The draft agreement refers to the property possibly seized from Austrians after 1955, when the former Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FNRJ) signed the State Treaty for the Re-establishment of an Independent and Democratic Austria. The property confiscated from Austrian physical and legal persons up until 1955 on Croatia's territory does not fall under the draft agreement, says the ministry, adding that the government fully abides by the treaties signed by the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and has no intention of changing previously settled relations.
The State Treaty for the Re-establishment of an Independent and Democratic Austria of 15 May 1955 expressly says that the FNRY has the right to confiscate, keep or dispose of Austrians' property, rights and interests in Yugoslavia on the day of entry into force of the Treaty and that the Austrian government has committed itself to compensate Austrian citizens whose property was seized during the implementation of the Treaty.
The implementation of the State Treaty also included the adoption of a decision stipulating that the Treaty refers exclusively to persons who had Austrian citizenship on the day of the Anschluss (annexation of Austria by Germany on 13 March 1938), as well as on the day of re-establishment of Austria as an independent state on 28 April 1945. Based on this, all the property belonging to Austrian physical and legal persons on Croatian territory was seized and Austria assumed the obligation to pay compensation for it.
This act did not cover the seizure of property under amendments to the Law on the Nationalisation of Private Companies, and this matter was later covered by the treaty between the SFRY and the Republic of Austria signed in Vienna on 19 March 1980, when the two countries agreed that the SFRY should pay Austria compensation for that property.
Regarding the "Report on the course of negotiations on the conclusion of the Draft Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Austria on issues related to compensation for seized property", the ministry recalls that the basis for the draft agreement are the 1999 Decision of the Constitutional Court, the 2002 parliament-sponsored amendments to the Law on Compensation for Property Seized during the Yugoslav Communist Rule, and negotiations with Austria on the implementation of the provisions of that law, which started seven years ago.
The ministry also states that the negotiations were formalised by the previous government, which in April 2003 passed a decision to establish a commission in charge of renewing preparations for launching procedure to conclude bilateral treaties.
After the decision was adopted, three formal rounds of negotiations were held, two during the term of the former government in Zagreb on 18 June 2003 and in Vienna on 22 October 2003, while the third round took place in Vukovar on 4 April 2005, during the term of the incumbent government, the ministry said.
"The starting point for these negotiations was that relations regulated previously with bilateral treaties between Austria and the former SFRY or Austrian federal laws cannot be changed either directly or indirectly or be regulated otherwise," the ministry says.
In his televised address last night, President Stjepan Mesic said the draft agreement set a dangerous precedent which would not affect only Croatia. Citing reasons why he opposed the agreement, Mesic said that the issue of seized property had been settled by the former Yugoslavia.