Serbian President Boris Tadic and Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said in Vukovar on Thursday that they are determined to continue the reconciliation process, despite the fact that the two countries will still need to tear down many barriers, and added that determining the fate of the people who went missing in the war is the first and most important step in that direction.

After a meeting with representatives of Croatian associations of war victims, which was also attended by Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, Tadic and Josipovic said that the decision to visit Ovcara and Paulin Dvor, sites where crimes against both the Serbian and the Croatian people took place, shows that nothing will stop them from completing the reconciliation process.

Serbia’s President Boris Tadic (R) shakes hands with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Josipovic in Vukovar November 4, 2010. Tadic will pay his respects to victims of a notorious wartime atrocity in Vukovar as part of bilateral reconciliation efforts, and is also set to visit the village of Paulin Dvor with Josipovic to pay respects to 18 Serb civilians killed by Croatian forces.

“No politics can stop the two of us from continuing the process. It is a matter of our future, the future of our children and our countries,” Josipovic said.

Tadic and Josipovic agreed that the two countries have shown unquestionable commitment to doing everything in their power to shed light on the fates of missing persons, regardless of their nationality.

“We are sending a message not only to our compatriots and citizens, but to the international public as well, in the desire to prove to everyone that this is a region that respects common values, and that with this act we have reached the highest level of our common civilization but also of our individual cultures, and proven we share in the European system of values,” Tadic pointed out.

Tadic noted that in addition to a personal apology, durable reconciliation requires that the two states make certain moves, including an out-of-court settlement of the mutual genocide lawsuits filed before the International Court of Justice.

When Croatian reporters asked if his visit to Vukovar is an indirect admission that Serbia committed aggression against Croatia, Tadic said it is up to legal experts and historians to determine what happened during the 1990s, and that his duty was to make a personal gesture in the memory of the innocent victims.

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said Thursday that those left behind by the victims of the crime in Paulin Dvor deserve an apology and pointed out that Croatia will prosecute every crime regardless of who committed it

“I believe that every crime will be punished and that this policy will bring reconciliation among nations,” said the Croatian president.

“In fighting for the rights of our own people, we must always protect the rights of other peoples. Only a Serbia that defends the rights of all the peoples in its territory is a country that can defend the rights of its own people wherever they live,” said the Serbian president.

“I mentioned the fact that everyone is entitled to return to their homes and that the return must be voluntary. As far as Croatia is concerned, it has made considerable efforts and allocated over EUR 5 billion from the state budget for assisting the returnees and for rebuilding their homes,” said Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor.

“There is no Washington, Brussels or Madrid that can force us (Serbia and Croatia) to do what we did yesterday, what we are doing today and what we will do tomorrow, and that is completion of the reconciliation process,” Josipovic pointed out.

EU and US welcomed all the apologies.

Tanjug
November 6, 2010

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