Neo-Nazis Cheer at Croatia's War Rally Croatia's 'Operation Storm' was described by Nebojsa Malic thus:
"...According to Serb documentation, the three-day offensive in August 1995 resulted in the expulsion of 220,000 people. Some 1,943 people have been listed as missing/presumed dead, including 1199 civilians, 523 women, and 12 children. The death toll would have been greater had the Serbs not fled en masse before the advancing Croat tanks; all who stayed behind were killed. The Croats, and their American sponsors, were definitely not squeamish." The 10th anniversary of the Operation was recently held in Knin, the former capital of the Serb enclave. It attracted Neo-Nazis and regular folks who derided their president as a 'gypsy' when he urged tolerance for minorities, and cheered instead for the twin 'Antes'- Ante Gotovina, the former general now wanted by the Hague, and Ante Pavelic, his WWII Nazi predecessor (on him see here). I posted a blog with the original Neo-Nazi article here . That website also speaks of the hardships faced by Roma in post-war Croatia, which would be at the head of the pack among West Balkan EU aspiring nations, were it not for Gotovina's having gone AWOL. Until he resurfaces (if ever), the Croats - who are basically considered the most 'civilized' of the West Balkanians after Slovenia - can continue to take pride in their magnificent achievement. At which point they will take more pride in 'Ante,' and angrily denounce the West for stripping them of their hero. As is happening elsewhere in the Balkans, the influence of radical parties will grow. For better or for worse, the Balkans cannot possibly be assimilated by the EU, unless you change everything in the collective consciousness that makes it a unique region. Through instruments like the Hague, the West hopes to shame the Balkanians into accepting their values (which have long degenerated into hollow rhetoric anyway). It's not working and it never will. Especially here in Macedonia, there is incredible pressure from the powers-that-be to do everything with one goal in mind: EU assimilation. When they say that there is no other option, this just means that the other option is war. Their frantic diplomacy, condemnations and orders are all meant to avert war. They are terrified of this possibility. But the people who would be affected by such an event aren't scared at all. And some are even looking forward to it. Bruce Hornsby once lamented:'that's just the way it is; some things will never change.' The EU would never expect it, but they will have to change if they want to eat up the Balkans. They have made the perilous mistake of confusing indigenous fatalism and indifference with enthusiastic acceptance of their values. http://www.antiwar.com/blog/comments.php?id=P2279_0_1_0 Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
