Wrote a text on the dangers of making disputes about "the historical truth" (the one and only truth, that is) a criterion for EU membership talks. A thread:
Bulgaria set the tone by blackmailing North Macedonia. Now as expected, other EU states follow the example. Croatia is also considering making the "correct" interpretation of historical issues a criterion for EU membership (talks) for neighbouring states.
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) has presented a paper titled "Contributions to the Protection of Croatian Interests", proposing a plethora of demands towards Montenegro, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Serbia.
Bosnia is being asked, among other things, to set up a third entity for the Croats. Sarajevo must also recognize the "true, liberating role of Croatia and the Croats" in the Bosnian war (1992-1995). What exactly does that mean?
It appears to mean that Bosnian authorities will have to stop "falsely accusing Croats in court", so basically stop prosecuting war crimes committed by Croats in Bosnia. Because according to HAZUs reading of history, it seems, those crimes never occurred.
From Montenegro, HASU suggests demanding to establish guaranteed parliamentary seats for the country's tiny Croatian minority. Montenegro also has to pay contributions for its participation in the Serbian aggression against Croatia in the 1990s, the paper suggests.
Unsurprisingly, the longest catalog of demands is aimed at Serbia. Belgrade must stop "fomenting hostility towards Croatia" and renounce the "Jasenovac myth", the papers says. Jasenovac was the biggest concentration camp in fascist Croatia.
HAZU indirectly recommends Zagreb to use the unequal balance of power in the accession talks to push through a binding Croatian narrative of what Jasenovac was and how it should be seen today. But more demands are suggested. One of them:
A "politically correct" assessment of the role of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, who was Archbishop of Zagreb during World War II. This, according to the Academy's proposal, could also become a criterion for Serbia's accession.
And so forth. Some of the demands proposed by the Academy appear perfectly understandable. The fact that Zagreb is demanding the return of stolen archive material from Serbia cannot be dismissed as nationalist madness. But.
The problem is that the HAZU demands in their essence are not about an open debate on historical topics, which would leave room for nuances and gray areas. This is about an attempt to prescribe a certain "historical truth" as the only correct and binding one. Bulgarian style.
โIf you do not obey, we will veto youโ is the message. The tendency to take bilateral historical issues out of the academic discourse, throw them into daily politics & make them a condition of EU accession is a sure way to undermine what is left of the accession process.
It could be argued that HAZU is not the Croatian government, so this is not Croatiaยดs official policy (yet). But the academies of sciences and arts in the region are alle close to the centers of power in their countries.
HAZU immediately forwarded its analysis to President Zoran Milanoviฤ, a nationalist. He will most surly like the ideas. The enlargement talks are thus increasingly degenerating from a once serious process into some kind of veto-festival.
The original criteria for accession โ institutional stability, rule of law, a functioning market economy and similar requirements โ only play a secondary role, if at all. Copenhagen is gone.
Instead, the "historical truth" of medieval kings, insurgents of the Ottoman era and Catholic priests became the top issues. Not surprising though. The EU Commission supported Bulgaria's blackmail attempt, and now other states feel encouraged.
More here:
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Some have asked for the original document the F.A.Z.-article refers to. Here it is:
info.hazu.hr
info.hazu.hr
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