Croatian writer indirectly accuses Serbs of starting wildfires in Croatia

Foto: Tanjug/Hina/Valerio Baranović

Last week Croatia was hit by huge wildfires, of which perhaps the most dangerous was the one near Sibenik. The press was full of photos of the blaze and firefighters heroically fighting it.

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What was fortunate in this infortune is that this time chauvinistic rumors about the fires in Croatia being started by Serbs did not start spreading immediately, which happened in past years, especially during the big fires in 2017. There was no evidence either then or today to back up those claims.

Hitrec: The arsonist may come from those plotting revenge for Storm

However, writer Hrvoje Hitrec, the recent winner of the Vladimir Nazor Lifetime Achievement Award and former vice-president of the HDZ party, best known as the author of the TV series "Smogovci," has indirectly accused Serbs.

In his regular column published on the portal of the Croatian Cultural Council, he wrote the following: "Dalmatia is as dry as a bone, fire after fire of stormy proportions, and we still don't know anything about the causes of the biggest one. Usually, a power line, a lightning, a petty psychopath with pyromaniac tendencies are declared the culprit, then in something of a broader way of thinking, those who clear  the ground for a new building plot, and almost no one dares to think that sometimes the arsonist may come from the ranks of those lowlives who in this way plan and realize revenge for the now long-ago (Operation) Storm."

No evidence for Hitrec's claims

There is no evidence for these unhinged anti-Serb constructions, but Hitrec is making them publicly anyway, Index writes.

At the same time, he tries to justify himself and writes ironically that "it would not be politically correct to accuse the Serbs of starting fires."

And then, according to Index, there follows an expression of concern, which once again wants to transfer the responsibility for the fires in Dalmatia onto the Serbs:

"Dalmatia already has so many wounds that it cannot afford new ones, and that is why the police investigation must be effective and include all possible causes, from 'burning weeds' to malicious intent."

Index points out that a police investigation will of course consider all allegations, and goes on to write, "But Hitrec actually suggests that some Serb arsonists may escape justice because the Croatian police will not dare to investigate in that direction, if there are indications and evidence for it. So far there is none, but there's Hitrec's perfidious incitement against the Serbs, whom he is framing as arsonists."

(Telegraf.rs)