Free Republic

While Germany and Austria have just blocked Serbia's entry into the European Union Croatia was admitted in a ceremony at which David Cameron shook the hand of Croat leaders, whose country by any democratic or moral standards is a disgrace. Serbia and the former Yugoslavia, in an exact reprise of the fascist 1940s, have been systematically attacked and dismembered by Germany and Austria since the 1980s. Germany, without the support of other countries, the EU or the UN, joined the Vatican in illegally recognising Croatia in 1991 which led to that State effectively declaring war on Yugoslavia (of which it...

Like the proverbial canary in a coal mine, Sunday’s Croatian referendum on European Union membership may be the most insightful test yet on the future prospects of the 27-nation bloc. A dead canary means get out of the mine. Fast. Sure, Croatia is a bit player in the continental scheme of things; indeed, its population of 4.5 million is smaller than that of Kadiköy. And just about everywhere, the EU’s symbolic golden stars are looking more like copper every day. But come the morning after, the results will still bear analysis. For if Europe’s troubled southern tier suffers more than...

Recent events in four different Eastern European countries have once again highlighted the ongoing assault on the accepted Holocaust narrative in the post-communist world. Three attracted considerable attention, while the fourth, which perhaps affords us the best insight into the phenomenon of Eastern European attempts to rewrite World War II history, was virtually ignored, until it aroused a solitary Jewish protest. In Kiev, Odessa and Lviv, on January 1, hundreds marched to mark the birthday of Ukrainian nationalist hero Stepan Bandera, who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN ), which collaborated with the Nazis and actively participated in the...

<p>Imagine for a minute that memorial masses were held in two major cities in Germany on the anniversary of the death of Adolf Hitler. Needless to say, such a ceremony would arouse fury, indignation, and widespread protests not only in Germany, but throughout the entire world. Last week, the local equivalent of such an event took place in Croatia, but instead of anger and demonstrations, not a single word of protest was heard from anywhere in the country.</p>

A group of 26 EU member states is to forge ahead with an intergovernmental agreement on tightening economic governance in the eurozone, following a stormy summit in Brussels that saw the UK sidelined after it overplayed its hand. All 17 euro countries as well as nine of the non-euro countries have said they will make a pact outside the current EU treaty, although the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark and Bulgaria say they need to seek parliamentary approval of the move first. Only the UK has refused to join. Talking to journalists at 5.30am local time -- 10 hours after...

In Sofia, Croatian ambassador to Bulgaria Danijela Barišić and Leszek Hensel, ambassador of Poland – current holder of the EU Presidency – hosted a celebration on December 9 of Croatia’s EU accession treaty signing. Ambassadors and guests from EU and other countries turned out in force to offer congratulations. Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer Croatia signed on December 9 2011 its accession treaty with the European Union and if all goes according to plan, will join the bloc in July 2013. Before the process progresses further, the country must within 30 days from December 9 approve in a referendum accession to the...

The world court ruled Monday that Greece was wrong to block a bid by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to join NATO in 2008 because of a long-running dispute over the fledgling country's use of the name “Macedonia.” In a 15-1 ruling, the court found that Greece's veto breached a provisional 1995 deal under which Greece had agreed not to block membership of the country in international organizations if it used the name FYROM, while the matter was submitted to further negotiations. More than 15 years later, mediation over the name is still ongoing. The victory is partly...

Explanation: A single, long exposure captured these star trails above a remarkably colorful sea of clouds. As seen from Medvednica mountain, the surrounding peaks and lights illuminating the clouds from below are north of Zagreb, Croatia. Near the center of the also colorful star trail arcs, the North Celestial Pole is off the upper right edge of the frame. Even though this is the age of the digital camera, the well composed skyscape was recorded using color slide film in a medium format camera. The dreamlike scene's starry sky and ephemeral ocean could be reminiscent of an older age still,...

