Prime Minister condemns all crimes in Tezno

Crimes committed by Communists at the end of World War II have stained "a just fight" and Croatia today condemns all crimes committed in the name of any ideology, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and Parliament Speaker Josip Leko said on Friday in Tezno

In World War II, a large trench in Tezno became a major mass grave where troops of the Independent State of Croatia - NDH (a Nazi-puppet government) and civilians killed in May 1945 were buried.

"I came here for the people who were killed at the end of a war. This is a tragic, horrible event which puts a stain on a just fight and one should not run from it, nor do I run from it. I am here as Croatia's prime minister and statesman," Milanovic told the press after laying a wreath in Tezno.

Slovenian sources estimate that between 15,000 and 20,000 soldiers and civilians, mostly Croats, were executed without a trial in the forested area of Tezno.

In April of 1999, during the construction of the A1 motorway, the mass grave was uncovered together with the remains of 1,179 victims.

Places like this always cause uneasiness, but they must be accepted and heads must not be turned away from them," said Milanovic

(Text and photo: Hina)

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