ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - The Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Friday received the Italian Ambassador to Croatia, Paolo Pensa, a statement from the Foreign Ministry said.
ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - The Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic
on Friday received the Italian Ambassador to Croatia, Paolo Pensa,
a statement from the Foreign Ministry said. #L#
Congratulating Ambassador Pensa on the order he had been
decorated with by President Tudjman for his contribution to the
development of bilateral relations, Granic stressed that the
relations between Croatia and Italy had improved considerably
lately, especially in the field of economy, but also in all other
areas.
However, Croatia was dissatisfied with attempts to cause those
relations to deteriorate. That could be seen best in 'the latest
campaign which resulted from an indictment for genocide committed
on Italians in Istria, who had been killed at the end of the World
War II', Granic said. Croatia held that such an act did not
represent the official stance of the Italian government but that it
was an extremist, irredentist stance, probably in the service of
the pre-election campaign in Italy. Such a radical and one-sided
interpretation of history, which forgot the crimes committed by the
Italian fascists in the occupied Croatian areas and for which they
had not been indicted, neither in Italy nor elsewhere, objectively
threatened joint interests of the two countries.
The use of the legal system of the democratic Italy for party
interests and irredentist aims could not be interpreted other than
as an attempt to exert pressure ahead of the continuation of
negotiations on inter-state agreements, which had made considerable
progress, Granic said, adding that the act would not threaten
further negotiations and the established cooperation between the
two states.
(hina) rm mm
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