Much confusion in the world media, including Polish ones, was caused by a controversial banner that Croatian fans hung during the Croatia-Canada match at the World Cup.

The banner was a (rather sharp, I must say) provocation aimed at Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan. His family is made up of Croatian Serbs who fled Croatia, specifically the town of Knin, when the Croatian army liberated the territory occupied by Serb separatists in Operation Storm in 1995.

The banner reads “Knin 95. No one escapes like Borjan.” It’s a game of letters, because this banner is in fact an advertisement for the company “John Deere” which produces tractors and its slogan “Nothing runs like deer”.

It is an allusion to the Serbian refugees who often left the occupied territories on board tractors.

An unpleasant provocation

I repeat, this banner is a rather unpleasant provocation. Although it should be noted that such political provocations are commonplace in the sports world. Finally, Serbian fans also hoisted a flag at the World Cup representing Kosovo with the communist inscription “No Pasaran” dating from the time of the Spanish Civil War. The message is clear: the Serbs do not want to abandon Kosovo, their former province and now an independent state. The Serbian players hung the same flag in the locker room and then posted a photo on Twitter.

But back to Borjan and the Croats.

Some media covered the whole situation, presenting Borjan as an innocent victim of provocation by Croatian fans. However, this is not true.

Firstly, during discussions with the media, Borjan does not want to admit that the city of Knin, where he was born, belongs to Croatia. He says it is Republika Srpska Krajina (a breakaway state created by Croatian Serbs in 1991 where ethnic cleansing of Croats was carried out). In a conversation, he even said that Dalmatia was also Serbia!

Second, Borjan’s family appears to have actively participated in the rebellion against the Croatian state. This was underlined by an American lawyer of Croatian origin, Luka Mišetić. He tweeted a document that proves Borjan’s father was an active member of the separatist army, aided by the regime of Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević.

Borjan therefore comes from a family that fought against Croatia and its territorial integrity. Judging by her statements, she did not give up this fight. It still refuses to recognize Croatia’s borders and its independence as an independent state.

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Real context

Here is the context in which the banner was displayed. In response, the footballer called those who did this “primitive”. In fact, his attitude towards the territorial integrity of Croatia, for which thousands of Croats gave their lives, is “primitive”. Hence the reactions to such behavior.

The broader context of all this is the attacks on the Croatian military operation Tempest. It was an operation that liberated Croatian territory from Serbian occupation, as well as a large part of neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. These operations confirmed the military defeat of the Serbs and paved the way for peace in these regions.

After the victory, about 130,000 Serb civilians left Croatia (some of them returned). There were also isolated crimes against civilians, but Croatian courts prosecuted the culprits. In 2012, Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, who commanded the operation, were acquitted by The Hague Tribunal of war crimes charges and returned home after several years in prison.

The storm is therefore considered a legitimate military operation in which Croatia liberated its territory. Serbia, however, does not want to agree with this truth, which is understandable when you consider that it was Belgrade who organized the Serbian uprising against Croatia.

This is the real context of the whole story with the reaction of the Croats to Milan Borjan and his statements.