Ordinary measures are not warranted anymore for I have overcome for you and in Me you reside in the heavenlies. So cast off your flesh when it distracts you from My Will of virtue and Righteousness and "Remain" in "MY" Loyalty for I AM all you need to KNOW! John 15:9 (AMP) 9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [[a]continue in His love with Me]. Acts 17:28 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his...

ZAGREB -- Croatia’s Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko has banned a commemoration and revealing of a monument to Serbs victims who were killed from 1991 until 1995.Monument to killed Golubić Serbs (Tanjug) The minister stressed that the gathering would probably lead to significant violation of public law and order and that it would upset the citizens. He pointed out in the release that the “the ban has removed danger of bigger incidents and unrest”. The Croat authorities have also ordered St Stephen’s Church to remove the monument to Serb victims within three days. The Environment, Spatial Planning and Construction Ministry has...

KFor soldiers from the US stand guard at a barricade at the closed Serbia-Kosovo border crossing of Jarinje. Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters Cultural claims persist in regions as Belgrade refuses to acknowledge independence of Kosovo MILEVA PREMOVIC and her neighbours while away the afternoon in the shade of a broad tree. The unseasonable warmth makes it hard to imagine that the green Kapaonik mountains, rising up a few miles away in Serbia, will soon be white with snow and busy with skiers. It would also be hard to believe that bullets were fired and blood shed here just a few days...

A group of gear heads from Croatia has produced a car designed to show that “electric vehicle” doesn’t have to mean “something my granola-eating neighbor drives.” Rimac Automobil, named for its founder, Mate Rimac, unveiled the Concept_One at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt. Designed as a sleek sports car it is powered entirely by batteries, and can, the company says, hit 62 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, and reach a limit of 190 mph. The batteries carry 92 kilowatt-hours, or enough to power an average American home for three days -- or drive the car 372 miles, enough...

German chancellor Angela Merkel has received undeserved praise for adopting an uncompromising position regarding Kosovo in meetings with Serbian president Boris Tadic. The latest example of a laudatory reaction is the piece [3] by Morton Abramowitz and James Hooper. Abramowitz and Hooper are thrilled that she made it clear to Tadic that “Kosovo would not be partitioned” and that “the area inhabited by Serbs north of the Ibar River was Kosovo territory.” Further, she told the leader of a still-fragile democratic Serbia that the Kosovo issue “had to be resolved before Serbia could enter the EU.” Rather than meriting praise,...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Serbian President Boris Tadic On August 23 German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Belgrade. The first leg of her trip was Zagreb where she met with Croatian leaders. In Belgrade she met with Serbian leaders including a one-on-one session with President Tadic. The upshot was her blunt dictate that Serbia must meet the following demands in order to qualify for consideration of EU membership: progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialog, normalization of relations including abandonment of parallel structures in Kosovo; administrative and legal reforms, and satisfying the 1995 Copenhagen criteria. Merkel pointed out that Germany would like...

BELGRADE -- Today marks the 16th anniversary since the beginning of Croatian army and police Operation Storm that led to the exodus of more than 200,000 Serbs from Croatia. Tadic and Krkobabic in attendance (Beta) Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch Irinej held a memorial service at St. Mark’s Church in downtown Belgrade for the victims of the 1995 military operation aimed against Serb areas of Croatia. The memorial service was attended by Serbian President Boris Tadic, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of refugee issues Jovan Krkobabic, and by other government officials. Representatives of more than 100 refugee and home clubs...

Zagreb/Belgrade 4 Aug. (AKI) - Croatia on Thursday celebrated the 16th anniversary of military operation “Storm” which crushed a Serb rebellion and sparked exodus of some 200,000 Serbs, while Serbia commemorated victims of what it calls the worst ethnic cleansing in Europe after World War Two. Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said operation “Storm” was a “brilliant military action” and a great victory which re-united the country. “The Day of Victory we celebrate in peace and freedom, taking our place in the European family of states and nations,” Kosor said. Serbiaian president Boris Tadic said the anniversary was a date...

The Seven(7) thunders are coming into view , As Isaiah( Seer) witnessed (coals of testimony of Jesus Christ) and Ezekiel (Intercessor) Knew , The voices speaking together "AS ONE" , The Head of The Menorah , JESUS God's one and only Son , For The table has been set for the feast , The Bride entreated to come and take a peek , A look at what is about is about to be whole , The Bells of righteousness are about to sound, Raining down Heaven all around , The Coals of Testimony plainly in view , Burning with a...

Serbian authorities have arrested Goran Hadzic, the last remaining fugitive war crimes suspect sought by the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Mr Hadzic, now 52, led Serb separatist forces during Croatia's 1991-1995 war. Within hours of the arrest, a Serbian court approved his extradition to the Hague. He has been charged with the murder of hundreds of non-Serbs. The arrest comes less than two months after Serbia caught former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic. Serbian President Boris Tadic confirmed Mr Hadzic's arrest at a news conference. He said the suspect had been detained early on Wednesday in the...

The Italian government has blocked an investigation into the whereabouts of a massive consignment of weapons removed from a military depot in the Mediterranean, amid speculation that the cargo was secretly supplied to Libya. The weapons were from a consignment that included 30,000 Kalashnikov AK-47 automatic rifles, 32m rounds of ammunition, 5,000 Katyusha rockets, 400 Fagot wire-guided anti-tank missiles and some 11,000 other anti-tank weapons. They were transferred from a store on the island of Santo Stefano, off the north coast of Sardinia, and transported to the mainland where they were loaded onto army trucks , a source familiar with...

ZAGREB — Half of Croatian high school pupils think homosexuality is an illness and two-thirds say gay rights marches should be banned, a poll said Friday. Some 47 percent of final year school students polled said "homosexuality is illness," the survey done by non-government rights group GONG found. More than 64 percent of the 999 respondents in 43 schools said gay pride parades should be banned as they "have a harmful effect on education of young people," the poll showed. On June 11, a gay pride parade in the coastal town Split was marred by violence when anti-gay protestors pelted...

The European Union and Croatia on Friday concluded accession negotiations and thus, the Balkan country will become the 28th Member State of the organization in 2013. "We concluded today that the accession negotiations with Croatia have reached their final stage," said Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council.

Natasha Srdoc’s campaign for fiscal transparency terrifies Zagreb’s rulers Croatia may be on the verge of a seismic political earthquake. A new patriotic-populist movement is being born. If it comes to power, it will transform the country - reverberating across the region and impacting the European Union. The leader of this revolution is Natasha Srdoc, founder and chairman of the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy (AI), Croatia’s only Western-style independent think tank. She is willing to do something no other Croatian leader is doing: stand up to Brussels. For years, Mrs. Srdoc has championed the free market, private property rights...

Milivoj Asner Austria has been branded as a "paradise for Nazis" after it emerged that an alleged war criminal deceased in a care home in Carinthia. A spokesman for a Caritas retirement centre in Klagenfurt confirmed newspaper reports claiming that Milivoj Asner passed away today (Mon). He said the Croat perished aged 98 in the institution last week. Asner is suspected of being behind the deportation of hundreds of Serbs, Roma and members of the Jewish community in Croatia’s Ustasa movement during World War Two (WWII). Asner changed his name to Georg Aschner after fleeing to Austria when the Communists...

On the Trip to Croatia "Fidelity of Spouses Has Itself Become a Meaningful Witness to the Love of Christ" VATICAN CITY, JUNE 8, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience held in St. Peter's Square. The Pope reviewed the trip he made last weekend to Croatia. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters! Today I would like to speak with you about the pastoral visit to Croatia that I made last Saturday and Sunday. It was a brief apostolic journey that took place entirely within the capital Zagreb, and...

The Krajina Chronicle By Srdja Trifkovic The Krajina Chronicle reviewed by Amb. James Bissett, Chairman of The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies.Srdja Trifkovic is no stranger to Chronicles readers, many of whom have found his articles commenting on foreign affairs, with particular attention to the Balkans, to be insightful, penetrating, and written with authority. His latest book, The Krajina Chronicle, provides further confirmation of his extraordinary talent. The book is a history of the Serbian warrior-farmers who formed the first line of defense against Islamic invasions into the Habsburg Empire. It is a story of heroism and tragedy that...

