Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic confirmed Serbian media reports on Monday about the arrest of a "Croatian spy" in Belgrade. He also confirmed that the Croatian pop singer Severina was arrested by the Serbian border police for criminal statements.

The Belgrade media reported on Monday that the Serbian Security-Intelligence Agency (BIA) and other relevant state agencies arrested a “Croatian spy” early on Monday morning.

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs stated that it had no information or confirmation of this incident.

The Serbian news agency Beta reported that Dacic had “confirmed” the arrest of a person who had been spying for Croatia.

Pop singer interrogated over her political statements

Dacic also confirmed that the Croatian pop singer Severina was detained by the Serbian border police and that this was done “in accordance with the regulations on criminal statements”.

“Severina was not arrested and she was not denied entry into Serbia, but she was detained for a check,” Dacic said.

According to Beta, the minister announced that he would request the cancellation of the list of people who have committed speech crimes.

Severina said on Monday that after she had to wait several hours in her car at the border with Serbia, her car was searched for 45 minutes and she was questioned on topics such as the Srebrenica genocide, Jasenovac, her support for Serbian protesters against planned lithium mining in Serbia, Croatia’s first president Franjo Tudjman, Croatia’s military and police operation Storm 1995 and other topics.

Severina: I will not return until this guy steps down from power

Severina said that she then asked for the return of her documents and to return to Croatia. She said that she would not return to Serbia “as long as the dictator is in power”.

“Serbia, I love you… and I want you to become democratic as soon as possible. But I will never come back to Serbia until this guy steps down from power. We all know exactly who. And what kind of government is this if it’s afraid of my opinion?” she said.

The alleged arrest of a Croatian spy came a day after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated on his Instagram profile that he had met with lawyer Nemanja Berić, who was arrested by Croatian authorities for recording with pro-Chetnik Serbian singer Baja Mali Knindza, with Vucic saying he was only arrested “because he is Serbian”