Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic on Wednesday commented on an announcement by Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic that Serbia intended to open six new cases relating to war crimes committed in Operation Storm in Croatia in the summer of 1995, and said that the Hague tribunal's acquittal in the Gotovina-Markac case was "definite and there is nothing further".
Vukcevic on Wednesday announced that Serbia would request the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague to produce evidence that was used in the case of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.
"(The acquittal) is a ruling by an international court set up by the UN and the ruling is definite and there is nothing further", said Pusic, adding that she could understand that the political atmosphere that has existed over the past few years could lead to various political moments, "but the situation is as it is."
We are going to stick to procedure, whether it is in our favour or not, which applies to international law, she added.
Asked whether she considered that the president of the United Nations General Assembly, former Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic, was using his position because, disappointed with the acquittal of the Croatian generals, he announced a UN debate on the Hague tribunal, Pusic said that the Security Council founded the tribunal and that it was up to them to react in this case.
Veterans Affairs Minister Predrag Matic said that incidents occurred during and after the 1995 Operation Storm which "we are not proud of" but generals Gotovina and Markac cannot be held responsible for something they did not do.
We want guilt to be individualised, he added.
