"Slobodan Milosevic conducted the policy of (Serbian territorial expansionism) which ended in defeat. (...) It would have been good if Milosevic had lived to see a verdict in court," Sanader said at the start of a government session.
"Croatia was the victim of that aggression, but it emerged victorious," he added.
Milosevic died of a heart attack last Saturday in his detention cell at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague where he had been on trial for genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and crimes against humanity in Croatia and Kosovo, committed during the 1990s wars.
The Croatian prime minister said he wished the Serbian people would never again allow the policy of territorial expansionism to prevail.
Sanader said that Croatia wanted to continue normalising its relations with Serbia and resolve humanitarian issues such as the one of missing persons. He added that the policy of normalisation was Croatia's contribution to peace and political stability in Southeast Europe.
"We are an anchor of stability. It is in our interests to achieve political stability in this region," the prime minister said, noting that the death of Slobodan Milosevic marked an end of an era.
He expressed hope that stability would prevail in Serbia and Montenegro, which would be in the interests of the neighbouring countries and the whole of Europe.