Serbs and Yugoslavia were Under Attack, Not Croatia

In the exclusive interview, Franjo Tuđman’s Internal Affairs Minister Josip Boljkovac admitted Croat leadership carried out planned attacks on Croatia Serbs in 1991, in order to start a war. “Tuđman wanted the war at any cost, following the concept according to which Serbs must disappear from Croatia,” Boljkovac said.

Croat media censored reports from Boljkovac’s testimony at the trial against former Osijek mayor Branimir Glavaš, war criminal responsible for horrific crimes against the local Serbs, concealing parts of his testimony which charge Croatia with instigating the war.

“During the testimony, Glavaš accused me of persecuting him because he destroyed the bridge on river Drava in Osijek [Croatia]. He claimed he had destroyed the bridge to protect the town from JNA [Yugoslav National Army] tanks, and I responded that, at the time, JNA was a regular army of an internationally recognized state, while Croatia, which was not recognized, was part of Yugoslavia. Then I explained who started armed conflicts in that part of Slavonija,” Boljkovac told Frankfurt-based daily Vesti.

In a sensational interview published on February 12 and carried by the several media outlets in Serbia, Croatia’s war-time minister of police said it was the Serbs and Yugoslavia who were being attacked in 1991, and not Croatia.

“Back then, in 1991, Serbs and Yugoslavia were under attack, not Croatia. Gojko Šušak, Branimir Glavaš and Vice Vukojević launched antitank rockets on Borovo Selo in order to provoke a war. The bridge in Osijek was destroyed for the same reason,” Boljkovac said.

He explained Croat war-time leader Franjo Tudjman “wanted the war at any cost”:

“The war was not a necessity — it was an intention. According to Tudjman’s concept, Serbs had to disappear from Croatia,” Boljkovac stressed, adding he was against the war and didn’t allow Serbs who were serving in the police in Croatia to be fired which, in turn, made him a target for assassination by Croat emigration.

Boljkovac believes there was a secret “deal” between former Yugoslav and Serbian President Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman, Croatia’s war leader, “to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina and exchange the population through ethnic cleansing.” According to his theory, “Tuđman handed over Bosnian Posavina to Milošević, and Milošević helped Tuđman to get rid of Krajina Serbs”.

Boljkovac Confirmed What Serbia has been Saying for the Past Two Decades

No one was particularly surprised in Serbia by Boljkovac’s admission that Croat leadership instigated a civil war by launching planned attacks against Serbs in Croatia and Yugoslav Army.

Vladislav Jovanović, Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991-1995, told Glas Javnosti Boljkovac’s statement about Croatia bearing the exclusive responsibility for the war is absolutely correct.

- His testimony only further confirms what was known from day one and what Serbia has been pointing out for nearly two decades — that there was no “Serbian aggression” against Croatia; instead, Croatia Serbs were forced to defend themselves. That is Boljkovac’s hindsight for the factual state of affairs. After the “Storm” and “Lightning”, even Tuđman admitted the war was imperative for Croatia to secede, – Jovanović reminded.

On the other hand, Boljkovac’s theory about the conspiracy and alleged deal between Tuđman and Milošević is rejected as “pure speculation, fairly common in the West and Croatia, even though it is entirely unfounded”.

- As far as I am aware, there was no such deal, – Jovanović stressed.

Asked why Serbia stood by during the Krajina pogrom (Operation Storm, August 4-7, 1995), the single biggest act of ethnic cleansing during the civil wars in 1990s, when over 250,000 Serbs were expelled from Croatia, Jovanović said he believes late President Milošević was issued an ultimatum by United States.

- The day before the attack on Krajina, Milošević was visited by an American ambassador in Zagreb [Croatian capital], Peter Galbraith. I did not attend the meeting, but I believe Galbraith had put a knife under Milošević’s throat, warning him against Serbia’s involvement. I’m sure a direct threat of bombardment of Serbia was also issued, in order to prevent any Serbian military reaction, – Jovanović said.

Mixture of Facts and Fiction

Former head of Counter-Intelligence Service [Kontra-obavestajna sluzba, KOS], general Aca Vasiljević warned that Boljkovac is “mixing facts with fiction”.

- When he was in power, Boljkovac was a loyal and obedient servant, he was always eager to please, and he is now trying to justify his actions. It is common knowledge that Milošević and Tuđman were meeting, but it is entirely incorrect they had the kind of contacts Boljkovac describes. Tuđman had stated long time ago: “If we didn’t want the war, there wouldn’t have been any”, while Boljkovac was a proponent of the idea of an independent Croatia at any cost already back in the 1970s, in MASPOK. In the 1990s, he participated in the war, surrounded by the extremists, people who came from the terrorist wing of Ustasha organization, like Gojko Šušak, – Vasiljević said.

Živadin Jovanović, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s last foreign affairs minister, said it was good there is at least someone in Croatia who speaks “partial truth.”

- It is absolutely correct that was a civil war and there is no basis for charges of “aggression on Croatia”. I don’t know Boljkovac personally, but this wouldn’t be the first time former government members become wise after the fact. Hindsight wisdom is a trait of impaired politicians, even though it can be useful to historians. However, there is no basis for the claims civil war was a result of a secret deal between two men. The sole purpose of such theories is to cover up the essential fact, that Croatia’s strategy was secession, separatism and, as such, it enjoyed support of Germany, Austria, Hungary and Vatican, – Živadin Jovanović said.

