Brussels, 26/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 24 October, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic stressed that he was prepared to negotiate an agreement to appease tension with Serbia over the law rejecting procedures brought before the Serbian justice system against Croatian nationals suspected of war crimes committed in Croatia between 1991 and 1995.
The Croatian president explained that a bilateral agreement could put an end to other unfounded cases against Croatian war veterans and allow cooperation in war crimes issues to continue, according to the Croatian press agency HINA. Josipovic said that he intended to ask the Constitutional Court to examine the new law, stressing that it undermines cooperation between Croatian and Serbian public prosecutors.
He went on to argue that this legislation causes the European Commission to doubt Zagreb's commitment to its reinforcement of the primacy of law. The spokesperson to the enlargement commissioner, Peter Stano, pointed out on Wednesday 26 October that Croatia must take care not to jeopardise regional cooperation on war crimes. (CG/transl.fl)