US embassy cable - 03ZAGREB2424

UNCLAS  ZAGREB 002424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, HR, Political Parties/Elections 
SUBJECT: RULING COALITION TANGLES WITH CHURCH 
 
REF: ZAGREB 977 
 
Summary 
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1. (SBU)  Prime Minister Racan's SDP may have gotten itself 
into a no-win situation by directly responding to what has 
been increasingly partisan -- and pro-HDZ -- comments made by 
Catholic Church officials in the run up to Croatia's national 
elections on November 23.  The Catholic Bishops Conference 
(HBK) released a pre-electoral message that was non-partisan 
at face value, but clearly conservative and supportive of the 
opposition parties.  Direct criticism of the Church would 
spell certain electoral death in a country that is over 85 
percent Catholic and still mired in issues of identity and 
ethnic nationalism.  The SDP at first chose not to respond 
but, as Church officials more publicly have crossed the line 
into partisan politics, some leading SDP members are finding 
it increasingly difficult to remain silent.   End Summary. 
 
Catholic Church Issues Election Message 
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2. (SBU) The Catholic Church in Croatia entered the current 
electoral contest on October 30 when the Croatian Catholic 
Bishops' Conference (HBK) released a statement that provided 
criteria for the faithful to evaluate parties and candidates. 
 The statement called on Church officials not to promote 
individual political parties; however, indications of support 
for conservative and right-wing parties were clear to all. 
Mentioned first was that parties must possess an 
"uncompromising and consistent war on drugs," which 
represented a direct rebuff to the ruling SDP, which 
supported decriminalization of "soft" drug possession. 
 
3. (SBU) Catholics were also directed not to vote for parties 
and individuals who support legalized abortion, euthanasia, 
and same-sex marriages.  The Croatian People's Party (HNS) in 
particular, as well as other members of the ruling coalition, 
supported same-sex unions in the discussion on a recent law 
on gender equality.  Abortion is legal in Croatia, and only 
conservative parties on the right have openly opposed it. 
 
4. (SBU) Included among the list of priorities to be voted 
for were a "removing of the legacy of the totalitarian 
system" -- again, a swipe at the SDP as the successors to the 
Communist Party.  Voters were told to support those parties 
and candidates most likely to forge links between "Croats at 
home and abroad," and those who will nurture national 
identity and culture.  The politics of identity and 
nationalism are clearly the domain of conservative and 
right-wing parties. 
 
5. (SBU) The issue of property restitution is further 
complicating the ruling coalition's relationship with the 
Catholic Church in the run up to elections.  On October 29, 
in a direct challenge to the Government, Archbishop Ivan 
Prendja of Zadar told reporters on the margins of the fall 
meeting of the Catholic Bishop's Conference that there has 
been little progress on restitution of church property 
nationalized after World War II.   At their annual spring 
meeting in April, the HBK made a similar statement claiming 
property restitution was at a standstill (Reftel).  It was 
also in April that the Catholic Church gave the Government a 
list of 43 properties for which it was seeking restitution. 
 
6. (SBU) On November 11, the media reported that the HBK sent 
the Government a letter requesting urgent restitution of 
properties.  Prime Minister Racan fell for the bait, and told 
reporters the pre-election period "was not an ideal time" to 
discuss restitution of Church property.  Two days later the 
HBK denied they had sent the GOC a letter, but used the 
denial to remind readers that the Government's commitments 
and obligations to the Church are "well known." 
 
SDP No Longer Able to Turn the Other Cheek 
------------------------------------------ 
 
7. (SBU) Initially the SDP had been willing to ignore the 
various jabs and thrusts aimed at the ruling coalition; 
rather than respond defensively, members of the ruling 
coalition, as well as President Mesic, preferred instead to 
praise the Church for urging voters to go to the polls. 
Prime Minister Racan has praised the Church for getting out 
the vote, yet according to press reports, he also said he did 
not believe voters would be influenced by the Bishop's 
election message. 
 
8. (SBU) Ingrid Anticevic-Marinovic, Minister of Justice and 
a member of the SDP presidency, told us she has heard reports 
that reactionary priests have crossed the line and are now 
directly encouraging parishioners to vote against the ruling 
coalition.  We have heard similar reports, particularly in 
the ninth and tenth electoral districts that comprise most of 
Dalmatia, the strongholds of the HDZ and other more far-right 
segments of the opposition. 
 
9. (SBU) Boris Dezulovic, a columnist for the weekly "Globus" 
newsmagazine, summarized well what is being heard from the 
pulpit -- "if you do not understand the bishop's advice on 
who to vote for, your parish priest will interpret for you: 
the HDZ."  On November 15, the press reported that Ante Ivas, 
Bishop of Sibenik, met with opposition candidates running in 
the Ninth Electoral District.  On November 16, Sime Lucin, 
Minister of the Interior and a member of the SDP presidency, 
held a press conference in which he confronted Bishop Ivas 
over his alleged support for the opposition. 
 
Comment 
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10. (SBU) The SDP and other members of the ruling coalition 
have no real option but silence when it comes to responding 
to pre-election slights from the Church.  Criticism of the 
Church, and particularly criticism of Church involvement in 
partisan politics -- in a country where there is little 
separation of church and state -- would spell certain 
electoral death in a country that is over 85 percent Catholic 
and still mired in issues of identify and ethnic nationalism. 
 The best Racan could have hoped for would be silence from 
the Church, a prospect that now may be more difficult to 
achieve given senior party members' new found willingness to 
confront Church officials. 
FRANK 
 
 
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