Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that the decision of the heads of state and government of the 27 EU member states to give the green light for the opening of accession negotiations is a great incentive for further reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“This is practically ‘catching steps’ – BiH’s entry into the convoy in which other countries of Southeastern Europe are,” said Plenković in an interview with RTV Herceg-Bosne.
The Croatian Prime Minister revealed that at the European Council session in December, the Netherlands had the biggest reservations regarding the approval of the negotiating status for BiH, and that is why he proposed to the Dutch Prime Minister Rutte that together with the President of the European Commission Von der Leyen go to Sarajevo and talk to domestic political actors after which started to change the attitude of the Netherlands.
Plenković also listed all the laws that BiH passed, and which the EU set before it as conditions, pointing out that a critical mass of conditions was created on the basis of which the European Commission could make a positive recommendation.
“When that happened, we were in non-stop contact with everyone for those few days. We had to pass the German Bundestag, talk to the Finnish prime minister, the Danish prime minister, the Swedish and Luxembourg prime ministers,” Plenković said.
All of them, Plenković added, had certain reservations towards BiH, and the Croatian Prime Minister reminded that the Dutch Prime Minister met with the initiative of the opposition parties, which in the parliament were against BiH getting a negotiating status.
Remaining terms
Referring to the decision of the European Council, Plenković said that they were working to present the formulation of the conclusions to the ambassadors in Brussels as soon as possible in order to discuss it as little as possible and so that “everyone does not add additional conditions”.
“It came practically a day before the Council itself, which was good, and then we improved it at the Council itself. We inserted this sentence which says that the European Council invites the European Commission. It is crucial because it practically orders the Commission to start preparing the negotiation framework,” he explained.
According to him, in this way BiH was given space to fulfill the remaining conditions, namely the new law on the HJPC, the reform of the Election Law which is in the process and “a few more points”.
Speaking about the relations between the two countries, Plenković repeated that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the most important and essential of all countries for the Republic of Croatia.
“We want to have good, open, friendly, good neighborly relations; to constantly take care of our constitutional obligation, about the Croats who live in Bosnia and Herzegovina as an equal and constitutional nation, said Plenković and noted that the Republic of Croatia wants to help the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.
Southern Gas Interconnection
He also addressed the disputes surrounding the construction of the Southern Gas Interconnection, saying that Croats must play a key role in that project.
According to him, the goal of that project is to enable BiH to stop being dependent on the flow of Russian gas through Serbia.
“We believe that, whatever solution is found in BiH, it should be a solution in which the Croats as a constituent nation, since the gas comes from Croatia to the area where Croats live in BiH, must play a key role. There are no dilemmas, and that’s why we supported Dragan Čović,” said Plenković.
The Croatian Prime Minister announced his arrival in Mostar on April 16 for the opening of the International Economic Fair.
“This time we have a role as a partner country. A large number of Croatian companies and I, who have been coming for the last few years, will come. And this time I will certainly be very pleased to come and respond to the host’s invitation,” Plenković said.
