The United States has nothing to do with the alleged sale of Croatian weapons to Syrian rebels, a high ranking US official said in Zagreb on Thursday, commenting on allegations by the US press that Croatia had sold weapons to Syrian opposition forces which the authorities in Zagreb deny.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker was asked to comment on an article in The New York Times about Croatia's alleged involvement in supplying Syrian rebels with weapons with the assistance of the CIA, and said that the US had nothing to do with the matter.
Croatian President Ivo Josipovic recently denied the allegations but confirmed that in 2012 Croatia had exported more than 200 tonnes of weapons to Jordan and added that a check on where those weapons ended up was not possible.
Reeker reiterated the State Department's statement concerning a thematic debate in the UN General Assembly convened by the UN GA President, Serb diplomat Vuk Jeremic, that the US strongly objected to the initiative which was boycotted by the majority of Western countries as they believed this was a poor cover up of an attempt to attack the Hague tribunal which Serbia openly criticises.
The debate was an opportunity to strengthen the global system of international courts but it turned into a negative, unbalanced debate, said Reeker adding that the US strongly supported the work of the Hague tribunal and other UN courts.
Reeker arrived in Zagreb after attending the Third Ron Brown economic forum held in Zadar and met with several Croatian officials whom he told that the US considered Croatia as an ally and partner and welcomed Croatia's accession to the European Union coming up soon.
I congratulate your government and the entire nation on joining the Union. I will be one of the people raising a toast on July 1, he said but added that Croatia had to work on improving its investment climate if it wanted to attract American and other foreign investments.
Business people invest where security of their investment is guaranteed and where there is no corruption. That is something you have to work on, the US official said.
Reeker supervises the Office of South-Central European Affairs and is responsible for US relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
He assessed that Bosnian officials were acting irresponsibly toward their citizens and the international community and should start doing what they were elected to do.
He also called on the Serbian government to accept Brussels' proposal to normalise relations with Kosovo and to continue dialogue with Pristina which is a condition to be given a date to open negotiations on EU accession.
