Q:
A:
Prime Minister’s letter to Serb refugees marking nine years of expulsion from Croatia
Belgrade,
4 August 2004
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has sent a letter to the organising committee marking the ninth anniversary of the expulsion of Serbs from Croatia, which was read out before a gathering at Belgrade’s Dom Sindikata by the prime minister’s adviser, Srdjan Djuric.
August 1995: Violent expulsion of Serbs from Croatia
Text of the message:
Dear friends,
Each anniversary of the violent expulsion of Serbs from Croatia evokes my deepest sympathies, with those who lost their dearest in the operation Oluja as well as with those who were driven out of their homes and cannot return to perform their rights.
As the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, I earnestly struggled to resolve the difficult problems of refugees. I am doing the same thing now, as the Prime Minister of Serbia. I am fully aware of all the problems refugees are facing, both the problems related to their return and problems concerning integration of those who have opted to resolve their status here, in Serbia.
The Government of Serbia is doing everything in its power to resolve the numerous problems of return and integration as efficiently as possible. We will keep on doing that, as we have always done, but we will not promise to do more than we can really do. Resolving the status of Serb refugees is the Government’s primary task in all its regional and international activities.
Our government will keep on seizing every opportunity, in all its contacts with representatives of Croatia, to stress that the problems of displaced Serbs are a top priority.
Dear friends, you have true friends in the current Government of Serbia, those who will employ all their capacities to help you resolve your problems as soon as possible.
Dear friends,
Each anniversary of the violent expulsion of Serbs from Croatia evokes my deepest sympathies, with those who lost their dearest in the operation Oluja as well as with those who were driven out of their homes and cannot return to perform their rights.
As the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, I earnestly struggled to resolve the difficult problems of refugees. I am doing the same thing now, as the Prime Minister of Serbia. I am fully aware of all the problems refugees are facing, both the problems related to their return and problems concerning integration of those who have opted to resolve their status here, in Serbia.
The Government of Serbia is doing everything in its power to resolve the numerous problems of return and integration as efficiently as possible. We will keep on doing that, as we have always done, but we will not promise to do more than we can really do. Resolving the status of Serb refugees is the Government’s primary task in all its regional and international activities.
Our government will keep on seizing every opportunity, in all its contacts with representatives of Croatia, to stress that the problems of displaced Serbs are a top priority.
Dear friends, you have true friends in the current Government of Serbia, those who will employ all their capacities to help you resolve your problems as soon as possible.
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