Original article (in Croatian) was published on 28/10/2024; Author: Sanja Despot
The “controversial” photograph can be found in the photo gallery on Tonino Picula’s website. It did not prevent his appointment as the rapporteur for Serbia.
The Croatian Member of the European Parliament from the SDP party, Tonino Picula, was appointed last week as the European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia.
This appointment follows Picula’s previous roles, including serving as the head of the Working Group for the Western Balkans, rapporteur for the U.S. and Montenegro, EP rapporteur for the new enlargement strategy, and co-rapporteur for the financial instrument for pre-accession assistance IPA III and the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. Despite his extensive experience, a wave of criticism has poured in from Serbia’s top officials (1, 2), accusing him of “anti-Serbian policy” and “lying.”
“I am not surprised. I have not started dealing with our neighborhood just yesterday; I am well-acquainted with the circumstances, and my views have been clearly communicated. The stance of most media in Serbia, which are under the control of the ruling party, does not surprise me. Problems cannot be solved by swearing, and I intend to approach this job with the same responsibility I have applied to everything else. I will rely on facts. All those who influence the situation in Serbia will be my interlocutors. I intend to speak with the non-governmental sector, the opposition, local governments, and the academic community,” Picula commented on the attacks from Serbia in an interview with N1.
Serbian media reacted to Picula’s appointment with resentment, labeling him as a “Serb-hater” and accusing him for spreading disinformation.
“Tonino Picula, a proven Serb-hater and paid agent of Milo Đukanović, proudly posed wearing an Ustasha uniform, and it is evident that he is trying to hide this evidence of participating in the 1990s war with a machine gun now that he has become the new European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia,” stated Informer in an article titled: “This Photo is What Tonino Picula is Trying to Hide! Serb-hater Proudly Posing with a Gun in the 1990s (PHOTO).”
The Russian propaganda web portal Pravda went a step further, claiming that Picula’s appointment was halted due to the same controversial photo.
“The EU failed to appoint the Croat Tonino Picula as the new speaker for Serbia, as details of his murky biography emerged,” Pravda.rs reported, highlighting the same photograph of Picula in uniform as part of that controversial biography.
Their claim that parts of Picula’s biography, including the controversial photo, prevented his appointment is incorrect. It is also untrue that “Picula is trying to hide this photograph”, as it can easily be found in the photo gallery on Picula’s website under the section “Your Representative in the European Parliament.” The photo has not been removed, even after Picula’s appointment as the European Parliament rapporteur.
The photograph is located in the section titled Retrovizor (Rearview Mirror), which Picula describes as “a sort of photo-chronicle of a good part of his life.”
“In it, you can find a wide variety of photos: from my earliest days, through fragments of daily life, to excerpts from my political career,” Picula writes and concludes: “I believe I have presented myself in a way that I hope will help you get to know me better.”
In the gallery on the representative’s website, there is the “controversial” photo of Picula in a uniform, which does not feature Ustasha symbols. The description of the photo states “Homeland War, frontline on the Una, 1995”, which suggests it was taken during the military operation “Storm”.
In his biography, Tonino Picula never hid that he participated in the Homeland War, and this is mentioned both in his biography on the same website and on the SDP websites. It has also been referenced in the media before (1, 2) and, therefore, does not represent any secret or newly discovered information.
