Serbia welcomes statements from the future high-ranking Croatian office-holders about the readiness for dialogue on outstanding issues, State Secretary at the Serbian Justice Ministry Slobodan Homen was quoted by the Belgrade-based Vecernje Novosti daily as saying on Wednesday.
Homen said Serbia was also open to dialogue.
"We are glad to hear positive tones about the readiness for talks on outstanding issues," the Serbian official said.
The Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) vice-president Milorad Pupovac was quoted by the same Serbian daily as saying that the formation of a new government in Zagreb would render dialogue between the two countries easier.
The Croatian Serb leader said that so far the biggest obstacle to dialogue had been differences between Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and President Ivo Josipovic.
There is no doubt that the future meetings will revolve around key issues such as Croatia's genocide suit against Serbia and Serbia's counter-suit. The question is how to reach agreement to the satisfaction of both sides," Pupovac said.
Vesna Pusic, a leader of the Croatian People's Party (HNS) which is a member of the four-party bloc, also referred to as the Kukuriku coalition, has said in her recent interview with the Serbian Tanjug news agency that Croatia would not blackmail Serbia on its path to the European Union and that it would do everything possible to facilitate relations between Croatia and Serbia.
She said that in the event of resolution of the issue of people who went missing in the 1991-1995 war, the restitution of plundered property and art pieces and war crimes trials, the two countries could then put the withdrawal of the suit and the counter-suit on the agenda.
