Banja Luka, March 14, 1998 (IKA) The Solidarity Meeting of the European Commissions of Justitia et Pax [Justice and Peace], with representatives from approximately twenty European countries, including Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Pontifical Commission of Justitia et Pax; Archbishop Vinko Puljić of Sarajevo; Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former UN commissioner for human rights on the territory of the former Yugoslavia; and other distinguished persons from the Church and political life of the participating countries, began today, March 14, in Banja Luka. This meeting was organized by the European Conference of Justitia et Pax, chaired this year by the Netherlands, and was opened by its president, Hans van Munster. The meeting participants were addressed by their host bishop, Msgr. Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka. Bishop Komarica thanked them for coming, emphasizing that their presence represents a great show of solidarity with the suffering people in these territories.
Bishop Komarica stated to those assembled that “the coexistence of the Croats, Bosnians and Serbs is the destiny of Bosnia-Herzegovina.” Auxiliary Bishop Pero Sudar of Sarajevo, president of the Sarajevo Commission of Justitia et Pax, asked the meeting participants to help prevent the extinguishing of the Gospels in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He pointed out that the war has stopped but “peace does not seem able to take root” because injustice is an obstacle to lasting peace. Bishop Sudar stressed that “there is no peace without reconciliation” and a prerequisite for lasting peace is the return of the exiles to their homes.
This was followed by a presentation by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, who reflected upon his mandate in Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially his meetings with the bishop of Banja Luka during the war. He pointed out that despite all the efforts he invested during his mandate to prevent the further suffering of the innocent victims in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the fall of Srebrenica marked the end of his mandate. He harshly condemned the ineffectiveness and lack of interest demonstrated by the United Nations in protecting the population in these territories.
Mazowiecki added that in his opinion the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina was both a war of aggression and a civil war but it certainly was not a religious war. Tadeusz Mazowiecki cautioned against the spread of the conflict from Kosovo, asking whether the world and Europe have drawn a lesson from the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He pointed out that if European indifference prevails toward the situation in the former Yugoslavia, it will not be possible to bridge the gulf between eastern and western Europe. The Dayton agreement provides an opportunity for peace and coexistence in Bosnia-Herzegovina but only through joint efforts and aspirations by the three nations in that country, according to Mazowiecki. In his opinion, it is a great error for Europe to lack a common policy toward Bosnia-Herzegovina and he blamed Radovan Karadžić for attempting to destroy the multiethnic country of Bosnia-Herzegovina with the policy of “ethnic cleansing.” Mufti Ibrahim Halilović of Banja Luka acquainted the participants with the suffering of the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the war: 90% were driven from their homes and 200 mosques were destroyed, although no one has done anything to return the exiles to their homes or for reconstruction. The president of the Jewish Community in Sarajevo pointed out that there was Jewish suffering during the past war, while emphasizing that the Jews have remained on good terms with the representatives of the other religious communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljić of Sarajevo reflected upon the war, recalling his frequent sense of despair at being unable to do anything to stop the bloodshed. He pointed out that there is continued violation of human rights in these territories, the negation of national identities (especially of Croatian Catholics), nationalistic tendencies, obstacles to exercising the rights for the restitution of confiscated property and the return of displaced persons and refugees to their homes. The meeting continued in the afternoon hours with a presentation by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray. Afterwards, small groups of participants visited various philanthropic organizations active in the territory of the Banja Luka Diocese.