Category: Opinions

 HRVATSKA I HRVATI MOGU, AKO ZELE… Od hrvatskog osamostaljenja i sve do danas Hrvatska drzava nije do sada uspjela u svijetu zauzeti vidno mjesto kao sto to uspjevaju hrvatski sportasi. Od sjajnog ratnog…

 In response to a letter to the Slobodna Dalmacija in March, from Frank Brozovich, President of the Croatian American Association, Rudolf Arapovic said on the internet: “I had this idea about Vis–NATO base…

 To: premijer@vlada.hr Cc: Ured@Predsjednik.hr, Predsjednik@sabor.hr, Glasnogovornik@mvp.hr Gosp. Racan Predsjednik Vlade Republike Hrvatske Zagreb, Hrvatska Postovani gosp. Racan, Sa velikim razocaranjem citamo nevjerovatne vijesti da hrvatska Vlada zeli opozvati generalnog konzula u Chicagu Domagoja Solu. Gosp. Sola je jedan od rijetkih zaista sposobnih hrvatskih konzula…

Wonderful, enlightening, and educational discussion which I didn’t get to read until now due to Easter preparations. I grew up in Miami (where my father still lives) and love it there, too. Great city…however crime-ridden it is! Much of what you both (Davor and Adrianna) say is very true. How to change it is another story. I think we all do what we can, on however a small scale that may be. I am an elected school board member so I try on a daily basis to encourage our school district to begin foreign language instruction at early ages for our children. What I am finding is that everyone (here) agrees with me, but money—-as usual—-is a huge obstacle. In America, we depend on the taxpayers for monies to run our schools and we (my school district/community) have a huge levy ($$$) on the ballot for May because our state (OH) supposedly has run out of money for education. It is very frustrating! The diversity issue and the racial issues are ones with which we contend on a daily basis. Educated people fight the system and the social mores but again, it is difficult to see any major progress so we can only do what we can do….inch by inch, person by person. True, there are many “ugly Americans” but then again, there are many wonderful people who live here who are educated and compassionate sorts who try to buck the system. I guess what I would like to say is that there are social ills and political problems and economic sores in all countries and if we all can take the time to get to know one another on a person by person basis, then we will be able to break through those barriers and find that we have more in common than we may think. All I can say is that people had better start getting along in the future or we won’t have anything left of our world. It’s a scary place right now, as we all know. I understand what you say about perceptions of America politics/military might and I agree with most of it. Again, how to change it is mind-boggling. So I continue to dance kolos and play tamburitza music. I believe that Croatian people not only have a very rich and beautiful folkloric heritage but that part of the reason that this heritage has been so much a part of everyday life, is that it truly is an escape from the realities of life. Melissa Pintar Obenauf Distributed by www.CroatianWorld.net. This message is intended for Croatian Associations/Institutions and their Friends in Croatia and in the World. The opinions/articles expressed on this list do not reflect personal opinions of the moderator. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please delete or destroy all copies of this communication and please, let us know!

 “…once we conquer our fears and open the way for our creative energy to rush out and blossom into life.” Dear Suzanne and Jean, you’re both right and both wrong. I don’t think…

 ——————————— >Olympic coverage is now excellent for Janica Kostelic. She is making history >in Alpine skiing. SutrA magazine – New York > >Not so long ago, it was 1976. editorial in the New York Times observed…

