- Published: 18.11.2019.
Today we pay tribute to the hero city of Vukovar, all the defenders and victims who gave their lives for Croatia
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday that the government constantly invested efforts to help the City of Vukovar in its development and was also dedicated to the resolution of the issue of missing people.
"State institutions will not cease working until this issue is settled," the premier said ahead of the start of the main commemoration of the 28th anniversary of the fall of the eastern town of Vukovar into the hands of Serb rebels and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).
Concerning the search for people who went missing in the 1991-1995 war of independence, Plenkovic said that his cabinet dealt with that issue committedly.
Croatia also holds dialogue with other countries, international organisations, in hope of accomplishing results and every year headway is made, he said.
Asked by the press whether Zagreb mulled the possibility of blocking Serbia's journey towards the European Union until the issue of missing persons was settled, Plenkovic said that for many years, Croatia had been tackling that issue and that its settlement required political will.
"I think that political will should be shown in Belgrade to provide Croatia with the data it keeps, so that we can learn what happened with our people," said Plenkovic.
Considering Serbia's EU membership aspirations, Plenkovic said that the process was strict and full of preconditions and it would take long under the new methodology.
These are so-called fundamental issues that should be addressed under the (policy) chapters that concern fundamental rights, the premier added.
Plenkovic said that 28 years after the war, one should also look to the future.
In that context he mentioned legislation on investment stimulation and added that Zagreb was conducting negotiations with the European Union to ensure a special status for Vukovar.
He said that Vukovar should be given prospects in the "homeland which has, since the tragedy of Vukovar, accomplished its national tasks thanks to the statesmanlike policy of President (Franjo) Tudjman, and this includes the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region and everything we have done in recent years to make Croatia economically strong, socially integrative and internationally positioned."
Text: Hina