President Milanović: I am for a Croatia that will be self-aware in terms of its identity; I do not want an EU that will be like a “Bosnian pot”
“This is a small town where the entire Croatian history, culture, origin, roots, and genes are reflected,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said today at a special session of the Sibinj Municipal Council commemorating the 89th anniversary of the Sibinj victims, Municipality Day, and “Sibinjskih žrtava” Primary School Day.
President Milanović remarked, “With the commencement of literacy efforts among the Croatian population and children in the latter half of the 19th century, the groundwork for a collective consciousness was laid – for a Croatian national community, the modern Croatian political nation. By February 1935, when the Sibinj victims fell, it had already matured somewhat. It was aware of itself, aware of the circumstances in which it was developing, of the obstacles in its way.” He went on to recall that preceding this event were numerous dreadful occurrences, including the loss of Stjepan Radić and the arrest of Vladko Maček, leader of the Croatian Peasant Party.
In his address, President Milanović also touched upon the present-day European Union, emphasizing that the vision of a homogenized Europe, where everything is uniform and harmonious, with identical rules, thoughts, and values, may not be desirable. He drew parallels to past arrangements in Yugoslavia and even the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which did not end well. “I do not want a European Union in which we will have some equivalent of a ‘Bosnian pot’, in which we all ‘cook’ together and in which one cannot tell the difference between a Croat, a Serb, or a Lithuanian. I want, figuratively speaking, to see what is on the table. This is the only way the Croatian people can conceive and meaningfully fulfil their lives, existence, work and prosperity within the European Union,” said the President.
In this sense, he added that history has already shown that those who are the biggest have the upper hand. “Before it was the Belgrade clique, and today in Europe it is those who are incomparably bigger than us.” “I am for a Croatia that will be self-aware in terms of its identity, that will raise its children in this way, not line them up and make soldiers in uniform out of them – although that is not excluded, but at the moment it is not necessary – but to create people who are aware of what kind of community they belong to, how old it is, how enrooted it is and that it is impossible to eradicate it,” President Milanović said, clarifying how he sees Croatia in the European Union.
“Croatia was defended by a small number of good people, and that small number of good people defended both this region and Bosnian Posavina. It was not only defended by the people of Posavina, but also by Croats, our citizens from here, because otherwise it would never have been defended. The fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina is organically, umbilically connected with the Croatian people. We are one nation in two countries, and they are well off only as much as us. We must take care of them in such a way that we respect what belongs to others, that we respect the other country. The Croatian Government should strive for this, and all of you whose ancestry is from there, who care about Croatia, our identity and our interests, will think so,” President Milanović said.
Concluding his address, President Milanović wished the residents of Sibinj much success in their endeavours, including the absorption of EU funds. “That money is there. In order to obtain it we have to do some things that we wouldn’t do otherwise. But we’re going to do it to use that money to rebuild the sidewalks, the infrastructure, all the things that you might not be able to do otherwise, not so quickly. But it also makes the difference between a run-down peripheral village, which you don’t want to be and have never been, and an urban area, which is offered to you, and which is what you are,” President Milanović concluded.
This year marks the 89th anniversary of the tragic events of February 1935, when eight peasants from the Sibinj area lost their lives as victims of the Yugoslav gendarmerie. They were killed because, due to their patriotic ideas, they started peaceful protests against the repression of the Greater Serbian regime. For years, the victims of Sibinj have been a symbol of patriotic awareness and the just struggle of the Croatian people for freedom and independence. For this reason, the Municipality of Sibinj celebrates Municipality Day on 19 February, and the local primary school, which changed its name to “Sibinjskih žrtava” [Victims of Sibinj] Primary School a few years ago, celebrates its day.
In addition to President Milanović, also speaking at the ceremony were the President of the Sibinj Municipal Council Krunoslav Eraković, Head of the Municipality of Sibinj Josip Pavić, Principal of the “Sibinjskih žrtava” Primary School Josip Šišmanović, and the Head of the Brod-Posavina County Administrative Department for Education, Sports and Culture and delegate of the Brod-Posavina County Prefect Ankica Vukašinović.
President Milanović was in Sibinj alongside Melita Mulić, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Human Rights and Civil Society.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta