Croatian MEP Zeljana Zovko (HDZ/EPP) on Tuesday asked the European Commission to officially respond to threats against the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, for holding a mass for the Bleiburg victims last Saturday.

Zovko spoke about the threats with Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhely, saying Puljic was a attacked in the media and that this “threatens his religious freedoms and rights to the culture of remembrance.”

Zovko recalled that last September the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe which condemns any aggression committed as part of totalitarian regimes.

A person was arrested in Mostar, BiH on Tuesday for threatening Puljic and others who attended the mass. The mass was harshly condemned by part of the public.