The leader of Croats in Serbia, Tomislav Zigmanov, said on Thursday the "inappropriate" statements by Croatian and Serbian officials after last week's attacks on ethnic Serbs in Croatia were straining relations between the two countries and detrimental to Croats in Serbia.

“Ethnically motivated violence against members of the Serb community in the vicinity of Knin prompted inappropriate statements on both sides and they weren’t in the function of defusing tensions and finding solutions,” the president of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina said on Twitter.

Zigmanov said those statements increased the fear in the Croat minority in Serbia, causing them to withdraw, feel unsafe and unwilling to participate in public life.

He said such a state of affairs suited some politicians in both countries because they thought this is a way to mobilise voters.

According to him, football fans have contributed to the tense climate. “Tanks and tractors appear ahead of games. That certainly won’t calm down the once again strained relations between Serbia and Croatia.”

He once again condemned last week’s attacks on ethnic Serbs near Knin.