Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman spoke over the phone with the Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, expressing support for the holy mass in the Sarajevo Cathedral as part of commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy, planned for May 16. Cardinal Puljić was chosen by both Croatian and Bosnian bishops to preside at the Eucharist for the Bleiburg victims.
In spite of the coronavirus pandemic, Cardinal Puljić and Grlić Radman underscored satisfaction with the continuation of remembrance through commemorative events planned in Bleiburg, Sarajevo and Zagreb, where state leaders will lay a wreath at the Mirogoj cemetery.
The cardinal and the minister underlined the importance of paying tribute to the dead in a dignified manner and keeping alive the memory of all the innocent victims that had been tortured and killed without trial. Minister Grlić Radman expressed regret over the attacks on Cardinal Puljić, who had stayed in Sarajevo throughout the war and helped numerous people. The minister once again thanked the cardinal for serving the Catholic Church and Croat people in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 30 years as the Archbishop of Vrhbosna.