The former Croatian general
was ordered to expel the Serbs from Croatia
One of the most famous generals of the
former Yugoslavia Republic, Ante Gotovina has been recently
arrested on the Canary Islands. The arrest showed that Croatia, which used
to consider Gotovina its national hero, virtually disavowed the general.
Two other war criminals, Radovan Karadzic
and Ratko Mladic, are still hiding from the International Tribunal. The
Canaries will not be the place, where they can be probably found. 
As it usually happens, the general,
who is accused of committing acts of repression and murder against the
Croatian Serbs in Krajina, was executing the will of the country, which
betrayed him under a new political situation. Krajina's Serbs declared
their independence on Zagreb and expelled the
Croatian population from the region. However, Croatia retrieved its
control over the rebellious Krajina as a result of secret talks between
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and his Serbian counterpart Slobodan Milosevic.
Milosevic is currently jailed in The
Hague, while Tudjman deceased when he was still acting as the president.
It was Tudjman, who was greatly interested in expelling Croatian Serbs
from Krajina to Serbia. One may say that the
now-arrested General Ante Gotovina organized the event in Krajina, which
was typical for the 20th century under the condition of "population
exchange." The general did not have to worry about his future: he was
commanding the victorious army.
It can be seen now that a war victory
does not cost much. Winning a war, retrieving territorial integrity and
launching economic reforms is not enough. A country has to take account of
other countries' standards, with which it wants to co-exist. Croatia did not have a choice.
It is worth mentioning that President Stipe Mesic (who used to be in an
opposition to his predecessor Franjo Tudjman) and Prime Minister Ivo
Sanader (the leader of Tudjman's party) stated that the general's arrest
testified to responsibility and honesty of the Croatian administration,
which claimed earlier that Ante Gotovina was hiding outside the country's
territory.
It is the Croatian government that is
responsible for the expulsion of Serbs from Krajina. This government is
taking the country to NATO and the EU now. Carla del Ponte, Chief
Prosecutor at The Hague has already welcomed
the arrest of the most wanted war criminal. When the Croatian government
conducts negotiations about the country's membership in the European
Union, the arrested general will be testifying at the Hague Tribunal for
executing the commands of irresponsible politicians.
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