The leaders of the Croat minority in Serbia and the Serb minority in Croatia, Tomislav Zigmanov and Milorad Pupovac, said in Zagreb on Thursday that cooperation has no alternative.

Zigmanov, the president of the Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Croats (DSHV), who has recently become the human rights minister in the new Serbian government, and Pupovac, the chief of the Independent Democratic Party (SDSS) that has three MPs in the Croatian parliament and whose representative is one of Deputy PMs, signed a declaration on cooperation between Croatia Serbs and Serbia Croats.

The declaration condemns anti-minority sentiments and encourages the respective countries to turn to cooperation and start settling the outstanding issues.

Every act of threat or aggressive behaviour towards the minority in one of those two countries undermines the status of the respective minority in the other country, according to the document which is compiled in the Croatian and Serbian languages as well as in the Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

Addressing  a news conference after the declaration-signing ceremony in Zagreb, Zigmanov said that cooperation between the respective ethnic communities was natural and part of their fundamental political beliefs.

Zigmanov and Pupovac said that they did their best to encourage meetings between senior officials of the two countries.

On Friday, the Serb National Council (SNV), an umbrella association of ethnic Serbs in Croatia, will hold a traditional reception on Christmas Eve, observed in accordance with the Julian calendar.

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic is expected to attend it.

Also, Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and Deputy Prime Minister Anja Simpraga of the SDSS party, and three more cabinet ministers will be present at the reception.

Zigmanov and Pupovac today stopped short of defining the formats of the meetings between the officials of Croatia and Serbia tomorrow in Zagreb.

Commenting on Dacic’s arrival in Zagreb, after years of tense relations between Zagreb and Belgrade, Zigmanov said that the two neighbouring countries that have a rather lot of problems must communicate.

“You cannot be isolated islands in the present-day world,” Zigmanov said underscoring the importance of communication.

Pupovac said that the possible interlocutors have show openness for meetings set for tomorrow.

“The awareness is raised that there is no use of conflicts,” he said.

Commenting on the arrival of Dacic, known for his controversial statements on Croatia in the past, Pupovac said that the meetings are scheduled for Friday for the sake of the future and not for singling out statements from the past.