The protocol was signed by representatives of a joint commission for the return of cultural assets, Croatian Assistant Culture Minister Branka Sulc and Serbian Assistant Culture Minister Vladimir Tomcic.
The signing of the protocol was attended by priest Marko Kurolt of the Franciscan monastery of St. Ivan Kapistran from Zemun. He said that the books from the Vukovar monastery were brought to Zemun in the first half of 1992, when he took them over from former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) officers, who had been ordered to transfer the books from one of the Belgrade barracks. The books had been brought to the barracks after the JNA ordered the transfer of the Vukovar treasures from Sid to Belgrade in early 1992.
According to the signatories to the protocol, the assets are 3,833 old and rare books of some 17,000 volumes stored at the Vukovar monastery's library until the war in 1991. Apart from the books, which date back to the period between the 16th and the first half of the 20th century, the Serbian authorities also returned certificates of marriage from the monastery and five empty painting frames.
The commission in charge of the transfer of cultural assets to Croatia held its first session in Belgrade on Thursday. It established that the transfer of the books from the monastery's library was a priority and that by the end of 2004 a screen with icons, a cross and some of the icons from the Serb Orthodox Church in Bobota, eastern Croatia, should also be returned.
Croatia will also be given back 35 sculptures from the art colony "Petar Smajic" in Ernestinovo.
The books from the Vukovar monastery will be transported back to Croatia on Saturday.