BELGRADE, Jan 28 (Hina) - Yugoslavia's legal representative at the International Court of Justice in The Hague said on Tuesday he did not believe Croatia would succeed in collecting war reparations from Yugoslavia because Yugoslavia
would first have to be found guilty of genocide.
BELGRADE, Jan 28 (Hina) - Yugoslavia's legal representative at the
International Court of Justice in The Hague said on Tuesday he did
not believe Croatia would succeed in collecting war reparations
from Yugoslavia because Yugoslavia would first have to be found
guilty of genocide. #L#
"The International Court of Justice has jurisdiction only over
cases of genocide. Horrible things did happen in Croatia, but I
don't believe one could speak about genocide, which means that the
International Court of Justice cannot make a ruling to that
effect," the Belgrade-based agency Beta quoted Tibor Varadi as
saying to Radio Free Europe.
If the International Court does not pass such a ruling, Croatia can
either file a suit before a court in Serbia or start political
negotiations on the payment of war reparations, Varadi said,
commenting on Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's statement that
Croatia would seek the payment of around 15 billion euros of war
damages.
Apart from Varadi, Mesic's statement was commented on only by the
Serbian Radical Party of Vojislav Seselj. The party issued a
statement saying that the lawsuit was "a direct result of the failed
policy of the DOS coalition towards the Hague tribunal". The party
also noted that "it is certain that the Serbian government would go
on a manhunt and Serbia will again be exposed to humiliation and new
claims for war damages, which should be paid by the DOS leaders".
(hina) rml sb