COMMEMORATION TO WW2 BLEIBURG VICTIMS HELD

BLEIBURG, May 16 (Hina) - Wreaths were laid and respects were paid to the victims of one of the biggest tragedies in recent Croatian history at Austria's Bleiburg field on Sunday under the auspices of the Croatian parliament.#L# Parliament President Vladimir Seks said in a speech the Bleiburg tragedy showed there were no circumstances which could justify crimes or those who committed them. "There is no way of hiding the truth and historical facts," he said, adding that only a free people in their free state could preserve the truth about their past and ensure their own future. Seks recalled that thousands of Croatian soldiers and civilians were killed, without trials, at the Bleiburg field and on marches back to the then Yugoslavia at the end of World War Two after the Allies had turned them over to the Yugoslav partisan army. He added the former communist authorities had tried to cover this up for decades. Seks said that the Europe of today, with new members joining the EU, was at the turn of two epochs, just like in 1945. "On the road to the European Union, Croatia is reaffirming its commitment to democracy and respect for human rights and freedoms every day. Modern Croatia is also founded on anti-fascism which should not be equated with communism, in whose name many crimes were committed," Seks said, adding that Croatia rejected every form of extremism and radicalism. Speaking of recent Croatian history, he said the 1990s Homeland War had been just and aimed at liberating the country from Serb occupation. "A people who forget their past often repeat their tragedies," Seks concluded. Mass was said by Lika-Senj bishop Mile Bogovic who stressed, among other things, the need to research the truth. The commemoration gathered about 10,000 people from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, including emigrants. Speeches were also delivered by Josip Jurcevic on behalf of the Honorary Bleiburg Platoon, Velimir Jukic, the chairman of the Bosnian parliament's House of Peoples, and Idriz Efendi Besic on behalf of the Islamic community in Croatia. Wreaths were laid at the monument to the Bleiburg victims by a Croatian parliamentary delegation headed by Seks, President Stjepan Mesic's envoy Neven Ivak, Science, Education and Sports Minister Dragan Primorac on behalf of the Croatian government, Croatian Ambassador to Austria Drazen Vukov Colic, delegations of the Honorary Bleiburg Platoon, the Bosnian House of Peoples, numerous NGOs and war veterans associations. Also today, a Croatian parliamentary delegation laid a wreath at the monument to the victims of the aforementioned death marches in Maribor, Slovenia. (Hina) ha