The Presidency of the Croatian National Assembly of BiH (HNS BiH) held a session today to discuss the current political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as spatial planning issues, with a special emphasis on the Southern Gas Interconnection and Adriatic-Ionian Transport Corridor projects.
HNS BiH President Dragan Čović said that he had informed the members of the Presidency about the talks being held between the political parties gathered around the HNS and other political actors, adding that the next session is planned for early March, when the joint actions of HNS members in the elections should be defined.
Karen Pierce, former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United States, made a brief comment, saying that she understood the problems facing Croats, primarily the issue of the Election Law.
“I think Ms. Pierce is very well informed about the relations in BiH. You could have already heard such statements from officials from the European Union and officials from the United States of America. I am an incorrigible optimist, while most of my other colleagues in the Presidency of the HNS are not. We have two or three months ahead of us when we can simply resolve this issue, at least in the element where the Croat member of the Presidency is elected,” said Čović.
He also stated that the HNS has its own proposal that has been in the House of Peoples in Parliament for a long time, and that they are waiting for a quality majority in the House of Peoples and “the goodwill of Bosniak representatives” in order to resolve this issue.
“In the next two weeks, there will be a lot of talks between different political options in BiH and different institutions of the Bosniak-Croat people and representatives of the Serbian people in order to eliminate the key problems of the non-functioning institutions of BiH, and that is primarily the Election Law and the legitimate representation of the Croat people, because the other two peoples have already ensured this with their large numbers and the divisions that we have in the Constitution of BiH today,” said the President of the HNS of BiH.
Čović also referred to the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, assessing that there is still not enough political will and agreement for the document to receive the necessary support in the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Parliamentary Assembly.
“There is not enough political wisdom and will or agreement to pass it through the Council of Ministers and the two houses of the parliament. The last time we tried it in the House of Peoples, removing about a hundred items and a dozen laws from the agenda. However, then there was outsmarting. I hope that this will not continue and that we will define the growth plan as one of our priorities,” he said.
The president of the HNS BiH said that one of today’s topics was that of spatial planning in the Federation, especially since large projects such as the Southern Gas Interconnection (JPI) and the Adriatic-Ionian transport corridor are being planned in BiH.
“Here we want the Southern Gas Interconnection and we are all saying that in a few months we will have an agreement signed between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Someone tell me how to put it in spatial plans without it being coordinated, it is not a local project. According to the standards that apply in Europe today, this corridor around itself requires thirty meters of space in which there must be nothing else, not even seedlings, let alone some of the facilities,” Čović emphasizes.
He said that despite all the problems, they must agree.
“We know that the project envisages that this gas pipeline and pipeline will be above ground, not underground like in Croatia, which means that it will be very exposed, we need to see how to bypass rivers, facilities, bridges, roads and all that. So, we have to sit down together and try to find the most rational solution,” Čović emphasizes.
The matter is similar with the Adriatic-Ionian Corridor.
“Motorways (FBIH) are already looking for ways to resolve land issues, from the point of contact that is predetermined between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to how to take it through Popovo Polje and bring it to Počitelj to connect to Corridor 5c, but thus also to the highway with Croatia,” concluded Čović.
