President of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), Milorad Dodik, condemned the treatment by Croatian police against the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković.
Dodik said Croatia had increasingly been abusing border control mechanisms and harassing citizens.
“Croatia has increasingly been abusing border control mechanisms and harassing the citizens of Republika Srpska. I strongly condemn such behavior,” Dodik said.
He said he would not allow the citizens of Republika Srpska to become victims of political and ideological conflicts within Croatia.
Banja Luka Mayor Draško Stanivuković was released from custody in Croatia today following his arrest at the Stara Gradiška border crossing.
He was detained at the Stara Gradiška border crossing around 10 p.m. last night, and was later taken into custody after refusing to let border police search his suitcases.
He was returning from Budapest and said on social media herefused to be repeatedly detained and searched by border police. He said he refused to allow the confiscation of his belongings or searches by police dogs.
In addition, the Croatian border police have long been blamedfor hours-long waits at the border crossings when entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have intensified since the implementation of the Entry/Exist System (EES).
