of us who are present today are part of that immigrant community. It is also of significance because Croatian immigrants are and have been deeply tied to the Croatian people as a whole. In order to more clearly see where we are as a community and where we are going, it is important for us to first examine, in general terms, how Croatian immigrants interacted with the Homeland in the past.
As far back as the era of the Turkish invasions, Croats began to emigrate to other areas. Today we find remnants of these first migrations of the Croatian people in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, etc. But these first immigrants, if we may call them that, are different that those of more modern times. These people settled in their new homelands as large, compact groups, even forming, in some areas the overwhelming majority of the local population, which allowed them, even hundreds of years later, to continue to use their language on an everyday basis. More importantly, unlike newer immigrants, these first migrants essentially broke contact with their old homeland - they never looked back.
Modern immigrants, those who began to settle in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Europe from the mid-19th century forward, in contrast to these first migrants, generally maintained their ties with the Homeland. The majority of these immigrants were at first men, many of them married, who went to the New World and elsewhere for the purpose of making money for their families and loved ones in Croatia.
The earnings of these immigrants had a dramatic, perceptible impact on everyday life in Croatia. For instance, in Omisalj, on Krk Island, my father?s birthplace, American immigrants, beginning in the 1920s, collectively raised money to bring electricity and water to the town and to build a new church. I believe that it is a rare church in Croatia which does not have some item donated by a local immigrant. Few are the towns which do not have at least one house built by immigrant money. As far back as the beginning of the 20th century, the then American consul in Rijeka had this to say about his impressions of the village of Vrata, a village in Gorski Kotar off the Rijeka-Zagreb highway where, he noted, "a whole street may be seen, the houses fronting upon which were constructed with the earnings of returned emigrants."
For the most part these new immigrants were manual, unskilled workers, many illiterate. However, there were among them also intellectuals and leaders who brought with them ideas concerning the need to change the political status of Croatia.
We should initially mention that previously there had been individuals who sought assistance for Croatia from abroad well before the period of mass emigration in the late 19th century.
We first see such instances during the times of the Turkish invasions when the local nobility could not hold back the Turks on their own. A most interesting example is the case of 82 year old Lord Bernardin Frankapan who in 1522 journeyed to Nuremberg where, addressing an assembly of German notables of the Holy Roman Empire in Latin, Frankapan pleaded for assistance: "I come to you, great barons and glorious lords, to proclaim to you with the living word the extent of destruction which is threatening first Croatia, and afterwards and your lands in the neighborhood of Croatia, and to especially remind you that Croatia is the shield of and the gate to Christianity. I beg you in the name of all Croatia, indeed, in the name of all Christianity, that you for once give held to that land, which, for which there is no other example, alone has been beating back Turkish attacks since the day Constantinople fell. . . . If you leave us without help, one of the two following things will happen: either the Croats will accept the offers of the Turks and thus surrender, or they will leave their hearths and rather wander the world from suffering to suffering rather than coming under Turkish slavery."
In the 17th century, we come across the enigmatic figure of Juraj Krizanic, a Jesuit priest, who traveled to Russia where he propagated a mystical, pan-Slavic commonwealth. The Russian Tsar, not appreciative of these new ideas, exiled Krizanic to Siberia (a forerunner of the scores of Croatian Communists killed or jailed in the Stalinist purges of the 1930s).
In the 19th century another tragic figure, Eugen Kvaternik, traveled throughout Western Europe seeking help for the liberation of Croatia. His faith in Louis Bonaparte as a potential liberator of Croatia shattered by the latter?s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Kvaternik in desperation organized an abortive revolt in the town of Rakovica in eastern Lika resulting in his death 130 years ago.
However, these individuals, though seeking assistance outside of the Homeland, were not in a position to obtain help from any Croatian immigrant community. The late 19th and early 20th centuries presented a completely new situation. Croats now lived in large numbers in North and South America prompting the great Croatian political protagonists, Ante Starcevic, to write to his supporters in the US, and Juraj Strossmayer to send the first Croatian priests to North America.
The First World War, though, may be considered a turning point in the relations between the immigrant community and the Homeland. Certain leading Croatian, along with a number of Slovene and Serb, politicians from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, moved to Rome and later to London where they established the Yugoslav Committee under the presidency of Ante Trumbic.
