Marijan Pavlicek, a parliamentarian of the Sovereignists party, who should have attended the ethnic Croat Dužijanica ceremonies in Vojvodina, was barred from entering Serbia on Sunday morning, this opposition Croatian parliamentary party reported later in the day.

The Sovereignists described the ban as incomprehensible, explaining that this Croatian official was prevented from supporting the cultural activities of the Croatian community in Vojvodina, while Serbia’s officeholders are allowed to attend various events organised by ethnic Serbs in Croatia.

Therefore, this Opposition party calls on Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to reciprocate.

Pavlicek was to have attended the Duzijanca in his capacity as a Croatian parliamentarian and a member of the Sabor’s committee for the Croats living outside Croatia, the Sovereignists party informed Hina.

The MP himself confirmed that after waiting for an hour at the Erdut-Bogojevo border crossing, he was told by Serbia’s police officers that they had no official information about his official visit to Vojvodina Croats and that therefore he was denied entry.

He said that after that he had asked the Croatian border police whether there might be a mistake, and that the Croatian police officers at the border crossing said that they had received the announcement of his crossing.

Pavliček recalled that two years ago he had also been denied entry into Serbia and that the later explanation was that his arrival in Serbia had not been announced in an official and timely manner.