Serbian Travels Through Croatia to Protest Treatment

The road trip is a somewhat unusual protest, and comes after his car was damaged twice while he was on a business trip to Dubrovnik several months ago.

The police were very courteous when he reported the incidents, he said, so he decided to conduct an experiment.

"I do not wish to provoke anyone, this is a protest against irrational behavior. It stems mainly from my desire not to do what the aggressors expect me to do, and that is to change my tourist destination," he said.

Cvetkovic is on a personal crusade up the Croatian coast, from Prevlaka to Istria, in an Opel car.

Noting that he is free to move throughout Croatia, Cvetkovic said: "No attempts by any side and under any flag will force me to restrict my freedom of movement."

Serbia and Croatia have significantly improved their relations since the war in the 1990s. Relations have been further boosted this year after the presidents of the two countries, Boris Tadic and Ivo Josipovic respectively, met several times and launched discussions on the resolution of outstanding bilateral issues.

However, isolated incidents of ethnically-based property damage are still occasionally reported.