The Yugoslav Committee, like, as we will see below, almost all future Croatian political movements, sought funds from the Croatian immigrant community to finance its activities. We can state with some degree of certainty that absent this monetary assistance the Committee would have had no success in propagating its vision of the formation of a Yugoslav state. Throughout North and South America, local groups were formed to assist the Committee. In North America, the supporters of the Committee came under the leadership of Don Niko Grskovic, a former priest and publisher of what became one of the few Croatian daily newspapers abroad, Hrvatski svijet.
Under Grskovic?s leadership, Croats in the United States not only gave financial support for the Committee but also began their initial organized lobbying efforts, first, in favor of the Committee?s political programs and, second, in favor of the annexation of Rijeka and Istria to the new Yugoslav state.
The evidence shows that the great majority of Croats in the Americas supported the Yugoslavia?s creation (which, incidentally, contrasts with the great opposition to the Yugoslav Committee among Serbian-Americans). However, this support quickly melted away in the face of new political realities in the Homeland. Don Niko Grskovic, for example, quickly became a great enemy of the Serbian monarchy and later dictatorship in Yugoslavia, advocating its replacement by a new republican and federative Yugoslavia.
The future of political work among immigrants, though, no longer rested on individuals like Grskovic but on newly formed political parties.
In the 20th century, we can separate out four parties which played key roles in Croatian history: the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Ustashi, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The first three of these parties passed at least part of their existence as emigrant political parties. Their leaders lived and worked in North America or Europe, seeking moral and financial assistance from the Croatian immigrants.
We can begin with the HSS. Vladimir Macek and Juraj Krnjevic, the successors to Stjepan Radic as the party?s leaders, spent a great portions of their lives in exile, living in the USA and Canada after World War II. Even prior to the War, Krnjevic spent two decades in exile in Western Europe, while, as is well known, Stjepan Radic traveled throughout Western Europe and Russia in the early 1920s seeking backing for the HSS.
During the period prior to World War II, the major immigrant source of support for the HSS was in Canada where Petar Stankovic, supposedly under the instructions of Stjepan Radic, established the newspaper Hrvatski glas in Winnipeg in 1929 as an organ of the HSS. Two years later, a national organization was founded under Stankovic?s influence and the urging of August Kosutic, Stjepan Radic?s son-in-law who was seeking support for the HSS among the immigrant communities of North America.
While the HSS continued in the pre-World War II period to have massive support within Croatia itself, the Ustashi movement can be described as a true emigrant movement. All its leaders were outside Croatia, including Ante Pavelic and Slavko Kvaternik. Its members were located in camps in Italy. The Ustashi also had a support organization in North America, known as the Domobran name, with a weekly, Hrvatska nezavisna drzava, published in Pittsburgh. They had a relatively large organization among Croatian miners in Belgium and when Belgium authorities shut down this organization in the wake of the 1934 assassination of King Alexander, the Ustashi turned to the immigrant community in America for financial support.
Though the Communists would certainly deny it, the KPJ in the years prior to World War II had been, like the Ustashi, an emigrant political party with few actual members in the Homeland. The leaders of the KPJ were not in Yugoslavia but outside of it. They not only lived in Russia, bit also in Vienna, Prague and Paris. Indeed, they received financial support from some of the same groups of Croatian-Belgium miners to whom the Ustashe had turned!
In America, Communism and, earlier, Socialism, played an important role in the history of the Croatian immigrant community. Many future leaders of the community flirted with these movements. Even Petar Stankovic, the later HSS leader in Canada, had been deported from the United States in 1919 for his radical-left activities. In the USA, Croatian-American Communists had their own organ, published under various names but most commonly known as Narodni glasnik, which even appeared as a daily newspaper in certain periods. Similarly in Canada, the Communists also had a paper which at one point appeared three times a week.
The KPJ also sought and received monetary support from these immigrants. This group of immigrants became so important to the KPJ that it sent a number of delegates to work both among the Croats and other South Slavic immigrants - including Croat Stjepan Cvijic, a former member of the KPJ politburo, and Srdja Prica, a Bosnian-Serb and brother of Ognjen Prica who later entered the annals of Communist iconography. Indeed, one must suspect that there were more Croatian Communists in the Communist Parties of the United States and Canada during the 1930s than in the KPJ as a whole!
