Ivica Kostelić (Ivica Kostelic) Comes Out…

A week after Ivica Kostelić's use of Wehrmacht soldiers as positive role model Croatian weekly Nacional published an article in which they slammed not just Ivica, but his father Ante for publicly expressing neo-Nazi views.

The most damaging of all is an interview young Kostelić gave to Nacional's entertainment supplement Extra in May 2002. According to article, Nacional editors decided not to publish interview, being convinced that young man wasn't serious, but Kostelić's public praise of Hitler's genocidal hordes made them change their minds.

According to Nacional, this is young Kostelić's explanation for his fascination with Nazi war machine:

Look, that what happened, that is something that happens once in history, this is pure science fiction. Could you imagine the sight of attack on England and 1400 German planes in the air? Do you know what it looks like? This looks like "Star Wars". If 500 planes defended London, this is 2000 planes on 200-300 square kilometres. But many more things fascinate me. Like, Third Reich being 2000 years of Roman history being condensed in 10.

Asked about his opinion on Nazism:

It was hard to implement, it was little bit extreme. But Communism also existed for hundred years and for me it is worse than the idea of National Socialism. For me Communism is worse than Nazism. Do you know what is the main difference between Nazism and Communism? Holocaust aside – this was idiotic vision, or Stalin for whom it was normal thing to wake up in the morning and kill five of his generals, for nothing, just like that. Major difference is that in Nazism there was possibility for individual to advance, while in Communism, man, you couldn't practice religion, you had to give all to the state, there were limitations. Nazism was healthy system for ambitious people. In Communism you couldn't be ambitious, and both systems were totalitarian. Then again, Hitler didn't kill his generals every day, he only executed those who had conspired to kill him. This is the big difference and this is what I would do if I were some kind of dictator. And Stalin killed a general every day, some of them were even his friends…

Then he was asked about alternatives to both systems:

Democracy is system that looks best to the people because they have illusion of power. The most cherished system of liberal democracy is nothing more than a fraud. Because it isn't liberal nor democracy, and the best example – something that everyone looks up to – is America. The real American democracy is best viewed during last presidential elections, won by Bush instead of Al Gore, despite the latter having bigger popular vote. Bush had more elector votes and thus he won. That means that citizen's votes don't mean a thing and that 1500 elector votes are more important than those 150 million Americans? This is democracy?

Comments? Do we need them?

In one of my previous blog entries I even bothered to defend Ivica Kostelić, thinking that his statements are taken out of context. But if this article is genuine, those statements are clear reflection of a worldview consistent with certain ideology. Nacional also reminded the public of Kostelić Senior – Ivica's biological and spiritual father - and some of his more questionable statements, including his belief that President of Croatia must have blue eyes. Kostelićs – one of the rare success stories of modern Croatia – might become source of national shame instead of national pride.