Croatia protests detention and deportation of 5 citizens in neighboring Serbia
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Croatia has sent a diplomatic protest note to neighboring Serbia after Belgrade detained and deported five Croatian citizens who were taking part in a meeting of civil society organizations in the Serbian capital, state television station HRT reported on Thursday.
Croatia, in its note, strongly protested the move by Serbian authorities and demanded an explanation. Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman has said that Croatia may issue a travel warning for Serbia. “I am not sure that there is an explanation of the Serbian authorities about what happened,” Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović said. “It is legitimate to ask if it is a coincidence, since we have had several such cases lately.”.
Authorities in Belgrade have given no confirmation or an official explanation of the deportations, which reportedly also included citizens from Romania, Slovenia, Bosnia and North Macedonia who were taking part this week in a workshop for nongovernmental organizations.
Relations between main Balkan rivals Croatia and Serbia have been tense for years since the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Croatian activists have told media in the European Union country that police came to their hotel and detained them before sending them back home. They offered no reason except a document saying the activists presented a threat to Serbia's security.
In recent months, Serbian police have denied entry or expelled a number of foreign citizens for the same reason. Serbia's populist government, in the past few weeks, has repeatedly and without offering evidence accused Croatian security services of being behind weekslong protests by university students who are demanding accountability for a collapse of a concrete canopy on Nov. 1.
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