Croatia's Ambassador to Belgrade, Hidajet Biscevic, has said that the recent plans for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's visit to Jasenovac, the site of a WW2 concentration camp, disrespected diplomatic procedure but that the visit was not banned, "contrary to the prevailing perception in Serbia," state agency Hina said on Thursday.

“Concerning the reportedly planned private visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Jasenovac, it is important to understand that the standard diplomatic procedures were not respected,” Biscevic explained in an interview with the Belgrade-based NIN weekly newspaper.

“Croatia has nothing against (Vucic’s) visit to Jasenovac. Croatia defined its attitude towards Jasenovac a long time ago and reiterated it many times, by paying tribute to the victims and condemning the atrocities committed there,” Biscevic said, adding that the visit would be possible when the conditions were met so that it did not “cause new polarisation” but rather contributed to strengthening mutual understanding, “while taking into account reciprocity.”

“The ambassador warned that former Croatian inmates of prison camps in Vojvodina where they had been taken by Serb forces from Croatia during the Homeland War in the early 1990s, had been denied the opportunity to visit the sites of those camps for years,” state agency Hina said.

Biscevic noted that Croatia and Serbia “live and will probably continue to live in parallel histories for a long time to come,” stressing at the same time that “politicisation of victims perpetuates the vicious circle” of bilateral relations and that both countries should make an effort to end it, “recalling the way France and Germany did it,” Hina said.