Zagreb, (IKA) – A regular session of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops was held on June 27 at the Secretariat of the CCB in Zagreb, with the President of the Commission, Bishop Vlado Košić of Sisak, presiding. In light of the completion of the negotiations between the Republic of Croatia and the European Union, which the Commission welcomes, it was concluded that the Commission will henceforth devote particular attention to the responsibility of the social and political elite for the future of Croatia in the legal, political, economic and cultural senses because without the protection and promotion of Croatian national interests, Croatia cannot be a full and equal member of the European Union, according to the statement issued by the Commission.
The members of the Commission commented on the reaction to their Statement on the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague published prior to the sentencing of the Croatian generals. With the benefit of hindsight, it was concluded that the statement was appropriate and important, both for concrete assistance to the innocent persons who were wrongfully convicted and for understanding Croatian history and circumstances in the light of the Christian sense of truth, justice and reconciliation. Commenting on the proposal by the Commission to the national authorities on the need for a list of the victims of the Second World War and postwar period, it was noted with regret that this issue was not connected with the population census as the Commission had proposed. The Commission is of the opinion that the state institutions must devote full attention to this issue, particularly due to the dignity of the victims of the totalitarian communist regime who have not been systematically or individually listed.