DIPLOMATS, WORLD WAR II VETERANS LAY WREATHS AT JASENOVAC

JASENOVAC, Jun 22 (Hina) - Representatives of the EU Monitor Mission and the embassies of Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the United States, laid wreaths at the Jasenovac memorial to victims of fascism on Saturday. The delegation was welcomed by Minister in the Croatian Government Ivan Majdak and Jasenovac Mayor Ivan Filipovic. The first secretary at the Austrian embassy, Andreas Stadler, briefly addressed the participants in the wreathlaying ceremony. "I feel a deep respect for the Jasenovac victims. Here lay people from many European countries, people who were systematically persecuted because of their race but also those who opposed the ideology of contempt for man, the ideology of racial hatred and nationalist exclusiveness," Stadler said. Zagreb University Professor Zarko Puhovski spoke of the genesis of fascism in the region. The vice-president of the Jewish Community, Igor Francetic, Ph.D., also paid respects to the victims in a brief speech. Representatives of the Association of Anti-fascist War Veterans of Croatia also laid wreaths and lit candles. (hina) as 221659 MET jun 96