Croatia buries 11 victims missing from the Serbian aggression

The mortal remains of the eleven victims were exhumed in from a mass grave in the nearby village of Bobota in November of last year. The youngest victim was nineteen years-old, and the oldest was seventy. They were taken by Serb forces in July of 1991.

Eleven civilian victims from the Homeland War were buried in the village of Tenja near Osijek, in eastern Slavonia on Friday. The tragic loss of life is all the more disgraceful when one considers the fact that Croatia is still searching for the final resting place of 1 840 people that went missing during the Serb and JNA aggression. Osijek Baranja County Prefect Ivan Anušić, who was on hand for the funeral in Tenja on Friday, reminded that the remaining 1 840 bodies must be found while their family members and the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are still alive: “To this day the people who killed them, who buried them and later moved their remains still live in Croatia.”

The State Secretary at the Veterans' Affairs Ministry, Darko Nekić, once again called out Serbia for refusing to provide information as their final resting place.

Meanwhile, the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Croatian Defense Council was marked in Mostar in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina today. Leading the Croatian delegation was President Zoran Milanović: “We do not have any prejudice towards anyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not towards the Serbs, who were the aggressors in the war, nor towards the Bosniaks, who we used know as Muslims, and who we accept, who are a reality, our neighbors and who I hope will be better partners than they have been recently. These are all realities, as is the fact that Croatian-hood in Bosnia and Herzegovina is ineradicable and without it, there is no Bosnia and Herzegovina. Just as there is no Bosnia and Herzegovina without Serbs and Bosniaks. This is the trinity and unity that Bosnia and Herzegovina is made of.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Veteran's Affairs Minister Tomo Medved was also on hand: “As a member of the European Union and the NATO alliance, Croatia will continue to be a constructive factor you, especially in advocating for Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path. As Deputy Prime Minister and a Croatian veteran, I once again congratulate you on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Croatian Defense Council. Be proud of your contribution in defending and liberating Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was your sacrifice that ensured peace.”

Source: HRT