Croatia bans 3 Montenegrin officials over WWII camp genocide statement

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Croatia on Thursday declared three Montenegrin officials “persona non grata” in a diplomatic row over a World War II death camp.

In a statement, the Croatian Foreign Ministry said that it has informed Montenegro in a diplomatic note that the country’s parliament speaker, Andrija Mandic, lawmaker Milan Knezevic and Vice Premier Aleksa Becic are not welcome in the EU country.

This came after Montenegro’s parliament recently passed a trio-led declaration on “genocide” in the Jasenovac prison camp in Croatia.

"The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs regrets that the majority in the Parliament of Montenegro decided to ignore the continuous calls of the Republic of Croatia not to make moves that could negatively affect our bilateral relations and Montenegro's European path. In this context, the actions of the mentioned political officials stand out, and their actions cannot be considered benevolent and good-neighborly in relation to the Republic of Croatia, nor are they in accordance with the declared goal of Montenegro's membership in the European Union," the ministry statement said.

On June 28, the Montenegrin parliament declared the killing of more than 83,000 ethnic Serbs, Jewish, and Roma people during World War II in the city of Jasenovac in southern Croatia as a "genocide."

Montenegrin Parliament then held a commemoration ceremony for the victims and anti-Nazi Croats killed from 1941 to 1945 at the Jasenovac camp, which was run by the Nazi-allied Ustasha regime.