Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic has said that relations between the states in the region have never been better since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia than today and that if political leaders showed respect for the Serb victims of the 1990s wars as well, it would contribute to reconciliation.
The new Serbian government has shown "through very concrete activity that it wants stronger ties with its neighbours," Mrkic said in Tuesday's Vecernje Novosti daily, adding that Belgrade had signed a dozen agreements with all neighbouring countries and was preparing another 20.
He did not single out any country in the region but said that he had met "at least five times" with Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic and had regular contacts with the other foreign ministers from the former Yugoslav republics.
"We exchange positions on all issues, without hesitation... There are no longer any hot issues in the region and we are boldly embarking on dealing with all the remaining ones," he said, voicing confidence that everyone in the region was in no doubt that relations were improving.
Asked if he expected the leaders of the other states to apologise to Serbia for what had happened in the past, Mrkic said "there's no need to stress how much it would mean for the strengthening of the reconciliation process if some political leaders from the neighbouring countries paid their respects to the Serb victims of the past wars."
"Repentance is genuine and touches the heart fastest if it is mutual. In terms of recognising the fact that the Serbs too were victims of the 1990s civil wars, it seems to me there are more and more signs in support of that," he was quoted as saying.
