AFP
Croatia’s government on Thursday condemned Serbia for expelling more than a dozen of its citizens who backed student-led anti-corruption protests.
Zagreb’s ambassador to Belgrade disclosed on Wednesday that three Croatians, including the head of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, had been expelled for security reasons in the past three days.
There had been a dozen similar cases in the past three months, ambassador Hidajet Biscevic told Serbian media.
Some of those expelled had been living in Serbia for years and had voiced support on social networks for the student-led protests that have gripped the country since last year, he added.
“We are seeking clarification from the Serbian authorities regarding this unacceptable practice, which Croatia condemns,” Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday.
A protest note had been filed to Belgrade and Croatia, a European Union member, had informed the bloc about the issue, he added.
The protests in Serbia began in November last year, after 16 people were killed when the concrete roof of the newly renovated railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed.
High-ranking Serbian government officials have claimed, without providing evidence, that the protests were “influenced by Western intelligence agencies” with the aim of “overthrowing President Aleksandar Vucic”.
Last December, tabloid media close to the Serbian authorities accused a group of Croatian students of participating in the protests.
In January, Croatia recommended that its nationals postpone non-essential travel to Serbia.
Ties between Belgrade and Zagreb remain frosty since Croatia’s 1990s war of independence, during which Belgrade politically and militarily backed rebel Serbs.
Italian pianist David Martello was expelled earlier this month after playing on a bridge during a student protest in the southern Serbian city of Nis.
Serbian authorities have also been cracking down on their own citizens. On Thursday, prominent Belgrade publicist Dejan Ilic was arrested for “inciting panic”.
During a TV appearance he said that either an interim government would be formed as a solution for the crisis, or “blood will flow in the streets”.
Non-governmental organisations called for a protest later on Thursday in the capital Belgrade against expulsion of foreign nationals from Serbia.
