>From: "Dimitris Desyllas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >aim/zag/trae/rm > >*** THE CROATS FROM KOSOVO HEADING FOR LIKA > >AIM, ZAGREB, November 11, 1999 > > > One of the last acts of the tragedy called "human >resettlement" happened on Sunday, October 31, day before the >Memorial Day. On that day 293 Croats from Letnica, a place in >Kosovo where Croats had been living for the last seven hundred >years, have arrived to Croatia to Zagreb Airport Pleso. All they >brought with them were some necessities which they could carry on >the plane and those better-off had with them their savings and >the figure of Our Lady of Letnica. According to the Croatian >papers, they felt awful because they could not take with them the >Church of the Lady of Letnica. Apart from being pathetic, that >statement also had its political significance. Namely, it clearly >showed that the Kosovo Croats did not intend to go back to >Kosovo, i.e. that seven hundred years were crossed out for ever. > > After the villagers of Letnica have moved out, the only >remaining Croats in Kosovo is a small group of four hundred of >them in Janjevo. It is to be expected that they will too, perhaps >soon, move to Croatia. For, according to all reports, life in >Kosovo is becoming increasingly hard for all the non-Albanians- >all villagers of Letnica stated that unbearable pressure was the >reason for moving out - while the policy of the Government of >Croatia, which is hiding behind a constitutional provision on the >obligation to assist Croats all over the world, is to create as >ethnically clean Croatia as possible, as well as to have all >Croats return to Croatia, those from Australia and these from >Kosovo alike. > > In that context, it is rather interesting that this >entire operation of the resettlement of Letnica villagers to >Croatia was carried out in utmost secrecy and under the highest >political patronage. Namely, before they moved the villagers of >Letnica have allegedly sent as much as three appeals to the >Croatian authorities asking to be allowed to come with the >explanation that the situation in Kosovo was becoming unbearable. >After the arrival of the third appeal, a special delegate was >sent to Kosovo - his mission was wrapped in a shroud of secrecy >from the beginning to the end - Dr.Slobodan Lang, humanitarian >issues advisor to President Dr.Franjo Tudjman who has >successfully completed his mission. However, the international >community also took part in that project. Namely, the villagers >of Letnica were first taken by buses to Skopje escorted by eight >KFOR armoured carriers. They crossed the same border crossing >Blace at which we saw rivers of Albanians this summer, first >going in one and then in the opposite direction. > > Even before this many people from Letnica have already >moved to Croatia. Thus, for some of them, their arrival to the >Zagreb Airport meant the reunion with their families. "After >three years I will finally see my father, brother and his three >children. When in 1996 I came from Kosovo to Croatia in a >roundabout way, I did not dream that so much time will pass >before we get together again", said Grgur Gegic whose entire >family is in Croatia. "You cannot imagine how happy we are", was >a short comment of Ljuba Gegic, an old lady who came with nine >members of her family. Her husband stayed behind in Letnica to >sell the livestock. "It would be great if we could hear the >Letnica church bells in Croatia" said Viktor Kasic the priest who >was unable to explain to journalist of "Vecernji list" (The >Evening Paper) why have the Albanians harassed the Kosovo Croats >although these same Croats helped them before protecting them >from the Serbs. > > However, the state media did not insist on that fact. >Some even tried hard to hide it so that a greater part of the >public was left in two minds whether the Kosovo Croats have fled >from the Albanian or Serbian violence. In any case, this exodus >has helped the weakened HDZ to show just before the elections >that it was capable of providing for all Croats, even under the >hardest conditions. From the moment they landed on Zagreb Airport >onwards, the Croats from Letnica have certainly become and will >remain the subject of political manipulations. As soon as they >came to Croatia, Government representatives announced that they >would settle in Lika. Quoting the decisions of the Croatian >Government, the "Vecernji list" wrote: "The Ministry of the >Interior will speed up the procedure for issuing citizenship and >personal documentation and the Agency for Legal Trade and >Mediation will purchase family houses to be given to exiled >families without any compensation and a right to claim the >ownership after ten years". Deputy Minister for Immigration, >Development and Reconstruction, Lovre Pejkovic, promised everyone >that everyone would get adequate accommodation. > > Already the next day the media announced that the >villagers of Letnica would end in Srb, a place in south Lika, >which according to rumours should soon change its name. It turned >out that there was an earlier plan to settle the Kosovo Croats - >admittedly in two apartment buildings - in Srb, because the >Bosniac Croats could not have been moved there as it was heavily >ruined after the "Storm". According to records of district >authorities, over 150 flats in Srb are mostly state-owned because >the Serbs who have fled from the "Storm" have lost all rights to >them. At the moment there are 1,200 returnees inhabitants of Srb, >exclusively of Serbian nationality. It is anticipated that that >number will grow during winter, and even more in spring, since >the process of return is not over yet. Moreover, it could acquire >large-scale proportions in spring because of the NATO bombing of >Serbia. That is probably why the HDZ authorities plan to settle >the Kosovo Croats precisely in Srb. Local elections are scheduled >to be held in Croatia in two years time and already now in >several communes in former Krajina the Serbs are a demographic >majority so that some officials have openly asked - what was the >purpose of "Storm" anyway! > > The treatment of the Kosovo Croats is interesting in >another respect. Namely, while the Croatian Serbs are prevented >from returning to the country and from voting (they are the only >community from the former Yugoslavia which cannot exercise any of >its political rights anywhere), the Kosovo Croats who are without >citizenship, have been brought to Croatia by a special plane and, >if plans of the state leadership progress as envisaged, will move >into other people's homes. According to the official explanation, >as already mentioned, these flats were once the property of Serbs >who left them abandoned for more than three months without any >justified reason, and therefore lost any right to them. However, >the Croats who had abandoned their flats during the war did not >lose their tenant's rights as their reasons for leaving were >considered to be justified. > > Since basically they both left because of the war, one >conclusion comes to mind: either the Serbs should not have gone >into exile as nothing could have happened to them during the >"Flash" and "Storm", or they are all guilty. However, since over >400 civilians perished during the "Storm" in the South and North >sector (according to the confirmed HVO data, but the guess is >that there were as much as 650 killed) it is more than clear that >the exiled Serbs had a very good reason to flee. > > The resettlement of Croats from Kosovo in Lika is >announced for spring as there is no chance that the authorities >will manage to repair apartment buildings (which the Croatian >army and police mostly demolished without any military reason) >and make them habitable for the cold Lika winter. That means that >the project of resettling the Kosovars will fall under the >mandate of the next government which could easily consist of >members of today's opposition. They have recently reiterated that >they plan to abide by all international agreements signed by >Croatia and have expressed their wish for quicker integration >into European associations. The continuation, be it even as an >epilogue, of the ethnic-political engineering in regions to which >a large-scale return of the Serbs is expected in spring, is >certainly not a thing which representatives of the international >community will eagerly support. The example of Kistanje, where >new houses had to be built for Croats from Janjevo, shows that >such engineering is too expensive. That is why "final >destination" of Letnica villagers is still open to question. One >thing is certain - they will never return to Kosovo and the >majority of them will remain in Croatia. > >#BORIS RASETA > > >------------------ >balkanhr mailing list >To unsubscribe please send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >with the word "unsubscribe balkanhr" (without the ") in the body. >Please report abuse at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
