ZAGREB, June 16 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula cancelled a trip to Montenegro on June 16-17 due to incidents which took place in Belgrade late on Sunday. Because of the incidents, the foreign ministry handed a harsh
protest note to the Serbia-Montenegro ambassador to Croatia.
ZAGREB, June 16 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula
cancelled a trip to Montenegro on June 16-17 due to incidents which
took place in Belgrade late on Sunday. Because of the incidents, the
foreign ministry handed a harsh protest note to the Serbia-
Montenegro ambassador to Croatia. #L#
"Minister Picula's planned trip to Montenegro could not take place
in these circumstances," ministry spokeswoman Natalija Bukovec
told Hina on Monday.
The ministry issued a statement today saying the Croatian embassy
in Belgrade was the site of incidents on Sunday evening. About 2,000
people had gathered around the embassy, shouting insults, breaking
glass on the building, and replacing a Croatian flag with one of
Serbia-Montenegro.
The ministry said it was puzzled by the inadequate risk estimate in
Serbia following Croatia's defeat by Serbia in a water polo match
played in Slovenia's Kranj on Sunday, particularly in light of
recent arrests in connection with war crimes committed in Croatia
and the need to preventively protect the embassy.
Due to the incidents, the Croatian foreign ministry last night
immediately called Serbia-Montenegrin Ambassador Milan Simurdic,
handing him a strongly-worded protest note.
It was pointed out such a grave incident was completely
inappropriate for the level of relations Croatia and Serbia had
reached, and that it showed that those against the full
normalisation of relations were still violently active in Serbia-
Montenegro.
Spokeswoman Bukovec said Montenegrin Foreign Minister Dragisa
Burzan telephoned Picula last night to say he was horrified by the
Belgrade incidents. The new date of Picula's trip to Montenegro
will be set subsequently, she said.
Following Croatia's defeat at the European water polo
championships finals, disgruntled Croatian fans started incidents
in Kranj. At least seven were arrested.
Besides Belgrade, far worse incidents occurred in Novi Sad, where
groups of young radicals and extreme right-wing supporters broke
glass on downtown shops and attacked the building of the city
assembly. They were dispersed following police intervention.
Brcko in Bosnia-Herzegovina was also the site of incidents last
night. Fans of the Serbia-Montenegro water polo team took to the
streets, shouting "Serbia, Serbia", singing nationalist songs
mentioning Slobodan Milosevic and Croatians, as well as a hymn to
the Chetniks. Special police were engaged to disperse them.
(hina) ha