ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 29, No. 4 (BH)

May 2020

Bosnia-Herzegovina external relations briefing: Life returning to normal: Bleiburg repatriations commemoration mass in Zvonimir Stopić

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Life returning to normal: Bleiburg repatriations commemoration mass in Sarajevo

The tensions between Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Austria always tend to rise in April and May. The Memorial day for the World War II concentration camp Jasenovac and the Bleiburg repatriation commemoration, which are always held on April 22nd and mid-May, respectively, are the main causes. Although these events always do have an echo in internal politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other above mentioned countries, it is mainly the relations between Serbia and Croatia which are usually affected by them the most. This year however, changes appeared in the accustomed dynamics of events. While due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemics, the Memorial day for Jasenovac passed in somewhat quieter tones than usual, the commemoration of Bleiburg reparations did exactly the opposite. Since the restrictions prevented the commemoration to be held in its usual place, the Austrian border city of Bleiburg, the organizers decided to hold three separate masses for the victims of Bleiburg repatriations on a later date (May 16th): one in Zagreb, one in Bleiburg and one in Sarajevo. This way, this year, Bosnia and Herzegovina became a direct part of a politically problematic commemoration for the first time, which not only additionally complicated the already much to sensitive context of the controversial commemoration, but also added yet another unnecessary issue to the internal and external politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Together with he “Respirators Affair”, which revealed numerous serious lapses in the managing of public funds during the implementation of the measures which were to curb the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemics in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bleiburg repatriation commemoration was the event which showed just how quickly can the animosities among the Bosnia and Herzegovina people and how easily can the political quarrels among the country’s politicians be revived or pushed to a new level. The Bleiburg repatriations incident, a World War II event during which up to 70,000 soldiers associated with the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy puppet state Independent State of Croatia and civilians perished, is still today a painful memory. This is especially true for Croatians who commemorate the event each year since the Croatian Parliament made it official in 1995. The commemoration itself, however, also exceeds the respectful remembrance of many of the unnecessary victims who perished simply because

1 were caught between the angry guns off the enemy forces, the fascist Ustahsa and Josip Broz Tito’s partisans. The commemoration, during which it has become normal to see many of the participants being dressed in Ustasha uniform, is miss-used by several organizations and groups to manipulate, blur, blend or adjust history according to the changes in the current political and social vicissitudes. Due to the magnitude of the unfortunate event, and the immediate effect the event had on the development of the post-World War II Yugoslavia, the Blieburg repatriations commemoration always stir up the old ghosts of the past in the whole region, each year adding a few new ones.

This year, due to the still ongoing SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemics outbreak, the usual Bleiburg repatriation commemoration was cancelled. The Austrian government allowed no exceptions, and continued to restrict the right of public assembly, while the restrictions regarding traveling, continued to be valid in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, preventing the people from those countries to come to Austria in the first place. In order not to skip this year’s commemoration completely, the organizers, sponsor and co-sponsor, the Honorary Bleiburg Squadron, the Croatian Parliament and the non-government institution Croatian National Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively, decided to set up three separate events on May 16th, one in Austria - a prayer for the victims at the cemetery in Unterloibach and laying of the wreaths at the monument on the Bleiburg Field, one in Croatia - a prayer and wreath laying at the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb, and one in Bosnia and Herzegovina - requiem mass in the of the of Jesus. It is interesting to note that the diocese of Klangenfurt, Austria, rejected a request made by the Croatian ’ Conference to hold mass, explaining that in their eyes the Bleiburg repatriation commemoration is a “political-national ritual that serves to selectively experience and interpret history.”

Although the events in Austria and Croatia did not pass without tensions of their own, the announcement of the requiem mass in Sarajevo made a special commotion between the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three constitutive nations and politicians representing them, further deepening the already much to visible divisions between them and drawing unpleasant attention of the international community. The problem lies in the fact that the Bleiburg repatriation commemoration never passes without certain groups visibly glorifying the symbols of Independent State of Croatia’s regime, which practically destroyed Jew and Roma population on its territory and was directly responsible for the deaths of more than 217,000 Serbs in systematic prosecution, forced another 200,000 Serbs to leave the territory of the fascist state, and forced around 250,000 Orthodox to convert to Catholicism. Further more, the controversial

2 role of the during the World War II, when it came to supporting the Ustasha regime, only adds to the problem. Atop of these unhealed historic issues, Bleiburg repatriation commemoration today is also used by many as a regular annual reminder of the irreparable social damage made during the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia in the first half of the 1990-ties.

Youth Initiative for Human Rights, a network of autonomous non-governmental organization active in Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, was one of the first to react to the announcement of the mass in Sarajevo. Soon after the announcement, they themselves announced a peaceful protest in front of the Cathedral. Although the Youth Initiative did condemn the suffering of innocent civilians who were killed at the time, they clarified that they stand against such commemorations because they are aggressively used by various right-wing organizations which portray the evens significantly differently then they occurred. Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić publicly condemned the announcement of the mass in Sarajevo, which he perceived to be nothing more than a requiem for the fallen Quisling Ustasha army of the fascist Independent State of Croatia, which has nothing to do with commemoration of the actual innocent victims. The Bosnian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Šefik Džaferović, had a similar reaction to the one of Komšić. In a Sarajevo commemoration mass, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik saw simple attempt to rehabilitate the Ustasha movement through a religious ceremony. Contradicting to politicians such as Komšić, Džaferović and Dodik, the non-government institution Croatian National Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina responded with denouncing of the antagonisms toward initiatives of such commemoration, equalizing such resistance with the general antagonism toward “sacred religious rites and the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. Dragan Čović, current chairman of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH), as it could have been expected, showed concern over the widespread public animosity aimed against the of Vrhbosna Cardinal Vinko Puljić, a designee to hold a controversial mass, and Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From his perspective, the announced mass had no other connotations besides the innocent victims of the crime, while the pressure made in public he decoded as the attempts to violate religious freedoms and the rights of the people to religious rites.

Internationally, this year’s Bleiburg repatriation commemoration again was not received with approval. The World Jewish Congress (WJC) reacted by showing disbelief toward

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Croatian Parliament’s patronage over an event which is consistently used to glorify the infamous Ustasha regime. In addition, the WJC was also quite direct in condemning the mass in Sarajevo. The United States Embassy in Sarajevo also reacted, urging the organizers of the Bleiburg repatriation commemoration in Bosnia and Herzegovina “to refrain from historical revisionism and retrograde rhetoric”. Negative reaction also came from the Embassy of Israel in Tirana.

Conclusion

The event which raised a lot of dust in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the region and Europe, was followed by the press almost by the minute. Used as an excuse or not, due to the SARS- CoV-2 coronavirus epidemics the number of participants at the mass was limited the to a bare minimum of 20 persons, which included the Croatian ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ivan Sabolić. However, the organizers made sure that Puljić’s messages can reach broader audience, therefore broadcasting it live on Radio-Television Herceg-Bosna and Croatian Radio- Television. Outside of the mass, several thousands gathered in central Sarajevo in a peaceful protest against fascism, historical revisionism and political manipulations of history.

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