Margareta Blažević, MSc
PhD Candidate at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR)
margareta.blazevic@gmail.com
“Hands Off Our Holy War”: The Public’s Support for the Official War Narrative and its Relationship to Transitional Justice Processes in Croatia
Twenty-six years after the end of the war in Croatia, the country is still facing a steady rise of nationalist sentiment, radicalisation, hate speech, and hatred targeting non-Croats. Additionally, war criminals are glorified while decisions and judgements of the domestic courts and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia are relativized, ignored, or denied.
As implied in reports and country evaluations published by (inter)national organisations, the official war narrative propagated and institutionalised by the Croatian political elite might play a role in obstructing transitional justice (TJ) processes in the country. This research project utilised methods of literature research and review, survey research, and expert interviews to explore the relationship between the official war narrative and TJ processes in Croatia. In doing so, the emphasis was put on investigating the relationship between citizens’ attitudes towards the official narrative’s notions and their attitudes towards the TJ processes.
All three research methods produced corresponding results revealing the existence of the relationship between the official war narrative and TJ in Croatia. More specifically, the literature review implied that the promotion and compliance with a hegemonic, official war narrative can obstruct TJ processes. Moreover, the assessment of gathered survey responses revealed that the increase in respondents’ support for the official war narrative predicted a decrease in their support for TJ processes. Interviewed experts affirmed the existence of the said relationship in practice and discussed its practical implications. Nevertheless, a lot of factors and underlying mechanisms influencing the relationship still need to be investigated. The current study set up the grounds for further research on this increasingly important topic, especially in the light of intensifying political tensions between former Yugoslav republics and its citizens.