Croatia: The expulsion of the Croatian diplomat from Serbia destabilizes the region

2023-11-21 14:16:53, Kosova & Bota CNA

Croatia: The expulsion of the Croatian diplomat from Serbia destabilizes the

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia said on Tuesday that Serbia's decision to declare the first secretary of the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade as persona non grata worsens relations between the two countries and destabilizes the situation in the region.

On November 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia declared Hrvoje Schneider an undesirable person in Serbia because he "exceeded the limits of diplomatic norms".

She did not give any other explanation.

Croatia has opposed Serbia's decision, saying it does not accept "the reasons for the expulsion of an accredited Croatian diplomat."

"The aforementioned decision of the Republic of Serbia represents a step towards the deterioration of mutual relations, as well as the further destabilization of sensitive political and regional security situations at a time when the stability of South-Eastern Europe is of exceptional importance for the whole of Europe ", it is stated in the announcement of the Croatian Ministry.

She said that she feels concerned that the expulsion of the Croatian diplomat "poses additional pressure on the employees of the Croatian embassy in Belgrade, which is especially manifested in the pre-election period in the Republic of Serbia".

"We express our regret that the expected escalation of relations by the Republic of Serbia at this time was realized with a drastic decision to expel diplomats", says the reaction of the Croatian Foreign Ministry.

Croatia does not need to respond to Serbia "strongly" until the situation is clarified, said the president of the Internal Policy and National Security Committee of the Croatian Parliament, Sinisha Hajdash Don?i?, to Croatian Radio Television (HRT), commenting decision of Belgrade.

The Croatian Embassy in Serbia did not announce this decision, with which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia declared Schneider a person "non grata" on November 20 because he "exceeded the limits of diplomatic norms".

The decision, it is said, was made in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention.

"During his professional engagement in the Republic of Serbia, Schneider went outside the framework of diplomatic norms and violated the aforementioned Convention. On this occasion, Croatian ambassador Hidajet Bish?evi? was presented with a diplomatic note", the announcement states.

The announcement did not specify how Schneider exceeded diplomatic norms.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, as stated in the announcement, regrets the actions of the above-mentioned diplomat in the past period "which does not contribute to the improvement of bilateral relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia, good neighborliness, cooperation and development overall level of peace and stability in the region"./ REL