Croatian President Scandalously Stated that The Hague is Losing Credibility, What Does Gotovina Think About It

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, in an interview for N1, also commented on the upcoming verdict in The Hague for Bosnian Croats, and she is once again at the center of a scandal, this time, besides the region, Kolinda's statement has shaken Europe as well.

It is clear that Grabar Kitarović does not have the competence to assess whether the International Court of Justice is credible, but the statement of the Croatian President can be viewed much more broadly. Some have already interpreted it as unacceptable for the Croatian President to assess the work of the Court in The Hague. It would be interesting, for example, to hear Ante Gotovina's statement now, whether he perhaps shares Kolinda's opinion that The Hague lacks credibility.

We remind you that by the verdict of the Hague Tribunal in 2012, Gotovina and the remaining two generals were declared innocent of the alleged crime that was ordered by Franjo Tuđman, the then President of the Republic of Croatia, according to the indictment.

Here is the complete statement by Grabar Kitarović.

In the fall, the verdict for Bosnian Croats will be delivered in The Hague, what will happen if it is confirmed that there was a joint criminal enterprise?

- I do not want to prejudge, but in my opinion, the court would lose all credibility in that case. Let's simply take the facts, Slobodan Milošević was indicted before the court in The Hague, the proceedings ended with his death. In this case, we have Croatian statesmen, from President Tuđman, to the then Minister of Defense Gojko Šušak, Chief of Staff Bobetko, who had been deceased for years before the proceedings began, and in a way, speaking colloquially, there are ghosts in court who cannot defend themselves. Croatia was prevented from being a friend of the court.

I hope that the trial chamber will reject that part of the indictment and I hope that, of course, the entire solution will be different, that there will be no criminal association. When we were entering the formation of the International Court of Human Rights, one of the points was to prevent the accusation of entire peoples, entire ethnic groups for crimes and to individualize these crimes and try individuals for individual crimes that can be proven. Everything else are some hypotheses for which the court is not authorized, to set political rules, to judge, and especially not to change history. Such a qualification of the indictment should be absolutely rejected, and I believe that action should be taken. I often speak in my diplomatic work and explain to other countries what dangerous precedents such a decision sets in international law, and in any case, we will continue to discuss within the framework of the UN and the Security Council. Let's wait and see what the solution will be, because such a decision would not contribute to good neighborly relations in this region – the Croatian President stated.