Croat PM chides president over apology

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has criticized President Ivo Josipovic for apologizing to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Josipovic reacted by saying that he "did not apologize, but expressed regret over the war." Croat PM chides president over apology Kosor stated that Croatia "never fought an aggressive, but a defensive war". “It says in the Declaration on the Homeland War that it was a liberation, just and defensive,” she said. “Croatia did not attack Bosnia-Herzegovina, but this country, just like Croatia, was a victim of the great Serbian aggression of Slobodan Milosevic,” Jutarnji List website reported Kosor as saying. Besides, she added, Zagreb and Sarajevo adopted the Cooperation Declaration in 1995 "which clearly reads that both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were defending themselves from the greater Serbian aggression". When asked whether she had spoken to Josipovic after his apology, when he said that Croatia had the role in the policies of the 1990s aimed at partitioning Bosnia, Kosor admitted that she had not. She said she would invite him to a meeting, among other things about the apology to Bosnia-Herzegovina, "as soon he had returned from abroad". Jadranka Kosor (Beta, file) Josipovic sorry he was "misinterpreted" Speaking in Mostar, Josipovic reacted to the critism heard in Zagreb by saying that his address of the Bosnia-Herzegovina parliament was "misinterpreted", because he did not in fact apologize for the war, but rather expressed "regret over the events in the past". “I’m sorry that my speech has been misinterpreted. Although the international community has praised my speech it did not come on anybody’s orders, not even the EU’s,” he said and added that he "stood by each words". “That wasn’t an apology, I was expressing my regret because of the war,” Josipovic then said. The Croatian president was also quoted as explaining that his address was "a speech of friendship, of readiness to admit our own mistakes and to create a better future ahead of the upcoming changes”. “Every responsible politician, regardless of whether he is in Croatia, Serbia or Bosnia-Herzegovina must see both good and bad sides of the policy their country was conducting,” Josipovic concluded.

Croat PM chides president over apology

Kosor stated that Croatia "never fought an aggressive, but a defensive war".

“It says in the Declaration on the Homeland War that it was a liberation, just and defensive,” she said.

“Croatia did not attack Bosnia-Herzegovina, but this country, just like Croatia, was a victim of the great Serbian aggression of Slobodan Milošević,” Jutarnji List website reported Kosor as saying.

Besides, she added, Zagreb and Sarajevo adopted the Cooperation Declaration in 1995 "which clearly reads that both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were defending themselves from the greater Serbian aggression".

When asked whether she had spoken to Josipović after his apology, when he said that Croatia had the role in the policies of the 1990s aimed at partitioning Bosnia, Kosor admitted that she had not.

She said she would invite him to a meeting, among other things about the apology to Bosnia-Herzegovina, "as soon he had returned from abroad".

Josipović sorry he was "misinterpreted"

Speaking in Mostar, Josipović reacted to the critism heard in Zagreb by saying that his address of the Bosnia-Herzegovina parliament was "misinterpreted", because he did not in fact apologize for the war, but rather expressed "regret over the events in the past".

“I’m sorry that my speech has been misinterpreted. Although the international community has praised my speech it did not come on anybody’s orders, not even the EU’s,” he said and added that he "stood by each words".

“That wasn’t an apology, I was expressing my regret because of the war,” Josipović then said.

The Croatian president was also quoted as explaining that his address was "a speech of friendship, of readiness to admit our own mistakes and to create a better future ahead of the upcoming changes”.

“Every responsible politician, regardless of whether he is in Croatia, Serbia or Bosnia-Herzegovina must see both good and bad sides of the policy their country was conducting,” Josipović concluded.