Serbian FM says Croatia should be the first to withdraw lawsuit

The sequence of moves is clear – Croatia first filed a lawsuit against Serbia and should be the first to withdraw it, Serbian FM Ivan Mrkić has said.

He explained that “this had been agreed on” in all his meetings with his Croatian colleague Vesna Pusić – “in other words, to perform consecutive withdrawal.”

Mrkić spoke for the Belgrade-based daily Danas to comment on the genocide lawsuits the two countries had filed against one another, and reports in the Croatian media that Zagreb will not withdraw its lawsuit.

According to the foreign minister, the time of lawsuits and counter-suits “should be left behind us.”

Asked to comment on the plan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro for the establishment of the so-called Western Balkans Six, Mrkić said that the Serbian side, when he first heard about the initiative, noted that it was open for any kind of gathering that brings together countries in the region and strengthens their cooperation.

He confirmed that there was discussion recently in New York about the initiative, “the Western Balkans Six Plus Two”, and that Montenegrin FM Igor Lukšić and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule “explained the essence.”