Protest note to Serbia over arrested and expelled Croatian citizens

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a protest note to Serbia over the five Croatian citizens who were arrested and then expelled from Serbia. The Croatian citizens are representatives of non-governmental organizations who participated in workshops organized by the Erste Stiftung in Belgrade. They were expelled and Serbia banned them from entering the country for a year.

Travel advice to Serbia revised

In a protest note, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded an explanation and expressed a strong protest over the treatment of Croatian citizens. The ministry also announced that it would take several measures against Serbia, including revising the travel advice for Croatian citizens to Serbia.

Božinović: Inform our citizens about possible inconveniences

Interior Minister Davor Božinović also confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs is collecting information, mostly from our citizens who have returned to Croatia, and that recommendations will be made for Croatian citizens who intend to travel to Serbia.

“I am not sure that there is any justification or explanation from the Serbian authorities about what happened. If there is no explanation as to why Croatian citizens are being detained, it is legitimate to ask whether it is all a coincidence. Given that we have had several similar events recently, it is good that the European Union institutions in Serbia are informed about this,” he said.

He added that it is justified and reasonable to inform our citizens about possible inconveniences they may experience, especially in areas where protests are taking place.

Glasovac: Aleksandar Vučić's dangerous theses

Sabina Glasovac (SDP) said that the detention and deportation of five Croatian women from Serbia is a continuation of the previous practice. “Our citizens have apparently been detected in Serbia for some time as some kind of spies in the case of students, and now things are going even further,” she said. She emphasized that we must build friendly relations with all countries, however, our diplomacy and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Prime Minister, should see what is happening here because someone is abusing our citizens.

She assessed that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is making very dangerous claims and directly accusing the Republic of Croatia of interfering in the internal affairs of another country. “We can have our own opinion on the political situation in that country, but it is our diplomacy and our Government that must protect all Croatian citizens, the reputation, independence and dignity of the Republic of Croatia,” she said, adding that this is a question for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, our diplomacy, but also the Prime Minister.

Benčić: Inform citizens about the risks of going to Serbia

“The Možemo party condemns the actions of President Vučić and his government towards our citizens. Without any legal basis, outside all boundaries of what we call a state of law, it persecutes Croatian citizens who, for business, due to student engagement or through civil society organizations that have been cooperating on the Croatia-Serbia relationship for 20 years, deports and, what is worst, publishes their pictures, personal data, addresses through its media, thereby endangering them and literally putting a target on their foreheads,” said the Možemo leader Sandra Benčić.

She welcomes the protest note sent by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to Serbia. “Finally, the Ministry has reacted clearly,” she added. We believe that official information should be sent to Croatian citizens about the risks of going to Serbia.

Petrov: Vučić is using Croats to stay in power

“Aleksandar Vučić is trying everything to stay in power, his ideal enemies are Croats,” Said MOST party president Božo Petrov. His story about our students and secret agents is sick and absurd. He needs to find an enemy to homogenize his people and that is a tactic that is thousands of years old. I advise the citizens of the Republic of Croatia not to go to Serbia while things are like this because Vučić will not choose the means, he will accuse everyone of undermining him and declare everyone an enemy so that he becomes a victim," he said.

Orešković: Vučić on the verge of falling

Dalija Orešković believes that the Vučić regime is on the verge of collapse because the citizens of Serbia finally organized themselves and staged a successful protest. “What Vučić did by publishing the personal data of our citizens is more than a diplomatic scandal, but we have a minister who is neither much smarter nor more capable than the dismissed minister Dabro, so he has not yet spoken about it in a meaningful way,” she asserted.

Human Rights Houses Belgrade and Zagreb Condemn Intimidation

On Thursday, the Human Rights Houses from Zagreb and Belgrade strongly condemned the actions of the Serbian police, who yesterday arrested and expelled activists from five countries, including Croatia, in Belgrade, saying that this is intimidation and abuse of the police for political purposes.

“This behavior of the Serbian police is completely unacceptable in a democratic society and contrary to the international obligations in the field of human rights. Unfortunately, this is only the latest in a series of examples of police abuse for political purposes to which Serbian citizens have been exposed for many years, and which recently also includes Croatian citizens who come to Serbia,” the Human Rights Houses Belgrade and Zagreb jointly announced.

The organizations called on the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs to immediately conduct an internal control procedure to determine responsibility for this, as they say, shameful behavior, and to stop the practice of intimidation and illegal police treatment of all persons in Serbia, including foreign citizens who come to cooperate with colleagues from civil society organizations. They also called on the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade to ensure access to all information related to the rights that citizens have in Serbia in the context of police action.

Source: HRT