The General Secretary of the Council for Regional Cooperation Goran Svilanović, in today’s interview for Oslobođenje, spoke of how the entry of Croatia to the EU will affect other countries in the region.
He things that this is a huge change.
“First, this is good news and a message for all of us, for all the countries in the region, that the process would continue. This is the most important information and Croatia should be congratulated, because this is something the government has been working on for more than 10 years. Regardless of its political color, they simply went in one direction and should be congratulated for it, because this encourages all of us. It is true that Croatia’s accession to the EU will change the relationships in the region.
Concretely, Croatia is no longer a member of CEFTA, trade in the region is now not according to the model between BiH and Serbia, but becomes, as it is now, for example, trade between BiH and Austria.
This is a completely different attitude and there should be preparations for this, and there are a number of technical things here. What is key is for the borders of the EU to move to the borders of BIH, and this is something new for BiH and Montenegro.
This is not really news for Serbia, because Serbia already has a border with Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania as EU member states, so to some extent it is already accustomed.
However, this is good experience. Border crossings are a technical thing-this is a big thing for BIH. In Serbia there is normal functioning in all ways, between Serbia and Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, but it is necessary to take some measures and bring about technical things, so the changes would be less felt.
This is especially important for BiH, because it is a long border and people are accustomed to travel freely. Everything has to be done so people do not feel personally burdened, and businesses should be helped to overcome the problems, which will probably be in the first months, half-year or year.
On the question of how the economic crisis and political situation in BiH, the issue of Kosovo, how the problem of the name of Macedonia impacts its work and cooperation with countries, Svilanović said that the advice on the issue of Kosovo is neutral and that a consensus has been reached with the full participation of all.
“We have been following with interest the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina that makes it easier for Catherine Ashton and her team. We will act in accordance with the results of this dialogue. The rest of the bilateral issues are wider, they are on the table. The name of Macedonia, functionality of BiH are important issues, but there are number of others, and this list cannot be reduced to two or three.
The Commissioner for Enlargement Štefan Fule is working on this, and he has the entire list. These are bilateral things that politicians, usually two countries, have to agree on. If the Council, in that process, can alleviate the solution, we will gladly do so, but we are cautious, because those are often serious political issues’’, said Svilanović.
