Croatia rejects Serbia's claims that it promotes hatred, historical revisionism...

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs today rejected claims from Serbia that "tendently impute to the Republic of Croatia the alleged promotion of hatred, historical revisionism and intolerance."

The ministry made the announcement following a statement by the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued after the handball team's welcome in Zagreb on Monday, at which controversial singer Marko Perković Thompson performed.

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs stated that it "considers unacceptable attempts to consciously distort reality and spread unfounded insinuations with the aim of discrediting the Republic of Croatia and creating a false image of the Republic of Croatia and Croatian society as a society that allegedly tolerates or encourages ideologies and practices contrary to fundamental European values."

The statement reads that "the continuous denigration of the Republic of Croatia, coupled with antagonizing political and media narratives that have marked the public space of the Republic of Serbia, and which are directed against Croatia and Croats, are contrary to the goals of stability, understanding and improvement of good neighborly relations that the Serbian side calls for in the statement, and directly undermine them."

The statement states that Croatia "cultivates a culture of remembrance based on historical facts and a clear condemnation of all totalitarian regimes and commemorates all suffering with reverence, without discrimination against the victims."

The ministry stressed "the need for Serbia to confront the past based on truth and justice, which is a key foundation for true reconciliation, building good neighborly relations and a European future."

It further states that this "implies Serbia's full cooperation in finding 1.740 missing persons from the Homeland War, which is completely unilaterally absent, and dealing with the consequences of the illegal detention of around 30.000 Croatian veterans and Croatian citizens in numerous camps on the territory of Serbia in the early 1990s."

"The Ministry reiterates its call to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia for an open and balanced dialogue, to which the Croatian Ministry remains committed, despite the lack of political will on the Serbian side, and expects the same standards of responsibility and respect for good neighborly relations to be applied in the actions of the Republic of Serbia," the statement reads.

As stated, "Croatia remains ready for cooperation and calls on the Republic of Serbia to bring its actions within the framework of good neighborly relations."

"The ministry rejects attempts to politicize history and create artificial disagreements that do not contribute to understanding, but rather deepen mistrust," the Croatian ministry stressed.

The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that it "expresses serious concern regarding new and increasingly frequent occurrences of displaying symbols and messages related to the ideology from the Second World War period that caused mass suffering of the Serbian, Roma and Jewish people, as well as (concern about) anti-Serbian graffiti that has recently been recorded in the Republic of Croatia, including the city of Zagreb."

It said that "public events and gatherings should not become a training ground for emphasizing messages of hatred, historical revisionism and intolerance, but rather an opportunity to promote mutual respect and tolerance."