Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) president Daniel Srb said on Tuesday that Serbian President Boris Tadic's recent visit to the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar was not positive for Croatia, that Tadic's apology for war crimes committed by Serbs was the result of pressure from the Croatian public, and that Tadic made no mention whatsoever of the Serbian military aggression against Croatia.
Addressing a news conference in Zagreb, Srb said that "the impression is being created that the war in Croatia was a civil one, rather than an act of aggression on Serbia's part against Croatia." This has serious consequences, and one of them is the statement by Democratic Independent Serb Party (SDSS) leader Vojislav Stanimirovic that Serbs did not start the war in Croatia, said Srb.
The HSP leader said Stanimirovic's statement showed that the SDSS had not changed its policy towards the war in Croatia, noting that it was problematic that the SDSS was a partner in the ruling coalition government led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
"We have contradictory statements by the Prime Minister and the leader of a coalition party as to how the Croatian state was established and who was the aggressor in the war, which either means that the government is not unanimous on the matter or that the HDZ is an interest group that wants to stay in power," said Srb.
On the other hand, requests by Croatian Serb refugees for housing reconstruction and tenancy rights, payment of unpaid pensions and similar rights are being insisted on, Srb said, describing those claims as "enormous and unfounded".
The HSP chief also condemned a recent Croatian-Serbian agreement on defence cooperation.
Speaking of a recent corruption scandal involving former HDZ treasurer Mladen Barisic, Srb said that it was beyond doubt that during the term of former PM Ivo Sanader the HDZ had been financed with money from state-owned companies.