The situation as I outlined above generally reflects the political situation in the 1930s among Croatian immigrants. These parties and their followers sought to win over the hearts and minds of the Croatian immigrant community. Each of them had their own "blocks" within the Croatian Fraternal Union (CFU), the largest Croatian organization in North America if not the world. Their newspapers carried on vitriolic polemics against each other. Indeed, one is struck how at that time while a dictatorship ruled in Yugoslavia a person in the US and Canada could freely buy newspapers propagating such different political philosophies as the Communists, the Ustashi and the HSS. In essence, the battle of ideas for the future of Croatia was fought among Croatian immigrants.
As we know, during the Second World War our immigrant community again played a decisive role in the history of the Homeland. The community supported the Partisans (I would not use the word Communists as the community was not as a whole Communist). The support for the Partisans was, in a sense, natural. The Ustashi had become allies of Germany and Italy, the enemies of the US and Canada, and the Ustashi Independent State of Croatia had the audacity to actually declare war on the US a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On the other side, the Chetniks sought to exterminate the Croatian people. The Chetnik?s greatest advocate in North America became the Royal Yugoslav representative, later ambassador, to Washington, Konstantin Fotic, who openly distributed information concerning massacres of Serbs by Croats in order to demonize Croatian-Americans and Croats in general.
Thus, the idea of a new, federative Yugoslavia was one which, in the context of the Second World War, Croats in America almost had to support. The support for this was made somewhat easier to swallow by the continuous, but false, reports of supposed "green" HSS sponsored guerrilla groups working with the "red" Partisans. Croatian organizations, led by the CFU, played an instrumental role in lobbying Allied governments, including the US, to recognize the Partisan movement. Among the Communists, this support was of course more overt (as an interesting side-note, several dozen Croat-Communists in Canada and the US were recruited by the OSS and SOE and parachuted to Yugoslavia to establish liaison between the Western Allies and the Partisans).
The role of immigrants after World War II until 1990 is difficult to assess. There was no longer any large organized base of support for the KPJ among immigrants. Many Croatian Communists returned to Croatia as part of the "Radnik movement;" those remaining in the US and Canada for the most part supported Stalin after his break with Tito. Communist Yugoslavia did maintain contact with the CFU. Indeed, in 1943 the CFU?s leadership was captured by a left-wing, pro-Titoist block. However, the CFU?s Communist connections were severed as a result of McCarthyism and it slowly began to veer toward a benign form (from the viewpoint of Yugoslavia?s rulers) of Croatian nationalism.
Numerous other Croatian immigrant groups held different views on the future of Croatia. For a number of years, the once-again exiled Ante Pavelic and his immediate followers attempted to re-establish their authority. However, Pavelic and the Ustashi were challenged by others, such as Vinko Nikolic, the editor of the newly-formed Hrvatska revija, who, even though they had initially supported the Ustashi movement, on reflection blamed the "poglavnik" for the disaster he had led his people into. Other controversies occurred in the 1970s between a new generation of younger radicals who unfortunately advocated the use of terrorism. There were generational and regional differences, differences concerning the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, differences concerning the meaning of April 10. Other, large numbers of Croats, did not view Croatia?s continued existence in Yugoslavia with any trepidation, an attitude helped by the outwardly friendly relations between the West and Communist Yugoslavia and the relative material prosperity found there in the 1970s and 1980s.
I only began to become politically aware as a Croatian in the mid-1980s and have not studied the matter sufficiently to give an authoritative analysis on this period of time. However, my sense is that it was only in the latter 1980s that the political emigres began to coalesce in some sense around three mainstays: the Croatian National Council, led by Mate Mestrovic, Hrvatska revija and the weekly Nova Hrvatska in London. The latter two especially propagated a liberal (in the sense of pro-democratic) view of Croatia?s future.
Despite this, I believe that as a community we were unprepared for the events of 1989-90. Our community as a whole remained disunited; it had no lobbying groups to speak of. Moreover, contrary to what has become accepted opinion, I do not believe that the immigrant community had an appreciable influence on the newest movement in Croatia, the HDZ.