A judgement handed down today by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicting two Croatian generals of responsibility for crimes against humanity is a strong victory for Croatia’s war victims, Amnesty International said. The ICTY convicted Ante Gotovina and sentenced him to 24 years. Mladen Marka� was also convicted and sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment. A third general, Ivan Čermak, was acquitted. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Marka� were found guilty of having participated in a joint criminal enterprise during and after the military “Operation Storm,” carried out from August to November 1995 with the aim of forcibly...

American investors plan to build Las Vegas in Croatia-Istria has the best chances for this investment In a year or two, Croatia should get its own Las Vegas, a city of entertainment that will offer casinos, Formula 1 route, rock concerts, horse racings, top restaurants and much more. The entire project would cost 1.5 billion $. Behind trhis is a group of American investors from the real Las Vegas, which is visiting Croatia this week. Istria has the best chance to get that investment. We visited several locations in Croatia, near Dubrovnik, Zadar and several locations in Istria. Istria has...

Did you know that the EU has ensured that there has been no war between its members for last 60 years?

Croatia, Kosovo and Montenegro have started to count their populations as part of a year of censuses across the ethnically tense Western Balkans to keep up with EU countries doing the same... Because of the painful history organisation of the count sparked debate and controversy throughout the region: from Macedonia, where ethnic Albanians fear that their importance will be reduced, across Montenegro, where there are complaints that Serbs are being "assimilated", to Bosnia which did not even manage to adopt a census law. In Kosovo, where the last census was held in 1981 while it was still a province in...

STANTON, Ky. — The arrest of a Croatian woman in small-town Kentucky for alleged war crimes two decades ago in the former Yugoslavia "brings her long run from justice to an end," a U.S. marshal said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Wier ordered that Azra Basic, 52, be held without bond pending an April 1 status hearing and appointed her a lawyer. Prosecutors argued that no bail amount would guarantee Basic's presence in court. Federal agents arrested Basic on Tuesday. A complaint filed by U.S. Attorney James Arehart accuses Basic of committing crimes at three camps in the early 1990s...

Report: Germany offers Croatia 20 aging F-4 Phantom fighter jets By: The Associated Press ZAGREB, Croatia - Croatian state TV is reporting that Germany has offered Croatia 20 aging F-4 Phantom fighter planes to replace its even older MIG-21 jets. Croatia's HRT television says the twin-engine American-made fighters can fly for another couple of years before they are retired. But the six Soviet-made MIGs in the Croatian air force fleet have an even shorter flight span left. HRT says the Croatian government has not yet answered to the German free-of-charge offer for the McDonnell Douglas Phantoms, which entered service with...

The Arab freedom wave has now hit the shores of Europe and in the most unlikely of places: the Balkans. Croatia, an Adriatic nation that straddles the civilizational fault line between Central Europe and the Balkans, has been seething with public unrest and protests.

The virus of the "Arab revolution" seems to be spreading to Europe. Mass anti-government demonstrations took place in Croatia; there were protesters' clashes with the police. Nationalist trace is visible in these events directly related to the outcome of the war in Yugoslavia 15-20 years ago. A rally with thousands of participants gathered in Zagreb on Tuesday. The participants demanded the resignation of Prime Minister, leader of the Conservative party Croatian Democratic Union Jadranka Kosor. The main opposition, Socialist Party, was not favored either as the protesters burned its flag in the same way as they have the Conservative banner....

The Croatian Ministry of Defence has invited representatives from Russian fighter aircraft manufacturers to evaluate whether any of Croatia's fighter planes could be modernized. Representatives of the Russian company MiG and Rosoboronexport agency will be coming to Croatia to evaluate the condition of several 20-year-old planes that they manufactured. Croatia is looking to either modernize its current stock or buy some new or used planes. Eight planes should be modernized according to the Ministry of Defense's plan, costing the state some 20 million dollars. Considering that these planes are more than 30 years old, only the manufacturer can decide whether...

Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro: in the space of a fortnight, the leaders or ex-leaders of all three countries have been arrested or accused of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, reports a Montenegro weekly, the EU is paving the way for the accession of all three Balkan countries.Like something out of a political thriller, former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader was arrested in Austria [on 10 December] under a warrant issued by his own country. He is now waiting for extradition in a Salzburg jail and says he’s prepared to answer corruption charges. A day or two prior to his arrest, right before parliament lifted...

(Sarajevo) In the past 17th of November there was a final judgement by the Bosnian-Herzegovinan Federal Government in Sarajevo, has ordered the vacation of the residence of the Archbishop of Vrhbosna-sarajevo, Vinko Cardinal Puljuic, from the Episcopal Palace. The residence, the property of the Curia, was confiscated in the past by the Communist regime, to house there Communist or Muslim spies, according to Corrispenza Romana.

The former Croatian president Stjepan Mesic is just one of some 6,000 Croatian retirees receiving pensions from Serbia, the Serbian press has reported. These people used to work in Serbia and have paid contributions to the country’s fund for pension and disability insurance (PIO Fond). The director of public relations sector of the PIO Fond Jelica Timotijevic says that all of those who had worked for the presidency of the former Yugoslavia, for example – and have later become state officials and politicians in their own countries – have a right to a Serbian pension based on individual agreements between...

...Mr. Soros is the sugar daddy of the Democratic Party and the modern left. His net worth is more than $7 billion. He is one of the richest and most influential men in the world. Almost every major liberal organization, think tank or media outlet has been the beneficiary of Mr. Soros' largesse. The Nation magazine, Mother Jones, Media Matters, MoveOn.org, NPR and the Center for American Progress - all together they have received tens of millions of dollars from the financier. They serve as front groups and propaganda vehicles to promote Mr. Soros' brand of transnational socialism. ..Mr. Soros...

Croatia's Cardinal Josip Bozanić has announced that Benedict XVI will make a trip to Croatia in 2011. This will be his first time to the country as Pope. Vatican Radio cited Croatia's Catholic news agency IKA , which reported that the announcement came after a meeting between Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic and Cardinal Bozanic, the current archbishop of Zagreb. A commission to decide on the particulars of the trip will be comprised of Church and State officials, the president told IKA. One detail of the schedule is already known: the Pope will pray at the tomb of Blessed Aloysius Stepinac,...

Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were two friends who grew up together sharing the common bond of basketball. Together, they lifted the Yugoslavian National team to unimaginable heights. After conquering Europe, they both went to America where they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, Yugoslavia split up. A war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Long buried ethnic tensions surfaced. And these two men, once brothers, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. As Petrovic and Divac continued to...

A review of The Krajina Chronicle by Srdja Trifkovic. Written by Ambassador James Bissett, Chairman of The Lord Byron Foundation, it was published in the September 2010 issue of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture.Srdja Trifkovic is no stranger to Chronicles readers, many of whom have found his articles commenting on foreign affairs, with particular attention to the Balkans, to be insightful, penetrating, and written with authority. His latest book, The Krajina Chronicle, provides further confirmation of his extraordinary talent. The book is a history of the Serbian warrior-farmers who formed the first line of defense against Islamic invasions into...

(CN) - A private U.S. defense contractor "trained and equipped the Croatian military for Operation Storm and designed the Operation Storm battle plan," which killed or displaced more than 200,000 Serbs in 1995, in the largest European land offensive since World War II, the Genocide Victims of Krajina say in Chicago Federal Court. They demand billions of dollars in damages from MPRI, founded by U.S. military officers who were "downsized" at the end of the Cold War, and L-3 Communications, which bought MPRI for $40 million in 2000. "This is a class action brought by ethnic Serbs who resided in...

