ZAGREB, August 28, 2019 - Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) president Milorad Pupovac would not comment on Wednesday on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's assessment that Pupovac's comparison of Croatia with the WWII Nazi-styled Independent State of Croatia and calling it a factor of instability in the region was inappropriate and unacceptable.

"We won't make statements until we have discussed and analysed everything," Pupovac told Hina, declining to comment on Plenković's assessment and the widespread condemnation of his statements in Croatia.

"We consider extremely inappropriate, even unacceptable, the statements by our coalition partner that would point to the conclusion that Croatia is a factor of instability in Southeast Europe and that present-day Croatia should be compared with the NDH regime. We consider that to be absolutely untrue and this should be said clearly and I resolutely reject that," Plenković said after a meeting of the leadership of the ruling HDZ party on Monday night.

In an interview with the Radiosarajevo.ba website last weekend following recent attacks on Serbs in Croatia, Pupovac said the situation in the country was not good in terms of peace, security and respect for the constitution, the law and international agreements.

"This type of historical revisionism in which one wants to rehabilitate Ustashism in the European context and accuse everyone else - Yugoslavia, the socialist order, the communist movement, other nations on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, i.e. Serbs and others - is the matrix on which this is happening in Croatia. And that contributes to Croatia becoming a factor of instability on the territory of the former Yugoslavia," Pupovac was quoted as saying.

More news about Serbs in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 28, 2019 - Police have arrested eight persons suspected on participating in Uzdolje near Knin on August 21 in an attack against the patrons of a bar who were watching a football game between Serbia's Red Star and Switzerland's Young Boys, Šibenik county police said on Wednesday.

The eight persons accused of rioting are from the Split area, police said, adding that more would be revealed after an investigation was completed. The perpetrators face from six months to five years in prison.

The media recall that two attacks were committed last Wednesday on Serb bar patrons watching the game, one in Uzdolje and one in Đevrske. The perpetrators in Đevrske, two men aged 25 and 28, insulted the patrons on ethnic grounds but were soon arrested as the owner of the bar and the patrons identified them.

The attack in Uzdolje was more serious and apparently organised. A dozen persons wearing ski masks allegedly entered the bar with clubs and a machete, destroying the premises and injuring the patrons, Jutarnji List daily said.

More news about the incidents can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 28, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday labelled as inappropriate and unacceptable the statements by Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader Milorad Pupovac that Croatia had become a factor of instability in the region because it promoted intolerance and attempted to rehabilitate Ustashim, calling on him not to contribute to the polarisation of society.

"We consider it extremely inappropriate, even unacceptable, the statements by our coalition partner that would point to the conclusion that Croatia is a factor of instability in Southeast Europe and that present-day Croatia should be compared with the NDH (WWII Nazi-styled Independent State of Croatia) regime. We consider that to be absolutely untrue and this should be said clearly and I resolutely reject that," Plenković told reporters after a meeting of the leadership of the ruling HDZ party.

He again strongly condemned last weeks’ attacks on Serbs and said he expected the police to prosecute the perpetrators. He added that the policy of the government and the HDZ was to create a country in which all minorities felt good and safe, including the Serb minority.

"I don't accept and resolutely reject arguments which suggest that there is a climate in Croatia which incites intolerance towards minorities, for which our government and policy is least responsible. Everything we have been doing for the past three years has been aimed at reducing polarisation in society, at including minorities both in the parliamentary majority and, especially, in operational programmes for minorities, at reducing tensions, at dialogue, communication, building good neighbouring relations."

Plenković said he wanted the political parties that fomented polarisation to be clearly identified, saying the ruling HDZ was certainly not one of them and that those wanting polarisation and conflicts were actually fighting against the government. "We are against any exclusion."

Plenković said he expected Pupovac not to contribute to the polarisation of society. "Everyone who is responsible in Croatia and discharges key political duties, notably as part of the parliamentary majority, should contribute to reducing tensions."

"I want the negative spiral that has begun in the past few days to end. As the government and the strongest party in the parliamentary majority, we must say: Enough with the spiral of hatred."

Plenković said a polarisation of society occurred in 2015-16, boiling down to "us or them", and that he had insisted that ethnic minorities and their representatives be part of the parliamentary majority.

"Where is the problem in us as the government and the HDZ as the strongest party extending a hand to all minorities in Croatia? I reject arguments that we are responsible for the climate (in society)," he said, adding that last week's attacks were committed by individuals who would be brought to justice.

Plenković said he would talk with Pupovac and that, at the meeting, the HDZ did not discuss the possibility of dissolving the coalition with the SDSS.

More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 25, 2019 - A 42-year-old man, who was arrested in Saturday on charges of threats and infliction of bodily harm to a 70-year-old man in Rijeka based on the victim's ethnic background, will be detained in investigative custody for 30 days, the Rijeka police stated on Sunday.

