Ana Brnabic, Serbia’s Prime Minister, has said she “unequivocally, directly and in the strongest possible way” condemns the behavior of Vojislav Seselj who trampled a Croatian flag and swore at the Croatian delegation in the republic’s parliament on Wednesday.

Seselj is an ultra-nationalist Serb leader who was sentenced to 10 years in prison  – a period he had spent in the custody of The Hague Tribunal – for war crimes against the Croats in Serbia during the 1990s war.

Following the incident, Croatian Parliamentary delegation cut short its visit to Serbia.

Brnabic said that “any attempt rip Croatian or any other country’s flag or state symbols, as well as the insults at the members of an official delegation on a friendly visit to Belgrade, is not representing Serbia” as a country.

The PM statement added that recent meetings of the two country’s presidents pushed mutual relations into a new dynamics and the following meetings, statements and moves have proved Serbia’s commitment to nourish friendly relations with Croatia.

That, she said, also showed Belgrade’s wish to improve the regional cooperation and overall stability.