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Tomislav Sunić

INTELLECTUAL TERRORISM (09.02.2002., pravda.ru)

The modern thought police is hard to spot, as it often seeks cover under soothing words such as “democracy” and “human rights.” While each member state of the European Union likes to show off the beauties of its constitutional paragraph, seldom does it attempt to talk about the ambiguities of its criminal code. Last year, in June and November, the European Commission held poorly publicized meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg whose historical importance regarding the future of free speech could overshadow the recent launching of the new euro currency.

MARSHAL TITO'S KILLING FIELDS (Croatian Victims of the Yugoslav Secret Police outside former Communist Yugoslavia: 1945-1990, pravda.ru)

The ongoing legal proceedings in the Hague against Serb and Croat war crimes suspects, including the Serbian ex-president Slobodan Milosevic, must be put into wider perspective. The unfortunate and often irrational hatred between Serbs and Croats had for decades been stirred up and kept alive by the communist Yugoslav secret police. The longevity of the artificial, multiethnic Yugoslavia was not just in the interest of Yugoslav communists but also of Western states. The long-time Western darling, the late Yugoslav communist leader, Marshall Josip Broz Tito, had a far bigger share of ethnic cleansings and mass killings. Yet, for decades, his crimes were hidden and went unreported in the West.

QUEST FOR THE OPULENT WEST (11.02.2002., pravda.ru)

Catching up with the West is a big dream of all post-communist countries in Eastern Europe. This dream transpires through imported liberal slogans such as “transition,” “integration,” and “market democracy” and is aired daily on all local TV and radio wave lengths. This rhetorical switch from former socialist command economy to capitalist market economy appears to East European leaders far more palatable than the necessity of removing their own ossified past. In fact, movers and shakers of the New World Order had never given the green light to East European masses to forcefully remove communist officials from power. Between local nationalists and local ex-communists, global plutocrats opt for the latter.

The Terminal Illness Of Yugoslavia (Chicago Tribune, June 09, 1990)

Amidst breathtaking changes in Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia appears as a cadaver that simply refuses to rot away. Not long ago the Yugoslav communists could claim to be the first initiators of their self-styled perestroika, and their maverick self-managing communism engendered considerable awe in many Western well-wishers. Today, however, Yugoslav institutions are turning into anachronisms, and Yugoslavia's ill-conceived federalism has pushed its six constituent republics to the brink of civil war.

Bosnian Muslims Must End Suicidal Gamble; The Joint Declaration (The New York Times, February 10, 1994)

To the Editor:

In the wake of the joint declaration in Geneva between Presidents Franjo Tudjman of Croatia and Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, some foreign journalists have jumped to the conclusion that such an agreement amounts to the creation of some sort of alliance against the Bosnian Muslims. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Croatia back in chaos? (The Washington Times, December 28, 2001)

I read with interest Jeffrey T. Kuhner's Dec. 26 Op-Ed column on Croatia and its difficult road to democracy, "Not yet Bush of the Balkans." Mr. Kuhner is right in critically assessing the pervasive Balkanesque cronyism and corruption in Croatian politics. Yet he briefly and only sketchily mentions the large-scale massacres and removal of thousands of Croat civilians and competent professionals by the former Yugoslav communist security apparatus, which is still partially alive in Croatia. One's view of what happened in ex-communist Yugoslavia and later in the late President Franjo Tudjman's Croatia depends on the observer's vested interests, his ethnic prejudices and his historical perspectives. One thing remains certain, though: Croatia lacks solid elements of civil society and ignores the Western rules of meritocracy.

