VUKOVAR, May 11 (Hina) - Top officials of the Serb community in Croatia on Tuesday forwarded a letter to the Article 11 Commission and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Observer Mission, in which they
claim the political and security situation in eastern Croatia has deteriorated. The presidents of the Joint Council of (Serb-majority eastern Croatian) Municipalities and the Independent Serbian Democratic Party, Milos Vojnovic and Vojislav Stanimirovic, claim the deteriorating situation has mostly been influenced by the "continued activation of old war crimes lists and the initiation of new arrest proceedings and interrogations of citizens of Serb nationality." According to the two officials, certain non-government organisations in Croatia are implementing an "anti-Serb campaign". The singled out the Association of Returnees of Croatia a
VUKOVAR, May 11 (Hina) - Top officials of the Serb community in
Croatia on Tuesday forwarded a letter to the Article 11 Commission
and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Observer Mission, in which they claim the political and security
situation in eastern Croatia has deteriorated.
The presidents of the Joint Council of (Serb-majority eastern
Croatian) Municipalities and the Independent Serbian Democratic
Party, Milos Vojnovic and Vojislav Stanimirovic, claim the
deteriorating situation has mostly been influenced by the
"continued activation of old war crimes lists and the initiation of
new arrest proceedings and interrogations of citizens of Serb
nationality."
According to the two officials, certain non-government
organisations in Croatia are implementing an "anti-Serb campaign".
The singled out the Association of Returnees of Croatia and its
branch office in the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar.
The letter also states the Croatian government's Letter of Intent
and other documents regulating the implementation of the Erdut
Agreement on the reintegration of eastern Croatia are being
violated in eastern Croatia.
Vojnovic and Stanimirovic mention the "high number of incidents"
registered of late in the Baranja region, in Sotin, Svinjarevci,
and Vukovar, and particularly in Berk, "where incidents began last
summer, which has resulted in Serbs leaving the village, and in
dozens of remaining Serb families exposed to intense pressure."
In Berk, Croat returnees have been protesting for several days now
in front of Serb houses after a mass grave containing the bodies of
Croat victims of the Serbian aggression on Croatia was discovered
last week.
The two officials emphasised they tackled the mentioned problems
with representatives of the highest authorities on several
occasions, as well as with local officials, but with no results.
In the letter, Vojnovic and Stanimirovic request that the Article
11 Commission and the OSCE Observer Mission "take adequate steps to
prevent a further deterioration of the situation in the Danube
River Region."
(hina) ha