Tvrtko Jakovina: Croatia’s Rejection of the Arbitration Ruling ‘A Shot in Both Knees’

The entrenchment of Croatian politics in the position of rejecting the arbitration ruling on the border with Slovenia could prove to be “a shot in its own knee”, but the real causes of the poor relations between Ljubljana and Zagreb are diplomatic incompetence, the provincialism of both politics, and the absence of capable and decisive politicians, is the thesis presented by historian Tvrtko Jakovina in the Maribor newspaper “Večer”, on the occasion of the latest escalation of relations between the two countries.

Diplomats from the largest countries make statements that do not wish to offend Croatia, but they believe that the arbitrator’s decision is the basis for concluding the border dispute, which is why it seems that the resolute stance of Croatian politics on rejecting the ruling is “a shot in both knees”, especially since the solution provided by the arbitrators “is not unfavorable for Croatia”, Jakovina states.

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– The Croatian side has closed the possibility of accepting what the arbitration court decided, even though that decision cannot be easily ignored, nor can what partners in the European Union and NATO have said about it, Jakovina notes, who considers this situation “absurd”, given that both countries are partners in European and transatlantic integrations, and considering the closeness and deep ties of the two peoples, as well as their mutual economic interconnectedness.

Today, there are no longer politicians like Račan and Drnovšek, there is no possibility for relations to unravel instead of becoming increasingly tangled, Jakovina notes, who sees the causes of the erosion of relations in the structural weaknesses of politics in both Croatia and Slovenia.

Lack of Decisiveness and Diplomatic Skill

If a strong politician were at the head of the Croatian government, then the political decision might quickly turn the situation around and resolve this issue as it is now defined. However, the prime minister is a man who has been dealing with the location of a plaque with a Ustaša slogan for a year, Jakovina notes, who attributes a lack of decisiveness and diplomatic skill to Prime Minister Plenković, as well as to other top officials, and their entanglement in internal ideological disputes.

But it is not better, Jakovina believes, in Slovenia either.

– Slovenia is not Croatia’s main or most sensitive issue on which Croats could mobilize as they do with relations with Serbia, but in Slovenia, Croatia is precisely such a topic. We have witnessed several times that the poor relations between Zagreb and Ljubljana are being forced, as was the case during the time of Ivo Sanader and Janez Janša. Slovenia could often be more constructive and act with more diplomatic tact towards Croatia, but that is not the case, Jakovina notes.

The political mentality on both sides of the Sutla and Kupa rivers reminds Jakovina of the novel “Skorojevići” (“Jara gospoda”) by Slovenian author Janko Kersnik, written at the end of the 19th century.

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– Croats and Slovenes are burdened by nationalisms, and perhaps it is equally important – by a narrow view of the world. They are provincial and small, acting like characters from Kersnik’s novel Skorojevići, which was read in Croatian schools during the Yugoslav era. Instead of the relations between the two countries becoming exemplary, instead of being an example of cooperation and agreement for everyone from Brussels to Skopje, they illustrate poor relations. Thus today, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia actually use the relations between Slovenia and Croatia as an excuse for their own inactivity and unresolved problems, notes the Croatian historian.

– Something is wrong with both Croatian and Slovenian diplomacy. Instead of taking the best from the past, looking at how (Slovenian architect Jože) Plečnik and (Croatian sculptor Ivan) Meštrović operated and built in Prague in the 1930s, where Masaryk was president, instead of becoming a motor for including others in Europe, thus ensuring a safer future for themselves and the continent, such a perspective now seems increasingly distant. Plečnik and Meštrović are not characters from the novel Skorojevići, but today’s politicians in Zagreb and Ljubljana are, concludes Jakovina in an authorial text in the Maribor newspaper on Monday.