The former Yugoslavia and Italy signed an agreement settling the issue of war damage, Mesic said adding that Italy should have paid a part of the debt to its citizens. He added that this was why the former Yugoslavia had cut its claims towards Italy.
Croatian Radio quoted Mesic as saying that "a smaller amount remains to be paid by Croatia". "If we start looking at things the way Fini does, the question arises who will pay damages to our citizens who were victims of fascism," he said.
Primorski List, the Slovene-language newspaper from the northern Adriatic port of Trieste said Fini made the statement about Italians who left the former Yugoslavia at the end of WW2 at an election rally in the Italian town.
The esuli need not fear that Croatia will not "settle its debts" before joining the EU, which Slovenia managed to do, said the president of the National Alliance, a party in the ruling coalition which fights for the sympathies of esuli organisations and their votes.
The newspaper went on to say that according to Fini, the former Romano Prodi Cabinet was responsible for mistakes in finding a solution regarding property the esuli had left behind in Slovenia because it allowed the issue to be settled by liberalising the real estate market in Slovenia as the country was joining the EU, instead of setting conditions for the ratification of Slovenia's accession agreement or demanding the restitution of the property in kind.
Fini said this would not be the case with Croatia and that Rome would try to settle the issue with Zagreb during Croatia's accession negotiations.