"Genocide bar raised very high" - outgoing Croat president

"Genocide bar raised very high" - outgoing Croat president

He participated in drafting the lawsuit against Serbia, filed as the country was under attack by NATO in 1999.

Josipovic believes that some of the most horrible crimes had not been taken into account in pronouncing the judgment, since the Court took the standpoint that the FRY was not bound by the UN Convention on Genocide for acts committed before April 27, 1992, when the FRY was created following the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

When it comes to Serbia’s counter-claim, Josipovic told Zagreb-based Nova TV that the Court had pointed out rather clearly that Croatia "cannot be considered a country that had committed genocide, nor had Operation Storm been genocidal."

He believes that the repercussions of the ICJ ruling on Croatia’s future “will not be negative” and that the affirmation of Croatia's position that it gained freedom through a “just war” is not about to change.

Regarding further relations with Serbia, Josipovic said that neither side could now give up on the efforts to find the missing persons and that it was a responsibility of all countries to prosecute war crimes.

Victims and aggressors

Croatia's president-elect, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, also commented to say she was dissatisfied with the judgment, but respected it. According to her, the explanation of the verdict "shows clearly who was the aggressor and who the victim."

Grabar-Kitarovic said that the ICJ "determined that serious crimes were committed in the territory of Croatia," as well as "serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law," and that the perpetrators were "Serb forces and the JNA" - but that the "extent" of these crimes was insufficient to declare them a genocide.

The judgment "points to the need to punish every crime and bring to justice all perpetrators, those who ordered the crimes or failed to prevent them, and there will be special perseverance in finding the missing persons and in the retrieval of cultural heritage."

"Croatia is today an EU and NATO member turned towards the future, I wish all other countries of Southeastern Europe would also turn toward European values and the future. As president of Croatia I will be the initiator and leader of such values," said Grabar-Kitarovic.

Reacting to the news out of The Hague today, Serbian President Tomisav Nikolic said that the judgment ""confirmed Croatia committed crimes against Serbs."