Minister Jandroković met with the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith...

The ministers discussed the release and refusal of extradition to the Republic of Croatia of Dragan Vasiljković, an Australian citizen accused of war crimes committed in the Republic of Croatia.

Minister Jandroković familiarized his colleague with the decisions passed by the competent authorities of Great Britain and Greece, which already extradited the persons accused of war crimes to the Republic of Croatia, and with the decisions by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to hand over a number of war crime cases to Croatian judiciary bodies. This confirms beyond doubt that the Croatian judiciary system is independent and capable of holding a fair and just trial.

Minister Smith pointed out that the last thing they would want is for Australia to become a refuge for war criminals, but that, respecting the independence of the Australian judiciary, he would like to wait for the outcome of the proceedings.

Cooperation at the multilateral level was discussed at the meeting, and both ministers expressed satisfaction with the equivalency of the global strategic goals.

Minister Smith accepted the invitation to visit the Republic of Croatia in the first half of the following year, and invited Minister Jandroković to a return visit to Australia.

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