Biscevic drew attention to some claims made by Fini "which clash with the spirit and substance of current Croatian-Italian relations," the ministry said in a press release.
The ministry maintains that "overall bilateral relations, the positions of the two countries' ethnic minorities, and the common commitment to European standards and values do not justify unilateral assessments of events from the past, notably after World War II, and of their consequences".
In the interview which Slobodna Dalmacija ran today, Fini is quoted as saying that "in one period of the creation and development of (Croatia), the Croats didn't build and promote their right to their own roots and identity on the notion that others living in Croatia had the same rights". He added "the past century clearly showed that nationalism as a notion of one nation's superiority over others causes big disasters".
Fini granted the interview on the 51st world gathering of the esuli, ethnic Italians who fled Croatia after WWII, which was held in Senigalia, Italy at which the "mayor of Italian Zadar," Ottavio Missoni, conferred on Fini the title of virtual honorary citizen of the "Free Municipality of Zadar in Exile".
Fini stated in the interview that when he said that Croatia needed help in its European Union integration, "namely in genuinely and not only formally ridding itself of nationalism," he meant that Croatia needed help in respecting the Italian minority and in honouring and preserving the Italian memory through monuments and coats of arms. "Only those who can respect and harmonise these values can enter the EU," he said.
Fini went on to say that "naturally, nobody serious in present-day Italy is even thinking about returning the former territory on the east coast of the Adriatic to the Italian state. But it is our obligation within a Europe without borders, which already has 25 member states and which Croatia too will join in due time, to ensure respect for diversity, identity, and minorities that will think, speak and be educated freely in the language of their fathers and grandfathers. This is what we ask for Italians in Istria and Dalmatia".
The Foreign Ministry press release said Biscevic and Ambassador Grafini concluded that Croatian-Italian relations were improving and that forthcoming bilateral meetings would focus on the settlement of concrete cooperation issues.