The request of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) - that Montenegro pay war reparations to Croatia before joining the European Union (EU) is unrealistic, but it should neither be overestimated nor underestimated.
This was assessed by the interlocutors of "Vijesti", commenting on the HAZU document on the protection of Croatian national interests during negotiations with Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia on the entry of our country and two neighboring countries into the EU, which it recently sent to the local authorities.
Montenegro is requested, among other things, to pay for the damage caused during the aggression against Croatia, especially to the cultural heritage and to return the cultural treasures that were taken away. They are looking for guaranteed mandates for Croats in the Parliament of Montenegro and to finally determine the land border, especially the demarcation at sea.
Retired professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, Žarko Puhovski, he assessed for "Vijesti" that HAZU did not explicitly deal with politics for a long time, but now decided to do so, "showing that it does not have enough practice".
"In the document, they listed some of the problems with all the neighboring countries, but they are trying to deal with those problems - with an axe, not a scalpel. The Academy would be expected to take into account, in the name of objectivity, some demands that other parties have towards Croatia, but there is no question of that. So all these requests are, in principle, topics that neighboring countries should discuss. There are arguments on the Croatian side, but there are also on other sides," said Puhovski.
He pointed out that the publication of the list requires "an aggressive element in itself", stating that the Croatian Academy does not need it.
"Nor is that list of requirements realistic to impose on the neighbors," he said.
Puhovski said that he is the president of Croatia Zoran Milanovic welcomed and supported the requests of HAZU, while the Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic he didn't say anything.
"That's typical for both of them. Milanović is in favor of quarrels wherever possible, while Plenković is against quarrels where perhaps there should be".
Puhovski assessed that until now HAZU dealt with some internal matters - the issue of language and issues of the so-called gender ideology, but they did not deal with international issues at all.
"It seems to me that the motive for this move by HAZU is for it to join a wave of right-wing pressure on Prime Minister Plenković, to be less dependent on Brussels - 'Brussels chato', and to be more like Milanović on the defense of national interests - a 'sovereignist'. The right has the feeling - and this is typical for the right anywhere in the world - that our government is not really ours, because, let's say, it backs down too much in the face of external pressures", said Puhovski.
The majority of Montenegrin parties did not answer the question of "Vijesti" - how they comment on the demands of HAZ.
MP and leader of DEMOS Miodrag Lekić, he assessed that the expressed views of HAZU should neither be overestimated nor underestimated, "even if they reminded us of already seen nationalist outbursts from several sides in the Balkans".
"In any case, there is no need to answer Đukanović's the earlier style of war incitement and nationalist reclamations, when he even hated chess because of the chessboard. Nor his later other extreme, when everything was subordinated, even the inferior status of Montenegro in bilateral relations, his aspirations that Croatia forgive him everything and welcome him in Zagreb".
Lekić said that the mentioned voices from the Academy do not represent only some kind of tribal understanding of national culture, nor are they just one bizarre incident, but they are even an open call to seize a part of the territory of another state, in this case the Montenegrin state.
"Instructions were also given to the Croatian state to take Mamula, resolve the issue of Prevlaka exclusively in its favor, take patronage over segments of culture that are primarily part of the historical and cultural heritage of the Montenegrin state, and then to reorganize the Montenegrin electoral system. And everything is connected with the Croatian mechanism of stopping the integration of Montenegro into the European Union. A mechanism similar to the one with which Bulgaria, with the right of veto, conditions North Macedonia," Lekić said.
He assessed that in the current situation, on the one hand, the public level of parapolemics should be avoided, but also the silence that expresses the inferiority and servitude mentality that the Montenegrin political elite often exhibits depending on the assessment of the balance of power and their political and commercial goals.
Until clear state-cultural coordinates are defined in Montenegro, which, says Lekić, should be jointly determined here, we should expect denial of Montenegro as a stable and serious state from many sides, from all neighbors.
Ultimately, he adds, pretensions of a territorial character.
