A diplomatic row has broken out between Croatia and Serbia after Zagreb unannounced Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic entry into the country. Vucic had planned a private visit to the Jasenovac concentration camp memorial. The Croatian government saw this as a political provocation.
In particular, the fact that the Croatian authorities were not officially informed, but got wind of it through unofficial channels, led to heated feelings. Croatian Foreign Minister Davor Grlic Radman spoke on Sunday about a provocation by Serbia. He criticized that it was unacceptable that Croatia had not been informed of the visit. “The protocol has been violated,” said the minister. “The president of a country is a protected person and his arrival requires the involvement of the Croatian authorities,” he said.
The Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which responded with a protest note Friday afternoon, reminded the government in Belgrade that any visit by a senior foreign official must be coordinated by both sides. It further stressed that the visit of a senior foreign representative to the Jasenovac monument cannot be of a private nature and should be arranged through normal diplomatic channels.
Belgrade threatens with countermeasures
Serbia responded with its own protest note. However, the chargé d’affaires of the Croatian embassy in Belgrade refused to accept them, Grlic Radma said. In the note, published by Serbian media and adopted by Croatian media, Belgrade said it was “appalled by the illegal, anti-European and anti-civilization decision” of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was explained that Vucic’s sole intention was to lay flowers and light a candle on the spot where hundreds of thousands of Serbs died during World War II.
The Croatian foreign minister stressed to journalists that Zagreb does not see the visit as well-intentioned and not as a tribute to the victims, but as politically motivated before the formation of the new Serbian government. “The victims are the means here, not the goal,” says Grlic Radman. The Serbian side announced possible countermeasures.
Source: Krone
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