Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic told the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti of Thursday that there was always the possibility of an out-of-court settlement with regard to the withdrawal of genocide lawsuits Croatia and Serbia had filed against one another at the International Court of Justice, and that in such a case the plaintiff would have to drop the suit.
Simonovic added that the crucial issue was under which conditions the plaintiffs were willing to withdraw their lawsuits and if the party sued was willing to meet those conditions.
When asked if in the next five years, which is how long the cases are expected to last, relations between the two countries could deteriorate if there was no settlement, Simonovic said that the main hearing was expected in three years' time and that until that time, many things, including the lawsuits, would affect Croatia-Serbia relations.
Simonovic said that the reason for Serbia's filing a counterclaim was primarily a political one, aimed at establishing balance in relation to Croatia's lawsuit.
When asked to comment on Serbia's demand that Croatia be found responsible for genocide and ordered to pay compensation to victims, prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and change its calendar of national holidays, Simonovic said that Serbia could make any request it wanted, but that the question was how likely its counterclaim was to succeed.
"For Croatia, the most important thing is for Serbia to take a position on the war in Croatia and on (Slobodan) Milosevic's and his accomplices' responsibility for it, prosecute war crimes, shed light on the fate of missing persons, and return the stolen cultural artefacts," Simonovic said.
He added that the compensation for victims' families, which is also demanded in the Croatian lawsuit, had always had a primarily symbolic character, rather than a significant financial dimension.