The HDZ never had an existence as a party in exile, as had been the case with the HSS, the Ustashi and the KPJ. It had been established and developed in the Homeland, among Croats in Croatia. The HDZ of course sought and obtained, as had the HSS, Ustashi and KPJ, financial assistance from the Croatian immigrant community. Dr. Franjo Tudjman saw that monetary assistance as well as moral support from Croatian immigrants would be necessary for his victory and he openly stated that a new relationship had to develop between Croatia and its immigrants.
Unfortunately, such a new relationship was not properly established. The immigrant community supposedly obtained representatives in the Sabor. However, these representatives became in reality the representatives of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). While the representation of Croats from BH in the Sabor is a matter I do not object to in principle, we should not confuse the interests of one of the three constituent nations of BH, a people that are indigenous to BH, with the interests of the Croatian immigrant community. Moreover, the early years of the Tudjman administration saw the establishment of a cabinet level position for Croatian immigrants. This position was subsequently degraded within several years without any proper explanation and has been eliminated.
Along with this, the attitude of Croatian immigrants toward Croatia has become one of disappointment. Partly this is natural. Our community showed incredible unity during the 1991-1995 Homeland War and the war in BH. One can say that whatever differences exist within our community now, they are minor compared to those that existed prior to 1989. With the threat of the physical extermination of Croats removed, this early enthusiasm naturally dissipated.
Partly, this disappointment arises from the continued economic problems in Croatia. Many of our immigrants rushed to invest their hard-earned money in the Homeland only to find it subject to all sorts of bureaucratic incompetence, jealousy, and outright theft. The continued economic distress has unfortunately caused Croatia to fail to achieve an economic boom, like Ireland, also historically an immigrant nation whose recent economic successes have actually led to a reverse-migration, with many Irish immigrants returning to their homeland.
Most importantly, in my view, may be the fact that the attitude of Croatian society toward the immigrants has not changed. Rather than being viewed as a resource to help Croatia become a modern nation, we continue to simply be viewed as a source of money. Our role has essentially become one of a crutch - if the Croats in the Homeland fail to make the difficult economic and financial decisions which they must take in order to develop properly they can always turn to the "Amerikani."
Such an attitude on the part of Croatian society must change. Even though Croatia has financial and economic problems, even though it has deep political divisions, Croatia is nevertheless a sovereign and free state, recognized as such throughout the world. It has a seat at the United Nations and its own national sports teams whose athletes compete (and win) in international competitions. Unlike the situation for most of the 20th century, when such a state was a dream, when political movements striving to change Croatian society had to concentrate their work within the immigrant community, now such political work is properly concentrated in the Homeland.
As a sovereign and independent nation, Croatia now has responsibilities which it must fulfill, including obligations toward its immigrant community. What should the immigrant community seek from Croatia? I propose five points, none of which are outrageous demands and, indeed, some of which were even found among us during the days of Communist Yugoslavia invested in.
First, the Croatian immigrant community in the Americas and Australia and New Zealand must have direct air connections with Croatia. It is inconceivable that close to 12 years since the fall of Communism in Croatia such links do not exist. It is further inconceivable that such links would not be profitable. During the late 1980s, JAT maintained, at the height of the tourist season, six flights a week from New York alone, all of which went to Belgrade, three to Ljubljana and three to Zagreb. There were also links with Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto, as well a with Australia.
These flights not only provided a simple means to connect our communities to Croatia; JAT made tremendous money from the tens of thousands of pilgrims going to Medjugorje. Sadly, I heard over the summer that some pilgrims now again travel by JAT to get to Medjugorje by flying to Tivat in Montenegro from where buses whisk them to Medjugorje. These pilgrims should, of course, be flying to Croatia, to Split or Dubrovnik, perhaps even to Mostar.
Such an air link is also necessary for the proper development of tourism in Croatia. There is much talk within Croatia of "elite" tourism. However, such an elite is here, on this side of the Atlantic. No matter how beautiful we find Croatia to be, most Americans and Canadians are loathe to take vacations subject to the vagaries of connecting flights, lost luggage and inconvenient layovers.
If Croatia Airlines is not willing to have such flights, let the Croatian government encourage competition. Let it ask Delta or another American carrier to organize such a flight once a week for the spring, summer and fall for the tens of thousands of us who journey to Croatia each year. I am sure that such flights will be a money maker to both such a company and to Croatia as a whole.