"And this has already been repeated in one form or another from the nationalist mantras of all neighboring countries. At the same time, a lot depends on us. "It will be difficult for us to pass our test of historical maturity and, in general, the ability of a seriously organized state in the conditions of the duration of frivolous internal experiments," said Lekić.
Former president of the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) and now leader of the non-parliamentary Croatian Reform Party (HRS) Marija Vučinović, she said that the authors of the HAZU document obviously did not read the Montenegrin Constitution, because the representatives of that minority already received everything that belongs to them according to that act.
She apostrophized that the Croatian minority cannot get guaranteed mandates in the state parliament, because the local Constitution does not recognize that.
"If they had studied the Constitution, the representatives of HAZU, who wrote that document, would have been aware that the Croats in Montenegro got everything that the Constitution provides. From 2006 and the independence of Montenegro until 2016, Croats worked to improve their status and obtain the benefits provided by the Constitution. The first is that Croats entered the parliament, the second is that they fought for positive discrimination - getting a 0,35 percent quota for a parliamentary representative - while the third is that the Croatian language became equal with other languages".
As for the other demands of HAZU, she emphasized that she supports the return of land and cultural treasures to their owners as soon as possible. "We support any solution that will lead the two countries - Montenegro and Croatia - to further friendly relations".
Member of the Democratic Front (DF) Jovan Vučurović, he assessed that document as "a frivolous story", which is essentially anti-European. He said that HAZU thereby shows bad faith, but also reveals how one can abuse the position when you are a member of the EU.
"We too could open many stories about Croatia's role in these areas in the last hundred years, and we would come across anything and everything, from genocide to the destruction of the cultural heritage of many peoples, especially the Serbs," said Vučurović.
He pointed out that it is clear that the story of HAZU is not against the background of European values, but the result of intolerance and that "it precisely targets Serbia and the Serbian people in the Republic of Srpska and Montenegro and should not be viewed in a different context."
"DF advocates for Montenegro to be part of the EU, but this does not mean that we want to renounce our traditional values, our SPC, language and nationality. We respect others, but we ask to be respected, regardless of the fact that we are one of the smallest countries in Europe".
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ranko Krivokapić, he recently said that Montenegro bears responsibility for what happened on the Dubrovnik battlefield, but that part of the damage was paid back then, in some agreements, primarily for the farms in Konavle. "In my contacts with the Croatian state, I think I received a clear message - that what needs to be nurtured in Montenegro is the culture of memory".
The Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts previously said that the HAZU proposal is not a path to dialogue.
"Such documents are more recommendations for a possible ultimatum to their political elites than others, and less advice that leads to a compromise".
Lekić: Montenegro is passive on the issue of Prevlaka
Miodrag Lekić assessed that the causes should also be sought in the total passivity of the Montenegrin state regarding border issues with Croatia, above all, regarding the resolution of the Prevlaka issue:
"If we won a resolution of the OUN Security Council 30 years ago, when the top of Prevlaka temporarily became a 'no man's land' due to the sending and multi-year presence of international forces there, which enabled us to fight through diplomacy for a just the final solution - later Montenegrin diplomacy did not deal with it at all. The Montenegrin public was constantly and shamelessly deceived about activities that actually did not exist".
He pointed out that Croatia showed more initiatives around Prevlaka, as a more serious country, representing its legitimate interests, without a serious partner from the Montenegrin side.
"The seriousness of the reaction from the Montenegrin side should be based on the premise that today Croatia is a democratic country with which a serious dialogue should be conducted. That we need to be at the level of state dignity, that we first know what we want in our state interests and that we resolve disputes in a calm and peaceful way and improve our cooperation".
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ranko Krivokapić, speaking about Prevlaka, said that there is a temporary regime that works very well, but that it should also be negotiated as a path to the EU. "The subject of dispute for Montenegro is the border on land, for Croatia it is only the border at sea, and we have to solve that basic problem there. If we solve the entrance problem, then we will do the rest according to the conventions on the law of the sea".
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