Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Position of Serbs in Croatia should be in line with highest international standards

Belgrade, 4 August 2011

Minister of Religion and Diaspora Srdjan Sreckovic said today on the occasion of marking the 16th anniversary of the operation "Storm” that 4 August is a day of great grief and historical memory for the Serbian people, but also a day of great warning for all peoples of the Western Balkan region.

Sreckovic recalled that in the operation “Storm” several thousand people were killed, while 200,000 of our compatriots were expelled by brutal force from the lands in which they had lived for centuries.

He underlined that Serbia will never forget this crime and it must not forget it so that it would never happen again, but it is ready for cooperation, reconciliation and objective perception of the past.

This is why it is of immeasurable importance the fact that the anniversary of the operation “Storm” is being observed after the Hague tribunal convicted the culprits on the Croatian side for one of the greatest crimes in the recent history, the Minister noted.

He pointed out that Serbia is firmly determined to be a leader in the development of good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation and that the improvement of political and economic ties of Serbia and Croatia is of strategic importance for the European future of the region.

The Minister underlined that for the true reconciliation, it is necessary that the position of the Serbian people in Croatia be in line with the highest international standards.

Sreckovic explained that the problems such as sustainable return and economic subsistence of Serbs in Croatia, the existence of secret indictments, restitution of tenancy rights, problems related to recognition of the years of service at work and pension insurance are just some of the problems that the Serbs in Croatia are faced with.

He said that he is optimistic about the improvement of the position of Serbs in Croatia in the long run due to the fact that Croatia is moving towards the EU that will never give up the standards of the highest degree when it comes to the protection of national communities, and about the improvement of relations between Belgrade and Zagreb.