Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman said on Friday that he expected an official apology from the Serbian government after a member of a Serbian delegation visiting recently Croatia to deliver humanitarian aid referred to the town of Knin as "Serbian and occupied".

Addressing a news conference, Grlic-Radman said that Croatia’s Ambassador to Belgrade, Hidajet Biscevic, handed Croatia’s protest note prompted by the incident to officials at the Serbian Foreign Ministry.

“According to our ambassador, the Serbian ministry distanced itself from what was verbally described as inappropriate and harmful statements in the video recording in question,” Grlic-Radman said.

“However, since we expressed our protest officially, by a note, we also expect from the Serbian government an explanation, an appropriate reaction, an apology through official channels,” said the minister.

A note from the Serbian Embassy in Zagreb, sent to Croatian authorities on 23 January, read that a Serbian delegation, headed by an official of the Ministry of State Administration and Self-Government would be visiting Croatia from January 24 to 26 to deliver humanitarian aid for the victims of the 29 December earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County.

The delegation consisted of eight members, including Milos Stojkovic, a humanitarian worker and theologian, and reporters.

Knin, where the contentious recording was made, is in Sibenik-Knin County and was not affected by the earthquake.

While climbing on the Knin Fortress, Stojkovic filmed a video in which he greeted his friends from the “Serbian occupied territory.” “We are in our Krajina again, this is Knin, long live Serbia,” he said.

He also spoke in the video of the return of the Serbian Krajina and the removal of the Croatian flag from the Knin Fortress.

From 1991 to 1995 Knin was the centre of the so-called Republic of Serbian Krajina, a breakaway territory under the control of local Serbs who rebelled against the Croatian authorities. The town was liberated in August 1995 in a military offensive dubbed Operation Storm.

The video was posted on Facebook and after it went viral, Stojkovic denied having anything to do with it. The video was later removed.

Grlic-Radman said the visit by the Serbian delegation was abused by one of its members who posted the scandalous video and that Croatia considered the act unacceptable and a provocation.

He noted that the Croatian police were investigating the incident and did not rule out the possibility, after all the facts are established, that Stojkovic would be declared persona non grata in Croatia.