An EC spokeswoman described as inappropriate Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's response to a statement by his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano about Italian victims from the end of World War II, but she would not comment on Napolitano's views.
A source from Mesic's office told Hina the assessment that the EC spokeswoman's statement was "one-sided and unfair" had been conveyed to the head of the EC Delegation to Croatia, Vincent Degert.
The words used by the Croatian president seem inappropriate, EC spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said earlier today. Asked by reporters if she considered inappropriate words like "bloodthirsty hatred" that were used by the Italian president, Hansen said the EC had no comment.
The exchange of barbs between the two countries started on Saturday, February 10, when Italy commemorated victims of the foibe, karst pits into which, according to Italian media, many innocents were thrown towards the end of World War II by Tito's Partisans.
Speaking on the occasion, President Napolitano said the foibe were the result of "Slavic bloodthirsty hatred" and aspirations for annexation of territory.
Mesic responded by saying that "it is impossible to overlook elements of open racism, historical revisionism and political revenge-seeking" in Napolitano's speech.