Special Representative of the EU to BiH Ambassador Peter Sorensen announced today after the meeting with the mayor of the municipality Gradiška Zoran Latinović that several technical issues that border municipalities in BIH face and will have a 1,000 km long border with the EU soon after Croatia joins the EU should be solved within a month.
“The challenges we face are clear, and it is clear that we wish to help’’, said Sorensen.
He recalled that one month ago he visited this municipality, which only emphasizes the importance given to cross-border cooperation with local communities.
“Municipalities, as the closest level of government are of great importance to citizens and have a very important role in the process of European integration’’, said Sorensen and said that therefore he visits local communities with ambassadors in BiH in order to become familiar with the problems there.
The mayor of municipality Gradiška Zoran Latinović pointed out that this local community and its citizens should not be collateral damage of the unsettled political relations in BiH and that the local government will do everything to preserve the BIP status of the border crossing in the municipality.
At the same time, he called for everything to be done that would contribute to a normal traffic flow through municipalities and its border crossings.
“In this part, we expect the support of the European Commission in BIH in order to improve all elements of transport, and the transport of goods and passengers’’, added Latinović and said that he expects the support of Sorenson and in discussions with the BiH Indirect Taxation Authority and the BIH Ministry of Finance Nikola Špirić tied to the need to expand the existing customs terminal.
He said that the municipality should quite reasonably have certain benefits from the high traffic of heavy vehicles and passenger cars through its border passing, and at least partially compensate for all damages the local infrastructure suffers and the threat of its natural environment.
The Special Representative of the EU to BiH Peter Sorenson added that this was spoken about and that he would speak with the BiH representatives of government on the best ways to ensure the functionality of this border crossing, through which 400 trucks, 350 passenger cars and 80 buses travel daily.
Therefore, he added that it is very important that everything works and there is commitment in the partnership with local other government bodies to find the best possible solution for all.
However, he said that the final word can only come from BiH politicians, and not him.
The mayor of Gradiška added that several construction works are underway that would solve in the best way possible the issue of traffic in this community, through which the border crossing around 80 percent of goods of plant and animal origin would pass through.
