Tudjman's Family Takes Over Secret Services Again

AIM Zagreb, 9 July, 1999

Miroslav Tudjman, the elder son of the president of Croatia, returned to the head of very numerous and diversified Croatian intelligence services. One more time he has become the director of the Croatian Intelligence Service (HIS), the umbrella organization of Croatian secret services. The decision of the head of the state to replace the head secret agent is his indirect confession that changes are necessary in secret services.

Although media are roaring and the entire public is humming about abuses of the secret police, the regime has so far ignored these warnings. But the change at the head of secret services occurred on the same day when the United States of America called on Croatia to establish control over its police. In a special statement of the State Department concern is expressed because of the situation in which complaints about the use of security and police services by the official politics and against the broad Croatian public are constantly repeated, but the authorities do not react to them at all. Washington appealed on official Zagreb to reach an agreement with the democratic opposition on strict supervision of the police.

By decision of his father, Miroslav Tudjman is returning to the post which he withdrew from in spring last year. In one of his rare interviews given at the time, he declared that he was leaving because of fatigue and because he wished to devote his time fully to his teaching. Although usually temperate, on that occasion he worked off his anger on the journalists who speculated on reasons of his departure. Ones claimed that it was the result of international pressure, because, they guessed, Tudjman had been warned that it was not exactly in accordance with the democratic customs to have his own son at the head of secret services. Others connected his departure with the mega-scandal in Dubrovnik Bank; it was claimed that contrary to the senior, Tudjman junior demanded its profound clarification. It was later revelaed that the reason of the split was Bosnia & Herzegovina. The father and the son had different proteges there. Miroslav preferred circles gathered around Kresimir Zubak who, defeated by the hard-core faction in Herzegovina, turned his back on the Croat Democratic Community (HDZ). All things considered, this was not the matter of political differences, but friendship links and connections based on common interest which was materisalised by the magnificent villa on the island of Brac built for the president's son while he was the head of Croatian secret police by his Herzegovinian cronies.

Miroslav Tudjman departed at the same time when the door of the presidential palace, Pantovcak, was banged by another two close associate of the president, Hrvoje Sarinic and Andrija Hebrang, who both warned against abuse of secret police in political, internal party showdowns. In the meantime this practice escalated, police scandals are nowadays shaking Croatia, illegal actions of secret services have with no doubt become a public affair. But, despite the conviction widely spread with plenty good reason that secret services have established a dense network across Croatia, the head of the state does not allow this to become a serious problem. He permitted only a parliamentary debate, but it had no effect. After an imposed debate, parliamentary majority of the HDZ refused establishment of an investigative commission. The regime claimed that everything was perfectly in order when secret services were concerned, and that the only problem were the newspapers which published secret documents.

The comeback of Miroslav Tudjman was received by the Croatian public with mixed feelings. Some people welcome it claiming that he is a professional who could introduce order into chaotic activities of the intelligence services. Others express concern because of obvious nepotism at the head of the state. It is also quesionable what is the true mandate of the former and at the same time the new head of secret services. Tudjman junior could to a certain extent put things in order, and restrain secret services, cut the leakage of data on their activities. But the question is whether he will introduce order or just its illusion. One should not forget that he had participated in the establishment of secret services, that he had been at their head for years, that the reason of his departure was not principled opposition to use of the police in political squaring of accounts. He had disagreed with his father concerning a specific case, not in principle. He had not withdrawn for democratic ideals, but because he could not stand the fact that his daddy inclined towards his competition. His comeback will certainly weaken the influence of the right faction in secret services, which may mean that their operation will be somewhat more decent which is much more favourable both for the ruling party and for their secrets.

The fact that the son of the president of the Republic was nominated to the post that practically ranks second in the state in the existing circumstances could be of special significance. Many tend to interpret this indubitable expression of nepotism as proof that Tudjman trusts noone. As in the mentime Tudjman family friends were appointed to some of the other prominent posts in the police, one may rightfully speak of privatisation of the police and its being placed in the service of a single family. "The crisis is big and the regime feels the need for family protection. They are trying to keep the most important information within the family and among persons of greatest confidence", an opposition deputy says. And a former close associate and later one of the greatest critics of the current president, Stipe Mesic, claims that Tudjman obviously thinks that it is best and safest to leave the party and the state within the family which as Mesic says "was so far busy piling up wealth".

Independent analysts also warn that the comeback of Miroslav Tudjman confirms dynastic ambitions of Franjo Tudjman. The head of the Croatian state has always manifested such inclinations, he acted as the source of total power, moreover, he called himself not the president but the state superior, as if he were the sovereign. Novi list from Rijeka writes that Croatia has so far operated as an electoral monarchy, but with promotion of his eldest son to the post ranking second in the structure of power Tudjman is manifesting the ambition to transform it into hereditary monarchy.

The first moves of the "new" head of intelligence do not give rise to optimism. Miroslav Tudjman ordered that the whole documentataion on tapping political opponents of HDZ be set on fire, the usually well informed media inform. Allegedly literally kilograms of compromising material are being burned. As it could have been expected, the father has not put the son at the post to restrain secret services but to interrupt leaking of confidential papers into the public, he did not charge him to eliminate obscure methods and men from secret police, but to remove traces. Tudjman is not concerned by metastasis of secret services, but by the fact that his secrets have become public. He is not concerned my mass tapping of phones and the fact that all aspects of life in Croatia are saturated by meddling of the police, but he does not like the fact that media are publishing documents on tapping and police processing he himself had ordered.

Miroslav Tudjman's comeback to the post of the first secret agent is not a sign that in the future secret services will become more professional nor of their adapting to standards of a democratically organised state. Secret police in Croatia has never been organised in that manner. But for years the question of its operation has not been raised in public. War was going on and that was the strongest argument ever. Secret services started becoming a public problem on the day when they, probably bursting at the seams like all the other segments of Tudjman's regime, they themselves brought their dirty secrets out in the open. The head of the state entrusted his son with a clear mandate - to re-establish for him idyllic circumstances when nobody knew anything about operation of secret services. When they worked just as they do today, but the data about them did not reach the public. Mirolav Tudjman was not entrusted with the task to organise secret police in such a way that they will not be a threat to democratic development of Croatia. His task is to protect his daddy from dangerous publication of obscure secrets, as well as the family and HDZ as their wider family. That is the only change.

JELENA LOVRIC