Second, the Croatian government must promote the study of the Croatian language in our community. A recent study by Fra Ljubo Krasic showed that in 1999 2719 children studied Croatian in Canada and only 452 studied Croatian in the United States. These numbers are simply pathetic. We can talk all we want about how there are supposedly two (some now even say three) million Croatians in the US and Canada. Unless these people know at least the rudiments of the Croatian language our community will disappear. We see this most clearly in the status of Croatian language parishes, especially in the US, where the lack of Croatian speakers has led local dioceses to Americanize churches and parishes which our immigrant forefather built. Moreover, unless the language is learned by our children and grandchildren, the connections between Croatia and its immigrant community will gradually but surely be lost.
The study of Croatian, at least in the US, has been, in my opinion, unsystematic and unregulated. The Croatian government must appoint a person whose responsibility would be to promote the study of the Croatian language among our immigrant community. This again is in its interests as well. Those of our children and grandchildren who retain some knowledge of the mother tongue will continue to promote their connections with Croatia, will continue to visit it, may be even move there. They will continue to be a source of support to whom Croatia can turn should it again face a national crisis.
Third, we should seek the establishment of cultural centers by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at least in the main cultural centers of the world, such as New York, London and Paris. Such a center had been in New York City during the Yugoslav regime. It had a library and sponsored, on a weekly basis, lectures, films, exhibitions, etc. Some of the events presented there included an exhibit of Etruscan treasures from Pula?s archeological museum (whose opening was attended by Vesna Girardi Jurkic, then the museum?s curator and more recently Croatia?s representative to UNESCO), a book presentation by author Slavenka Drakulic, and an exhibit on Yugoslav Jews.
One cannot underestimate the importance of these cultural activities. Some of these events were attended by members of New York?s cultural and political elite. The Drakulic book presentation, for instance, was attended by Gloria Steinman, one of the founders of the feminist movement in the United States. The exhibition of Yugoslav Jews was of interest. This was an exhibit initially shown in Zagreb?s museum space on Jezuitski trg. It?s showing in New York was partially sponsored by a Croatian businessman from Toronto and it was exhibited in the Park East Synagogue off of Park Avenue in the East 60s, one of the most prestigious synagogues in New York. I attended the opening of the exhibit and one of the officials of the Yugoslav Cultural Center remarked to me that the exhibit represented a stroke of genius for their diplomats as they cultivated the support of American Jews for Yugoslavia - a problem which we all faced in our attempts to obtain the support of the same community for Croatia?s independence in the early 1990s.
The importance of such cultural promotion was most recently evidenced in an article in early September in The New York Times. In what, in my opinion, is one of the best articles written about Croatia ever to appear in that newspaper (a paper whose attitude toward Croatia and Croats has never been very friendly), we read about a recent exhibition of treasures of Trogir in Venice. The article was filled with superlatives concerning the exhibit and even quoted one French antiques dealer as saying, "The work was very achieved, not rustic at all. . . . The show made me decide to visit Croatia next year."
Since 1990 there has been a dearth of cultural promotion for Croatia in the United States. As far as I am aware, we have had a number of film festivals, but these were self-organized by our community. There has been no major showing of any Croatian film in any theater in the United States. We have certainly had some interesting films in Croatia in recent years (Crvena prasina, Marsal, Kako je rat poceo na mom otoku, etc.). I believe a cultural center would help in promoting such films. It would also be nice to, at least once in a while, see the works of current Croatian artists displayed in the United States. Any why not an exhibit of Croatian art treasurers in North America? If the New York Times article is any indication, such an exhibit in the major cities of the US and Canada would lead to a tremendous growth in the prestige of Croatia.
These things cannot be the responsibility of our immigrant community. It requires someone on a full-time basis, at the very least a cultural attach? Our own immigrant community can of course assist in certain discrete projects but it must remain and be a professional operation run by a responsible person.
Fourth, Croatia must finally and properly engage in public relations and lobbying. Recently, Croatia?s ambassador to the United States, Ivan Grdesic, was quoted in Vecerniji list as saying that Croatia had no need to retain a public relations firm or a law firm as it would merely be a waste of money. Ambassador Grdesic is no doubt merely repeating the position of Croatia?s government. However, such reasoning is simply short-sighted and wrong.
