Former western allies stay away as Tudjman buried
The man once regarded as a bulwark of western policy in the Balkans, whose nascent state was built up and armed as a necessary counterweight to Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, was comprehensively snubbed by his former allies.
As well as grief among Croats over the death of the man they view as the father of their state, there was a whiff of diplomatic hypocrisy in the winter air.
Germany, whose early support for an independent Croatia - before adequate safeguards had been agreed over the human rights of the then substantial Serb minority - pushed the EU and the West into diplomatic recognition of the nascent state, was represented by its ambassador. The United States, which, many believe, gave the go-ahead to the Croatian military offensive in 1995 to recapture Serb-occupied areas that resulted in the fleeing and expulsion of several hundred thousand ethnic Serbs, and whose retired generals and private security advisers had built up the Croatian armed forces, was represented only by its ambassador, as was Britain.
Apart from a number of neighbouring states who sent prime ministers, most countries sent deputy foreign ministers or ambassadors as a means of making clear their distaste for President Tudjman's autocratic rule, continuing western concern over Croatia's human rights record and President Tudjman's repeated attempts in 1992-1993 to dismember Bosnia through the Bosnian Croat army that was armed and financed by Zagreb.
Diplomats expressed surprise that the funeral was organised so soon after President Tudjman's death on Friday night, but said the rapid burial would give the Croatian government an excuse for the inevitable poor attendance.
Croats, though, united to pay their respects to their president. The stately squares and streets of Zagreb were packed with tens of thousands of black-clad mourners, waiting to say an emotional farewell to Croatia's first president.
Some cried openly as black limousines drove past, carrying his body from his palace to Mirogoj Cemetery in the hills.
* Independent News Service
- ADAM LEBOR
