Serbia's demarche to Croatia over incidents in Knin

Serbia's demarche to Croatia over incidents in Knin

The demarche also stressed that more than 2,000 civilians were killed and more than 200,000 Serbs, citizens of Croatia, permanently expelled during Operation Storm.

The MFA's statement added that slogans were shouted in Knin on August 5 in the presence of top Croatian officials that constitute not only hate speech, but also "an invitation to lynch and destroy Serbs" - i.e., "Kill kill Serb," "For Home - Ready", "We Croats don't drink wine, we drink the blood of Chetniks from Knin."

The ministry added that this was accompanied by displays of fascist symbols of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) - a WW2-era Nazi-allied entity that ran death camps for Serbs, Jews, and Romas - and that all this was happening "in a year when Europe marks 70th anniversary since victory over fascism."

"This kind of behavior is absolutely contrary to civilized and European values, as well as EU's anti-fascist tradition, and represents the crudest violation of human and minority rights guaranteed by international organizations that the Republic of Croatia is a member of. Such acts spur renewed killing and persecution of Serbs in the Republic of Croatia," said the Serbian MFA's protest note.

It also stressed that "the Republic of Serbia expects the Republic of Croatia - a full-fledged EU member - to fulfill all the obligations it undertook with its EU membership, especially when it comes to protection of minorities and return and integration of refugees."

"Having in mind that this kind of statements and actions has serious negative consequences for overall bilateral relations, as well as for political stability in the region, the Republic of Serbia expects that organizers and perpetrators of the said acts will be punished according to laws and international conventions," the protest note said.

A concert in Knin late on Wednesday by Marko Perkovic aka Thompson saw thousands of people sang along as he performed nationalist songs, while some wore hats and flags with the insignia of the Ustasha - the regime of the NDH.

Perkovic greeted his audience with the first part of the Ustasha greeting "For Home", to which they replied "Ready!" Chants of "Kill Serb" were also heard at the beginning of the concert.

Knin Mayor Josipa Rimac addressed those gathered, without condemning the hate chants.

Earlier on Thursday Croatia sent a strong protest note via the Serbian embassy in Zagreb over an incident in Belgrade a day earlier when Croatian flags were set on fire during a protest organized by the Serb Radical Party (SRS).