Foreign Ministry: Inappropriate of Croatian officials to accuse Serbia of endangering freedom of movement

Photo: Mateja Beljan

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia has announced that it is inappropriate for state officials and political actors in Croatia to accuse Serbia of endangering the freedom of movement and speech of several Croatian women, who were treated by the competent state authorities in Belgrade in line with legal procedures and usual international practices.

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"The impropriety turns into absurdity if one takes into account the fact that citizens of Serbia in Croatia are often treated in a way that is not in accordance with the law, European values and standards, or common sense," a statement reads.

The ministry recalls that President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic was denied the opportunity to pay his respects to the victims of the Ustasha terror in Jasenovac, among whom were the president's ancestors.

"Even worse treatment is encountered by ordinary citizens of Serbia, who are often the target of insults and attacks by individuals in Croatia, but also of legal violence supported by the state. Belgrade lawyer Nemanja Beric was sentenced to 15 days in prison for a post on a social network," the statement added.

The ministry noted that the question that Croatia should answer to its public is why none of the Croatian citizens who are currently in the territory of Serbia are facing any inconvenience or special treatment, but are welcome guests of Serbia, and pointed out that this answer should also contain information about to what the persons who are the subject of the reactions of a part of the Croatian political public were in reality doing in Serbia.

"The Republic of Serbia remains interested in building harmonious and productive relations with all its neighbors, including the Republic of Croatia, however, such relations must be built through mutual efforts, and not by almost daily public messages that produce anti-Serb sentiment in Croatia, and certainly not by gross interference in the political processes in a neighboring country," the statement concluded.

Five female Croatian citizens who came to Belgrade as representatives of non-governmental organizations to participate in an Erste Stiftung workshop were deported yesterday, which caused strong reactions in Zagreb.

(Tanjug.rs/Telegraf.rs)