Prez Vucic says Croatia denied him a visit twice but Serbia did not make big deal of it

In his latest remarks, Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic claimed that his request to visit Croatia was denied twice by authorities but his country did not make a big deal out of it. He dressed media on Monday, July 18, following a diplomatic spat between Serbia and Croatia over his ban on visiting camp and Pokrac area. Vucic declared that only reason he planned to visit Croatia was to pay tribute to victims of Jasenovac, biggest concentration camp in nation during World War II.

"I wanted to enter a European Union (EU) country and lay flowers in a place where tens of thousands were killed in Jasenovac. It seems to me somehow illogical that you try to prevent something like that from happening and that you justify it all with stories about provocations, and I don't know why,'" said Vucic, Anolu Agency reported. He furr claimed that he initially asked Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for permission for private visit on September 2, 2021, but it was denied. According to Vucic, Croatian government responded to his request for a postponement of visit on September 4 in a letter.

EU gives highest value to freedom of movement: Serbian President

Serbian President claimed that anor request was me this year on March 1 but it was denied once again. "After two days, we received message that ‘ visit is not welcome at this time,’ and n I me a decision that I would not go to Jasenovac, and not a single media outlet in Serbia found out about it. We did not whine. We were fair partners," Vucic remarked. He argued that freedom of movement is European Union's highest value.

Croatia denies being officially informed about Serbian President's visit

Meanwhile, Croatian authorities claimed that y learned about planned visit by Serbian President through “unofficial channels”. Later, Gordan Grlic Rman, nation's foreign minister, told reporters that it was "unacceptable" that Croatian government h not been officially informed of visit. He also criticised Serbian authorities for downplaying security risks of visit. Furr, Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic stated that visit by Serbian President would have h its own "political repercussions and impact." 

Image: AP