Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic spoke to reporters on Monday at the event marking the 28th anniversary of the town's fall into the hands of Serb insurgents and the Yugoslav People's Army on November 18, 1991.

“A large number of people gather here every year and they feel Vukovar’s wounds, as well as great pride and gratitude to the town and the people who defended it, because it was their heroism and selflessness that resulted in Croatia’s victory in the war and paved the way to freedom and independence,” Jandrokovic said.

Serbia will have to open its archives

Asked by reporters if Croatia should block Serbia on its path to EU membership, as suggested by the Croatian president, in order to get information on people gone missing in the 1991-95 war, Jandrokovic said that Serbia would have to open its archives to show what had happened.

He said that the policy Serbia was pursuing did not contribute to reconciliation in the region.

“Croatia is a member of the EU and there are mechanisms which we can use as regards negotiations of any EU aspirant. Data on war victims and people gone missing are in a way part of the acquis communautaire because they concern human rights and fundamental values on which the EU is based. I am confident that Serbia will have to meet all of its obligations,” Jandrokovic said.

Asked again if blockade was an option, Jandrokovic repeated that Serbia would have to meet its obligations, that its negotiating path was long and that he believed that “what we are talking about today will eventually happen.”