STATEMENT BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

We are unpleasantly surprised by statements made by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić in an interview with The Kurir daily newspaper

We are unpleasantly surprised by statements made by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić in an interview with The Kurir daily newspaper. These statements in no way contribute to the normalisation of relations within the region and are counterproductive to relations between Croatia and Serbia.

We strongly refute all claims made about Croatia in said interview. Croatia is a country which respects and will continue to respect judicial institutions, as that is paramount to the functioning of the state. Such a position is the cornerstone of the rule of law, and a precondition for membership in the European Union.

Disagreement with the verdict of The Hague Tribunal is a matter of individual opinion, including for President Nikolić. However, we must once again underline that Croatia chose to cooperate with the Tribunal, adopted a constitutional law on cooperation with it and fulfilled all of its obligations, in accordance with international rules, laws and requirements.

In the case of Gotovina and Markač, the ruling of The Hague tribunal unequivocally states that these two individuals are not responsible for war crimes committed on Croatian territory and that Operation Storm was not a joint criminal enterprise.

We would like to remind that senior Croatian officials have on numerous occasions stated that this in no way negates crimes committed on Croatian territory by individuals on either the Croatian or the Serbian sides. We have also always made clear that neither the crime nor the perpetrator has a nationality, but to the contrary – each perpetrator regardless of nationality will be punished for crimes they committed.

Croatia’s judiciary has processed and continues to process individuals suspected of individual crimes. A number of these proceedings have resulted in formal convictions and the guilty parties are either serving or have served prison terms.

Once again, we would like to emphasize that none of these cases have charged the Croatian or the Serbian people, or Croats and Serbs. They have always been related to specific individuals and specific crimes.

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