Safety cameras are seen in entrance of a Serbian flag in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. Serbia has expelled a Croatian diplomat in a transfer that additional strains relations between the 2 former wartime foes and Balkan rivals. The Serbian international ministry stated on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 that the primary secretary of the Croatian Embassy was proclaimed persona non grata for “gross stepping outdoors the framework of diplomatic norms” throughout his service. AP FILE PHOTO
BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia and Croatia every have expelled a diplomat from the opposite nation, a transfer that additional strains relations between the 2 former wartime foes and Balkan rivals.
The Serbian Overseas Affairs Ministry stated Monday that the primary secretary of the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade was proclaimed persona non grata for his alleged “gross stepping outdoors the framework of diplomatic norms” throughout his service.
In a reciprocal transfer, Croatia expelled a Serbian diplomat on Tuesday.
“We’ve got determined that the adviser of the Embassy of Serbia in Croatia, Petar Novakovic, ought to be declared persona non grata in Croatia,” Croatia’s Overseas Minister Gordan Grlic Radman stated.
Media near the populist Serbian authorities stated the Croatian diplomat, recognized as Hrvoje Snajder, is accused of “spying actions” and “recruiting” of individuals for Croatian secret companies.
The Croatian Ministry of Overseas and European Affairs rejected the grounds for the diplomat’s expulsion and referred to as Serbia’s motion “a step towards the deterioration of mutual relations” at a time “when the steadiness of southeastern Europe is of outstanding significance for the entire of Europe.”
Tensions between the 2 Balkan neighbors have on and off been tense because the Balkan wars within the Nineteen Nineties when the Serbian-led troops intervened in Croatia in a land seize operation that resulted in a defeat of Belgrade and the expulsion of tens of hundreds of ethnic Serbs who lived there.
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