Austrian conservative paper Pres (Die Press) reports on the series of incidents against Serbs that took place in Croatia recently.
Under the title “Orgies of beating Serbian minority in Croatia”, Pres describes the assault that occurred in the café near Knin, where the guests watched the game of Red Star, Index.hr reports.
“The bullies came at night with disguised faces,” Di Pres said, adding that the entire café was demolished, while guests were beaten with sticks, bottles and fists, including minors.
“Five people ended up in the hospital,” the newspaper quoted, citing the owner of the café, who said they were attacked because they watched the Red Star match and because they were of Serbian origin. The attack is considered to be organized.
“A quarter of a century after the end of the war, news of attacks on members of the Serb minority is spreading in Croatia,” Pres writes, adding that the innkeeper who refused to play Marko Perkovic Thompson’s songs was also attacked recently. He was attacked by three young men.
“According to the 2011 census, there are only 186.000 Serbs left in Croatia: their share in the total population has decreased from 12.2 percent to 4.3 percent since the outbreak of the war in 1991,” and adds that “despite the reduced number of Serbs, they have been increasingly exposed to physical and verbal attacks in this EU member state in the recent years.”
Die Press: For the government, these are “individual cases”
For the government, these are “individual cases”, while minority representatives and the media consider it “a reflection of a nationalist turn to the right and an increase of intolerance in Croatian society in general”, the newspaper said.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic points out that he had strongly condemned the latest attacks, but still believes that these are “acts of individuals” that do not reflect the social climate. Serbian minority representative Milorad Pupovac, however, believes some people want to expel the remaining Serbs from Croatia.
Source: b92