Dragoljub

A lecture given by two well-known Serbian historians in Zagreb earlier this week has caused controversy in Croatia because it appeared to show sympathy for the Serbian nationalist Chetnik movement in World War II.

On May 8 and 9, Serbia celebrated Victory Day in World War II with a series of events around Belgrade including wreath-laying ceremonies, concerts, film screenings, fireworks and the livestreaming of a military parade in Moscow.

As well as the victory over fascism, Serbian officials celebrated their alliance with Russia, the co-organiser of the festivities.

"The overall economic and legitimacy crisis after Tito's death in the 1980s created a favourable atmosphere for criticising the Partisan myth and creating positive images about their [the Partisans'] enemies [the Chetniks]," Djureinovic, who has a PhD in history from Justus Liebig University in Giessen and works with the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre, told BIRN in an interview.

Vracaric died in 2008 in a nursing home for the elderly and disabled not far from Vukovar, while Cibaric currently lives in Varazdinske Toplice, a small town in north-western Croatia.

Belgrade’s recent rehabilitation of WWII Chetnik leader Dragoljub ‘Draza’ Mihailovic is being seen in Kosovo as the return of support for hardline nationalist ideas in Serbia.

President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic condemned a Belgrade court’s decision to rehabilitate WWII Serbian Chetnik leader Dragoljub ‘Draza’ Mihailovic, executed in 1946 for treason and Nazi collaboration.

A Belgrade court rehabilitated Chetnik leader Dragoljub ‘Draza’ Mihailovic, who was executed for high treason and Nazi collaboration in 1946, after hearings that highlighted longstanding divisions in Serbia.