US embassy cable - 05ZAGREB834

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000834 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE - KABUMOTO, BENEDICT, GAUDIOSI, ENGLISH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SR, HR, Political Parties/Elections, Regional Issues 
SUBJECT: LOCAL ETHNIC TENSIONS RISE IN ELECTION WAKE 
 
REF: A. ZAGREB 827 
     B. ZAGREB 792 
 
1. (SBU) An unfortunate convergence of events has stirred 
anger 
 and fear among some small-town Croats, sparking several 
incidents of ethnic hatred against Serbs.  The May 9 USG 
presentation of the Legion of Merit to the relatives of 
Chetnik 
leader Draza Mihailovic; the May 10 reports of proposed 
changes 
to the Hague Tribunal's indictment against Croatian Generals 
Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, interpreted as an indictment 
of 
the entire nation; the May 15 Chetnik rally in Ravna Gora 
with 
the participation of SaM FM Vuk Draskovic; and inflammatory 
May 
15 Croatian news coverage of Serb refugees bussed in to vote 
at 
local elections -- these have all become intertwined in the 
minds of a portion of the Croatian public, particularly in 
war- 
affected areas, and reinforced the "cult of victimhood" still 
prevalent in some places ten years after Dayton.  The results 
range from disappointing to tragic.  Anti-Serb graffiti has 
appeared in the south-central town of Gracac featuring the 
infamous slogan "Srbe na vrbe" ) translating to "Serbs in 
the 
willows," the rough equivalent of "Hang 'em high."  In 
Vojnic, 
between Karlovac and the Bosnian border, loyalists of the 
ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) threatened Social 
Democratic Party (SDP) Mayor Branko Eremic, an ethnic Serb, 
assaulted one of his supporters at the mayor's home on 
election 
night, and stoned the car of one of Eremic's coalition 
partners, 
local Imam Azim Durmic.  On May 18, the body of an 
84-year-old 
Serb refugee who had returned to vote was found in Donji 
Karin 
near Zadar, reportedly murdered on election night. 
 
2. (SBU) These tensions have also crept into the politics 
surrounding local governing coalitions, which are still being 
negotiated in the majority of towns and counties where no 
party 
won enough assembly seats to govern alone.  In Knin, it 
appears 
increasingly likely that the local HDZ chapter will form a 
coalition with the far-right Croatian Party of Rights and 
Croatian Block and shut the Independent Serbian Democratic 
Party (SDSS) out of local government despite their first 
place 
finish (8 of 17 seats) on the 15th.   Callers to a Croatian 
TV 
talk show last night explained their sentiments: Serbs in 
government in Knin -- former capital of the self-proclaimed 
Serbian Republic of the Krajina (RSK) during the war -- 
equals 
RSK all over again.  Post is carefully looking into these 
incidents to evaluate the local situation. 
 
BILATERAL RELATIONS CALM - DESPITE POLITICS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) At the national level, both PM Sanader and Serbian 
Ambassador Misa Simurdic have assured Post that bilateral 
relations remain stable.  Regularly scheduled diplomatic 
consultations are continuing.  President Mesic, after 
recently 
cancelling a planned trip to Serbia in reaction to FM 
Draskovic's participation in the Chetnik rally, announced 
his opposition to PM Sanader's proposed government 
declaration 
condemning the Chetnik movement, saying the GoC should not 
escalate the situation.  Sanader's threat yesterday to re- 
impose a visa regime on SaM is viewed as empty, made simply 
to provide domestic political cover and let the public know 
the GoC is not taking Serbian actions lightly.  The 
implication 
of all this is clear: PM Sanader may have pointed Zagreb 
toward 
Europe, but he still has work to do in the field. 
FRANK 
 
 
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