Gotovina urged to "say himself he is not Ustasha"

Gotovina urged to "say himself he is not Ustasha"

"If I made a mistake by suggesting to (Croatian PM) Milanovic to carry out reforms, I apologize. If I said that Serbs were driven out of Croatia, that they did not come here for economic reasons on someone's invitation, running away from the war - if that's a mistake, I'd like to hear an explanation as to how 250,000 Serb refugees materialized."

The news agency said in its report that Serbian and Croatian foreign ministers Ivica Dacic and Vesna Pusic on Thursday spoke on the phone "in a reconciliatory tone" after an incident in Belgrade when SRS leader Vojislav Seselj set on fire a Croatian flag.

Pusic "informed Dacic about the return of the Croatian ambassador to Belgrade during a conversation when both agreed that incidents must not put in jeopardy the mutual desire to improve relations between the two countries."

At the same time, said the report, "Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin is not giving up on his rhetoric," stating that he "apologizes if his statement about Croatian General Ante Gotovina being an Ustasha was not true."

"If it's not true that Gotovina is an Ustasha, I apologize, but I wish to hear him say he is not," Vulin remarked on Friday.

The Ustasha regime was in power in the WW2 fascist entity known as the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

Vulin further told reporters at the Palace of Serbia that "it would be interesting if someone were to tell him which part of his statements was not true," and added he had "carefully analyzed them."

Beta also said in its report that Vulin "told Croatian Minister for Defenders Predrag Maric he would never cure himself from Ustashism."

This comment had come in response to Maric's "recommendation" to Vulin to "seek medical treatment."

Vulin previously "invited Milanovic to overcome his vanity and come to Belgrade, and say there what he thinks about Serbia and Serbs."

Asked if he was "sorry because of the consequences of his statements that led to the withdrawing of Croatia's ambassador to Serbia," Vulin said the ambassador was recalled for consultations because of the flag burning incident.

Vulin then stressed that Seselj was "a great pest," describing his policy as "wrong."

Speaking about the reasons Croatia decided to withdraw its diplomatic representative in Belgrade and lodge a diplomatic protests, Vesna Pusic on Thursday said this was done primarily because of Vulin's statements, but also because of Seselj's gesture.