The Croatian government never raises tensions with other states, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday after a Serb National Council Orthodox Christmas reception also attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.

Speaking to press, Plenkovic said his government was conducting “a policy of dialogue, defusing tensions and resolving outstanding issues.”

“The Croatian government is never the one raising tensions,” he said, adding that the relations with Slovenia are good despite years of tensions over issues such as border demarcation.

“As for the relations with Serbia, they are burdened by the recent past. We are burdened by the time of the Milosevic regime’s aggression on Croatia, when horrible crimes were committed, which are here, living with us,” Plenkovic said.

“We want to go step by step towards normalisation of relations, economic cooperation, resolving outstanding issues in a way that is appropriate to the international position and status which Croatia has in the international community,” he added.

He reiterated that Croatia did not raise tensions, “and when the circumstances are such that we have to respond more firmly, we always do.”

Croatia has its path and its goals, which are that “Serbs in Croatia live harmoniously in Croatian society” and that the government helps them, Plenkovic said.

“I think we have the political responsibility to move forward, but without ignoring some difficult topics, facts, truths which should be dealt with,” he said, adding that it was good that representatives of Croatian and Serbian authorities met informally.

At the end of last year, Dacic said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had asked him to “thaw the relations with Croatia a little.” Less than a week later, through the mediation of Serb representative in Croatia Milorad Pupovac and Croat representative in Serbia Tomislav Zigmanov, he arrived in Zagreb to attend today’s Orthodox Christmas reception.

The decision to improve relations comes not long after Serbia accused Croatia of sabotage via the JANAF oil pipeline, Serbia’s war crimes indictment against Croatian Air Force pilots, and Serbian intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin’s claim that Croatia is an “Ustasha state.”

After the reception, Dacic met with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman, but neither spoke to press afterwards.