Croatia in diplomatic rift with Serbia for barring President Aleksandar to visit WWII site

Diplomatic relations between Serbia and Croatia hit another low on Sunday after the latter blocked a private trip by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to a World War II site. Ties between the Balkan states have remained tense ever since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and subsequent war in Croatia but the latest decision has sparked outrage and risks a possible retaliation by the Serbs. According to Associated Press, Vucic was scheduled to visit the Jasenovac Concentration Camp where tens of thousands of Serbs and others were killed by pro-Nazi authorities during the war. Croatian authorities said that they learned about the planned visit by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic through “unofficial channels”. Later, the country’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman told reporters that the fact that the Croatian government had not been formally notified of the visit was “unacceptable.” He denounced the Serbian authorities for downplaying the security risks of the visit. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to stress that in the planning of any visit by foreign officials the time, nature and program of the visit should be subject of official communication and agreement by both sides,” Radman asserted. "This was not a trip to the seaside. The president of a country is a protected individual," he added. “We see this as a provocation,” Radman emphasised in a later statement. He added, “such a visit is not sincere, it is not about honouring the victims” of the Jasenovac camp, where tens of thousands of Croatia’s Serbs, Jews and Roma perished in brutal executions during the WWII rule of the pro-Nazi authorities. Massive outrage in Serbia Meanwhile, the blockade triggered massive outrage in Serbia where authorities branded it as "scandalous". According to Associated Press, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, without elaborating, said all Croatian officials from now on would have to announce any transit or visit to Serbia and would be placed under a “special regime of control.” “This was an anti-European and anti-civilization decision and a brutal violation of the freedom of movement,” Serbian Prime Minister Ana Branabic told Pink television. “I don’t know what our relations will look like in the future ... This is sending a frightening message.” (Image: AP)

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Croatia in diplomatic rift with Serbia for barring President Aleksandar to visit WWII site

Diplomatic relations between Serbia and Croatia hit another low on Sunday after the latter blocked a private trip by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

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