Political Change in Post-Communist Slovakia and Croatia: From Nationalist to Europeanist. Sharon Fisher

Transcription

1 Political Change in Post-Communist Slovakia and Croatia: From Nationalist to Europeanist Sharon Fisher

2 POLITICAL CHANGE IN POST-COMMUNIST SLOVAKIA AND CROATIA: FROM NATIONALIST TO EUROPEANIST Copyright Sharon Fisher, Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN DOI / Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fisher, Sharon. Political change in post-communist Slovakia and Croatia: from nationalist to Europeanist/Sharon Fisher. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Slovakia Politics and government Croatia Politics and government Nationalism Case studies. 4. Post-communism Case studies. 5. Civil society. I. Title. JN2240.A58F dc A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Macmillan India Ltd. First edition: June ISBN (ebook)

3 For my parents

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5 Contents Acknowledgments vi List of Acronyms ix Section One: The Rise of National Movements and the Political Mobilization of Populations 1 1 The Battle between Nationalists and Europeanists 3 2 The First Elections 1990 in Croatia and 1992 in Slovakia 23 Section Two: Maintaining National Mobilization 53 3 Structuring the Ideology of the New State 55 4 Economic Policy: Using State Property for Political Gain 83 5 The Politics of Culture: Promoting a National Identity 101 Section Three: The Defeat of National Movements The Growth of Democratic Civil Society The Fall of the Nationalists : 1998 in Slovakia and 2000 in Croatia 149 Section Four: Moving Toward Europe The Rule of Europeanists 171 Conclusion 209 Notes 213 Selected Bibliography 243 Index 253

6 Acknowledgments I first made the decision to launch a comparative study of Slovakia and Croatia in 1996, while employed as the Slovak analyst at the Open Media Research Institute (OMRI) in Prague. Many of the background materials used in this book, particularly those relating to Slovakia, were obtained during my years of employment at the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Research Institute in Munich and subsequently at OMRI. Following OMRI s dissolution in 1997, I began a full-time PhD program at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at University College London. My research led me to a year of fieldwork in Bratislava and Zagreb, followed by a year of writing in Brussels, allowing me to look at Europeanization from several different angles. This book would not have been possible without the generous support of numerous friends, colleagues, and institutions. SSEES offered an ideal setting for the study of Central and Eastern Europe, with a close-knit atmosphere and specialists from various fields. My PhD supervisors, Kieran Williams and Vesna Popovski, played an especially important role in the preparation of my dissertation, and I was also assisted and inspired by many other faculty members, including Stephanie Schwandner and Wendy Bracewell. In addition, I am grateful to my two PhD examiners, Jacques Rupnik and Abby Innes, for their useful comments and advice. I have been studying Slovakia since 1990, and my friends in Bratislava and Trnava have been extremely welcoming over years of regular visits, providing me with a second home. The Slovaks who have contributed to my understanding of their country and who have assisted me during the dissertation and book-publishing processes are far too numerous to name, although I would like to single out Eva Benova, Vladimir Bilcik, Martin Bruncko, Daniel Butora, Pavol Demes, Anton Marcincin, Katarina Mathernova, Zuzana Melisova, Dagmar Ruskova, Igor Slobodnik, Zuzana Sefcikova, and Miroslav Wlachovsky. I am also indebted to Martin Butora, Zora Butorova, Olga Gyarfasova, Grigorij Meseznikov, Michal Vasecka, and the rest of the staff at the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO) for giving me a place to work during my field research in Bratislava and for continuing to provide valuable insights (and stacks of useful materials) on subsequent visits. I would also like

