Nikolić’s victory "was discussed at NATO summit"

Source: Blic

BELGRADE, ZAGREB -- The election of Serbia’s new president was one of the topics of the NATO Summit in Chicago, Croatia’s FM Vesna Pusić told Zagreb-based daily Jutarnji list.

Vesna Pusić (Beta, file)

Besides the situation in Afghanistan and relations between the partner states, participants of the summit discussed “the election of radical nationalist Tomislav Nikolić“, the Croatian daily has reported.
The participants decided that the fact that Nikolić was elected could lead to serious changes in the Serbian political scene and to a completely new situation in the region, Jutarnji list writes.

“I warned that a new situation was created in the region when Nikolić was elected, that it is unknown what consequences the change of the authorities in Serbia will be,” Pusić said.

When asked whether the elections in Serbia could affect relations between Serbia and Croatia, she said:

“Bearing in mind that this is a relatively small area which has been connected in various ways throughout history, it is clear that events in one country affect all other countries in the region. It is now hard to predict how the situation will develop but I can claim with certainty that the changes of the authorities in Serbia will have a bigger effect on its neighbors than on Serbia itself. Serbia will, or it has at least announced that it will continue the EU accession. The question is what kind of attitude the new authorities will have toward Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. The first statements made by Serbia’s newly elected President Tomislav Nikolić were completely unacceptable to Croatia”.

The Croatian foreign minister added that “if Serbia and Croatia want what is best for their citizens, they need to be able to cooperate as two neighboring countries”.