A two-metre-high bronze statue located in the village of Drage near Pakoštane in central Dalmatia, Croatia. The monument is titled "Pogled na domovinu" (View of the Homeland). Four upright marble pillars behind the bronze statue symbolize four Croatian fighters who died in the same operation.
The monument was unveiled on 31 July 2016, the 25th anniversary of Barešić's death. The statue was blessed by the Archbishop of Zadar.
Historical background
Miro Barešić (10 September 1950 – 31 July 1991) was a Croatian émigré who in 1971 murdered Yugoslav diplomat Vladimir Rolović in Sweden. He later served as a soldier in Paraguay and in the Croatian National Guard in 1991.
In 1969, Barešić was sentenced to six months in prison in Yugoslavia for avoiding military service, after which he left the country and joined the Croatian National Resistance movement. In Sweden, Barešić associated with people connected with the Croatian National Resistance and other Croatian extreme nationalists. He helped start a new organization, The Black Legion (Croatian: Crna Legija) in Sweden, to serve as a base for actions against Yugoslavia.
On 7 April 1971, Barešić and Anđelko Brajković drove in a rented car to Stockholm with two other partners involved in plotting an attack on the Yugoslav embassy in Sweden. The two men walked into the embassy at 9:45 a.m. and pretended to look at some visas in the reception. Once they saw Rolović near the reception they drew their guns. Brajković took his gun, put it in Rolović's mouth, and pulled the trigger. Rolović died from his injuries a few days later.
In 1971, Barešić and Brajković were convicted of murder and began serving their sentences at a Swedish high security prison. In 1972, Barešić and Brajković were released as part of a demand made by the hijackers of a domestic airline at Sweden's Bulltofta airport. A group of Croatian terrorists, led by Stipe Mikulić, hijacked the aircraft, forced the Swedish authorities to refuel it, using the passengers as leverage, and flew to Madrid.
In 1980, he was extradited to Sweden and served the remaining seven years of his original sentence for the Rolović murder. His life sentence was converted to 18 years.
In 1991, Barešić was released from prison and returned to Croatia where he was killed while fighting against Serbian-led forces. Barešić was killed only 19 days after enrolling in the Croatian army, in the first operation he took part.
Political and ideological questions
Barešić is considered a terrorist in Serbia but a hero among many Croats due to his devotion to Croatian independence.
Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović stated: "For those for whom Yugoslavia was and still is the realization of Croatian national ideal, Miro Barešić is a killer and a terrorist. For those for whom every Yugoslavia was and still is the negation of any Croatian state, Barešić is one of many of those who were willing to make any sacrifice for freedom".
War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved stated at the ceremony: "Miro Barešić is one of the greatest Croatian patriots whose work and sacrifice we have to respect". He called Barešić "a 'defender before defenders'".
Controversies
This event provoked a sharp reaction from the Governments of Serbia and Montenegro.
Serbia: The Serbian foreign ministry demanded that the statue be removed. "The Ministry considers the erection of a monument to a convicted terrorist (sentenced) for the gruesome murder of the Yugoslav ambassador in Sweden Vladimir Rolovic, as an improper and uncivilized act unprecedented in modern Europe". Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs said that the monument to Barešić "reminds of the rising of fascism and Ustašism in Croatia".
Montenegro: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro sent a note of protest to the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Podgorica. The Ministry stated it "expects that the Government of the Republic of Croatia will renounce this non-civilisational act, given that Vladimir Rolović was a renowned anti-fascist and a renowned Yugoslav and Montenegrin diplomat".
Sweden: Swedish press reacted strongly, with reporters, historians and witnesses to the 1971 murder, who expressed surprise or shock on hearing about the statue.
Vandalism: On 7 August 2016, the monument was vandalized with red paint. The perpetrator was not apprehended. One hand of Barešić's statue was symbolically painted blood-red. The Antifa Šibenik, a group that promotes anti-fascism and equality, wrote on Facebook that the statue had finally been "completed". "We received a photo of a completed monument to the Ustasa killer Miro Barešić," the group said.
Ante Barešić, one of Miro Barešić's cousins, initiated the project to erect the statue.
96 families participated in collecting funds for the monument, organized by the association "Hrvatski vitez Miro Barešić" (Croatian Knight Miro Barešić) and Pakoštane Municipality.
Attendees at inauguration: Government ministers Zlatko Hasanbegović and Tomo Medved, several members of the Parliament from HDZ, HSP AS and MOST, general Ante Gotovina, bishop Mile Bogović. Also present: Dražen Keleminec, the controversial president of the far-right Autochthonous Croatian Party of Rights, generals Josip Lucić, Ante Deur, Željko Glasnović and Ljubo Ćesić Rojs, mayor of Pakoštane Municipality Milivoj Kurtov, MPs Miodrag Demo, Pero Ćorić, Ivan Tepeš and Miro Bulj, and director of the Croatian Memorial Documentation Center of the Homeland War Ante Nazor.
Ivan Kujundžić, academic sculptor originally from Imotski.
He previously created the statue of dr. Franjo Tuđman in Imotski and Alojzije Stepinac in Velika Gorica.
Kujundžić stated that the main idea of the monument was "View of the Homeland" (Pogled na Domovinu), representing that space and time from within but also a view into the future.