ICJ: Serbia and Croatia have committed no genocide

"We are unhappy with the decision of the Court, but we accept it in a civilized manner."

The International Court of Justice delivered its judgment neither Serbia nor Croatia committed genocide during the conflict that opposed them from 1991 to 1995.

"If both sides have committed crimes, they were not committed in order to destroy the other ethnic group, but in order to" forcibly displace "said the president of the ICJ, Peter Tomka, at the public hearing in The Hague on Tuesday.

"The Court considers that in the light of contemporary military context, (...) there is no evidence to establish the existence of specific intent, called" dolus specialis "which characterizes genocide" has he specified in During a complex and technical judgment.

Croatia lodged with the ICJ in 1999 and called "financial reparations".

The proclamation of Croatian independence vis-à-vis Yugoslavia in 1991 was followed by a war between the Croatian forces and Serb secessionists supported by Belgrade.

The latter wanted to integrate an ethnically pure Serbian state together all the Serbs in the former Yugoslavia.

Peter Tomka referred in particular some of the darkest episodes of the war in Croatia, including the siege of Vukovar (1100 civilians killed by Serb forces).

In 2010, Serbia had responded with an against-complaint to the ICJ, accusing Zagreb genocide for the Croatian military operation "Storm" that ended the war in 1995. According to Belgrade, some 200,000 Serbs had then flee Croatia.

Reactions

Today, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said he was unhappy with the decision of the ICJ:

"We are unhappy with the decision of the Court, but we accept it in a civilized manner. We must accept the decision (...) it is final and there is no opportunity to appeal. "

For his part, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has expressed its desire for "lasting peace" in the Balkans:

"I hope that in the future, Serbia and Croatia have the strength to jointly solve all that hinders the possibility of a sustained period of peace and prosperity in our region."