DSS: Croatia's new president has no respect for Serb rights

BELGRADE - President of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Sanda Raskovic Ivic said on Monday that in it scontacts with Croatia's new president, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, Serbia should insist on protecting the rights of the Croatian Serbs and solutions to the the problem of Serb refugees and missing persons from the 1991-1995 conlfict.

Diplomacy should be put to use to solve these and other issues faster and with greater care for Serbia's interest, Raskovic Ivic said in a statement for the media.

She believes the victory of Grabar Kitarovic, who was the candidate of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), at the election on Sunday was not only the choice of the Croatian people, but also of NATO, where had worked as assistant secretary general.

The election results revealed a strong NATO influence in Croatian, but also that the citizen option suffered a defeat in Croatia's divided society, Raskovic Ivic noted.
"I hope that, despite that negative rhetoric from the 1990 and displays of national extremism during the election campaign, the Croatian president will respect the rights of the Serbs," she remarked.

During the war in Croatia, which erupted during HDZ's rule and after its secession from the former Yugoslavia, 404,000 Serbs fled the country, leaving an estimated EUR 30 billion in property.

A huge majority of the refugees have not regained their property , pensions and shares in companies that have been privatised, so the DSS underscored that Serbia should insist on the implementation of the Vienna succession agreement covering the former Yugoslavia, which states that all citizens should be given back the rights they had on December 31, 1990.

Photo Tanjug, D. Peternek (archive photo)