Croatian Serb MP: Reconciliation Less Likely Now Than 20 Years Ago

Milorad Pupovac (BETAPHOTO/HINA/Edvard SUSAK)

Milorad Pupovac, the president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party and a member of the Croatian Parliament, has said that he believes there was more willingness for reconciliation five or, especially, ten years after Operation Storm than today, 30 years later.

“There is less and less talk and knowledge among Serbs of what was done to Croats [during the war], just as there is less and less talk and knowledge among Croats of what was done to Serbs. That signals we should not count on reconciliation at this time,” Pupovac told the latest edition of the NIN weekly.

Asked why a segment of Croats still harbors significant animosity toward Serbs, Pupovac stated that there are multiple reasons, but that four are key.

“The first is the official anti-Serb narrative regarding the war of the 90s and its aftermath. Especially during commemorations of the deaths of members of the Croatian people, of [the siege of] Vukovar and of [Operation] Storm. The second are the anti-Serb campaigns led by influential and aggressive political parties, such as the Homeland Movement, examples of which were the campaigns against the Cyrillic script, against the Independent Democratic Serb Party and its representatives, against [Serb] tombstones, against the Serbian Orthodox Church and Serb cultural centers. The third reason are concerts [and] songs such as some songs by Thompson,” said Pupovac.

“The fourth reason is the anti-Croatian campaign which has more or less been continually led against Croatia and Croats by representatives of the government and pro-regime media in Serbia. Are further reasons necessary?” Pupovac concluded.