Ljajic: Croatia's demands out of place

BELGRADE - Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovac's claims that Serbia has not met all conditions for the opening of negotiation chapters with the EU are completely ungrounded, false and out of place, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic said on Friday.

Kovac said earlier Croatia was insisting on Serbia's full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the respect of minority rights of Croats living in Serbia and their presence in the parliament, and changes to the law on regional jurisdiction.

"As I have dealt with the issues for years, I can state with full responsibility that Serbia has achieved major progress in the last 15 years in the fields Kovac is talking about," Ljajic, who is chairman of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY, said in a statement sent to the media.