Croatian president comments on Ustasha memorial service, Kosovo status
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - May 14, 2007, Monday

Text of report in English by Croatian news agency HINA

BRIJUNI, May 14 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic said on Monday it had not been inappropriate for the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, to say Mass in Bleiburg, Austria, on Sunday.

"He can always say Mass wherever people were killed. None of the people killed there should have been executed without a trial," Mesic said in response to questions at a press conference on the northern Adriatic island of Brijuni where he had opened a conference on quality.

Mesic said that Bleiburg could be compared to Jasenovac only in that people had been killed at both sites, but stressed that the difference between them was that "none of the 80,000* or so people killed in Jasenovac was responsible for any of the victims in Bleiburg, while among the people killed in Bleiburg there were those responsible for many deaths in Jasenovac."

Speaking of Kosovo, the Croatian president expressed hope a proper solution would be found to the Kosovo status issue.

"Kosovo should become a safe region to the satisfaction of all its residents and entire Europe. Unfortunately, that part is still undefined. Considering the fact that the architecture of this region has already been determined, the only issue left to be resolved is the status of Kosovo," Mesic said.

"Kosovo was in two associations: with Serbia and it was also a constituent element of the former Yugoslav federation. Since the federation doesn't exist anymore, it is now necessary to define Kosovo's status with international assistance. I think in the end we will get a good solution," he concluded.

Source: HINA news agency, Zagreb, in English 1219 gmt 14 May 07

Copyright 2007 British Broadcasting Corporation
Posted for Fair Use only.

* The Wiesenthal Center puts the number of victims killed in Jasenovac at 600,000 -- more than 7 times the number quoted by Mesic. Similarly Mesic's predecessor, Franjo Tudjman, put the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust at 1 million rather than 6 million.