In yesterday's broadcast of "Meridijan 16" a contribution titled "Molat Sorrows"...

In yesterday's broadcast of “Meridijan 16” a contribution titled “Molat Sorrows” made a brief comment on the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 7 May 2003. The commentator said that camp inmates and victims of WWII were told by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, Tonino Picula, that they should have raised the issue of indemnity in the former Yugoslavia, which does not reflect the content nor the tone of the meeting.

In two separate meetings Minister Picula received the representatives of camp inmates and the victims of WWII (Croatian Association of Antifascist Inmates of the Italian Camp on the Island of Molat, Island Council Association, and Committee of Local Council from Savar, as well as the representatives of the Association of WWII Victims under the Italian and German Occupation from 1941 to 1945), in a conversation which lasted for ninety minutes.

On this occasion Minister Picula, among other things - and bearing in mind that the tragic events referred to had happened 60 years ago - asked the camp inmates whether they had tried to settle this matter with the previous government. They answered negatively, and Minister Picula expressed his regret that such an initiative had not been launched in the former Yugoslavia which concluded many agreements with Italy to close the issues arisen during and after the war.

In further conversation Minister Picula explained how the Joint Croatian-Italian Commission worked, and the representatives of the associations of camp inmates and WWII victims presented their proposals concerning the draft law on war victims, and other matters related to the activity of their associations.

Minister Picula listened to the representatives of the societies with great attention and took the materials they had brought, noting that the professional staff would carefully study them.

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