Croatie dans l'UE : "Je crains que l'Europe ne devienne une nouvelle Yougoslavie" (Le Point, Paris, le 2 juillet, 2013)

C'est une voix discordante dans le concert de célébrations organisées en Croatie pour l'entrée du pays au sein de l'Union européenne, officialisée ce 1er juillet 2013. Tomislav Sunic, croate et américain, ancien diplomate et professeur en sciences politiques, désormais intellectuel à plein temps, a grandi dans la détestation du communisme version Tito. En janvier 2012, il a voté contre l'entrée de son pays dans l'Union européenne. Lui qui a appris le français en lisant "les lettres de Daudet" et "la plume d'Aron" dit naviguer librement entre la pensée économique de gauche et une approche de la culture de droite. Conflit serbo-croate, situation économique difficile, corruption..., l'auteur de La Croatie : un pays par défaut ? (2010, éd. Avatar) se montre plus que pessimiste quand on lui demande si cette adhésion peut aider à régler les problèmes de son pays. Entretien.

Menaces d’éclatement en Yougoslavie (Le Monde diplomatique, août 1991)

Face à une situation géopolitique fort imprévisible, il n’est pas étonnant que les gouvernements occidentaux préfèrent miser sur une Yougoslavie unifiée et intacte, bien que cela ait abouti - histoire à l’épreuve - à davantage de haine entre ses divers groupes ethniques. La Yougoslavie « forte et démocratique aux frontières inviolables », comme on le laisse entendre à Bruxelles et à Paris, s’inscrit dans une logique jacobine secondée aujourd’hui par le nébuleux concept de global democracy cher à M. George Bush. Or la démocratie dans un pays multiethnique, en l’occurrence la Yougoslavie, ne veut pas dire grand chose. Dans un pays à composantes ethniques diverses, les droits des peuples prennent souvent le dessus sur les droits de l’homme, de même que les nationalismes sont souvent perçus comme le seul véritable moyen de conquérir la liberté. Pour un Serbe, se définir comme « yougoslave » signifie préserver la Serbie « piémontaise » dans une Yougoslavie centralisée, alors que pour un Croate la seule Yougoslavie acceptable ne saurait être qu’une alliance d’États indépendants. Tous comptes faits, il ne s’agit plus d’un choix entre une Yougoslavie autoritaire et une Yougoslavie démocratique, mais plutôt entre la Yougoslavie et sa dissolution. La démocratisation de la Yougoslavie est en même temps le début de sa fin.

Risky 'Equidistance' : LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (The New York Times, May 31, 1994)

Published: May 31, 1994

Part of the cause of the never-ending quality of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina lies in the excessive legalism of international organizations. In 1991, when Yugoslavia began to fall apart, Croatia expected the European Community and United Nations to quickly accept its bid for independence, hoping that its international recognition would stave off the looming Yugoslav Army aggression.

The True Culprits in the Balkans (Evening Standard, September 28, 1993)

Evening Standard 28 September 1993

The True Culprits in the Balkans The race for victim status in Bosnia-Herzegovina appears to be over. The Serbs, as the main aggressors and initial perpetrators of “ethnic cleansing” hardly qualify. The international press has obviously decided that the Croats do not qualify either, despite the fact that the Bosnian Croats have lost considerable territory to the Moslems since the break-up of their alliance. The Moslems seem to have realised, after months of hope, that the international community is unwilling to help them take on their real enemies, the Serbs. Consequently, they have turned on their former allies, the Croats. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the lines between the Croats and Moslems have moved exclusively in the Moslem’s favour, resulting in more than 100,000 Croatian refugees and displaced persons from Bosnia-Herzegovina. While the Press and international organisations have free access to Moslem fighters in Croat POW camps – thanks to the vigorous intervention of Croatia’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Mate Granic – the fate of thousands of Croats in similar Moslem camps remains unknown. The current goals of the Moslem side have been made clear by their spokesman, Chuck Sudetic, recently quoted in the New York Times: “The international community will recognise our right to the territories we win. The international community has said in no uncertain terms that it is ready to legitimise the acquisition of territory by force, and that’s the way it will be in the future.” He went on to state that while the Serbs were too strong to fight against, the Croats were weak. Unfortunately, it is this recent Moslem calculation which has precipitated Croat-Moslem fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina, no Croatian aggression. Fighting between Moslems and the Croats would never have erupted had the international community reacted promptly to early Serbian aggression against both of those communities. Maybe by the time this conflict spreads throughout the Balkans, Europe and the world will finally figure out who the real culprit is.