The suspect, who is a public employee in the civil protection administration, has been also suspended from his job.

The 42-year-old man was arrested at the Rupe border crossing on Saturday morning on suspicion that he committed a criminal offence of threat in an incident in a car park in Rijeka's suburb of Viškovo on 20 August when the suspect and the 70-year-old man had an argument about the parking place. In the incident, the suspect uttered insults against the 70-year-man based on the latter's ethnic background and slightly injured the old man who informed the media that he had been beaten due to his ethnic Serb background.

More news about Serbs in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 25, 2019 - A Croatian member of the European Parliament, Ruža Tomašić, as well as a presidential candidate, Miroslav Škoro, on Saturday criticised the Croatian Serb leader Milorad Pupovac of "adding fuel to the flames" following the incidents in two cafes near Knin.

Following Pupovac's statements that the situation in Croatia's society resembled the times in the aftermath of Croatia's war of independence and that he would inform international institutions of the violations of minority rights, MEP Ruža Tomašić says on her Facebook profile that every violence should be condemned and perpetrators should be brought to justice, however, the politicisation "is counterproductive".

Tomašić says that Pupovac's rhetoric more and more resembles that of by Croatian Serb rebel leaders -- Jovan Rašković, Milan Babić and Mile Martić -- "who intimidated members of the Serb minority in Croatia and incited them to turn against their homeland".

Škoro says on his Facebook account that Pupovac's rhetoric looks like statements and views of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

"Instead of defusing the tensions created in the incident, Pupovac adds fuel to the flames, and wants to score political points from the attacks against Croatian citizens, which deserves absolute condemnation."

Both Škoro and Tomašić criticise the ruling majority of keeping silent to Pupovac's claims.

The 21 August assault against guests in a cafe in the village of Uzdolje near Knin is qualified by the Sibenik county law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities as an act of causing riot.

The police are searching for masked thugs who inflicted injuries to several people, including a 9-year-old boy, and damaged the interior of that cafe on Wednesday evening while in its guests were watching a TV broadcast of a football match between the Belgrade-based Crvena Zvezda and the Swiss club Young Boys. A few guests sustained light injuries and a 17-year-old injured boy was hospitalised in the Knin hospital for some time for his injuries.

In the Đevrske cafe thee guests were exposed to verbal attacks that night.

More news about the Knin incidents can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 24, 2019 - The Croatian police are conducting extensive investigations into the 21 August incidents in cafes in the village of Đevrske and in the village of Uzdolje near Knin, and considering the Đevirske case, misdemeanour charges have been filed against five people and one person is charged with a criminal offence, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Saturday, expressing hope that the Uzdolje investigation will also result in the detection of the perpetrators.

The police are investigating the incidents which happened this past Wednesday when guests, including a 9-year-boy, and the owner of Uzdolje cafe were beaten, while in the Đevrske cafe they were exposed to verbal attacks while they were watching a TV broadcast of the football match of the Belgrade-based Crvena Zvezda club.

"The assaults should be condemned just as any violence should be condemned. The state institutions, notably those whose responsibility is to ensure peace and order are supposed to act promptly and efficiently. The police have shown that they act efficiently and they will be efficient in the future, too," the minister said after a commemorative ceremony in the village of Žuta Lokva where the tribute was paid to the four Croatian policemen who were killed in that Lika village at the start of the Croatian Homeland War in 1991. The four policemen, who were patrolling road traffic, were killed and one traffic officer was wounded in an artillery attack launched by local Serb paramilitary and rebel forces on 24 August 1991.

The minister confirmed that a suspect was arrested on Saturday morning in connection with the case in Viskovo, Rijeka, where a local inhabitant, 70, told media that he had been beaten and injured in an incident based on his ethnicity. The incident happened two days ago.

More news about the Knin incidents can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 24, 2019 - Commenting on recent attacks on members of the Serb minority, the president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Davor Bernardić, said on Friday that these attacks were not isolated cases, adding that once the SDP returned to power, these attacks and violence would not be tolerated.

Asked to comment on SDP's position on recent attacks on members of the Serb ethnic minority, the SDP chief said these attacks "are not isolated cases."

"Unfortunately, this was only one (of a number of) attacks on Serbs in Croatia during the rule of the incumbent government, but this comes as no surprise to me, because we have a government that tolerates the use of the Ustasha salute "For the Homeland, Ready!", Bernardić said.

On the other hand, "we have Serb representatives in Croatia who, instead of protecting Croatian Serbs, they are protecting the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and sit in the same government with them," Bernardić said.

More news about the status of Serbs in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 23, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Friday reiterated his condemnation of the Knin incidents and called on the relevant agencies to spare no effort to identify and sanction the perpetrators.

