VIDEO/PHOTO: The Agreement That Won the War

At the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Peace Agreement in Vrbovsko, along with numerous locals, the immediate actors and initiators of this peace settlement gathered. In almost a kind of history class, they answered numerous questions, explained the circumstances under which the Agreement was reached and presented hitherto unknown facts that preceded peace in these areas.

– I remember it all well. During those dramatic days, Josip Boljkovac, the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia at the time, came to me and informed me that the radicals in Gorski Kotar had started confiscating weapons from citizens of Serbian nationality. We both understood that this would not be bode well because the people of Gorski Kotar were mostly foresters, hunters, and lumberjacks, their houses were brimming with all kinds of weapons, and they would perceive this confiscation as an attack on their freedom. We both knew that if there were to be a rebellion there, there would be no more Croatia. We immediately explained to Tuđman that the people there were prudent and that they should be allowed to keep their weapons. That was the very beginning of negotiations on peace, which was later finally achieved – explained former president Stjepan Mesić.

Milorad Pupovac, at the time at the head of the SDF (Serb Democratic Forum) also recalled the dramatic events.

– We joined the efforts that already existed in Gorski Kotar, because this is an area that was extremely important so that war would not break out here. Along with the police and Boljkovac, members of the Serbian community in the area played a crucial role in preserving peace. The population realized that their problem was being approached more seriously, they felt more secure, and this is where the readiness to reach the Peace Agreement was born – said Pupovac.

The immediate actors from that period, J. C. Concolato, a United Nations official at the time, Nada Glad, Željko Bartulović, and Siniša Tatalović also shared their memories of the circumstances that preceded the signing of the Agreement.

The day-long commemoration of the 30th anniversary organized by the SNV (Serb National Council) started with a football match, continued with the opening of the art exhibition of the works of Đorđe Petrović and Josip Ferenčak, and ended with gatherings and conversations about peaceful life, details, feelings, and impressions in this peaceful area in the whirlwind of war.

Professor Novica Vučinić is extremely proud of the Peace Agreement that was reached in the whirlwind of war.

– With the joint forces of both Serbs and Croats we managed to achieve peace in Gorski Kotar and maintain it to this day. There was neither a Croatian nor a Serbian house in this area that did not have any weapons, but they were never used and not a single bullet was fired during the entire war. We were not afraid, we believed in and trusted each other, and when a few shots could be heard from the surrounding forests every now and then, we knew that a hunter or, God forbid, maybe a poacher had stumbled upon some game – Vučinić explained to us.

– The Peace Agreement between Croats and Serbs in this area still lives to this day and it seems to me that it is even stronger and more permanent than before. The Agreement is undoubtedly unique, and I am thankful to everyone who initiated and implemented it. The only thing left for us locals here to do is to respect it, which we have done and of which we are very proud. Serbs and Croats have always lived here in peace, helping each other, marrying into each other’s families, so it can be said that there has been no coexistence here for a long time, but a clear, honest, and untainted life of Croats and Serbs – explained the deputy mayor of Vrbovsko Đorđe Busić.

Retired journalist and peace activist Nada Glad remembers well the circumstances in which the Peace Agreement was created.

– Even after 30 years, this Peace Agreement has not disappeared from our memories and our hearts, as this gathering here proves. Gorski Kotar was defended by this Peace Agreement, and not by mortar shells and tanks. Peace attempts and negotiations are always louder than the thunder of cannons. In the beginning, it was difficult to find a friend, decide who to trust and how to position oneself, but the local residents quickly realized the right path, encouraged by the initiative from the highest Croatian and Serbian circles. You can see the result. To this day, we sit at the same table – Nada Glad told us.

– The Peace Agreement, which was reached 30 years ago, prevented war in this area, and its consequences and results are still visible to this day. This is the geographical area where Croatia is at its “thinnest,” so to speak. If there had been a war here, the country would have been cut in half, communications, important roads to the south, the Zagreb-Rijeka railway line, all this would have been cut off, and who knows how things would have turned out if it had not been for this Peace Agreement. Today we live together in peace, share the same problems, and solve them together. We build roads and paths, construct water mains, develop infrastructure, and take care of every person – Darko Domitrović, the mayor of Ogulin, told us.

Deserving individuals, who are in any way connected with the signing of the Peace Agreement, were given plaques in relation to this event.

Ignorant Mayor Mufić

There are almost no residents of Vrbovsko who do not know at least something about the Peace Agreement, so it is surprising that the mayor of Vrbovsko Dražen Mufić says the following:

– I only saw this Peace Agreement for the first time two weeks ago, maybe even less than that. In a conversation I had with the people in the field, I concluded that they did not perceive the Agreement as positively as it is presented today. It would be better to discuss how the Peace Agreement is evaluated historically, and not for politics to impose something on us for daily political purposes – declared, without batting an eyelid, the clearly ill-informed Mayor Mufić, who has already served several mayoral terms.