The European People’s Party (EPP) Working Group on Intercultural and Religious Dialogue wrote to Bosnia’s Catholic Archbishop expressing their support for him after he came under fire for agreeing to lead a commemorative Mass for those killed in the 1945 Bleiburg massacre in Sarajevo on Saturday, saying they are “deeply saddened” about the “heavy media attacks” he is exposed to and that they count on the EU for the right of religious groups in Bosnia “to be respected and not to fear for their security in exercising their religious services.”
Amid a Yugoslav army offensive aimed at defeating pro-Nazi and anti-communist forces, tens of thousands of mostly pro-fascist Croat soldiers and their families fled in 1945 toward Austria to seek help from the British army, only to be turned back by the Brits right into the hands of anti-fascists.
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In and around the Austrian town of Bleiburg, allegedly thousands of the so-called Ustashas were killed.The Yugoslav forces saw the slaughter they committed as punishment for the tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascists killed by the Ustasha during WWII.
After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Croatia began commemorating the Bleiburg victims with a large gathering near the Austrian town every year but it was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The organisers of the event, the Honorary Bleiburg Platoon, said it will be held in different cities instead, among them in Sarajevo.
It will take place at the Sarajevo Sacred Heart Cathedral on Saturday.
The EPP Group mentioned that it organised a fact-finding mission to Bosnia in an effort to “encourage a solution for the electoral impasse through dialogue between religious communities in the country” and that they fully support the Cardinal’s “important role for peace and reconciliation” in the country.
The letter then reminded of a resolution the European Parliament adopted on the 80th anniversary of the start of WWII “and the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe, 10 years after the resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism, wherein we acknowledge the importance of keeping the memories of the past alive, because there can be no reconciliation without remembrance.”
“In this light, on behalf of the EPP’s Group Working Group on Intercultural Relations and Interreligious Dialogue, we stand by your right for the culture of remembrance and support to fully exercise your right to lead the Mass on Saturday for the victims of the Bleiburg tragedy,” the letter said.
“As we became aware of the heavy media attacks against the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the recent days, we are deeply saddened that your right for the culture of remembrance is hampered,” it said.
“We rely on the action of our external action Service and the actions of EU delegation on the ground that should ensure media freedom for all the constituent people and communities and the right of religious groups and religious minorities to be respected and not to fear for their security in exercising their religious services,” the letter read.
The EPP Group did “the utmost” to help Bosnia overcome the coronavirus crisis “and we are doing our best for this country not to be forgotten on its European path,” the EPP Group argued.
They also wrote that they are aware that the Archbishop informed the Holy See “regarding the breach of the international agreement for the freedom of the Catholic Church and for fearing for the security and the freedom of religion of the Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
“Rest assured that if this situation aggravates, we will address this issue in the European Parliament as well,” says the letter, signed by Zeljana Zovko, Jan Olbrycht and Gyorgy Holvenyi.
