The vice-president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milorad Pupovac, has described as "worrying and dangerous" Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's sending her greetings to generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac at a ceremony marking Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and War Veterans' Day in Knin on Friday.
The Hague tribunal in April this year sentenced generals Gotovina and Markac to 24 and 18 years in prison pending appeal for crimes committed against Serb civilians in the 1995 Croatian army and police operation "Storm".
"It is very worrying and dangerous when one's regards are sent to persons sentenced pending appeal for the gravest war crimes, in such a place and on such an occasion," Pupovac said in an interview with Nova TV on Saturday evening.
Pupovac's party is a partner in the incumbent coalition government led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
Addressing Friday's ceremony in Knin, which also marked the 16th anniversary of Operation Storm, Prime Minister and HDZ chief Jadranka Kosor said she wanted to send her special greetings to generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, a statement that was welcomed by a long and loud round of applause by those attending the ceremony.
