Daniel Cavoli, the head of the ICRC office for Central Europe in Budapest, said that the ICRC had a permanent presence in Croatia since 1991, that its office in Zagreb had been closed late last year, but that the ICRC would continue operating out of its Budapest office.
In his address at a ceremony in Zagreb, Cavoli particularly highlighted the problem of tracing missing persons from the 1991-1995 Croatian war of independence, saying that the ICRC would from now on do this work together with the Croatian Red Cross and the Directorate for Prisoners of War and Missing Persons.
The ICRC head of operations for Europe and North America, Francois Stamm, said that it was the first time the ICRC had decided to transfer its activities to a domestic Red Cross and a government, noting that it was a sign of trust in the capabilities of the government and people in Croatia.
Stamm stressed the important role the ICRC had played in searching for prisoners of war and missing persons during the war, and said it was now up to the Croatian Red Cross and the Directorate for Prisoners of War and Missing Persons to help families in tracing their missing loved ones.
Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor thanked the ICRC for its cooperation and for all the efforts it had undertaken during the war. She said that by deciding to close its Zagreb office, the ICRC gave credit to the Croatian government for its efforts in searching for persons unaccounted-for since the Homeland War.