Migrant crisis turns clock back on Serbia, Croatia ties

Migrants stand on a field, after they crossed the border with Serbia, near Tovarnik, Croatia September 24, 2015. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

ZAGREB/BELGRADE (Reuters) - Former Yugoslav foes Serbia and Croatia turned back the clock on 15 years of reconciliation on Thursday, trading embargoes and insults as Europe’s migrant crisis damaged relations in the fragile Western Balkans.

With relations hitting their lowest ebb since Serbia came in from the cold with the ouster of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, the Balkan neighbours exchanged tit-for-tat sanctions that saw Croatian goods and cargo vehicles banned from entering Serbia and Serbian-registered vehicles barred from entering Croatia from Serbia.