Croatian leadership slates Jeremić comments

Croatia’s President and PM Stjepan Mesic and Ivo Sanader have condemned Vuk Jeremic’s remarks that Croatia conducted ethnic cleansing during Operation Storm. "There are still plenty of people in Serbia who do not remember what happened, and that tanks from Belgrade, Novi Sad and the rest of Serbia entered Croatia not only to destroy Vukovar, but other towns as well. Moreover, flowers were often thrown on to those tanks as they made their way to the border”, said Mesic during a service to mark Army Day. Croatian leadership slates Jeremic comments "We sustained huge losses during those attacks,” Mesic continued, saying that that would be “a good thing for them to remember,” because Croatian tanks had never come close to either Novi Sad or Belgrade. Sanader said that “[Serbian Foreign Minister] Jeremic was instructed to say what he said, and from a psychological point of view, you can see that it was a simple defense mechanism.” "The fact is that Croatia was under attack, and that [Slobodan] Milosevic conducted a Greater Serbian aggression against its neighbors, Croatia included, and Serbia lost that war”, the Croatian prime minister said. He said that the Serbs, including those who considered themselves pro-European, “would be better off facing up to the past, than saying that Croatia had conducted ethnic cleansing.” "Croatia only did what any other country would have done. In a legitimate and defensive war, it protected its territory,” Sanader said, adding that anything else was “old wives’ tales that cannot change the truth about the Homeland War." "There is only one truth—it was Serbia that attacked Croatia, and Croatia won a war that was imposed upon her,” the Croatian prime minister concluded. Earlier today, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic strongly protested yesterday at Jeremic's "unacceptable" descriptions of events from the recent past. He also dismissed Jeremic's criticism of Croatia for recognizing Kosovo. In his address, the Serbian foreign minister gave unacceptable descriptions of historical events during the "Greater Serbian" aggression against Croatia and voiced dissatisfaction with Croatia's recognition of Kosovo, the Croatian Foreign Ministry stated. While presiding over the ministerial conference of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, held in Zagreb, Jandrokovic rejected these claims and warned that Croatia held different views on those issues, and that the conference was no place for such matters. Meeting with Jeremic after the assembly, he voiced a "strong protest" over the views aired and reiterated Zagreb's well-known position on the Serbian aggression against his country and the reasons for recognizing Kosovo, the statement added. Jandrokovic said he hoped that Jeremic's conduct would not disrupt the high level of cooperation reached between the members of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, the ministry's statement said. "You remember Vukovar and the tragic events that took place there. You remember the ethnic cleansing of over 250,000 Serbs during Operation Storm in 1995. That was a dark time, one that should never again be repeated," Jeremic said at the conference. Serbia's minister also criticized Croatia's decision to recognize Kosovo. Ivo Sanader,Stjepan Mesic (FoNet, archive)

Croatian leadership slates Jeremić comments

"We sustained huge losses during those attacks,” Mesić continued, saying that that would be “a good thing for them to remember,” because Croatian tanks had never come close to either Novi Sad or Belgrade.

Sanader said that “[Serbian Foreign Minister] Jeremić was instructed to say what he said, and from a psychological point of view, you can see that it was a simple defense mechanism.”

"The fact is that Croatia was under attack, and that [Slobodan] Milošević conducted a Greater Serbian aggression against its neighbors, Croatia included, and Serbia lost that war”, the Croatian prime minister said.

He said that the Serbs, including those who considered themselves pro-European, “would be better off facing up to the past, than saying that Croatia had conducted ethnic cleansing.”

"Croatia only did what any other country would have done. In a legitimate and defensive war, it protected its territory,” Sanader said, adding that anything else was “old wives’ tales that cannot change the truth about the Homeland War."

"There is only one truth—it was Serbia that attacked Croatia, and Croatia won a war that was imposed upon her,” the Croatian prime minister concluded.

Earlier today, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandroković strongly protested yesterday at Jeremić's "unacceptable" descriptions of events from the recent past.

He also dismissed Jeremić's criticism of Croatia for recognizing Kosovo.

In his address, the Serbian foreign minister gave unacceptable descriptions of historical events during the "Greater Serbian" aggression against Croatia and voiced dissatisfaction with Croatia's recognition of Kosovo, the Croatian Foreign Ministry stated.

While presiding over the ministerial conference of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, held in Zagreb, Jandroković rejected these claims and warned that Croatia held different views on those issues, and that the conference was no place for such matters.

Meeting with Jeremić after the assembly, he voiced a "strong protest" over the views aired and reiterated Zagreb's well-known position on the Serbian aggression against his country and the reasons for recognizing Kosovo, the statement added.

Jandroković said he hoped that Jeremić's conduct would not disrupt the high level of cooperation reached between the members of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, the ministry's statement said.

"You remember Vukovar and the tragic events that took place there. You remember the ethnic cleansing of over 250,000 Serbs during Operation Storm in 1995. That was a dark time, one that should never again be repeated," Jeremić said at the conference.

Serbia's minister also criticized Croatia's decision to recognize Kosovo.