Stanimirovic was speaking at a round-table discussion on Serb refugees' tenancy rights and compensation for their property that had been destroyed during the 1991-1995 war in Croatia. The discussion was organised by the Alliance of Croatian Serb Refugee Associations and the Serbian Liberal Party.
Stanimirovic spoke critically of the Croatian government's housing programme for Serb returnees who had lost their tenancy rights, and of refugees themselves, saying that over half of the 30,000 tenancy right holders had failed to apply for housing in Croatia despite extended deadlines.
"It is tragic that the two countries are settling their debts over our backs, but you should also ask yourselves why is it that only 11,500 housing applications have been filed. What happened to the remaining 19,500 tenancy right holders?" Stanimirovic asked those present.
He said that his party supported the Croatian government in Parliament to help in dealing with numerous problems of the Serb community in Croatia and Serb returnees, noting that the situation in the Eastern Slavonia region was now much better than it had been in the past few years.
Serbian Commissioner for Refugees Dragisa Dabetic strongly criticised the Croatian government, insisting that its refugee housing programme was aimed at "building a system of social housing at the expense of Serb refugees" who had been stripped of their tenancy rights.
Dabetic said that the Serbian government genuinely supported Croatia's EU entry "but only after it settles the refugee issue."
"If Croatia joins the EU before Serbia, you will have to wait for Schengen visas to see your homes," Democratic Party member of the Serbian Parliament Dragoslav Kojcic said.
Kosta Cavoski, a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, said that the deprivation of tenancy rights was tantamount to "ethnic cleansing, which is an important element of genocide", adding that the Croatian authorities should be urged to resolve the problem "through full restitution, according to the model used in Bosnia and Herzegovina."