Leader of the right-wing Croatian Sovereignists party, Marijan Pavlicek, was banned from entering Serbia this Saturday after he was invited to a cultural event in the Serbian northern Vojvodina province as a member of the parliamentary committee on Croats outside Croatia, the Croatian Vecernji List daily reported on Monday.

Pavlicek was invited to attend the event in the village of Vajska, organised by the Croatian culture and arts society Antun Sorgg.

According to the daily, Pavlicek said he “did not entertain the possibility that I wouldn’t be allowed to enter Serbia. It didn’t help that, as a member of the Croatian parliament, I have a diplomatic passport which should guarantee that I can cross the border undisturbed.”

He added that his diplomatic passport was taken at the Bogojevo border crossing, after which he had to wait at the crossing for three hours without any explanation.

“The Serb customs and police officers were fair, except I sat in the car for three hours… Eventually, they came back with a decision saying I was banned from entering Serbia because, as they said, I am a threat to the security of the state and its citizens, Pavliced told Vecernji List.

Foreign Ministry issues a protest note

“The Croatian Foreign Minister, Gordan Grlic-Radman, contacted his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic as soon as he learned about the case in question on Sunday, expressing dissatisfaction with the way Croatian nationals are treated at the Serbian border,” the Ministry told the Croatian state news agency Hina.

Additionally, the Serbian Ambassador to Croatia Jelena Milic was summoned to the Croatian Foreign Ministry on Monday morning.