ZAGREB, 25 May 2022 - President Zoran Milanović repeated on Wednesday that Serbia should watch its actions and that he was only asking for "a fair relationship" between the two countries, adding that Croatia could have indicted Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić but made a political decision not to do it.
"Look at what is happening to Sweden which wants to join NATO. Maybe it had reason to be arrogant towards Turkey over the past 30 years but now it is asking for mercy. So, watch what you say and do because what goes around comes around," Milanović said in a message to Serbia.
The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office has issued an indictment against Croatian Air Force officers Vladimir Mikac, Zdenko Radulj, Željko Jelenić and Danijel Borović for war crimes against Serb civilians because on 7 and 8 August 1995, during Operation Storm, they allegedly ordered a missile attack on a refugee convoy outside Bosanski Petrovac and in Svodna, near Novi Grad, northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the indictment, 13 people were killed in the attack, including six children, and 24 were wounded.
Milanović on Tuesday said that the indictment would cost Serbia, which Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić today interpreted as a threat.
"Who is Serbia's prime minister? Is Brnabić still the prime minister?... I have not seen her in Krk for a long time, she is welcome," Milanović said in an allusion to the fact that Brnabić's family from her father's side hails from the northern Adriatic island.
Recalling the time when he was prime minister, Milanović said that "Vučić's speech in Glina (in 1995) was a criminal act", but a political decision was made for Croatia not to indict him.
"Vučić did not kill anyone, that's true, but his rhetoric at the time cost many people their lives and souls," he added.
Criticising Serbia for accusing Croatian pilots of crimes, Milanović said he was only asking Serbia to act in a fair manner, recalling that Croatia was a member "of the associations Serbia aspires to join."
He added that there was no need for the Serbian PM "to be nervous" because he was also speaking in Serbia's favour.
Milanović repeated that some conditions set by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) for Serbia's EU accession are "exaggerated" and that "one should refrain from humiliating anyone" but that the neighbouring country should "be careful about what it does" considering its EU membership bid.
Stoltenberg cannot change anything
Milanović does not share the Croatian government's position on Finland and Sweden's NATO membership candidacy and wants Croatia to make support to their bid conditional on the reform of Bosnia and Herzegovina's election law.
Milanović and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbrg spoke over the telephone on Tuesday, and the reason was Milanović's letter to NATO member-countries regarding the status of BiH Croats.
"He cannot change anything in that regard, he is technical personnel. He is expected to distribute the letter, anyone who wanted to has now read the letter and that's it," Milanović said.
He added that the NATO secretary-general was not the one making decisions but implementing them and that "it is his task to listen to the Americans", with the USA "being the boss", however, being Croatia's president, he was fighting "for his own."
Milanović said that Stoltenberg did not share his view that Finland and Sweden's NATO accession should be linked to the amendment of BiH's election law but that he called for taking into account Turkey's reservations to the two countries' accession.
When Turkey presents its demands, then that's not a problem, Milanović said, describing his conversation with the NATO secretary-general as friendly.
He again criticised "the apathy and misery of Croatian politics" with regard to the protection of national interests.
"Let's be clear, Bosnia and Herzegovina does not belong to Croatia... I do not want anyone to think that we act the same way as Budapest... with its constant insistence that this used to be Hungary. This used to be Austria as well, from Pula to Dubrovnik... yet you do not hear Austrians say that this was Austria's sea because they are mature," Milanović said.
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