Since the outset of the ‘Glavaš case’, as it has meanwhile become known in the public, I have endeavoured to behave and act strictly within the boundaries of my constitutional powers, aware at the same time of the fact that I am also entrusted, pursuant to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, with concern for the functioning of the system. I have always held, from the standpoint of the rule of law, that any politicization of the foregoing case is impermissible and at the same time counterproductive within the context of the efforts focused on the successful completion of the negotiations on Croatia’s accession to the European Union.

My principled views on war crimes are quite well known. War crimes may not be associated with ethnicity nor are they subject to any statutes of limitation. The assignment of responsibility and guilt for committed war crimes to individuals is the basic condition both for the normalization of conditions in the region and for the removal of the liability of collective responsibility of entire nations. The person suspected of war crimes must appear in court and answer the question of the court where his/her responsibility is to be determined. Every perpetrator of a war crime must be punished in accordance with the law regardless of his/her ethnic background, of the side in which he/she was involved in the war or of the function which he/she may have held during the war or holds at present.

All this applies to the ‘Glavaš case’ as well. It is up to Mr. Branimir Glavaš to challenge the suspicions on the basis of which the investigation was set in motion. If he cannot do that, and if the investigation should show that his conduct violated the law, he will have to bear the legal consequences of such conduct. All those who have interfered, in one way or another and outside the legal procedure, in the ‘Glavaš case’, have shown that they do not respect the rule of law, and that they do not care for the determination of truth and the explanation  of crimes which cast a dark shadow on all the participants in the Homeland War, or for the fate of Branimir Glavaš. Their only goal is quite clear and recognizable - they want to destabilize conditions in the country and discredit the efforts made in every sphere in order to quality Croatia for accession to the European Union as soon as possible. This also applies to all those who have concealed their actions under the cloak of allegedly humanitarian reasons.

Crimes were committed on the Croatian side too, and in Osijek. These are indisputable facts. These crimes, just as any others, must be resolved regardless of the ethnic background of either the victims or of the perpetrators, and the criminals must be brought to justice. If this is not done, we shall remain captives of the past and block our own future progress. There is no justification for the evasion of justice. Any further politicization of the Glavaš case may have lasting negative implications for the Republic of Croatia and its European prospects. No one may be allowed to get around the law any more, and institutions must engage in their activity independently without any side interference. I deem it my duty to state this clearly and candidly to all actors on the Croatian social scene and to all the citizens of the Republic of Croatia.