ZAGREB, Nov 22 (Hina) - Croatia expects Serbia to apologise for aggression and the suffering of people, but primarily to punish war criminals through its cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague and the
engagement of its own justice system, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula told Hina on Thursday.
ZAGREB, Nov 22 (Hina) - Croatia expects Serbia to apologise for
aggression and the suffering of people, but primarily to punish war
criminals through its cooperation with the international war
crimes tribunal in The Hague and the engagement of its own justice
system, Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula told Hina on
Thursday. #L#
Picula commented on a statement by Serbian Vice-Premier Zarko Korac
given to Novi Sad's daily "Gradjanski list" that Zagreb was
obstructing the normalisation of relations with Yugoslavia by
opposing cooperation with the Serbian government while it includes
Momcilo Perisic who was charged and tried in absentia in Croatia,
and sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes committed in Zadar in
1991.
"In the attempt to balance between Milosevic's political heritage
and the painstaking transition towards a true democratic system.
even the truest democrats slip once in a while," Picula told Hina
over the telephone.
He recalled the Croatian stance towards the normalisation of
relations between Croatia and Yugoslavia: "There is a justified
expectation for some things in Serbia to be shown and some gestures
be made, but the cooperation with the Hague tribunal and the
engaging of the home justice system in Serbia is what interest us
the most," Picula said-
"Regular cooperation with a government which includes (vice-
premier) Momcilo Perisic, convicted of war crimes in Croatia, would
directly mean amnesty," Picula said.
On Wednesday Perisic told Belgrade's daily "Glas" that in 1991, as
commander of the artillery headquarters in Zemunik near Zadar, he
had only defended the lives and honour of his soldiers. He also said
that Zagreb was making cooperation with the Serbian government
conditional so that it could curry favour with the Croatian public
and the formerly ruling Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ), and
increase its own position ahead of negotiations with Yugoslavia.
Picula said on Thursday that Perisic "is hiding behind the Serbian
government" and added that it was "a zone of responsibility of the
Serbian government." the foreign minister stressed that this was
not about a concrete person, but about Croatia's principled opting
to "strongly suggest individual responsibility for committed war
crimes, no matter which nationality the perpetrator is."
"We would like this to be the practice of states under the authority
of the Hague tribunal, and with which we want to normalise
relations," he said.
Picula stressed that the redistribution of responsibility for war
crimes should not be allowed.
Speaking about Croatia's expectations from Serbia, Picula said he
believed that politicians who were active on the political scene
today partly bore responsibility to, with true or symbolic
gestures, point to the responsibility of those who caused the war
suffering of people.
"Gestures depend on the readiness of people active in Serbian
politics today, but they would certainly contribute to the
normalisation (of relations)," he said, adding "it is better for
them to do this earlier, than to wait".
In the difficult situation they are in Serbian politicians are
trying to be pragmatic, or sometimes to circumvent the problems of
their country's Milosevic' past.
"We cannot be too pragmatic in the war suffering of Croatia," Picula
said, speaking about reasons why Croatia insists on some conditions
for the normalisation of relations with Serbia.
He refuted arguments by Serbian politicians that the slow return of
Serbs to Croatia could also be a reason for the slower normalisation
of relations. Such an argument did not hold water, he said, because
the return of Serbs is conditional on the circumstances of how they
left.
"We must not forget that Croatian Serbs had to flee because lawyers
such as Momcilo Perisic fought for their rights with canons,"
Picula said. "Through his actions he contributed to the distress of
the Croatian, but also Serb people".
"These are issues we see in front of us when we think about the
normalisation of relations with Serbia," Picula stressed.
The Croatian foreign minister stressed that in general, the
relations between Croatia and Yugoslavia are on an ascending line.
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic is preparing to visit
Croatia in December, during which some agreements should be signed,
if prepared by then. So far Croatia and Yugoslavia have signed 20
agreements on bilateral cooperation, and 18 are being prepared.
Picula stressed that Svilanovic's arrival, to be visiting Croatia
for the first time, was in itself a big step for mutual relations.
(hina) lml sb