The head of the opposition in the municipal council, Branko Eremic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said the rights of minorities, as guaranteed by constitutional law, had been exercised in Vojnic for nearly a decade.
"The signs and the minority flag were displayed for nine years and no one touched them, so I believe this is proof of a tendentious policy in the service of the HDZ (party), which wants to depose the SDP-led coalition," he said.
Karlovac mayor and president of the HDZ's county branch Ivan Vucic condemned the removal of Cyrillic signs, saying "all these incidents are the result of state policy and not the HDZ's policy and proof that the conditions for (placing the signs) in Vukovar don't exist yet."
He said the HDZ, the strongest opposition party, had nothing to do with the removal of Cyrillic signs "because they never bothered anyone until now and because in Vojnic they were put up when the HDZ was in power."
Police are investigating the latest incident in Vojnic.