The words used by the Croatian president seemed inappropriate, European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said in Brussels on Wednesday.
When pressed by a reporter to say if she also found inappropriate words such as "bloodthirsty hatred", which were used by the Italian president, the spokeswoman said: "No comment."
The Commission believes that exchanges of personal views of this kind show how important EU integration is for the climate of trust among European countries. Such integration through the accession process is based on clearly defined criteria that each country should be evaluated on its own merits, and this remains true for this case like for any other, the spokeswoman said.
She also reiterated yesterday's statement by a Commission spokesman that relations between Italy and Croatia were generally very good and friendly.
Italian President Napolitano, whose speech sparked the present controversy, visited the European Parliament on Wednesday, but declined to comment.
When asked by a reporter if he regretted what he had said and whether his speech contributed to European unity and integration, Napolitano said: I am here to answer questions about Europe and the Parliament, but I am willing to answer that question in Rome.
Last Saturday, on Remembrance Day for Foibe Victims, Napolitano decorated the last Italian chief of police in the central Croatian Adriatic city of Zadar during fascist rule, who was later killed by Tito's Partisans. Foibe are karst pits into which Partisans threw Italians after executions.
Napolitano said that the drama of the foibe was "the barbarism of the century" and the result of "Slavic bloodthirsty hatred" and their territorial aspirations.
His speech prompted a response from Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who said on Monday that it contained "elements of open racism, historical revisionism and political revenge-seeking."
Italian media reported on Tuesday that Prime Minister Romano Prodi had expressed his indignation at Mesic's claims, which he described as absolutely unjustified.