"I'm waiting for his anger to pass. I don't live in the past. I don't ask when someone was at war with someone, which can be done only at anniversaries, or how the war was. Talking to children today about the war and not about what awaits them tomorrow is pointless," Tanjug news agency quoted Nikolic as saying on Sitel TV.
He said Croatia was acceptable to the European Union even though it had not solved the issue of the Serbs "it expelled, whose property it hasn't given back and whom it doesn't allow to enjoy it. It hasn't provided them with even minimum basic human rights, but for some reason it's acceptable to the EU."
Nikolic said Serbia would continue to "peacefully and patiently arrange its relations with Croatia" and eliminate outstanding issues.
"I have invited Croatian representatives to say which issues Serbia hasn't solved so that we can solve them, but I have also raised many issues Croatia hasn't and won't solve. However, Croatia is an EU favourite, it has always been accorded preferential treatment. Serbia is being told about the issue of bad privatisations and a poorly arranged judiciary, which is the reason we can't be a member of the EU," Nikolic was quoted as saying, adding that the judiciary and privatisation in Croatia were no better.
He said the judiciary, privatisation and human rights in Croatia were "much worse than in Serbia... Why is there such a big difference between us? We are just candidates for the EU, we still don't have a date for the start of the (entry) talks, yet Croatia will become a member next year."