Communist Yugoslavia knew the importance of promoting its image very well. It retained Kissenger and Associates, one of whose principals included Lawrence Eagleberger. The position taken by people like Eagleberger in the first Bush Administration toward Croatia is well known. We can, moreover, look more recently at the effectiveness of lobbying efforts on Croatia?s behalf. For fiscal year 2000 the US had allocated a mere $20 million to Croatia; for literally several thousand dollars, the National Federation of Croatian Americans retained a professional lobbyist and with the assistance of others, such as California Congressman Radanovich, the allocation was raised to $60 million.
Croatia and Croatian society must stop seeking financial assistance directly from the Croatian immigrant community. For us as a community to raise $1 million or $10 million would be a tremendous feat. But it is clearly more effective for Croatia to properly invest in professional lobbyists to obtain ten times as much money from the US government, a government that Americans, including Croatian-Americans, financially support. We cannot allow Serbia, for example, to receive $1.2 billion in aid from the West while Croatia receives a relative pittance. We need a lobbyist and it is something for which the Croatian government must allocate funds.
Fifth, we should seek the opening of offices of a Chamber of Commerce in New York, as had (again) existed during Communist Yugoslavia. We all do what we can to promote Croatian business in our day-to-day lives in the US and Canada. However, what is required is a professional organization promoting investment and business opportunities in Croatia.
The question is what is then our role as a community. First, the immigrant community continues to have great influence in Croatia (unfortunately it is often greater in Croatia that it is here). We must demand that the Croatian government undertake the five responsibilities I have outlined above. As we saw, until now assistance exclusively went from the Croatian communities abroad to the Homeland. This must be balanced by some assistance now coming to our communities on this side of the "pond."
Second, we still have a political role to play within Canada and the US, both of which are NATO members and both of which have an important influence in BH. Primarily, we are the voters on whom the lobbyists need to rely in making their case. We must write to and meet with our elected representatives in a joint campaign with these professional lobbyists to raise budgetary allocations for Croatia.
In addition to financial issues, there remain important political issues for which our voices must be heard. The most important of these issues concerns the defense of the political and civil the rights of Croats in BH. We may all have differing opinions of the HDZ in BH, of Ante Jelavic, of Croatian government policy toward BH. Some whose families may not be from BH may even adopt the attitude that we should simply wash our hands of the "troublesome Hercegovci." However, this is a myopic view. BH is a neighbor of Croatia, with which Croatia shares its longest border. It is in Croatia?s interests to assure stability in that country and that the rights of the Croats in that country, a natural lobby group for Croatia, are protected. We must fight on this issue no matter what the political thoughts are in Zagreb concerning BH Croats.
We must also work on pointing out the flaws associated with the prosecution of war criminals in the Hague. I continue to be amazed that the indictment against Slobodan Milosevic for crimes in Croatia has only been recently released, 10 years since the war broke out in Croatia, while the Prosecutors office at the ICTY has yet to issue such an indictment with respect to BH. The ICTY recently and inexplicably released Blanka Plavisic on her own recognizance to go to Belgrade, a country which still does not cooperate with the ICTY, even though she has been indicted for genocide. Other major war criminals, guilty for the deaths of hundred of thousands, remain at large in Serbia and Republika Srpska. While this is going on, the Prosecutor?s office insists on questionable extraditions of Croatian generals. Whether such officers committed any crimes is beyond my ability to say, but it is a fact that we are talking of several hundred Serb deaths, a small handful in comparison to the hundreds of thousands killed in Croatia and BH by Serb forces. A sense of balance must be restored to the work of the ICTY and we must make this one of our primary goals as a community.
Finally, and looking a bit into the future, it is possible that Croatia may one day wish to join NATO. In that case, our support for this in Canada and the US could prove crucial.
I would just like to close with my views of the specific role of Canadian Croatians, though I do not claim any competence in this. As I noted above, Canada, as a NATO member, plays an important role in Croatia and BH. Your influence in Ottawa will assure that such a role is proper and fair to Croats. Moreover, as a Francophone nation, you may be able to also play a role in turning public opinion in France, which, for whatever reason, still sees in today?s Serbia the ally it had in the First World War almost a century ago, toward a more favorable viewpoint of Croatia. There are not large numbers of Croats living in France proper; you may yourselves be able to play such a role by especially being cognizant of and responding to inaccuracies and exaggerations concerning Croatia which may be found in the French media.
Thank you for your time and patience. |
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