The BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Zlatko Lagumdžija presented to the media this morning information from the meeting that was held in Brussels last week with the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vesna Pusić and the EU High Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule.
“We spoke about border crossings, transit through Ploče port and of goods through Neum, construction of appropriate facilities at the borders and modalities of territorial border crossings. We raised the issue of BiH citizens using their ID cards to cross the Croatian border after the country accedes to the EU’’, said Lagumdžija to journalists and said that the information is complete and will be handed over to the Council of Ministers and the BiH Presidency.
Lagumdžija said that BiH was in a unpleasant situation one year ago, given that at the first trilateral meeting it was said that through the port of Ploče only goods that meet EU standards could be exported and imported.
“At the second meeting it was agreed to continue to use the Ploče port under a favorable regime and after Croatia’s accession to the EU. We will be able to import and export all industrial goods, and some plants and products of animal origin. Goods of animal origin have to meet EU standards when it comes to exports, but exports to other countries this is not necessary’’, explained Lagumdžija and added that goods of animal origin that do not comply to EU standards would not be able to pass through Ploče port.
The BiH Diplomatic Chief said that at the trilateral meeting of BiH-Croatia-EU in Brussels put special emphasis on border regions in Neum, Gradiška and Bihać, and that supplying Neum will be done even by transit through Croatia.
“From 1 July citizens in the border zone will receive special cards, and the zones will be in the maximum positive gabarits.
We will begin on a joint request to all countries in the EU to allow BiH citizens to enter Croatia with their ID cards. Croatia is not in the Schengen zone, but it will have to obtain approval from other countries’’, concluded the BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Zlatko Lagumdžija.
