Minister Pusić and Dačić: Communication solution to outstanding issues

(Hina) - The relations between Croatia and Serbia are very good and have reached a new level, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić said in Zagreb on Wednesday after meeting with her Serbian counterpart Ivica Dačić

(Hina) - The relations between Croatia and Serbia are very good and have reached a new level, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić said in Zagreb on Wednesday after meeting with her Serbian counterpart Ivica Dačić.

Pusić said that despite the current problems and outstanding issues, "an open channel of communication" existed between Serbia and Croatia enabling them to discuss any problems.

The visiting minister Dačić said that the enhancement of bilateral relations was a priority for Serbia, conveying his country's readiness to foster "constructive political dialogue".

The two ministers discussed lists of people who went missing in the 1991-1995 war in Croatia and agreed that the lists should be aligned in accordance with international criteria.

Pusić stressed that this issue should be solved as soon as possible.

The Croatian minister said that today's talks revolved around the case of Croatian citizen Veljko Marić, who is serving a prison term in Serbia for war crimes after the Serbian judiciary found him guilty based on a Serbian law that covers regional jurisdiction.

"There is no such thing as regional jurisdiction," Pusić said, expressing hope that the issue would be resolved as quickly as possible. She insisted that the law in question was a precedent and was not in compliance with European standards.

She said that apart from Croatia, Denmark, another European Union member, intended to submit objections to the Serbian law.

On the other hand, Dačić said that the law on regional jurisdiction, whereby Serbia has declared jurisdiction for the prosecution of war crimes committed in other countries of the former Yugoslavia, would be amended if found to be in breach of EU standards.

Dačić pointed out that no country other than Croatia had raised objections to that law.

The two ministers agreed that the issues stemming from the war and the 1990s should not act as a drag on the bilateral relations and economic cooperation between Serbia and Croatia.

As for the border dispute along the River Danube, Dačić said that Serbia was in favour of defining the border as a median line equidistant from the river banks, while Croatia wants the borderline to be defined based on cadastral books.

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