Croatia "postpones Nikolic's visit because of Stepinac"

Croatia "postpones Nikolic's visit because of Stepinac"

"The main reason for the postponement is Nikolic's recent request to Pope Francis to stop the process of canonization of Stepinac, who is in Serbia considered to have been complicit in the crimes committed against Serbs in the quisling Independent State of Croatia (NDH), diplomatic sources that we spoke with these days have confirmed," the paper said on its website.

Nikolic visited the Vatican last fall and met with Pope Francis, saying a month later that one of the main topics was the process of canonization of Stepinac after his beatification had already been performed, "and the related pressure of the Roman Catholic Church in Croatia for this process to be completed as soon as possible."

"I outlined my point of view regarding the role of Cardinal Stepinac and the Catholic clergy in the NDH and charged them with - if not explicitly participating in the crimes - then at least of remaining silent in the face of what was happening," Nikolic has been quoted as saying.

In addition, said the article, in his conversation with the pope, Nikolic also "listed the Catholic priests who murdered Serbs, Jews and Roma, and who marked the Independent State of Croatia as a state of two faiths - Catholic and Muslim."

The paper said Croatia's state leadership concluded that Nikolic had entered"the sensitive area of ​​religious policy, which he should not have done."

As they state, Stepinac's beatification is not an issue for Serbia, but a matter for the Roman Catholic Church - "and besides, he has great emotional significance for a majority of believers in Croatia."

The article added that "it has obviously been estimated that a meeting now would not make sense - though relations between Croatia and Serbia should be normalized after they definitely deteriorated at the beginning of the refugee crisis when (then Croatia PM) Zoran Milanovic accused the Serbian government of deliberately sending refugees to Croatia."

"This means a high-level Croatian-Serbian meeting will not take place for a time yet, although it was announced in Belgrade yesterday (Monday) that it will happen fairly quickly - but Pantovcak (Croatian president's office) replied to us there was no agreement on a bilateral meeting, which has been announced for 12 months already," the website said.

It also quoted diplomatic sources who said Nikolic's adviser Ivan Mrkic would soon arrive in Zagreb, adding this would be "a regular visit, not about some special agreement on Nikolic's visit."

Beside the numerous unresolved issues between the two countries, continued the article, "Nikolic also wants to open the one concerning the position of the Serb minority in Croatia, and the growing tension."

None of the associates of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic wished to speak about the reasons for the postponement of the visit.

Grabar-Kitarovic and Nikolic previously met during a Brdo-Brioni summit in Zagreb, and spoke briefly in New York before that.