Criticism of Merkel for supporting HDZ

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Manfred Weber, the European People's Party candidate for the future head of the European Commission, participated in an HDZ election rally in Zagreb ahead of the European elections held from May 23 to 26.

"Europe is a project of freedom, and we must work so that everyone has equal rights and that we preserve peace and freedom," Merkel said at the HDZ rally in the Cibona hall. Nationalism is trying to destroy Europe, the Chancellor stated, calling for a fight against it.

"Next year, Croatia will preside over the European Union, and our Andrej Plenković will at the same time be one of the strong presidents and cooperate with Weber, who will be the President of the European Commission for the benefit of all member states," Merkel said. She called on citizens in Croatian to go to the polls and support the EPP and HDZ, Plenković, Weber, and Karlo Ressler.

Manfred Weber emphasized the Christian orientation of Europe and reminded that European nations live in freedom today thanks to Adenauer, Kohl, Tuđman, and Merkel.

First on the HDZ list for the EP, Karlo Ressler, earned applause when he said, "Today, everyone is with Bleiburg in their thoughts," where the anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy was marked on the same day in memory of May 1945, when the Yugoslav army liquidated tens of thousands of members of the defeated Independent State of Croatia (NDH) army, which was one of the main allies of Hitler's Nazi Germany and Mussolini's fascist Italy during World War II.

"With the symbol of the greatest tragedy of the Croatian people, which could not be spoken about for a long time," Ressler said.

"What is being done today was set out by Tuđman," Prime Minister Plenković said, among other things.

There has been a lot of criticism on social media regarding the Chancellor's support for HDZ. Comments highlight that Tuđman's HDZ was convicted of a joint criminal enterprise for the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, while that party still strongly negatively influences internal relations in BiH, destabilizing the entire region.

During the rally in the Zagreb hall, Thompson's song "Lijepa li si" was also heard, which mentions Herceg-Bosna, whose military and political leadership was convicted of war crimes committed in BiH in the 1990s.

The rally in Cibona was also attended by the President of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović, one of the main allies of pro-Russian politician Milorad Dodik.

"An example of the cynicism of the EU and the so-called international community: For the votes of only five HDZ MPs in the EU Parliament who could support the German candidate for President of the European Commission, Merkel tells fairy tales to Plenković, comes to him, and remains silent about Croatian improprieties towards BiH," wrote journalist and expert on European policies and the EU enlargement process Zekerijah Smajić on Twitter.

Deutsche Welle journalist Srećko Matić wrote on Twitter: "There were more Tuđman busts at the HDZ election rally for the European elections in Cibona – and more Thompson songs could be heard – than there were European Union flags in the hall."

German public radio Deutschlandfunk broadcast a report before the rally in Zagreb, calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Zagreb "questionable" because it aids the HDZ's election campaign, Index.hr reported.

Merkel and the EPP's main candidate Manfred Weber are being criticized for attending the HDZ rally, a party "whose founder Franjo Tuđman downplayed the number of Ustaše victims." They also quote ombudswoman Lora Vidović, who says that HDZ is doing nothing against historical revisionism.