Plenković said that the assaults against ethnic Serbs in the two villages near Knin were evidently premeditated and all should be done to detect and sanction the perpetrators.

Plenković also insisted that he and his cabinet had clearly and promptly condemned all the incidents against ethnic Serbs.

The premier recalled that the ruling majority in the parliament included representatives of ethnic minorities, including the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and other ethnic minority lawmakers, at the initiative of his cabinet.

We included them at the moment when, perhaps, it was not necessary for the formation of the government. It was my wish that minorities be a part of the parliamentary majority, Plenković said.

Croatia has accomplished all its strategic issues such as freedom, democracy, reintegration of the occupied territories, peace and its positioning in the European Union and NATO, the functioning of institutions. We must act as a self-confident nation that appreciates the efforts of minorities in its country an protects their rights, Plenković said.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Friday that she condemned every violence, and explained that she would comment on the August 21 incidents in Knin when she was provided with the relevant police report on the case.

"I condemn every violence, and I am going to comment on that Knin incident, when I receive a detailed police report," the president said in a brief address to the press when she was asked about the incidents in which bar-goers, including a 9-year-old child, were injured and exposed to insults in the two cafes in Knin while they were watching a TV broadcast of the football match of the Belgrade-based Crvena Zvezda club.

Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said today that the police had taken all necessary steps so far and arrested two suspects in connection with the incidents.

"The state leadership clearly condemns the attack, and our message is that we expect the relevant institutions to find the perpetrators and punish them in judicial proceedings so as to send a message to others," Jandroković said.

Jandroković said that trends showed that in Europe as well in Croatia radical right and left elements had political strength.

"However, the dominant climate in the Croatian society very clearly condemns violence and promotes tolerance, peace, cooperation and mutual respect," Jandoković said.

He advocates that younger generations should be taught that peace, freedom and democracy do not come easily and that they have to be built and bequeathed to coming generations. He also called for eliminating the promotion of both right or left extremism.

More news about Knin incidents can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 23, 2019 - Šibenik-Knin police have arrested a 28 and 25 year old who insulted the owner and guests in a cafe in Knin on Wednesday evening based on ethnicity while an investigation into an incident that occurred in another cafe near Knin that evening in which the owner of the cafe and several guests were injured, is still continuing.

The police on Friday reported that the two suspects have been indicted for disturbing the peace and order.

An investigation into the incident determined that the two entered the cafe under the influence of alcohol and then insulted the 62-year old owner of the cafe based on ethnicity and in that way disturbed the peace and order.

The two were later brought before Šibenik Municipal Court.

The police are still investigating an incident in Uzdolj near Knin when a group of masked thugs attacked guests in a cafe who were watching a Serbian football match.

Five people were slightly injured in that incident including a 9-year old minor and material damages were caused to the cafe.

The police have arrested several suspects in connection to this incident.

More news about the Knin events can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 22, 2019 - Five guests, including a minor, sustained light injuries when unidentified attackers came in the cafe near Knin where those guests were, according to local web portals, watching a football match of the Belgrade-based Crvena Zvezda football club on Wednesday evening.

The Šibenik-Knin county police stated on Thursday that about 2230 hrs Wednesday, unidentified persons entered the cafe at Uzdolje, and after verbal insults they attacked the cafe owner and the guests and damaged the cafe furniture. In the incident, the five people suffered light injuries.

After that, a similar incident happened in cafe in the nearby village of Đevrske when also unidentified persons entered the facility and verbally abused the owner and guests. They damaged some of the property in the cafe, however, there were no injuries.

The police said that they qualified the incidents as violent behaviour.

The law enforcement authorities have already brought some of the persons believed to be connected with the incident in to the police station.

Local web portals have in the meantime reported that the incidents happened in the cafes in which guests watched the first leg of a Young Boys - Crvena Zvezda UEFA playoff match in Bern.

Health Minister Milan Kujundžić said on Thursday that the information available to him indicated that none of the injured five bar-goers who were attacked near Knin while they were watching a football match of the Belgrade-based Crvena Zvezda was in a life-threatening condition, and he condemned the incident as a disgrace.

"I condemn the incident," Kujundžić told the press before the start of the government's meeting. I heard about the incident and the information which I possess says that none of the injured is in a life-threatening condition. It is shameful that this happened, the minister said.

The law enforcement authorities have already brought some of the persons believed to be connected with the incident in to the police station.

A member of the Croatian parliament, Boris Milošević who is at the helm of the Serb People's Council (SNV), wrote on his Facebook profile that the incidents in the cafes near Knin "is one more attack against the Serbs, which is incited only by the hatred towards the ethnicity of the attacked persons."

More news about the status of Serbs in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.