Croatia: President pays tribute to killed pro-Nazi collaborators

Via AFP:

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic paid tribute Thursday to the country's pro-Nazi collaborators and civilians who were killed by communist partisans in Austria and Slovenia after the end of World War II.

Grabar-Kitarovic lit candles and laid wreaths at Bleiburg in southern Austria, as well as in Macelj and Tezno across the border in Slovenia, to pay "respect to victims killed in the tragic events in May 1945," a statement from her office said.

"The end of World War II and the victory against Nazism to which Croatian people gave a big contribution marked one of the most tragic chapters of Croatia's history," she said in a reference to the killings in Austria and Slovenia.

"A crime is a crime and it cannot be justified by any ideology."