politics
March 19, 2026
Chaos and hope in the hall of stumbling
Why did the Spens press service react amateurishly, late, and sluggishly, and why do Croatian media refuse to fully shed light on the Spens case and check whether the defenders might not be entirely right and that Cetinski was consciously or unconsciously manipulated?
TL;DR
- Toni Cetinski canceled his concert at Novi Sad's Spens venue, citing information that it was a prison camp and torture site for Croatian prisoners during the war.
- While some witnesses claim Spens was a prison camp, local sources and representatives of Vojvodina's Croatian community state it was primarily a refugee center for ethnic Serbs.
- The cancellation is seen as symptomatic of unresolved historical trauma and a failure to confront war crimes in post-Yugoslav societies, leading to continued animosity.
- Croatian media are criticized for not critically investigating the Spens incident, uncritically accepting the accounts of veterans.
- The article contrasts the perspectives of the older generation (Cetinski) and the younger generation (Jakov Jozinović), suggesting hope for improved future relations.
- The author argues that a lack of critical historical dialogue and reconciliation keeps the region trapped by divisive politics.
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