Croatia slams rebel Serb assembly

By Matt Prodger
BBC News, Belgrade

Serbs fled Krajina as refugees during Croatia's offensive in 1995

Croatia has protested to Serbia and Montenegro over the creation of a Croatian-Serb "government-in-exile".

On Saturday, Serbs backed by Belgrade nationalists declared a parliament based in the Serbian capital.

Croatia said the establishment of a parliament of the so-called Republic of Serb-Krajina cast a shadow over relations between the two countries.

During the Balkan wars, Serbs backed by Belgrade occupied a third of Croatia before being driven out in 1995.

Following Saturday's announcement, Croatia also complained that the government of Serbia and Montenegro had failed to distance itself adequately from those behind the scheme.

In 1991 the "Krajina Republic" was created by separatist Serb rebels in Croatia. It was crushed by Croatian forces four years later during fighting centred on the town of Knin.

Nationalist pressure

Reformists in Serbia say the creation of the Krajina government-in-exile is the work of hardline nationalists from what is currently Serbia's most popular political party, the opposition Radicals.

Under the leadership of Vojislav Seselj, who is currently facing war crimes charges in The Hague, the Radical Party advocates the creation of a Greater Serbia encompassing parts of Croatia and Bosnia.

The timing of the event may also be an attempt by some Serb nationalists to hamper Croatia's attempts to join the European Union.

Croatia has been told by the EU that it needs to arrest and hand over to The Hague Ante Gotovina, the general who led the final offensive against the Krajina Serbs in 1995.

It is also under pressure to facilitate the return of Serb refugees to Croatia.