State Secretary for Political Affairs in the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Mario Nobilo expressed dissatisfaction to Serbian Ambassador Stanimir Vukicevic over the, as he said, unacceptable and offensive statements by Serbian President Boris Tadic and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.

The Croatian official said that Croatia has recognised Kosovo as an independent country and, just like in the case of all other countries in South-East Europe, including Serbia, Croatia is developing friendly relations with Kosovo based on principles of respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, thus contributing to regional stability and security in a European manner, reads the release posted on the site of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration on Saturday.

The release notes that Croatia at the same time strongly supports protection of all human and minority rights in Kosovo and the renewal of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

The latest statement by Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, wherein she spoke about the friendship between her country and Kosovo and greeted the ICTY indictee Ante Gotovina, additionally raised the level of already heated debate on the line between Belgrade and Zagreb.