After the European Parliament passed a resolution by a majority vote last week about Šešelj, the indicted war criminal, today during the session of the Committee on Foreign Affairs an exchange of opinions was held with the diplomatic heads from the Western Balkans, among which was Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić.

 
"We are not delighted with the recent military exercise of Russian and Serbian special forces near the Croatian border, which is now the EU's border, nor your statement that Serbia wants to achieve an outlet to the sea. Today you have the opportunity to clearly explain yourself and to condemn the Šešelj case since you constantly speak of it as a thing of the past. However, this is the moment make yourself clear, while respecting European values," Dubravka Šuica, the Head of the Croatian EPP Delegation, said to Dačić.
 
"I did not say that Serbia needs direct access to the sea, I said that this was a historical desire of Serbia in the past," Dačić justified and added that the Serbian government had already clearly stated that it does not support Šešelj's rhetorics, and asked why the European Parliament did not adopt a resolution when they released some Albanian, Croatian and Muslim 'commanders' from The Hague.

"We do not want to cause the instability of Serbia, our goal is that they respect European values, as well as to publicly respond to Šešelj's statements. We also want Serbia to get out of the neutral position in relation to Russia since it is a candidate country for membership in the the EU. I support neighboring countries that are on the European path, and as Vice President of the Delegation for Relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, I also want you to sit at this table one day. We MEPs resorted to something which is available to us as a result of a lack of your reactions, and this was a resolution of the EP, which is clearly a success as is evidenced by the reaction of Chief Prosecutor Brammertz," concluded MEP Šuica.