Serbian Mission to EU: Stepinac should not be highlighted in EP

BRUSSELS - In a letter to a Croatian MEP who organised a conference about Croatia's WWII-era Roman Catholic cardinal Alojzije Stepinac in the European Parliament on Tuesday, the Serbian Mission to the EU expressed deep regret over the special highlighting of Stepinac in EP premises as he was a historical figure that opened "painful chapters of the past" in Serbia, diplomatic sources told Tanjug.

For all citizens of Serbia, as well as for the Serbian Orthodox Church, Stepinac was a figure who was an accomplice in mass crimes against Serbs, Jews, Romani and other non-Croat communities during WWII, the Mission said in the letter to MEP Zeljana Zovko.

It is historically proven that Stepinac welcomed the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia and cooperated with its leadership, and that he played an active role in the forced conversion of a large number of Serbs to Catholicism, the Mission also said.

"As is already known, he was convicted for the above to 16 years in prison after the end of the war, in Zagreb in 1946. The process of canonising Alojzije Stepinac is a controversial and outstanding issue for the relations of the Catholic Church and the Holy See with the Serbian Orthodox Church," the letter said.

The Mission believes these are sufficient reasons not to highlight Stepinac's figure and work in the EP, as well as that conferences such as these cannot contribute to advancement of relations between Serbia and Croatia and to overcoming of differences, the letter said.

In a written statement to Tanjug, the director of Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre Efraim Zuroff said any attempt of honouring or glorifying figures who had supported the genocidal rule of the Independent State of Croatia was a disgrace and should be opposed.