New Croatian president offers olive branch to Serbia

Belgrade - Croatia's president-elect, Ivo Josipovic, told a Belgrade newspaper Monday that he was willing to quickly begin discussing an out-of-court settlement with Serbia to end genocide charges each country has filed against the other. "I hope that we will be able to make some progress already at my inauguration on February 18," Josipovic said in an interview with the daily Blic. "I would wish that we then begin cooperating and discussing contested issues."

Tadic is, however, unlikely to attend Josipovic's inauguration because the president of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu, is also invited. Kosovo split from Serbia in 2008 and Zagreb has recognized its independence, irritating Belgrade.

"I invited President Tadic most kindly and would like him to come," Josipovic said. "I understand the problems of Serbia with Kosovo's declaration of independence, but I do not wish our relations to be measured upon relations we have with other countries."

The question of Kosovo's independence and other countries' recognition thereof has soured Serbia's relations with many of its neighbors.

Ties between Serbia and Croatia have been particularly volatile since the former Yugoslavia disintegrated in a series of wars, spinning off countries like Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. In Croatia, Belgrade backed insurgent Serbs from 1991 until their crushing defeat in 1995.

Zagreb sued Belgrade in 1999 at the United Nations' International Court of Justice for genocide in that conflict. Belgrade responded with a countersuit last month, claiming that Croatia has drive hundreds of thousands of Serbs from their homes.

Relations took a turn for the worse late last year, when the outgoing Croatian President Stjepan Mesic visited Kosovo and pardoned a man convicted of war crimes against Serbs.

Josipovic, of the opposition Social Democratic Party, had won the Croatian presidential elections run-off on January 10. Mesic is stepping down after serving the maximum two five-year terms.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/304358,new-croatian-president-offers-olive-branch-to-serbia.html.