Peace building main task for neighboring countries: Croatian politicians

Croatian politicians said on Tuesday peace-building is the most important task for neighboring countries, after an international court rejected its genocide claims against Serbia.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations' highest court, ruled on Tuesday neither Serbia nor Croatia committed genocide against each other's populations during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said he was disappointed with the ruling. However, he said the most important task for politicians is peace-building, which is a universal value.

He advocated improving Croatia-Serbia relations and dealing with outstanding issues, such as looking for the missing persons during the war.

The ruling should not be a seed of discord between states and ethnic communities, he said.

Croatia hoped that Serbia would deal with the issue of missing persons in accordance with the court's judgment, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said.

She hoped the rule of ICJ will contribute to the closure of the chapter of history and moving forward towards better, more constructive and safer times.

"We all have a duty to rule out a possibility of anything similar happening in the future, for the sake of future generations," she said.

Zoran Milanovic, Croatian prime minister, expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling, but said his government would accept the ruling.

Croatia brought the case to the international court in 1999, asking judges to order Belgrade to pay compensation. Serbia later filed a counterclaim, alleging genocide by Croat forces during the 1995 "Operation Storm" military campaign.

In the ruling on Tuesday, the Hague-based ICJ rejected both genocide claims brought by Croatia and Serbia. Endit