BELGRADE -- A commemorative service was held in Belgrade to mark 15 years since the Croatian military Operation Storm and the exodus of ethnic Serbs from that country. Serbian president Boris Tadic, right, attends the service (Tanjug) Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Irinej held the service before a number of officials, including Serbian President Boris Tadich, Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Krkobabich and General Secretary of the Serbian parliament Veljko Odalovich, as well as many people who gathered on the occasion. "We have gathered here today to remember in prayer the people killed 15 years ago, who were guilty first of being...

Thousands of people across several Balkan countries have held services to commemorate those who died in Operation Storm 15-years ago. Croatia's Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor headed a delegation of high-ranking officials at Zagreb central cemetery to mark the military operation carried out by forces from her country and Bosnia and Herzegovina to retake areas of Croatia claimed by ethnic Serbs. She said on Wednesday the operation had been “a victory" over the policies of former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic. Masses were held at the same time in main churches in Belgrade and Banja Luka for about 2,000 Serbs who were...

Zagreb - Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has fallen foul of the government over an apology for crimes his countrymen committed during the 1992-95 Bosnia war, Zagreb media reported Saturday. In a speech to the Bosnian parliament, Josipovic expressed his regrets at the deaths of thousands of Bosnians during the conflict and criticized the policies of the country's leader at the time, Franjo Tudjman. "I deeply regret that that kind of policy contributed to the sufferings of the people and the divisions that still trouble us," said Josipovic, who took office only two months ago. In the war Serbs, Croats and...

A Croatian girl baffled doctors when she woke up from a coma speaking fluent German, which she didn't previously know, and is now unable to talk in her native tongue. Two weeks ago, the 13-year-old girl lost consciousness for 24 hours. She had been studying German at school and watching German TV shows, but her parents insist she was previously unable to communicate properly in that language. "You never know when recovering from such a trauma how the brain will react," hospital director Dujomir Marasovic told the U.K.'s Telegraph. Various experts have examined the teenager, who is from the southern...

A Croatian girl has woken from a coma unable to speak her native language — instead talking in fluent German. The 13-year-old girl, who lost consciousness for 24 hours two weeks ago, has doctors baffled by her bizarre condition. She had been studying German at school and watching German television shows, but her parents maintain she was previously unable to freely communicate in the language. "You never know when recovering from such a trauma how the brain will react," the UK Telegraph quoted KB Hospital director Dujomir Marasovic as saying. "Obviously we have some theories although at the moment we...

Republika Srpska marked the 65th anniversary of the uprising in Jasenovac concentration camp, one of the most brutal death camps of World War Two, in Donja Gradina, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday. Donja Gradina was the main burial site for the Jasenovac extermination camp located in the vicinity of a town by the same name. Jasenovac was established by the Nazi-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War Two. The number of people slaughtered at Jasenovac, most of whom were Serbs, Jews, Roma and opponents of the Ustasha regime, totals in the hundreds of thousands. About 1,000 prisoners rose...

Croatian fascists murdered hundreds of thousands of victims as part of a campaign against Serbs and Jews.Croatia is nearing the finish line of a multiyear race to join the European Union. Its accession has been pushed along by traditional ally Germany, and by the United States, which has encouraged the EU’s southwest expansion to include all of the Balkans and even Turkey. However, there is another – moral – requirement Croatia should have to meet for its own sake before being admitted. It should fully and publicly acknowledge its role in World War II as a loyal ally of the...

Ravnagora's note: Although first written in December of 2000, this essay is particularly relevant today in 2010, given Serbia's "apology for Srebrenica". ***** In an AP article dated 21 November [2000], Croatia’s president, Stipe Mesic, insisted that "ousting Slobodan Milosevic was not enough," and "urged Yugoslavia’s new leaders on Tuesday to hand him over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal and face up to their country’s role in the Balkan wars. Croatian President Stipe Mesic praised Yugoslavia’s democratization, which began with the election Sept. 24 of the new president, Vojislav Kostunica. But he said Kostunica should apologize for Milosevic’s policies,...