General Mladen Markač is today in his native Podravina, and to journalists who found him in Koprivnica in front of Podravka, he said while discussing his plans that he will work on books and that he will engage in humanitarian work through some organizations, explicitly rejecting the possibility of political engagement.
In the books for which manuscripts already exist, as he said, he and his colleagues will clarify the wartime situation to the Croatian public in more detail. General Markač spent today with members of the special police and was preparing to visit a sick comrade in Hlebine. Although he did not expect journalists, he was open to conversation.
In response to a journalist’s request to comment on the fact that the people of Podravina, unlike the Dalmatians, were silent about their general, General Markač replied that the mentality of Podravina is different from that of Dalmatia.
– Everyone breathed the same, only the people of Podravina did not express themselves in such an intense way. I do not know if the media are to blame for that or if it is the melancholy of the people of this region, who are more focused on their families. The people of Podravina do not have such a desire to appear in the media, which does not mean that they have less love for their homeland – said the general. As he stated, in The Hague he received tens of thousands of letters from all over the world with messages of support, and the ones from Podravina were the dearest to his heart. When asked if he is satisfied with Croatia as it is today, he replied that he will see.
– I was outside Croatia for six years. I must admit that I followed its development, especially this part of Podravina. Of course, I hope it will be better – he said.
He was surprised by the warm welcome in Zagreb. He says he did not understand what he had done to deserve it, but concluded that the same ‘energy’ that existed with General Gotovina also prevailed with him in Croatia. He added that he carried a heavy burden on his shoulders and could hardly wait for it to be lifted.
To be on the front line of the battlefield for five years, and then to be told that you are a war criminal, is not easy. I surrendered to the Hague Tribunal precisely because I believed that I had done nothing wrong and that I had done my best for my homeland. At one point, you realize that based on some semi-fabricated facts, you have become a war criminal. This casts a shadow on me, but also on all who were under my command. It is a great pain that one feels. And when the acquittal verdict arrived, it was a great shock, followed by immense satisfaction, said General Markač.
