Tadić apologizes to Croatian citizens

Tadić apologizes to Croatian citizens

Tadić is the first Serbian leader who has made an official apology to Croatia for crimes committed in the 1991-1992 war.

Tadić also noted that actions of former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić represented one of “the darkest pages in the Serbian history.”

Tadić referred to his visit to Srebrenica in 2005, on the 10th anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.

The president added that he then “assumed a part of the responsibility for what had been done to Bosniaks on behalf of Serbian people.”

“I could never ignore that certain persons, supposedly in the name of the Serbian nation and state, killed people of other ethnicity and religion. At the some time, I cannot overlook the fact that the same happened to my people as well,” Tadić said.

“I would like if all politicians in the Balkans were less proud and more oriented towards assuming the responsibility,” Tadić added.

In the same interview Tadić addressed the issue of Kosovo, bilateral relations between Serbia and Croatia, European future of the two countries, and touched on the general situation in the region ahead of today’s energy summit in Zagreb.

At the beginning of his mandate in 2004, Tadić visited Sarajevo where he also apologized to all those who suffered as a result of actions undertaken by members of the Serb nation.

Nonetheless, he stressed at the time he expected apologies from all others who committed crimes against Serbs, Croatians and Bosniaks.

On the other hand, Croatian President Stjepan Mesić during his visit to Belgrade in September 2003 extended his apology on behalf of Croatian citizens for “all wrongdoings.”

Radicals: Tadić’s apology “shameful”

Serb Radical Party (SRS) General Secretary Aleksandar Vučić said today that President Tadić was “a disgrace for Serbia”, describing the president’s statement Saturday as “an apology to Croatia for killing and exiling Serbs.”

“He directly accused Serbia of instigating the war. He apologized to Croatia for everything they had done to us from Ante Pavelić to Franjo Tuđman, for killing hundreds of thousands of Serbs and expelling millions more from their homes,” Vučić stressed.

Vučić added he did not understand on whose behalf Tadić apologized.

Tadić’s statement “did not reflect the opinion of Serbian citizens, but rather that of a pitiful politician,” according to Vučić.

“The most serious apology so far”

Humanitarian Law Center Director Nataša Kandić said that Tadić’s apology to the citizens of Croatia was the most series expression of regret ever heard in the region.

Kandić added that along with offering an apology, Tadić assumed responsibility as Serbia’s President for all the crimes Serb armed forces committed in the name of the Serbian people, stressing that she never heard such statements before.

“Assuming responsibility gives the gravest tone to his apology. It can be expected that the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal would soon be brought to an end, with all remaining war crimes fugitives put behind Hague bars,” she said.