Back to the future, forward to the past: Croatian politics of memory in the European Parliament

Abstract

This paper discusses the way in which a post-conflict European Union (EU) member immediately after accession both shapes and adapts to EU memory politics as a part of its Europeanization process. I will analyze how the country responds to the top-down pressures of Europeanization in the domestic politics of memory by making proactive attempts at exporting its own politics of memory (discourses, policies, and practices) to the EU level. Drawing evidence from Croatian EU accession, I will consider how Croatian members of the European Parliament “upload” domestic memory politics to the EU level, particularly to the European Parliament. Based on the analysis of elite interviews, discourses, parliamentary duties, agenda-setting, and decision-making of Croatian MEPs from 2013 to 2016, I argue that the parliament serves both as a locus for confirmation of European identity through promotion of countries’ EU memory credentials and as a new forum for affirmation of national identity. The preservation of the “Homeland War” narrative (1991–1995) and of the “sacredness” of Vukovar as a European lieu de mémoire clearly influences the decision-making of Croatian MEPs, motivating inter-group support for policy building and remembrance practices that bridge domestic political differences.

Keywords:

• European memory
• enlargement
• Croatia
• MEPs
• Vukovar

Acknowledgements

Part of the research for this article was conducted during a fellowship at the German Institute for Foreign Affairs and Security in Berlin and Brussels. I would also like to thank Heleen Touquet and anonymous reviewers for their feedback on earlier drafts of this article.

ORCID

Ana Milošević http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4479-5397

Notes

1. As those “who seek social recognition and political legitimacy of one (their own) interpretation or narrative of the past, engaged and concerned with maintaining and promoting active and visible social and political attention on their enterprise” (Jelin 2003, 33–34).

2. The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of the city by the Yugoslav People’s Army from August to November 1991. When Vukovar fell on 18 November 1991, hundreds of soldiers and civilians were massacred by Serb forces and thousands of civilians were expelled from Vukovar.

3. In Croatia, the Yugoslav war is referred to as the War for Independence, for the Homeland.

4. The questions revolved around five main themes: (1) role of the EU in reconciliation and “dealing with the past” in Croatia and the Balkans; (2) The Homeland War narrative: uses of the past, state-building, and identity-building; (3) the ICTY and the EU accession of Croatia; (4) issues with Serbia; (5) memory and parliamentary activities of Croatian MEPs: agenda-setting, prioritizing, and decision-making. All interviews were held in Croatian and English.

5. The Četniks were a Serb nationalist movement led by Draža Mihailović during WWII. Initially fighting against the German occupiers and supporting the London-exiled Yugoslav royal family, Četnik units started committing massive crimes against Croat and Muslim civilians in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina while collaborating with Italians and Germans.

6. The Ustaša were a radical Croat nationalist organization established by Ante Pavelić in 1929. Influenced and supported by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, they created the Independent State of Croatia (NDH – Nezavisna država Hrvatska). Throughout WWII, Ustaša were responsible for mass murder, concentration and death camps, and systematic persecution of non-Croat civilians, most notably Serbs, Roma, and Jews.

7. The Partisans were a Yugoslav Resistance movement led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during WWII under the command of Josip Broz Tito.

8. The term used to define the Yugoslav resistance that fought for liberation from the Nazi and Fascist occupation.

9. The mass killing of members of the Axis defeated forces by the Partisans in the immediate aftermath of the war in Bleiburg (Austria).

10. One of the first crises was the Blaškić case, when the chief prosecutor requested documents related to the case and the Croatian government refused to hand them over.

11. The Bljesak (Flash) and Oluja (Storm) military campaigns took place in 1995, resulting in a massive exodus of the civilian ethnic Serb population.

12. SDP (Socijalno-demokratska stranka – Social Democrats Party), HSLS (Hrvatska Socijalno Liberalna Stranka – Croatian Social Liberal Party), and HSS (Hrvatska Seljačka Stranka – Croatian Peasant Party) became the three biggest partners of a coalition government of six political parties, together with HNS (Hrvatska Narodna Stranka – Croatian People’s Party), LS (Liberalna Stranka – Liberal Party), and IDS (Istarski Demokratski Sabor – Istrian Democratic Parliament).

13. See, for example, Deklaracija o suradnji s Međunarodnim kaznenim sudom u Den Haagu (2000).

14. Ante Gotovina is a retired Croatian general who was indicted by the ICTY on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Operation Storm. He was captured in the Canary Islands in December 2005, after four years in hiding.

15. Dispute with Slovenia over Piran Bay and Italy over an ecological and fisheries protection zone.

16. An umbrella organization of veterans' associations.

17. In accordance with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Croatian Law on National Minorities, bilingual signs must be displayed in areas where more than one-third of the population belongs to an ethnic minority.

18. The Škabrnja massacre happened on 18–19 November 1991 in the villages of Škabrnja and Nadin. Croatian civilians and prisoners of war were killed by Serbian Autonomous Oblast Krajina (SAO Krajina) Territorial Defense troops and the Yugoslav People’s Army.

19. Indicted in front of the ICTY on charges of crimes against humanity and of operating a joint criminal enterprise for the purpose of permanently removing the Serb population from the Krajina by force, he was acquitted in 2011.

20. Gotovina and Markač were freed in 2012 when the ICTY overturned their war-crimes convictions. Their release led to nationwide celebrations in Croatia and anger and disbelief in Serbia, which accused the ICTY of being anti-Serb.

21. Acquitted of all charges in March 2016.

22. In 2009, Slovenia blocked Croatia’s negotiations on admission to the EU but allowed negotiations to resume after the two countries agreed to submit the dispute to international arbitration.

23. After the democratic changes in 2000, Serbia adopted the Law on the Equalisation of Četniks and Partisans (2004) and rehabilitation of former Četniks (2006).