Government says Vucic's statements futile provocations

The Croatian government on Monday dismissed as futile provocations Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's statement that Slobodan Milosevic was a great leader and that the Croatian coat-of-arms that is displayed in Knin today was never there before, noting that those provocations could not change historical facts.

It is a historical fact that in the early 1990s Croatia was attacked and was a victim of the aggression of Milosevic's Great Serbian regime, the government said in a statement.

"The victorious Croatian Army defeated that regime in the Homeland War, liberating the entire occupied territory, including Knin," the statement said.

"A lasting symbol of that (victory) is the Croatian flag on the fortress overlooking Knin, a 1,000-year-old symbol of Croatian statehood," the government said.

If the wars of conquest waged by the Slobodan Milosevic regime are "the best of intentions" for the incumbent president of Serbia, then the building of destroyed bridges between Serbia and the victims of its aggression will require much more effort and time, said the government.

"The position of Serbia as the loser who is responsible for so many tragedies suffered by almost all neighbouring peoples must surely be difficult. The sooner Serbia, its leadership and public come to terms with that and adopt European values, the sooner will true reconciliation and good neighbourly relations come into being," the government said in the statement.

Text and photo: Hina

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