Milanovic says ICTY's decision on Seselj will not destabilise region

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday that the decision by the Hague-based war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that war crimes indictee Vojislav Seselj should return to its detention unit would not destabilise the region.

"It will certainly not destabilise Croatia, if Croatia is part of the region at all, and Serbia will now show if it is a true democracy or in fact depends on such whims. It should by no means destabilise Serbia in any way, and that is why I cannot understand the statement that this is an attack on the Serbian prime minister," Milanovic said after a parliament session dedicated to the sixth anniversary of Croatia's NATO membership.

The PM said that the tribunal's decision was an autonomous decision and that its earlier decision to provisionally release Seselj was not clear to him.

"I could not understand why he was released, the indictment must have been poorly prepared. It has caused unnecessary negative emotions in the region, putting the Serbian government in a difficult situation. On the one hand, I can understand (the Serbian government's) situation, but on the other, I expected a more resolute response a couple of months ago," said Milanovic.

He recalled that the tribunal's prosecution had not managed to put together an indictment against Seselj for the past 12 years that he had spent in detention.

Milanovic underlined that he would not want to prejudge a ruling in the Seselj case, but noted that Seselj was evidently among the most responsible persons for the war in the former Yugoslavia and aggression on Croatia, and that he should answer for that.

(Hina) rml

News