"This is the only way to help those people so that they can have a place to live in, as they cannot live in the street," Sanader said referring to his cabinet's plan to build 3,600 apartments and purchase another 400 for Serb returnees, former tenancy rights holders living in areas that were not directly affected by the 1991-1995 war.
Answering questions by reporters who were covering his visit to Nerezisce on the island of Brac on Wednesday, Sanader reiterated that "Serb returnees will not be given ownership rights over those flats, they cannot purchase them and their successors cannot inherit them".
"Those who are making a fuss for petty-political reasons are failing to mention that last year the government gave war veterans houses and flats in areas of special state concern in which they have been living for quite some time," the PM said, adding that his cabinet had made the right move when deciding on the said accommodation project.
A co-ordinating body gathering associations of war veterans from the Homeland Defence War on Wednesday issued a statement strongly condemning the government's decision on providing Serb returnees with flats.
According to the press release, priority in the government's housing policy should be given to those "who fought for Croatia and not to those who fled Croatia".
The co-ordinating body called on the Sanader Cabinet to reconsider its decision of 25 August.