Asked by reporters on Saturday in Dubrovnik where he was attending a gathering of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to comment on Djakic's statements made at an HDZ rally, Vandoren said that he believed that it was important to avoid nationalistic statements.

Regardless whether it is an election campaign or not, such statements do not help the progress of the society and are unwelcome in the European Union, the Union's diplomat said.

Djakic told the recent HDZ rally in Osijek that seeing the names of the Opposition leaders, he thought that a Serbian rather than a Croatian government was being formed.

Asked whether the European Commission would comment on that in its report on Croatia's performance, Vandoren said he was not an author of the report and could not speculate about that.

Asked by reporters to comment on the government-sponsored bill to declare certain legal acts of the former Yugoslav People's Army, the former Yugoslavia and Serbia null and void, the ambassador said that the EC had contacted with the Croatian authorities to express its concern and ask some questions about the matter.

The commission is looking forward to answers which should offer better understanding of the content of the bill, he added.

We hope that Croatia would continue its cooperation with neighbours, primarily with Serbia, Vandoren said adding that he had an impression that this cooperation was functioning rather well although it was not perfect.