Twelve Generals' Letter
The first President of Croatia and leader of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Franjo Tuđman, died in office in December 1999.
[3] The new government also started a cycle of defense reforms,[4] which aroused further concern among high-ranking officers of the Croatian Army who were themselves war veterans.
However, they asserted that recent actions by the police had left the impression of a crackdown on terrorism or organized crime, rather than an act of a democratic country within the rule of law, in accord with the actual circumstances and the dignity of war veterans and Croatian Army officers.
[5] The third point denounced what the signatories called an "unnecessary show of force" and presumptions of guilt, including speculation about indictments by the ICTY, deeming them detrimental to tolerance and democracy in Croatia.
The Ministry of Defence also described it as "unprofessional", noting that the law forbids the members of Croatian Armed Forces from engaging in political activities.
The ruling coalition parties generally supported the move, calling it "logical", and even "necessary", while Ivo Sanader, president of the HDZ, criticized it as "extremely dangerous".
[6] An article by Nacional weekly warned that twenty more generals were planning to sign a letter against the government, which created concern about an actual coup.
However, according to Nacional weekly, Sanader abandoned the idea due to his inability to implement it against the wish of President Mesić, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Three presidential candidates, Milan Bandić, Andrija Hebrang and Nadan Vidošević, stated that, if elected, they would rehabilitate the generals and return some of them to active duty.
[4] The move is seen as important in the context of the depoliticisation of the armed forces and defence reforms that ultimately led to the accession of Croatia to NATO in 2009.
[4][25] On the other hand, Mesić's critics contend that the supposed "coup" was non-existent and that his decision was essentially a continuation of anti-military sentiment which the generals had to publicly address as their patriotic duty.
