Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacts to incident at Croatian border

The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the Serbian ambassador to Zagreb refused to accept a protest note from the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, after they refused to receive the Serbian note, although the Serbian ambassador already had a meeting scheduled during which this was to be done.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia considers the gesture of the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs to ban the entry and stay of a delegation of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces - which was preceded by a search of the belongings of the members of the delegation, and explained by a lack of adequate documentation to justify the purpose and conditions of stay - to be, to put it mildly, as unfounded. A delegation from the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces had been announced to the competent Croatian authorities," a note from the Serbian MFA said.

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According to a statement from the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such a decision runs counter to the basic principles of modern Europe, which envisages freedom of movement for people, the right to preserve religious and national heritage, as well as to pay tribute to innocent victims of one nation.

"The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again points out that there were no 'inappropriate gestures' nor reactions by the 'Serbian political leadership'. We would like to recall that the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, did not want to comment on the comments of top Croatian leaders that came after the gesture of the Croatian authorities. The Republic of Serbia remains committed to improving the stability of the region and good neighborly relations, and believes that this can be done through essential discussions, not through the media," the statement said.