Solving disputes from the past is among Croatia's vital interests and upon joining the EU, Croatia will not block Serbia's European integration to solve bilateral disputes, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic was quoted as saying in Saturday's edition of the Novi Sad-based daily Dnevnik.
Recalling that Croatia had experienced a neighbouring country's blockade, he said Croatia had matured politically and that there was no serious Croatian politician who would use blackmail and blockade in relations with neighbouring countries.
"Croatia cares a lot, and genuinely, that Serbia be stable, develop and become an integral part of European Union institutions as soon as possible," Josipovic said, reiterating that Croatia would unequivocally support its neighbours in European integration.
He said the countries that remained outside the EU did not face good prospects, but added that it was unrealistic to fear that stopping Serbia on its EU path or its giving up on EU membership would seriously threaten security in the region.
Speaking of the genocide suits Croatia and Serbia filed against each other at the International Court of Justice, Josipovic reiterated that there was no need to continue with the dispute if the two countries made the lawsuits irrelevant through negotiations and solved the problems that encumber them.
"But if we don't find a solution, the answer is quite different," he said.
