Even though Zoran Milanovic, the president of Croatia, announced that he would not agree to the adoption of a NATO declaration that does not mention the constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), it was unofficially found outthat the declaration will still be adopted under the strong influence of leading members of the Alliance.
The President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, stated on Sunday that Croatia will not sign the final declaration at the NATO summit since “some” countries do not want to agree to mention the Dayton Agreement and the constituency of the people in BiH.
“Otherwise, we will not give our consent for the final declaration. I say this openly now, because we play second fiddle, and someone has a problem mentioning the Dayton Agreement and the three constituent peoples in the NATO final declaration as if the declaration was written by some non-governmental organization from Sarajevo. I don’t plan to return to Zagreb with that, that’s something that Plenkovic and Radman could have helped me with, but they have more important thingsto do,” stated Milanovic.
As it was found out from diplomatic sources, Croatia’s insistence that the declaration to be adopted at the NATO Summit, more precisely the part concerning BiH, which showeda commitment to the principle of constitutivity, will not meet with the support of NATO members.
Croatian positions in terms of including the term “constituent peoples” in the text of the NATO declaration, which President Milanovic spoke about, will not be accepted by member countries. There is an option to include this request of Croatia in the footnote of the mentioned declaration.
Croatia will be able to oppose this decision, but it is clear that it will not have a greater impact if the strongest forces have a united position. This is supported by another statement by Milanovic regarding the NATO summit.
According to the Croatian president, talks on this have been going on for seven days now.
“We are treated as less important, therefore, we got to the level of the president of the state, and it only shows where we went and what plans some international circles have for BiH, but that will not work as far as Croatia is concerned. I didn’t even think I would deal with it, but I have to tell the Croatian public now in case there is turmoil tomorrow. I think those who deal with foreign policy have already understood what is being said hereafter my first sentence,” he concluded yesterday.
Alliance reforms, called “NATO 2030”, were agreed at a summit in Brussels yesterday. The meetings provide opportunities for the Heads of States and the Government of the Member States to assess and provide strategic direction for the activities of the North Atlantic Alliance, Klix.ba writes.
