Part of the government demands a tougher response to Serbia for banning Croatian Defence Minister Krstičević, while the president reportedly wants to calm tensions.
The Serbian government decided on Thursday that Croatia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Damir Krstičević is not welcome in Serbia until further notice. The government chaired by Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, but in reality, controlled by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, adopted what it said was a "reciprocity" decision, reacting to Croatian government’s decision last week to ban Serbian Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin from entering Croatia, reports Večernji List on April 27, 2018.
Although the government of Serbia invoked EU's core values including the freedom of movement, in the second part of the statement, it said that it remained committed to “building good-neighbourly relations with Croatia, refraining from the moves which could contribute to the deterioration of relations with neighbours.”
Now, the question is whether the Croatian government will react to the message sent by Serbia. It seems that opinions within the Croatian state leadership are divided. According to sources, before the yesterday’s decision, Croatia was considering the possibility of an immediate withdrawal of Croatian Ambassador to Belgrade Gordan Bakota. Others believe that such a move should be made only if Serbia takes another, more drastic decision. They are of the opinion that there is no foreign policy damage for Croatia in this case, and that Croatia should wait and use its dominant position towards Serbia with regards to its EU accession negotiations, maybe taking a firmer stand on some of the unresolved questions between the two countries, such as the issue of the border on the Danube river.
Still, some in the government stress that Serbia’s move is actually more severe than the Croatian one, since Krstičević is also a deputy prime minister, while Vulin is not. They want not only to withdraw Croatian ambassador from Belgrade but also to block Serbia’s negotiations with the EU. The talks should remain blocked “as long as Serbia does not stop advancing the Greater Serbia policy towards Croatia, and until it ejects convicted war criminal Vojislav Šešelj from its parliament,” said a member of the Croatian government.
Krstičević reacted to the decision from Belgrade saying, "Serbian Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin and I are worlds apart. The Serbian decision speaks more about them than me.” He said that he could handle the decision by the Belgrade authorities, but he pointed out that he did not insult anyone, which made the decision of the Serbian government "unjustified."
Former foreign minister Vesna Pusić said that Krstičević did not go to Serbia and give incendiary speeches there, unlike Vulin. She added this was Serbia’s attempt to draw focus away from the Šešelj incident, who recently insulted a Croatian parliamentary delegation which was visiting Belgrade. Still, she said that it was time for the passions to calm down, adding that the withdrawal of the Croatian ambassador from Belgrade would be “prolonging the circus by other means.”
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Davor Ivanković).
