ZAGREB, Dec 21 (Hina) - The "Croatian Spring" movement was a complex course of events of great importance, which can be evaluated entirely only now, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Friday at a two-day international seminar,
"Thirty Years of the Croatian Spring and the Reform Movement 1969-1971", which is being held at the Croatian Homeland Foundation (HMI) in Zagreb. Stressing that he was very pleased the seminar was organised by the institute which cherishes the memory of the great Croatian poet and his friend Vlado Gotovac, Mesic said the current political scene in Croatia was democratic and mature enough for a proper evaluation of the events of thirty years ago. The repression which followed the crackdown on the movement lasted several years, the main targets being the members of the Croatian Cultural Society (Matica Hrvatska) and the editorial board of "Hrvatski tjednik", he said. Croatia's
ZAGREB, Dec 21 (Hina) - The "Croatian Spring" movement was a complex
course of events of great importance, which can be evaluated
entirely only now, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Friday
at a two-day international seminar, "Thirty Years of the Croatian
Spring and the Reform Movement 1969-1971", which is being held at
the Croatian Homeland Foundation (HMI) in Zagreb.
Stressing that he was very pleased the seminar was organised by the
institute which cherishes the memory of the great Croatian poet and
his friend Vlado Gotovac, Mesic said the current political scene in
Croatia was democratic and mature enough for a proper evaluation of
the events of thirty years ago.
The repression which followed the crackdown on the movement lasted
several years, the main targets being the members of the Croatian
Cultural Society (Matica Hrvatska) and the editorial board of
"Hrvatski tjednik", he said.
Croatia's independence was expected to bring an opportunity to
evaluate the Croatian Spring in the right way and properly
acknowledge the achievements of its participants, but this did not
happen and the attitude towards the 1971 events started to
increasingly burden relations in the country, he said.
The Croatian reform movement is the most important political,
social and cultural fact of the communist period of Croatia's 20th
century history, as well as its anti-Yugoslav reality, said Ivo
Banac, a professor at Yale University.
Banac believes the question of whether the reform movement was a
wasted chance remained unanswered. Most Croats, he said,
especially those who at the time were students, consider 1971 a
golden period - a time of freedom, joy and Croatian innocence. That
is a Croatian myth, he said.
The editor-in-chief of the highest-circulation Polish daily
"Gazeta Wyborcza" and one of the founders of the Polish workers
union "Solidarnost", Adam Michnik, made a comparison between the
reform movements in East European socialist countries. The
prevailing question in Poland today is whether to support European
integration processes or not, he said, adding it could often be
heard that the Poles had replaced Moscow's protectorate with that
of Brussels.
Michnik believes the Euro-sceptics use undemocratic discourse, but
also warns that their objection that Europe's globalisation could
result in superficial cultural identification is justified.
Cultural diversity is Europe's wealth, he says.
Latinka Perovic, secretary of the Central Committee of the
Communist Alliance of Serbia until July 1972, spoke about the
reform movement in Yugoslavia.
The reform movement in Serbia is a taboo in Serbia's more recent
history, she said. From today's perspective, in 1971 the Croatian
political leadership aspired towards a confederation while the
Serbian aspired towards Serbia's emancipation from the Yugoslav
state.
The events of 1971 showed that the model of the Yugoslav state was
worn out and the 1970s clearly marked the beginning of Yugoslavia's
end, she said.
The seminar continues tomorrow.
(hina) sb rml