Croatia warns against travel to Serbia after 5 civil society activists were deported

ZAGREB, Croatia — Croatia warned its citizens Thursday to postpone unnecessary travel to neighboring Serbia after the deportation of five Croatian activists who had taken part in a meeting of civil society organizations in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

The Croatian activists told media in their home country that police came to their hotel and detained them before sending them back home. They said police offered no reason except a document stating the activists represented a threat to Serbia's security.

Croatia strongly protested the deportation and demanded an explanation from the Serbian authorities. The foreign ministry also advised Croatian citizens to postpone any unnecessary travel to Serbia, exercise caution and follow developments due to ''improper and unfounded'' treatment of Croatian citizens.

Belgrade responded in a foreign ministry statement, describing Croatia's reaction as ''inappropriate'' and saying that Croatian activists were ''treated in accordance with the legal procedures and the usual international practice.''

Croatia should explain ''why none of the other Croatian citizens who are currently on the territory of the Republic of Serbia have faced no inconvenience or a special treatment but are welcome guests.''

''The answer would have to contain the information what those persons (activists) ... were really doing in Serbia,'' the statement said.

Serbia's populist government, in the past few weeks, has repeatedly and without offering evidence accused Croatian security services of being behind weekslong protests by university students who are demanding accountability for a collapse of a concrete canopy on Nov. 1.

''I am not sure that there is an explanation of the Serbian authorities about what happened,'' Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović said. ''It is legitimate to ask if it is a coincidence, since we have had several such cases lately.''

In recent months, Serbian police have denied entry or expelled a number of foreign citizens for purportedly threatening the country's security.

Apart from the Croatian activists, citizens from Romania, Slovenia, Bosnia and North Macedonia who were taking part this week in a workshop for nongovernmental organizations, also were deported this week, human rights organizations in Serbia said.

The Croatian activists were also banned from entering Serbia for a year, according to HRT state television.

Relations between main Balkan rivals Croatia and Serbia have been tense for years since the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The canopy crash at a railway station building in the northern Serbian town of Novi Sad killed 15 people, triggering major anti-corruption protests. Many in Serbia believe rampant graft had led to sloppy renovation work at the building and eventually to the fall of the huge concrete construction on the people underneath.

Striking students have called for a general strike on Friday while President Aleksandar Vučić has scheduled a huge rally to counter the protests on Friday afternoon in the central town of Jagodina.

Several prominent human rights groups in Serbia also have condemned the reported detention and deportation of foreign activists from the country, saying it marked further repression by the government.

Vučić, Serbia's increasingly autocratic leader, has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms since he came to power more than a decade ago even thought he had formally pledged he would lead his country into the EU.

Protesting activists and university students in Serbia also have repeatedly reported pressure from authorities, including intimidation and interrogation by the state security service. Vučić has denied this.