Pusić and Vučić talk aerial photos, lawsuits, regional state of affairs

(Hina) - Serbia and Croatia will not withdraw the genocide lawsuits they have brought against each other and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will tackle their issues from the past

(Hina) - Serbia and Croatia will not withdraw the genocide lawsuits they have brought against each other and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will tackle their issues from the past, while the present governments of the two countries should be forward looking, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and the visiting Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić said in Belgrade on Monday.

"We agree that the job of the Court in The Hague will be to deal with our problems from the past, and our job is to take care of the present and of people's lives now and in the future," Pusić said at a joint news conference after their meeting.

Vučić said that both countries would do their best to prevent the issues from the past "poisoning bilateral relations". "I think that for the future generations it will be important what we do for the future," he added.

Pusić and Vučić said that they were aware that the final verdict of the ICJ would not close the exchange of arguments on the causes and consequences of the 1991-1995 Homeland War in Croatia, but Pusić added that this was "a topic for historians and not for politicians".

The ICJ will in March hold hearings regarding Croatia's lawsuit against Serbia and during those hearings it should be established whether Serbia committed genocide in Croatia during the 1991-1995 war.

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia) from Monday 3 March to Tuesday 1 April 2014, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court," the ICJ stated on its web site.

Today's meeting between Vučić and Pusić has been their third in the last 12 months. Vučić visited Zagreb in late April 2013 and Pusić paid a visit to Belgrade in June. During the June meeting, they said that progress in cooperation between the two countries was noticeable in all areas defined during their first meeting in Zagreb.

During their meeting today in Belgrade, Serbia delivered 38,439 scanned aerial photographs to Croatia's construction ministry for use in the process of legalisation of buildings in Croatia, and Pusić thanked Belgrade for the delivery.

"Copies of scanned aerial photographs of Croatia's territory are very important to us because they will help solve over 800,000 legalisation requests," Pusić said.

Vučić admitted that his government had not yet fulfilled the promise from their previous talks regarding the publication of textbooks in Croatian for ethnic Croat students in Serbia. He added that he would do his best to bring this issue to a conclusion.

As for Serbia's European Union membership bid, Pusić reiterated that Zagreb fully supported this process and insisted on the adoption of and compliance with European standards.

"There are two parts of this journey, one is the process of accession and the other is membership. Both are important and the point is to undergo reforms," said the foreign minister of the youngest EU member-state.

Later in the day, Pusić is to meet her Serbian counterpart, Ivan Mrkić.

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