Serbia's government on Thursday decided to lodge its counterclaim against Croatia's genocide suit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague as well as to file a genocide suit against its western neighbour,
The Serbian government said in a press release that it was prompted to makethis move by the genocide lawsuit which Croatia filed on 2 July 1999 againstthe then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which consisted of Serbia andMontenegro at the time.
On 2 July 1999, Croatia brought the action before the ICJ against theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia for violating the 1948 Convention on thePrevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide committed in Croatia duringthe 1991-1995 war.
On 18 November 2008 the ICJ decided that the case fell within itsjurisdiction, and two days later the Serbian government announced that it wouldrespond to the Croatian lawsuit with a countersuit.
