Croatians Mourn Vukovar Defeat, 25 Years On

Commemoration walk through the streets of Vukovar. Photo: Sven Milekic/BIRN.

The organisers of the 25th anniversary commemoration on Friday said that 100,000 people had come to Vukovar from all over Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while some had even travelled from overseas, from Croat communities in the US and Australia.

People walked around the baroque town, some in military, police or paramilitary uniforms, visiting bars and meeting with friends and families.

Like every year on the anniversary of the fall of the eastern Croatian town to the Yugoslav People’s Army and Serb paramilitaries, the town was bustling and a seat was hard to find in any of the cafes, bars and restaurants in the town centre.

“We’re here for the first time. We started our trip last night at half past 11,” Ivan, 64, from the village of Podstrana near the coastal town of Zadar, told BIRN.

As a Croatian war veteran, he spoke of being overwhelmed, and described his feelings as “both sorrow and pride”.

As well as huge human and material losses, Vukovar suffered demographically after the three-month siege ended in defeat for the Croatian side on November 18, 1991 and all the non-Serb population was expelled from the town.

Its population fell dramatically, from over 44,000 inhabitants in 1991 before the war to some 27,000 in the 2011 census.

More people were employed in Vukovar in 1991 – around 29,000 – than there are inhabitants today, while local officials claim that the actual number of people living in the town the whole year round is even lower.

Eighty-five-year-old Mirko from Novska, a town in western Slavonia, said he had been coming to Vukovar for the annual commemorations since 1999, the first year that a state ceremony was held in the town.

He showed his card proving that he is a war veteran and told BIRN how he joined the army in 1991, even though he was already 60 years old. He also recalled the moment when he heard that Vukovar would fall.

“There were a group of officers from [the town of] Bjelovar with me on the frontline. One day they told me: ‘Grandpa, Vukovar will fall soon.’ I was in shock. They cried, I cried as well. I felt sorry for the people that remained in the town, all the victims,” he said.

Over 3,000 soldiers and civilians died during the siege and its aftermath, 86 of them children.

Mirko expressed dissatisfaction that all those responsible have not yet been punished.

“I think it is good that we have gathered in great numbers, so we can feel strong, being together. Also, with this, we’re maybe helping the victims and the survivors in some way,” he suggested.

He then joined the column of veterans and mourners who walked the route from the town to the Vukovar memorial cemetery.

The column was longer than in previous years, stretching back five kilometres, although some people remained in the town, loudly singing patriotic songs.

Younger people also arrived in Vukovar for the commemoration, like Fabijan, 18, who came from Zagreb with his school friends.

“My parents told me a lot about Vukovar… I feel proud being a Croat and a Catholic; I am so proud,” Fabijan told BIRN.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t alive at the time, but if I had been, I would have been with the town’s inhabitants that day. May God bless them and give them greatness,” he said.

He argued that it was “the obligation of every Croat” to attend the memorial ceremony.

Pasko, 68, from the coastal municipality of Kastela, came with his local branch of the Association of Croatian Military Disabled from the Homeland War.

“We’ve been coming for years, and we’ll come as long as we [physically] can. Every decent citizen of Croatia, who has Croatia in his heart, has an obligation to come to Vukovar and pay homage to the ‘hero town’,” Pasko told BIRN.

“I have problems formulating my emotions right now… We have to help Vukovar as much as we can,” he added.

After people had already gathered in the courtyard of the town hospital, state officials started to arrive.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told the crowd that the anniversary was an occasion to remember all those who lost their lives for “free, modern Croatia”.

“We should always remember their sacrifice, and that this Croatian unity that we see in Vukovar acts as an incentive for actions in the future,” Plenkovic said.

“In cooperation with the [Vukovar] mayor and [Vukovar Srijem] county mayor, we will try to take advantage of the years ahead to [increase] the economic and social well-being of all inhabitants of Vukovar, in the European spirit, a spirit of tolerance and with remembrance and reverence for the victims of Vukovar,” he added.