HSP deputy Pejo Trgovcevic said at a news conference in the parliament that Pupovac's statements represented inflammatory language directed against "the people who were hit hardest by the war and who escaped Chetnik terror in Bosnia".
Trgovcevic said that the statements were intended to cause division among Croats.
He recalled that the SDSS was participating in the executive authorities, which was why the government should voice its position on Pupovac's statements.
At a session of the National Minorities Council last Monday, which was also attended by representatives of the OSCE and the European Commission, Pupovac said, among other things, that the government was more purchasing than returning private property and that this was "a continuation of the ethnic cleansing policy, but by different means".
In an interview with today's Vecernji List daily, Pupovac said that the Reconstruction Law envisages granting returnees 35 square metres of housing space per person, and an additional 10 square metres per family member.
"But if that person is a Bosnian Croat, he can get whatever he wants, even if it means 200 square metres of housing space, plus his house in Bosnia," Pupovac said, adding that this was discrimination aimed at stopping the process of refugee return.