Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/doi.org/10.52328/t.7.2.3
Against “Equalising the Victim and Aggressor”: Croatian War Veterans' Associations on Serbs
Sven Milekić
; Democracy Institute, Central European University
Sažetak
During the 1990s war in Croatia, veterans founded numerous associations which advocated an improvement of welfare and quickly grew into powerful para-political organisations tied to the dominant political party, the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). Associations held conservative worldviews and promoted a specific narrative about the war brought to life by Croatian President Franjo Tuđman. This dominant narrative, upheld by political elites across the spectrum, promotes a simplified and sanitised account of the war as a “Greater-Serbian aggression”, set upon a strict dichotomy between the victim (Croats) and aggressor (Serbs). Veteran associations promoted this dichotomy as one of the major stratifications of contemporary Croatian society, which demotes the native Serb minority as second-class citizens, blaming them for starting the war. With their rhetoric and activities, associations and their leaders mobilised against everything they saw as a concession to the losing sides – Serbs – keeping the status quo and the victim-aggressor dichotomy intact. Aside of nationalistic reasons, associations looked at the potential concessions at each side – veterans and Serbian minority – through the zero-sum game lenses. Thus, whatever concessions are given to Serbs, it inevitably brings losses to veteran. This is why veteran associations used extreme anti-Serb rhetoric to battle the national minority, framing the concessions, based on law, as attempts to “equalise the victim and aggressor”. Associations focused a lot on three key issues arising from the post-war period: a) return of the refugees, reconstruction and reconciliation; b) prosecution of war crimes; c) minority rights and culture. The paper will analyse veteran rhetoric and contentious activities, using media sources and archival documentation from associations and different state institutions to show how veterans effectively blocked the Serbian minority from
freely using their rights and freedoms in the post-war period.
Ključne riječi
Croatian 1990s war; war veterans; Serbs; minority rights; culture wars
Hrčak ID:
323523
URI
Datum izdavanja:
13.12.2024.
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