It is beyond doubt that the withdrawal of the lawsuits would bring a great political benefit as well as save money for Croatia and Serbia, the Croatian Serb leader said in the interview published on Thursday.

"There are few who respect countries which are incapable of dealing with their own past in some other way, continuing to play the game of genocide policy," he said.

Pupovac deems that agreement on the withdrawal of the legal actions would be the best solution for both countries, as it would put an end to the warmongering policy pursued in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"A possible withdrawal of the lawsuits is more realistic today than it was yesterday. In Croatia there is no longer a difference of opinion on the matter between the government and the president. Furthermore, it is in Croatia's interest that this issue does not remain unsettled in the year when the (Croatia-EU) accession treaty should be ratified," he said.

He called for the renewal of bilateral talks on dropping the legal actions.

He said that it was necessary to make progress in establishing what happened with people gone missing in the war and also in cooperation in prosecuting war crimes as well as in talks on the restitution of cultural artefacts.

Pupovac said that the withdrawal of the lawsuits would defuse tensions between the two countries, and added that serious talks between the two countries' officials must precede a decision to drop the lawsuits.

Pupovac does not believe that there is enough evidence to substantiate the claim about genocide.

There are, he said, ample facts about three dominant types of crimes having been committed in the war: crime against peace, ethnic cleansing with forcible population transfers, and various types of war crimes.