Serb Leader in Croatia Urges Withdrawal of Genocide Suits

Milorad Pupovac, the vice-president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party in Croatia and an MP in the country's parliament, called the possibility that the lawsuits could be dropped "more than realistic".

In an interview for Serbian daily Danas, Pupovac said that such a move would bring great political benefits and financial savings to both countries.

"There are some people in the country who are incapable of dealing with recent history in a different way and who continue to play with the politics of genocide.

"However, there are only a few people in the country who would, if they understood the situation, agree to pay vast amounts of state money to play a game in which both sides stand to lose more than they gain," the Serb leader explained.

Pupovac said that dropping the lawsuits was the best solution, and argued that the time was ripe to move on the issue.

"The likelihood that the lawsuits will be withdrawn is greater today than it was yesterday. In Croatia there is no longer any difference between the attitude of the government and the president on the issue. In addition, it is against Croatia's interests to leave this problem unresolved in the year when it hopes to ratify its EU membership bid," Pupovac told the daily.

He added that talks on the withdrawal of the complaints should be restarted as soon as possible, noting that similar discussions were launched several years ago, but then failed due to political circumstances in Croatia and Serbia.

Croatia filed genocide charges against Serbia at the International Court of Justice in 1999, demanding also that Belgrade punish all perpetrators of war crimes, return looted cultural property to Croatia and pay for war damages.

Answering Croatia’s charges, Serbia submitted a counter-claim on January 4, 2010, maintaining that Croatia was guilty of genocide against Serbs during and after the war of the 1990s.

Croatia's newly appointed foreign minister stated earlier this month that Croatia had no plans to withdraw the lawsuit so long as certain outstanding issues, including missing persons, looted property and the prosecution of war crimes, are unresolved.

In his interview for Danas, Pupovac agreed that these issues must be addressed and resolved, adding that political continuity and regular cooperation is required if the two sides hope to reach agreement.

A deal would help reduce mutual tension between the two countries, Pupovac argued, and make it easier to face the consequences of the wars in the 1990s.