BELGRADE, March 2 (Hina) - The Croatian government respects all its citizens and supports their civil, human and minority rights, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has said in an interview with Belgrade-based B92 radio that was broadcast on
Tuesday morning.
BELGRADE, March 2 (Hina) - The Croatian government respects all its
citizens and supports their civil, human and minority rights, Prime
Minister Ivo Sanader has said in an interview with Belgrade-based B92
radio that was broadcast on Tuesday morning. #L#
Sanader gave the interview during his visit to the southern Bosnian
city of Mostar last week. He said he was glad he had managed to
positively surprise Croatian, Serbian and international public with
his first steps towards the Serb minority in Croatia.
"Probably the most surprising was my visit to the Serb community for
Christmas (...). I am certain that this was a normal gesture that
should also be expected from the other side, because we should
normalise our relations both within the country and with our
neighbours," Sanader said.
The prime minister said that an agreement had been signed in the
Croatian parliament defining how to deal with demands by the Serb
minority. He pointed out that his government wanted Serb refugees to
return, that it would guarantee their ownership rights under the
constitution and that it also wanted to solve the problem of tenancy
rights.
Sanader pointed out that he would personally guarantee the restitution
of property, that property would be returned to their rightful owners
by the end of June as previously agreed, and that alternative
accommodation would be found for Bosnian Croat refugees who had
occupied the abandoned houses of Serb refugees after 1995.
Speaking of relations between Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro,
Sanader said that both countries had European aspirations, and that
Croatia expected soon a confirmation of its efforts to join the EU.
"As far as I am concerned, I will always support Serbia and Montenegro
on its path to the EU," he added.
Speaking of incidents directed against the Croatian community in the
northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, Sanader said his government
had officially responded in a note of protest delivered by Foreign
Minister Miomir Zuzul, but there had been no response from the other
side because the Serbian government had not yet been formed.
Sanader pointed out that the Croatian government wanted ethnic
communities in the region to have equal status, including the Croatian
minority that has been living in Serbia for centuries.
"The existing wounds will take time to heal, and one should show
consideration for people's frustrations, but there is no alternative
to communication among people. We have to go down the road of
normalisation, because tomorrow we will share our destiny in the EU
and probably in NATO," the Croatian prime minister said.
Noting that he was in favour of speeding up the normalisation process,
Sanader concluded by saying that he was "a convinced optimist that our
relations will be better".
(Hina) vm sb