The agency DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur), which is reported by most of the most important media in the German-speaking area, in an article these days addressed school textbooks in Serbia and Croatia, for which it is written that young people from both countries are taught to hate each other.
"Even after 25 years since the breakup of Yugoslavia, there has hardly been a confrontation with that war. Instead, students in Serbia and Croatia learn a one-sided and ahistorical version of the past," states DPA at the beginning.
The historian from Serbia, Aleksandar Miletić, is quoted as saying that in history classes, students there are "taught intolerance and hatred", for which he cites an example of a textbook for the third grade of high school, in which it is written that throughout the centuries it has been shown that Albanians, Montenegrins and Bosniaks are to the core corrupt, while the Serbs always acted with the purest moral intentions.
"The most important history textbooks in Croatia and Serbia indoctrinate children and incite them against their neighbors. In textbooks, everything is presented in black and white without gray areas. The position of one's own people as a victim is already proven in the study of the 19th century. Any blame is always absolutely on the other side. Terrible crimes committed by members of their own people are regularly described as "revengeful actions by individuals" and thus downplayed. While "we" were always peaceful and wanted to resolve conflicts exclusively through diplomatic means, "they" were only engaged in aggressive conquests", DPA describes the general tone of history textbooks in Croatia and Serbia, reports Index.hr.
It is stated that in Croatia it is taught that the independence of the state is actually a reaction to the centuries-old desire of the Serbs to rule over the Croats, while students in Serbia are taught that the Serbs have always only defended themselves against "fascist Croatian nationalism" and that otherwise they would have been exterminated.
Serbia, on the other hand, presents itself as a model democracy, which is unfortunately a constant victim of the "world conspiracy", and in one textbook you can literally find the following sentence: "What failed in the Second World War for fascist Croatia, the Euro-American democracies did later." It refers to the "disappearance of Serbs" from Croatia, and the "Austrian-German conspiracy" against Serbia is also mentioned.
"What both sides ignore is that they themselves are working to deepen the problems in mutual relations", writes DPA and reminds that in both countries fascist criminals are rehabilitated, and "historical figures who are a thorn in the side of the other side" are especially celebrated.
Then it is not surprising that even today many problems remain unresolved between the two states, such as the missing in war, payment of compensation, agreement on demarcation, states DPA and states that the fundamental problem is the refusal to talk about the victims and trauma of the other side.
The article ends by mentioning the statement of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who said that a lot of water will flow through the Danube before Croatia and Serbia become friends. Her statement was described as undiplomatic and cited as an example of deepening problems between the two neighboring countries.
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