BOSNIA: REACTION TO DEATH OF FRANJO TUDJMAN

Описание: (11 Dec 1999) Serbo-Croat/Nat

The death of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Friday has prompted a cold, if not joyous response from the people of Bosnia.

Tudjman's legacy of leading Croatia to independence from the former Yugoslavia came at the expense of many Bosnians Serbs, who were driven from Croatian territory until peace was achieved in 1995.

While expressing regret over Tudjman's death, European leaders are hopeful the region will now be able to achieve stability.

On the rainy streets of Sarajevo on Saturday morning, Bosnian people were hopeful.

The death of Croatian president Franjo Tudjman is significant to all of them - he was the man many blame for fuelling a protracted, bloody conflict in the Balkans, the man who forced thousands from their homes because they were not Croatian.

Many here are saying that his death will create a better future for the Balkans - better relations between Croatia and Bosnia.

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"It is going to be better for us in Bosnia. He did lots of bad things to these people and I think that this will mean a big change in the situation in Bosnia."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"I'm glad. He was an open enemy to Bosnia"
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"This will mean a change of government and new elections in Croatia. Tudjman was not the greatest man in the world. He should have been in The Hague a long time ago. He was filmed killing people in Bleiburg camp."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop

Tudjman proclaimed Croatia's independence from Serb-led Yugoslavia in June 1991, triggering a six-month war during which at least 10,000 people were killed.

Serbs, backed by the Yugoslav army, seized a third of the country - territory that Tudjman's forces would recapture four years later.

In 1992, Tudjman backed Croats in Bosnia who wanted to break away from the multi ethnic state and join Croatia.

After agreeing to an alliance with Bosnian Muslims, Croat troops drove Serb forces from Croatian territory in 1995.

When the war-ending Dayton accord was signed later in 1995, a Muslim-Croat Federation was declared for 51 percent of Bosnia.

Although a hero to many, Tudjman's widely rumoured conspiracy to carve up Bosnia, his continued support for hardline Bosnian Croats who want to annex part of Bosnia, and his refusal to fully cooperate with the U-N war crimes tribunal, brought international criticism - and threats of sanctions.

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"Doctor Tudjman achieved much in support of liberation and peace in Bosnia. He did much in building trust among the population in Bosnia. And he was a friend for the Bosnian nation. All bad speculation of his work will fail and in the future people will realise that his life achievement was great in relation to the Balkan crisis and the world in general."
SUPER CAPTION: Mladen Bevanda, Chairman of HDZ Party

If Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union, known as HDZ, wins the next parliamentary elections, many of Tudjman's policies will survive.

Until then, Bosnians can only hope they will die out, along with the man they blame for a life of frustration, anger and misery.

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