Proživjeli smo mnogo zajedničkih trenutaka, Mate, za Hrvatsku i Hrvate, a ovo su tek neki od njih iz mojih nadolazećih memoara. Nikada nisi zaboravljen. Počivaj u miru  “Božjem.

„…Bila sam smještena u zapadnom krilu na četrnaestom katu zagrebačkog hotela InterContinental, kasnije Westin. Sigurnosne mjere bile su iznimno stroge jer su ondje boravili brojni međunarodni dužnosnici. Na inzistiranje dr. Franje Tuđmana našla sam se na istom, strogo čuvanom katu s lordom Davidom Owenom, supredsjedateljem Međunarodne konferencije o bivšoj Jugoslaviji, i Matom Bobanom, predsjednikom Hrvatske Republike Herceg-Bosne…

…U svim mojim kontaktima s njim Boban je bio uljudan i blag u ophođenju, premda je, kada je to bilo potrebno, znao biti odlučan.

S njim mi je bilo lako surađivati.

Možda je tomu pridonijela činjenica da je godinama prije, dok je radio kao ekonomist u brodogradilištu na Korčuli, bio u vezi s djevojkom iz moga rodnog Žrnova. Ta zajednička poveznica odmah je među nama stvorila osjećaj bliskosti i međusobnog povjerenja…

…„Što govore, Ina?“ upitao bi.

Gotovo sam mogla zamisliti izraz njegova lica s druge strane telefonske linije.

Više puta nego što mogu izbrojiti prevodila sam izvješća BBC-ja, ABC-ja, CNN-a, NBC-ja, The New York Timesa, The Washington Posta, The Timesa iz Londona, The Australiana i brojnih drugih medija…

…Do tada su u Hrvatskoj već bili uspostavljeni povjerljivi telefonski brojevi namijenjeni komunikaciji s iseljeništvom o osjetljivim pitanjima obrane i međunarodnih odnosa. Koliko mi je poznato, kada je riječ o hrvatskom iseljeništvu u Australiji, jedan skup tih brojeva redovito smo koristili samo troje: predsjednik Republike Hrvatske dr. Franjo Tuđman, predsjednik Hrvatske Republike Herceg-Bosne Mate Boban i ja. Često sam razmišljala koliko je ta okolnost bila nesvakidašnja…

…Kad god bih u uredu HDZ-a u Sydneyju predala telefonske račune radi plaćanja istih, znalo se dogoditi da od mene traže da otkrijem broj koji sam prekrila trajnim markerom.

Nikada to nisam učinila.

Moj je odgovor uvijek bio isti.

„Naravno“, rekla bih. „Najprije nazovite predsjednika Tuđmana i zatražite njegovo dopuštenje.“

Time bi svaki razgovor bio završen…

…Bila su to krajnje pogibeljna vremena. Hrvatska i Bosna i Hercegovina bile su izložene vojnoj agresiji, a istodobno su trpjele pogubne posljedice embarga na uvoz oružja koji je najprije nametnula Europska zajednica, a potom Ujedinjeni narodi. Mnogi od nas smatrali su da je taj embargo ozbiljno onemogućio hrvatskom narodu pravo na samoobranu. Dok je agresor naslijedio golemu većinu naoružanja, vojne opreme, streljiva i vojne infrastrukture Jugoslavenske narodne armije, Hrvati su bili prisiljeni organizirati svoju obranu s krajnje ograničenim sredstvima…

…„Usput“, dodala sam, „ namjeravala sam ti čestitati na osnivanju Odjela obrane Hrvatskog vijeća obrane. Posljednjih tjedana nisam znala gdje mi je glava zbog Mesićeva posjeta Australiji.“

Mate se nasmijao.

„Ta politička kurva“, odgovorio je tonom koji je govorio mnogo više od samih riječi. „Gledam u njega, ali ga zapravo ne vidim, ako razumiješ što ti želim reći, Ina.“

Savršeno sam razumjela.

„Što se tiče Herceg-Bosne“, nastavio je, „hrvatski se glas morao jasno i samostalno čuti. Hrvate su gurali na rub i to nismo mogli dopustiti. Bosna i Hercegovina u ovaj je rat ušla kao država triju konstitutivnih naroda. Ne smijemo dopustiti da Hrvati nestanu iz te jednadžbe…”

There were many moments we shared, Mate, for Croats, and here are snippets of a few of them from my upcoming memoirs. You are never forgotten. Rest in God’s peace.

“…I was accommodated in the West wing on the fourteenth floor of Zagreb’s InterContinental Hotel, later known as the Westin. Security was exceptionally tight there, as many international officials were staying there. At Dr Franjo Tuđman’s insistence, I found myself sharing the tightly guarded floor with Lord David Owen, co-chairman of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, and Mate Boban, President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna…

…In all my dealings with him, Boban was courteous and soft-spoken, though perfectly capable of firmness when necessary.

I found him easy to work with.

Perhaps it helped that years earlier, while working as an economist at the Korčula shipyard, he had courted a young woman from my village of Žrnovo. That shared connection created an immediate sense of familiarity and trust between us…

…“What are they saying, Ina?” he would ask.

I could almost picture the expression on his face at the other end of the line.

More times than I can remember, I found myself translating reports from the BBC, ABC, CNN, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The London Times, The Australian, and many others…

… By that time, confidential telephone numbers in Croatia had been established for diaspora input on sensitive issues of defence and international relations. To the best of my knowledge, as far as the Australian diaspora was concerned, only three people used one set of numbers regularly: Croatian President Franjo Tuđman, Mate Boban, President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna, and me. I often reflected on how extraordinary that circumstance was… Whenever I submitted the bills for reimbursement at the Sydney HDZ office, there were sometimes demands that I reveal the number I had blacked out with a permanent marker.

I never did.

My response was always the same.

“Certainly,” I would say. “First, ring President Tuđman and ask his permission.”

That invariably ended the discussion…

…Times were perilous. Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina faced military aggression while simultaneously confronting the crippling effects of the European Commission then the United Nations arms embargo. To many of us, the embargo threw a massive spanner into the Croatian people’s ability to defend themselves. While the aggressors inherited the overwhelming bulk of the Yugoslav People’s Army’s weaponry, equipment, ammunition, and military infrastructure, Croatians were left scrambling to organise their defence with severely limited resources…

…“By the way,” I added, “I have been meaning to congratulate you on establishing the Croatian Defence Council’s Department of Defence. I’ve been run off my feet with Mesić’s visit to Australia.”

Mate chuckled.

“That political whore,” he replied in a tone that suggested far more than the words themselves. “I look at him, but I do not really see him, if you know what I mean, Ina.”

I knew exactly what he meant.

“As for Herzeg-Bosna,” he continued, “the Croatian voice had to be heard clearly and independently. Croats were being pushed to the margins, and we could not allow that to continue. Bosnia and Herzegovina began this war as a state of three constituent peoples. We cannot allow Croats to disappear from that equation…”