Minister Pusić in Dublin meets her Serbian counterpart Mrkić

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić 7 December 2012 met her Serbian counterpart Ivan Mrkić on the fringes of the OSCE ministerial meeting in Dublin

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić 7 December 2012 met her Serbian counterpart Ivan Mrkić on the fringes of the OSCE ministerial meeting in Dublin. This was the first meeting between Croatian and Serbian foreign ministers since the ICTY acquitted generals Gotovina and Markač.

The two ministers described their meeting as a first step towards a possible meeting of the Croatian and the Serbian Prime Ministers, Zoran Milanović and Ivica Dačić, in the near future. Pusić said that no concrete date for such a meeting had been discussed.

Mrkić said that the two countries should take into account what was drawing them closer, such as joint projects on which cooperation should be continued. “It is possible I might visit Zagreb soon. We have also given thought about how to realize a meeting between our prime ministers,” Mrkić said, adding that one “cannot choose one’s relatives and neighbours, so we should develop the best possible relations having in mind the interest of future generations.”

As for the decision by the ICTY to clear generals Gotovina and Markač of war crimes, Pusić said that Croatia had fully respected the institutional procedure, which was a precondition for the country's progress towards the EU membership. "Gotovina and Markač are innocent and they are not responsible for war crimes. This, however, does not mean that there were no war crimes at all or that there are no people responsible for them," the minister said. She reiterated that if anyone was dissatisfied with the performance of the ICTY, they should voice their objections to the UN Security Council, the founder of the tribunal, or to the tribunal itself, not to Croatia.

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