Graffiti on Mercator building site

Graffiti on Mercator building site

In April this year, the Holmec case caused strain in the relations between Serbia and Slovenia, while some voiced threats of boycotting the Slovenian goods in Serbian retail chains.

Meantime, both Serbian and Slovenian media have been speculating on the possibility that the control package of the Slovenian retail giant Mercator might be taken over by Serbian businessmen.

The Holmec case was based on the Austrian ORF television footage of an alleged execution of Serbian soldiers during the takeover of the Holmec border crossing in 1991, and had opened a debate in both countries. It later transpired that the soldiers who were apparently killed are in fact alive, as confirmed by the Defense Minister Zoran Stanković. One of them today lives in Slovenia, while the other is an NCO with the Serbian Army. The chairwoman of the Slovenian Helsinki Committee claimed that the soldiers were murdered, while the Slovenian investigators working the case reported the soldiers had merely ducked to take shelter from the shooting.