An elderly inhabitant is seen looking around the bullet-ridden door of his house in Vukovar, Croatia, in this November 29, 1991 file photo.

ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatian President Stipe Mesic warned Serbia yesterday it would be making a mistake if it filed a complaint against his country for alleged ethnic cleansing during the 1991-1995 war.

“It is a mistake,” Mesic told national television, referring to an announcement made Tuesday by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.

Belgrade’s move was in response to a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, that it would hear a Croatian genocide claim against Serbia.

Around 280,000 ethnic Serbs fled Croatia during and after its 1991-1995 war, according to the United Nations. So far, some 130,000 of them have returned.

According to the UN war crimes tribunal, about 350 mainly old or ill people – unable to flee toward Bosnia and Serbia – were killed by Croat forces during the operation.

The Serbs took flight after Croatia launched a military operation to retake key territory held by rebel Serbs. The operation, dubbed “Storm,” practically ended the war that claimed some 20,000 lives.

“Storm... was a legitimate action by the Croatian army and police since all proposals toward (rebel Serbs) to solve the repossession of the Croatian territory through negotiations were not successful,” Mesic said.

“Many ethnic Serbs left together with the rebels or Yugoslav army,” he said, stressing that all those responsible for war crimes should be brought to justice.

“Croatia is doing that... and has also delivered all suspects sought by the Hague tribunal,” he said, referring to the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) based in the Netherlands.

The return of ethnic Serbs and ability to deal with war crimes committed by its own nationals are conditions Zagreb has to meet as part of its bid to join the European Union by 2011.

Croatia’s proclamation of independence from the Yugoslav federation sparked the war with rebel Serbs who opposed the move. Militarily and politically backed by Belgrade, the rebels occupied one-third of Croatia’s territory, expelling all non-Serbs.

Croatia lodged a complaint against Serbia, then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), with the ICJ in 1999, claiming “a form of genocide which resulted in large numbers of Croatian citizens being displaced, killed, tortured or illegally detained.” Zagreb said yesterday it would press on with its ICJ case despite the legal backlash from Serbia, which says its charges will even include crimes by Croatia’s World War II pro-Nazi regime.