———————- Dragi Hrvati(ce), oprostite sto je ovo na engleskom, ali trenutak je povijesno vazan, nadasve … … u engleskom medijskom podrucju … Dear Croats in North America and elsewhere, With all the attention of the media now focussed on our Golden Janica and with the ‘Butcher of the Balkans’ now under trial … it is a rather favorable moment that we INDIVIDUALLY use our media-related talents and do as much as we can, individually and jointly, at removing years of lies concerning Croatia(ns) in the English-speaking media … or simply – to enhance the positive image of Croatia(ns). Whether you will write a brief letter to your local journal or talk to the people in your Parish or just to a few friends, please notice: NOW is one of those magic moments in time when we all have to ACT – that will surely results in brighter future for our children everywhere (as north American media are powerfull). It is nice to celebrate Janica’s victories, but we ALL count and given the fact that we have far too many enemies and that the old dream of greater Serbia is still alive (ses the message below) now is the time to act, positively and responsibly. Thanks in advance, on behalf of all our children, Davor Pavuna —— WELCOME TO IWPR’S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 319, February 20, 2002 COMMENT: SERBS IN NO MOOD TO REPENT Western leaders are kidding themselves if they think the Milosevic trial will prompt Serbs to reassess the former Yugoslav president’s nationalist legacy. By Petar Lukovic from Belgrade A not particularly intelligent journalist from the West might be impressed by the fact that Slobodan Milosevic is defending himself, just like in the film “Home Alone”. But having lived all these years under Milosevic and his wife Mira, not a single word said by SM at The Hague comes as news to me. I have heard it all a thousand times. I have heard how he defended Yugoslavia, believed in peace and tried to find a solution for all its peoples and nationalities. That he is neither a nationalist nor a racist. That he did nothing bad in Kosovo, nor in Bosnia and Croatia. That he was against the bombing of Sarajevo. That it is not true that the Serbian army and p olice killed a single civilian. I get a distinct feeling of “deja vu” hearing all this. It is as if Milosevic had come back like a boomerang, repeating all the specious remarks that tripped off his tongue when he ruled Serbia for all those years. In addressing the Kosovo conflict first, the tribunal began with the wrong topic. That clumsy act gave Milosevic the chance to attack The Hague with all the weapons he has at his disposal. Now, every time Milosevic is questioned on Serb crimes against the Albanians, he’ll immediately counter with evidence of NATO crimes against Serb and Albanian civilians. He is not going to let the court off the hook over the alliance bombing, which is, let’s face it, his trump card. The impression given by the court is that Kosovo was the start of Milosevic’s own jihad. But where are Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and the events that took place earlier? A debate on NATO’s bombing can only make sens e after a debate on the previous wars. So what now? Since Milosevic’s fictional account of himself as a peace-maker directly collides with the Balkan casualty toll – more than 300,000 killed, more than 2 million expelled, more than half a million wounded – one logical question is whether this trial will help the Serbs confront his legacy? You might think this was a real opportunity, if not for total catharsis, then for the start of a settling of accounts for all the lost years. To begin with, one might imagine there would be a reassessment of the roles played by some of the nationalist academics, such as Dobrica Cosic, Vasilije Krestic, Mihajlo Markovic, other intellectuals who were so imbued with chauvinism, like Momo Kapor, Dragos Kalajic, Brana Crncevic and Matija Beckovic, and of war-mongering criminals such as Vojislav Seselj, Milan Lukic and Veselin Sljivancanin. Serbs must at some stage come to terms with their recent past. But it won’t be any time soon. Suffice it to say that they will not be switching on trial coverage to experience some sort of catharsis. At least, it would be naïve to think so. The feelings of the average Serb, who nowadays is in love with the new nationalist Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica, are that Milosevic is not guilty. If he is guilty, so they will tell you in strict confidence, it is only because he did not deliver what he promised. We are dealing with a loser. Why don’t we have a Serbian Zagreb, a Serbian Rijeka, a Serbian Karlovac, or a Serbian Dubrovnik, they ask? Where are the Serbs in Croatia? Did we bomb Sarajevo for all those years just so it could fall into the hands of the enemy? Today’s Serbia is marketing itself as a modern, democratic country, dedicated to the ideas of transition and globalisation. But it is still very far from meeting European standards, not only because it refuses to extradite the war c riminals who freely stroll around Belgrade, such as Milan Milutinovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Ratko Mladic and Veselin Sljivancanin, but because Milosevic’s spirit, like it or not, still rules Serbia. It is incapable of facing the past, and above all, incapable of facing the reality that Serbia is not Yugoslavia, that it has no claims to Croatia, Bosnia, or, to everyone’s deep sorrow, to Kosovo. To hope that The Hague might pave the way for a collective Serbian catharsis is about as realistic as thinking that Kosovo will remain in Serbia or that Slovenia will be so good as to ask to rejoin some form of Yugoslavia. There can be no reassessment of Milosevic’s legacy as long as the new authorities maintain their ambivalent attitude to the criminal past; as long as the question of responsibility is seen as relative; as long as Momcilo Perisic, the “Knight of Mostar” and an ex-general who brought misfortune to so many cities, sits in th e Serbian government; and as long as the extreme nationalist Vojislav Seselj propounds his extreme version of Kostunica’s own policy. As the Milosevic trial gets underway, I see little sign that ordinary Serbs are remotely interested in drama unfolding in The Hague. People go about their business as usual. The cafes are full. The few people who are employed go to work. The beggars work in three shifts. And as far for me, I see no reason why I should sit at home in front of the TV and listen to Slobodan Milosevic when I was forced to do so for the passt 14 years. Petar Lukovic is a leading Belgrade commentator Distributed by www.CroatianWorld.net. This message is intended for Croatian Associations/Institutions and their Friends in Croatia and in the World. The opinions/articles expressed on this list do not reflect personal opinions of the moderator. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please delete or destroy all copies of this communication and please, let us know!