ZAGREB, February 11, 2019 – The Croatian Parliament Deputy Speaker and vice president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Milijan Brkić, on Monday condemned a revisionist statement by European Parliament President Antonio Tajani about “Italian” Istria and Dalmatia, saying “God forbid Italians should care about Dalmatia and Istria the way fascists cared about the Croat people in Dalmatia and Istria.”
“The Croatian people is very familiar with the fate that befell us in World War II and God forbid that Italians should care about Dalmatia and Istria the way fascists cared about the Croat people in Dalmatia and Istria,” Brkić told a press before a meeting of the HDZ presidency and the National Council when asked to comment on Tajani’s statement.
Brkić said Tajani should “sell those ideas of his somewhere else because no-one in Croatia will buy them.”
“This is the Croatian state, a lot of blood was spilled for it. It was created in the Homeland War, and Croatian veterans and its people will most definitely not allow that,” Brkić said.
Tajani spoke at an event commemorating foibe victims in Bosovizza.
Foibe are karst pits in Istria, Croatia and part of northern Italy into which the bodies of Italians, killed by the Partisans at the end and after WWII, were dumped. Italy remembers the victims on February 10.
Tajani reportedly said, “Long live Italian Istria! Long live Italian Dalmatia!”
More news on the relations between Croatia and Italy can be found in the Politics section.
