Bleiburg is the picture of Europe that Croatia wants, Serbian Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin has told media Saturday evening, commenting the Croatian Parliament-sponsored commemoration for the Bleiburg victims.

According to Belgrade-based media, Vulin said that “Croatia has once again chosen which side it took.”

“Between the Jasenovac victims and the Bleiburg executioners they’ve chosen to pay their respects to the executioners. Bleiburg is the picture of Europe that Croatia wants,” the media in Belgrade quoted Vulin as saying.

A ceremony to commemorate tens of thousands of Croatian civilians and soldiers of the defeated Nazi-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH), was held in Bleiburg, southern Austria on Saturday.

Last month Vulin was declared a persona non grata by the Croatian Foreign Ministry after he announced he would attend a commemoration for the victims of the World War II Jasenovac concentration camp. The ministry’s decision came as a response to Vulin’s statement that “it is only the Serbian Army’s supreme commander, Aleksandar Vucic, who can decide on his travel to Croatia and that this cannot be decided by Croatian ministers”.