The opening of oral hearings before the International Court of Justice today, in The Hague, concerning the charges and counter-charges filed by Croatia and Serbia is of highest importance from the point of view of establishing the truth about the developments which occurred in the territory of Croatia in the last century.

This court case was not initiated by Serbia, although many crimes against the Serbian population have been committed during the civil war in Croatia. We have demonstrated how we look upon the future by our readiness to have the charges and counter-charges withdrawn. However, it is known that no agreement has been reached, because Croatia deemed that the conditions for the withdrawal of the charges have not been fulfilled.

It is our position that the painful issues from the past should now be left to the legal teams and the International Court of Justice, in the conviction that truth, justice and facts are on our side.

On this occasion, I would like to underline that the Government of the Republic of Serbia remains committed to its priority of building good-neighbourly relations, peace and stability in the region. It is our interest and desire that the present level of our bilateral relations, position of the Serbs in Croatia and future cooperation not be affected by these tragic developments from the past.