ZAGREB, August 29, 2018 – Commenting on Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s statements made in Berlin on Tuesday, Serbian Minister of the Interior Nebojša Stefanović said that it was not “up to Plenković” to determine Serbia’s borders.
“After Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic’s statement today, it is completely clear that all those who are generally against Serbia, confirm their position also by opposing an agreement between Serbians and Albanians and are doing their best to prevent any solution that could mean more stability and peace,” Stefanović told the state news agency Tanjug.
Addressing a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin earlier in the day, Plenković said that Croatia advocated respect for territorial integrity and peaceful settlement of disputes, and was following the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue but was not “the first in line” to advocate border change.
According to a report by Radio Free Europe, Plenković recalled that the entire legacy of the former Yugoslavia was based on the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia and the opinions of the Badinter Commission.
One should be very cautious about border changes, Croatia recognised Kosovo some ten years ago so any such move should be viewed in a broader regional context and that position is shared by many countries, Plenković said.
The Belgrade media quoted Stefanović as saying that Plenković was not the only politician in the region making such statements, and that “unfortunately, authors of such statements frequently find allies among some of the domestic politicians, who defend such views as their own.”
“I call on Andrej Plenković to stop helping us… Do not determine Serbia’s borders because it’s not up to you and you can’t do it, and I also ask all the others in the region not to get in our way if they can’t help us,” said Stefanović.
