Member of parliament, Bojan Glavasevic (SDP), commented for N1 on Wednesday the controversial Bleiburg commemoration in May, which will be sponsored by the Croatian Parliament.

Should the Croatian Parliament sponsor the Bleiburg commemoration?

“No, it should not in any way, especially now that the issue of Bleiburg is causing a political stir in Austria. How would Croatian politicians react if some foreign country financed a public event that we saw as problematic? Would we be able to interpret that as a good-neighbourly thing? I think not. And that’s without even getting into the crux of the matter, which is entirely problematic in itself. It’s one thing to commemorate innocent victims, but it’s something else when we know that the gathering has been used for years as a gathering of neo-Nazis.”

Organisers said that this year there would be no tents, and that they would ban any unofficial insignia from being displayed. Can that be enforced?

“Obviously, Austrian authorities have no doubts about the “real truths” about that historic period. The Chancellor (Sebastian Kurz) said they would very strictly enforce Austrian law.”

This weekend, the official commemoration at Jasenovac also took place. The President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, said she wished to see a single commemoration attended by all, including her.

The President is saying all sorts of stuff these days, she also said that the real truth on what went on at Jasenovac from 1941 to 1945 should be determined. If that’s not clear to her, if she doesn’t know the history of her own country, than she shouldn’t be in her job.

There is still no consensus between Croatia and Serbia on the number of people killed at Jasenovac.

Mainstream historians – serious historians – have reached a consensus, and put the number at 80-100,000 people killed. Croatia’s official estimate is 83,000, but it is much more important to talk about the causes of Jasenovac. Croatia’s President should not be concerned about what is said in Serbia. Instead, she should be familiar with what is a well-known historic truth. That was a camp used to exterminate innocent people run by a quisling state which had racial laws. If the President has problems grasping this, than that’s really a cause for concern.

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