ZAGREB, Jan 26 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic told Croatian Television on Sunday that his statement that Yugoslavia must pay war damages to Croatia did not mean that he was going to launch such an initiative, but that he was only
stating his opinion answering a question by a Banja Luka daily whether Croatia still insisted on war damages.
ZAGREB, Jan 26 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic told Croatian
Television on Sunday that his statement that Yugoslavia must pay
war damages to Croatia did not mean that he was going to launch such
an initiative, but that he was only stating his opinion answering a
question by a Banja Luka daily whether Croatia still insisted on war
damages. #L#
"I believe that Croatia must insist on war damages, but whether we
will managed to get it is an entirely another issue. This was only an
answer to what my opinion is and my opinion is that the aggressor
must pay war damages," Mesic said.
Mesic statement to the Banja Luka daily was cited by several
Croatian newspapers on Sunday, claiming that Mesic demanded
Yugoslavia to pay EUR15 billion in war damages. According to the
media, Mesic "got himself involved in commenting war reparations,
which is in the government's jurisdiction".
Confirming that the issue was in government's jurisdiction, Mesic
told Croatian Television that his statement to the Banja Luka daily
was that war damages amounted to around "30 million German marks",
but that further analysis would show the exact amount.
(hina) it sb