the contrary, may cause fresh misunderstandings and tensions." Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, condemned his comments and stated that "the EU strongly rejects any intention to rewrite history." The United States Department of State deplored Nikolić's statement and considered them unfounded and counterproductive. On 25 April 2013, Nikolić apologised for crimes committed by any individual in the name of Serbia, and, in particular, for crimes committed in Srebrenica. The apology was not well received by some media and politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina who were disappointed that Nikolić did not recognize the massacre as a genocide. As President, Nikolić has decorated a large number of domestic and foreign individuals and institutions on the occasion of Statehood Day. In 2016, he honoured Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, because that country refused to recognise Kosovo's independence. The New York-based Coalition for the International Criminal Court called on Nikolić to revoke the medal he gave to Sudan's president because Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is suspected of five counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of war crimes and three counts of genocide allegedly committed in Darfur. In February 2017, Nikolić announced that he would not seek re-election in Serbia's forthcoming elections and extended his support to Aleksandar Vučić. Controversies Greater Serbia During the 1990s and until 2008, Nikolić repeatedly called for the creation of a Greater Serbia. Nikolić told Večernje novosti in 2004 that the boundaries of Greater Serbia along the Virovitica-Karlovac-Karlobag line were not part of any imperialistic politics, but would always remain a "dream" for him and other Radical leaders. He also said that he would not have diplomatic relations with Croatia because they are "occupying Serbian land". In 2007, Nikolić stated that the basis of political action in the Serbian Radical Party was the unification of Republika Srpska, Montenegro, and the Republic of Serbian Krajina with Serbia in a single Balkan state. But a few days before the 2012 elections, Nikolić told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview that the territorial integrity of neighbouring countries cannot be questioned and that his former opinions were no longer valid. When asked about this change of position, he quoted a French philosopher that said "only a fool does not change his opinion." In 2018, Nikolić stated that he has supported the independence of Republika Srpska and unification with