Part of President Milošević’s Opening Statement in The Hague, Regarding War in Croatia

…There is a fundamental historical fact one must proceed from, in order to understand these events. This fact has been the source of everything that took place on the territory of Yugoslavia since 1991 until the present day, and it is the fact that what took place is the violent destruction of a European state — Yugoslavia — which was derived from the statehood of Serbia, the only ally of the democratic world in that whole region over the past two centuries.

There can be no doubt this fundamental historic fact is going to leave an imprint on European history in the times to come.

A multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-confessional state that had its historic and international legitimacy was destroyed in order to create ethnically pure mini-states in its territory, according to the diktat of Germany and Vatican, and assisted by the United States and the European Community.

…At this time, during the most critical period, Yugoslavia was presided by a representative from Croatia, Stjepan Mesić. Its Prime Minister at the time was also from Croatia, Ante Marković, as well as the Foreign Minister, also from Croatia, Budimir Lončar. In the entire top echelons of the Army, of which we could also be informed here, out of top 16 generals, only 2 were Serbs; most were Croats, Slovenians and of other ethnic backgrounds.

This state had a strong and well organized armed forces at its disposal [JNA], which could control the conflict and prevent the catastrophe altogether. However, this government allowed paramilitary formations, arms smugglers, criminals, even the narco-mafia—when we look at the end of this process in Kosovo and Metohija—to take over the terrain. But the said government acted in concert with the European Community, most notably with Germany and Vatican.

As early as the end of June 1991, European Community demanded that the legitimate armed forces must stay closed within the army barracks and refrain from any action — therefore, a voluntary transformation of a state army into a detainee in their own country. Naturally, this opened doors for the activities of the secessionists’ paramilitary formations.

…In Croatia, crimes against Serbs started even earlier, before the announcement of secession, using the same methods and in the same regions where the genocide against the Serbian nation started in 1941, by the Ustasha units in the so-called Independent State of Croatia [NDH, Hitler's ally during the WWII].

International experts who have researched genocides that took place in different times and in different parts of the world, like Leo Cooper, Peter Drost, Ted Gertz, Louis Horowitz, George Cram and the others, arrived to a conclusion that genocide against one nation can be committed only once. Every second attempt inevitably turns into a civil war. This thesis has been confirmed in Croatia.

The genocide committed against the Serbs in Croatia in 1941, started by comprising lists and inviting population in groups to submit personal data. However, instead of submitting information, Serbs were being killed or taken to concentration camps. This time around, Serbs responded by resistance to similar invitations and similar actions, feeling gravely manipulated by the politicians who, up until the day before, spoke about protecting the ideals of brotherhood and unity, and who were now calling to war in the name of nationalist ideals.

Old Ustasha formulas were resurrected within somewhat refurbished packaging, along with the Ustasha symbols, and through the hurriedly rewritten laws, Serbs have lost their status of a constitutive nation. Without any prompting from the outside, without the Belgrade support, without the protection of the army isolated in the barracks, Serbs in Krajina were prepared to risk death through the struggle, but not a new genocide.

Long before the 1991 secession, armed paramilitaries operated through Croatia, the so-called “Voluntary units of the people’s protection”, which acted within the HDZ frameworks, and under different names: “Zebra”, “Black Legion”, “Vukovar Wolves” and so on.

On May 28, a month before the secession, a military parade was organized in Zagreb. It showcased weapons received primarily from Germany. These were the psychological preparations for what was to follow. In those days, Croat paramilitary units were transfered to Bosnia, since President Tudjman had announced renewal of “Croatia down to [river] Drina”.

After a decision to withdraw the JNA troops from Croatia was reached on July 18, 1991, the armed actions by the Croat paramilitary formations turned into a frontal war. From July 20 to August 4, 75 attacks against the JNA units were recorded, 23 attacks against the Army barracks, 13 attacks against the planes, all using the most advanced weapons from NATO arsenals.

Serbian houses were being torched and individual crimes against the Serbs were replaced with mass executions. In the cornfield near the village Jankovci 65 Serbs were slaughtered. They have all been identified. In the village Svinjarevo, 25 Serbs were slaughtered, and so on. The entire villages were destroyed in the regions of Papuk and Slunj.

The most widespread form of terror against the Serbian population were forced expulsions — the strongest link between the years 1941 and 1991.

These activities begun in Western Slavonija right after the HDZ victory in the elections. A psychosis of fear was created in order to force people to move out. Various methods were being employed, like orchestrated mocking of the Serbian children in schools, arresting people and taking them to police stations, cutting off the telephone lines, mass firing of Serbs from their jobs, dynamiting of their homes…

On October 29, 1991, the Crisis Office in Slavonska Pozega issued an order on eviction of the Serbian population from 24 villages: Oblakovac, Orjača, Slatina and so on, and within the next 48 hours. The order was made public via radio stations and press. Those who refused to comply were taken to detention camps.

The first major exodus of Serbs from the regions of Podravska Slatina and Daruvar took place. From July 1991 to August 1992, 193 villages populated by Serbs were ethnically cleansed. Reliable documents regarding all of this have been submitted to the European Community.

More: The Truth Shall Never Go Away, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

President Milošević’s opening statement in entirety is available on Amazon.com: The Defense Speaks: For History and the Future