Topic: Zagreb Diary 
** Written  6:02 PM  Jul 13, 1992 by wam.kat@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org in gn:yugo.antiwar **

Zagreb Diary
9/12-07-1992

Dobar Dan,

When I was busy to put up out bulletin board a lot of things happened in Zagreb and a lot of visitors passed by, we had guests from Beograd, Sweden and at this moment John from London is waiting for a possibility to get to Sarajevo, but most of what happened made world news.

Tudjman addressed the conference in Helsinki, and for once I was for a big part agree with him. Yes, the former of new states in Europe is not in principle a contra activity for the unity which is Europe trying to form on the other hand. The smaller the states become, the better it is in principle, but they should not start to produce new borders, with new controls and new visa regulations. Joel showed me proud his visa which he got when he came back from a few days in Ljubljana. 

And yes, what is happening in these country is a big test for the safetyness of Europe. How will Europe deal with it. It seems that the steps taken to get a military intervention are again closer to the goal. The States moved their sixth fleet in the front of the harbours of Montenegro (under the motto we are just showing of out strength, we are not doing any thing (yet)) and declared that they were ready for air support (for humanitarian aid) and Europe couldn't stay out of the game and promised to put a few helicopters in. Strassbourg (the European parliament) called up for the final step. The fighting in south east Bosnia are harder than before and every day there are coming more arguments on the big pile of the military leaders to make a positive decision to go in with their soldiers.

Never the less on the other hand Croatia is getting blamed for their activities in BiH. Not that I support the Croatian government or any government, what so ever, who thinks that military solutions are the only way. But I got the feeling that this act of Europe is slidely hypocrite. Preparing them self for war and than blaming Croatia for fighting in the frontlines. Something they are planning to do them self. And putting a type of sanction on top of it. No financial aid for Croatia out of the big pot which is reserved for aid to eastern Europe. More clear Croatia is doing what they are thinking and that is no reason for punishing anybody.

The world don't really understand how you create totalitarian and nationalistic states. Yes, by isolating them and letting them solve their own problem. If Croatia can survive the destruction them self, the nationalistic tension will even grow higher than they are already. Only international aid and not only for the refugees problem (and that should come fast since the refugees in some camps are already starting to protest against the bad situations in some of the camps). And with only sending food and medicines the situation will be like putting plasters on a forever bleeding wound.

 I hope that some of those country don't restrict their aid to food and medicines only, since people don't survive by bread alone. Thousands and thousands other things are necessary. When UNPROFOR give me the allowance I will go to the "occupied" parts of eastern Slavonia the coming weeks. They have said that some international journalist can go in together with them and I am trying to collect written statements from different newspapers and newsletters to prove that I am a kind of reporter.

Of course I don't have to go, I know almost what I will see there, it is not hard to imagine. One of the places will be probably Vukovar which this group is going to visit and I have seen it day after day on television. I have read the stories from children who wrote their fathers who stayed behind, stories which never ever reached them. I heard the experiences of the people in Vukovar Hotel.

But somehow after so many months I like to see it with my own eyes. I want to talk with the people who live their know and find out if there openings for the future. I feel bad about the fact that we more or less had to block an offer from somebody from the Centre for Anti War Activities from Beograd (she even has a Croatian passport and speaks Serbo-Croatian with an accent from which people told me that you nearly couldn't hear that it she is living in Beograd). But it is one of those things, for which we have to be really careful. In my vision everybody who like to work in the refugees camps is welcome to come, but other people (not in ARK but those we cooperate with) are more sensitive. One of the things we are going to try is to organise a camp with Croats and Serbs together. But we first like to speak with the refugees, how they feel about it.

 And when I am writing this diary I watch with a half eye television, there is a broadcasting of a big music festival in Pula, complete with enormous lightshow and fireworks. Happy singing people. About 500 meters from that place I visit old JNA barracks where about 500 refugees were put, without much luxes. They hopefully enjoy the music. On the other hand I can bloody well imagine that they don't like it so much and don't understand all that happiness next door.

Poor and rich, at home and refugee, it lives all so close to each other. Promotion programmes on German television to get tourists to Istria, where on each camping nearly refugees live. The absurdity of a war.

One of the other absurdities is the elections which are coming closer. Now about 3 weeks to go and still nearly nobody really knows how the system and the voting districts will look alike. The only thing were more and more people are absolute convinced of is that nothing will change really, all the polls are more and more in the direction that HDZ is going for a big victory. And that the elections will be totally planned, not falsified, but so planned that HDZ wins in most of the voting districts.

The election campaigns on television, 4 and half hours every  evening, are worst and dryer than I could imagine. The Lotto show turned into the most ugly hours of television I ever have seen. Each party may send 2 or 3 people to the studio, who get interviewed by a couple of journalists. And every candidate ofcourse say about the same (at least that is what is translated for me).

The only colour in this election I have seen came from the Croatian People Party who put some posters on all the trees along the road next to where I stay. Ofcourse red, whit and blue, put still it looked a bit like a real election campaign.

On the sqaure they are still buzy and I forgot to tell you that they also clean up the nice big monument (an old Croatian king on a horse, with his sable in the direction of Serbia), I wonder why, since it is only two years old and absolute not dirty. But yeah if you have money it should roll. And at least all the refugees on the main sqaure have something to see.

As said many times before Zagreb gets cleaner by the day, you really wouldn't think anymore that there is a war going on somewhere in these countries. Not that that would be a thing to show it everywhere, but this makes me feel like a fool sometimes, me bagging for help and a gocvernment (towncouncil) spending it on cleaning clean monuments.

One good and postive thing to close with today, Dobrinja recieved today their first aid, the children were out of the shelters for the first time in 2 months. Who knows it maybe stays that way.

With Love from ZA-mir-GREB,

Wam:-)


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