7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii to pay tribute to the late Pavol Lukac, who offered me encouragement and wisdom during our interactions in Bratislava, Brussels, and Washington, DC. His presence is deeply missed. My introduction to Croatia came much later, and I am grateful to my friends and colleagues in Zagreb and elsewhere for their patience and understanding in helping me to catch up on my knowledge. While many Croats assisted me at various stages of my PhD study and beyond, I would like to offer special thanks to Biljana Bijelic, Tatiana Calic, Nevenka Cuckovic, Goran Cular, Milivoj Djilas, Zrinjka Perusko, Ines Sabalic, Ante Soric, Ksenija Skreblin, and Nenad Zakosek. In addition, I am grateful to Ivan Grdesic of the University of Zagreb s Political Science Department for providing me with a place to work during my field research in Croatia. During my PhD and book research, I interviewed more than one hundred Slovaks and Croats from political parties, government ministries, NGOs, the media, academia, and cultural organizations in an effort to better frame my approach to the complicated issues that are discussed in this book. While many of those interviews are referenced directly in the text, other interviews provided me with insightful background information. Regardless, I am very appreciative of all the time that various people offered. In addition to those already named, a number of Western experts on the region offered valuable advice and support over the years, including Stefan Krause, Milada Vachudova, Karen Buerkle, John Gould, Tim Haughton, Karen Henderson, Kari Johnstone, Stef Jansen, Kevin Deegan-Krause, and Peter Rutland. My book manuscript benefited greatly from the helpful comments provided by an anonymous reviewer. Moreover, I am thankful for the assistance of Kurt Basseuner, Vladimir Bilcik, Nida Gelazis, Olga Gyarfasova, Tim Haughton, Karen Henderson, Ksenija Skreblin, Milada Vachudova, and my parents, all of whom contributed by reading and commenting on final revisions of the chapters. Regarding financial support, OMRI provided helpful assistance in the first stages of my PhD study. Over the years, other key backing came from the Overseas Research Students (ORS) Awards Scheme of the Universities and Colleges in the United Kingdom and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship for Dissertation Research in East European Studies. Moreover, the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) provided a travel grant for a research visit to Croatia in In terms of academic support, an especially helpful experience was the summer 1998 Junior Scholars Training Seminar, which was cosponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) and the ACLS. In November 2004, the WWICS also provided me with a short-term fellowship, which was instrumental in helping me to move forward with publication and encouraging me to broaden my focus to look not only at

8 viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS domestic actors, but at international ones as well. The WWICS grant also gave me an opportunity to interview policy makers in Washington, DC, regarding U.S. assistance programs, and I am grateful to all those who obliged. Above all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and family for their patience and support, without which this book would not have been possible. A final thanks to current and former staff at Palgrave for helping to make this book happen.

9 List of Acronyms ARK B.a.B.e. CARDS CERANEO DS DU EMU EU FNM FOSTUS HDZ HFP HHO HKDU HND HNS HSLS HSP HSS HTV HUS HZDS ICTY IDS INA IRB IREX IRI IVO JNA KDH Anti-War Campaign (Croatia) Be active, Be emancipated (Croatia) Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development, and Stabilization (EU) Center for the Development of Nonprofit Organizations (Croatia) Democratic Party (Slovakia) Democratic Union (Slovakia) Economic and Monetary Union (EU) European Union National Property Fund (Slovakia) Student Solidarity Forum (Slovakia) Croatian Democratic Community Croatian Privatization Fund Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights Croatian Christian Democratic Union Croatian Journalists Society Croatian People s Party Croatian Social-Liberal Party Croatian Party of Rights Croatian Peasants Party Croatian Television Croatian Association of Trade Unions Movement for a Democratic Slovakia International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Istrian Democratic Assembly (Croatia) Industrija nafte (Croatia) Investicna a rozvojova banka (Slovakia) International Research & Exchanges Board (United States) International Republican Institute (United States) Institute for Public Affairs (Slovakia) Yugoslav People s Army Christian Democratic Movement (Slovakia)

10 x KNS KOZ LS MEMO 98 MOL NDH NDI NGO ODU OECD OSCE OSI OTI PNS SAA SAP SDK SDKU SDL SDP SDS SDSS SHV SKH SKH-SDP SMK SNS SOP SPP SSN SSSH StB STV SZS UJDI UNHCHR USAID VAT VPN VSZ ZOZ ZRS LIST OF ACRONYMS Coalition of Popular Agreement (Croatia) Confederation of Trade Unions (Slovakia) Liberal Party (Croatia) Media Monitoring (Slovakia) Hungarian Oil and Gas Company Independent State of Croatia National Democratic Institute (United States) Nongovernmental organization Civic Democratic Union (Slovakia) Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Open Society Institute Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID) Prva novinova spolocnost (Slovakia) Stabilization and Association Agreement (EU) Stabilization and Association Process (EU) Slovak Democratic Coalition Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Party of the Democratic Left (Slovakia) Social Democratic Party (Croatia) Serbian Democratic Party (Croatia) Social Democratic Party of Slovakia Slovak Helsinki Committee League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia-Party of Democratic Change Party of the Hungarian Coalition (Slovakia) Slovak National Party Party of Civic Understanding (Slovakia) Slovensky plynarensky priemysel (Slovakia) Slovak Syndicate of Journalists Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Croatia communist-era secret police (Slovakia) Slovak Television Green Party of Slovakia Association for a Yugoslav Democratic Initiative (Croatia) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United States Agency for International Development value-added tax Public Against Violence (Slovakia) Vychodoslovenske zeleziarne (Slovakia) Trade Union Association (Slovakia) Association of Workers of Slovakia