The Slovenian Demokracija weekly reports that both Croatia and Slovenia are preparing protest notes against Macedonia after the head of the state ran Film Agency Gorjan Tozija rudely assaulted both countries.
Tozija, who had prior business dealings in Croatia, went on a series of social media rants primarily against Croatia, its Government, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the ruling HDZ party, accusing them of being fascists and criminals and comparing them to the Nazi supporting Ustasa regime in World War Two. The spark for the rants was apparently the scandal in which the Macedonian Post Office published a stamp that portrayed a “Greater Croatia”. Even though the fault for this lies entirely with the management of the Macedonian Post Office, which described it as an error, Tozija blames Croatia for it.
In Slovenia, as in Croatia, the diplomatic gears are turning and the countries are preparing to respond to the insults and also determine whether these are the positions of he Government of the Republic of “North” Macedonia. Note that both these countries provided aid to Macedonia during the coronavirus epidemic, Demokracija writes.
Additionally, the paper reports that an investigation into Tozija’s financial dealings is also on-going. Tozija is listed as a producer in the Croatia based Tisak production company.
Reports from Croatia imply that he may have participated in public contracts and in businesses he initiated as a Macedonian official, and that the flow of money in these cases is being looked into, Demokracija reports, adding that the cases involve the recent period when Croatia was under Prime Minister Marjan Sarec, who is ideologically much closer to Tozija and the Macedonian ruling SDSM party which appointed him as director of the Film Agency.
Meanwhile, the association of veterans who defended the Croatian city of Vukovar during the brutal 1991 siege by the Serbian led Yugoslav army, also demanded an apology from Tozija.
This is not the first time Tozija assaulted Croatia and dared accuse it of being a fascist country. Prime Minister Plenkovic, you have a constitutional obligation to respond and protect the reputation of the Republic of Croatia from unconscionable attacks by a high level official of the Macedonian Government. Your obligation is to demand that the Macedonian Government explains whether it supports the positions of its official, who publicly declares Croatia to be a fascist country and the Croatian Government to be a Government of criminals, the Defenders of Vukovar association said.
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