krajina serb forced to live in tree

[Crvena zvezda]

Back from exile: Serbian forced to live up tree


Bojan pancevski in Vienna, Sunday Telegraph

Last Updated: 12:48am GMT 04/03/2007





A Serb who returned to reclaim his home in Croatia a decade after fleeing the war in the 1990s is living in a tree house in his old orchard because of the failure of the Zagreb authorities to evict the new owners.
Stevan Graovac fled his home in Smilcic, near the Adriatic port of Zadar, in 1995 after Operation Storm, when Croatian forces cracked down on areas populated by Serbs. His house was taken over by a Croatian family who had lost their home when they fled the fighting in Bosnia.
Under Croatian law, Mr Graovac was entitled to reclaim his property when he returned from exile in America and Serbia in 2004 but although he had the backing of the government's Office for Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons, his case has been snarled in red tape.

He is separated from his wife and has three children, who are grown up and living in America.
The case has prompted accusations that the Croatian authorities have not done enough to repatriate refugees. Last week, a report on Croatia's progress towards membership of the European Union also criticised the country's handling of cases involving suspected war criminals.
Mr Graovac was one of an estimated 300,000 Croatian Serbs who fled during the conflict. Much of their property was later seized by ethnic Croats, including those escaping the Bosnian civil war, or plundered by the Croatian armed forces.
The family who moved into his home refused to give it up on his return, arguing that they had nowhere to go. So Mr Graovac, 59, built a house in a tree in his former orchard and has lived there since. He sleeps on a straw mattress and has his "living room" under the tree, furnished with an old bus seat, a table and a mirror.
Water leaks in during heavy rain, and mice and other field animals come in. In winter and on very cold nights temperatures drop to about zero.
He said he was increasingly frustrated with the time it was taking to reclaim his home. "Those who have the power to resolve my case have been telling me to be patient for three years," he said.
The former lorry driver and cherry and grape producer lives on benefits and Red Cross aid, supplementing his income with part-time farm work. "I could make my own living but only once this problem is solved," he said.
Although a court has ruled that Borivoje Blazevic, who now lives in the house, should move out, Mr Graovac has been unable to move in.
Sandra Kauloto, head of the regional branch of the Office for Refugees, said the Blazevic family had begun building a house in 2005 and should already have moved in but until then, Mr Graovac was out in the cold. "There is the option of temporary housing but at the moment we do not have anything at our disposal," she said.
The story has turned the spotlight on the problems experienced by many of the 128,403 ethnic Serbian refugees from Croatia who have returned to the country after fleeing the conflict. But Croatia's desire to join the EU may be a deciding factor.
Glisho Kolundzic, of the Serbian Democratic Forum, an organisation of Serbs in Croatia, said that many refugees still waited to return and he expected authorities to be more efficient. "There are other cases like his but I am positive the authorities are doing their best to resolve them," he added.

[Heretik]

The guy who had walked with a rifle in the centre of the city during the war saying he was just turning it back to a friend? I would deport him.

[Marcus Marulus]

"krajina serb forced to live in tree"

What is krajina? Never heard of something like that. Is it a kind of sausage?

[Crvena zvezda]

Originally Posted by prometheus

"krajina serb forced to live in tree"

What is krajina? Never heard of something like that. Is it a kind of sausage?

Your Croatian so I know you know what it is.

[Hrvoje]

[Zrinski]

This article is pure yellow press. One of the news dailies went to make an interview with him and he admitted to them that he is not living in a tree but in a neighbouring house where one of the neighbours permitted him to stay.

For those with knowledge or undertanding of Croatian language:
Slobodna Dalmacija

And btw. I too wonder where or what is this supposed "krajina"? Never heard of such region in Croatia.

[Heretik]

Originally Posted by Hrvoje

Oh my god!!!!! LOOOOOOOOOL!!!!
"Krajina Ewok forced to live in the tree".
Somebody should make an image manipulation so that he instead of this staff holds a gun.

Good one Hrvoje.

[Marcus Marulus]

Cosimo di Rondo, a young baron from northern Italy who spent all of his life living on trees. A North Italian local legend which served as basis to a story written by the modern Italian writer Italo Calvino.

Amazon.com: The Baron in the Trees: Books: Italo Calvino

Il barone rampante - Italo Calvino