prijava
SARAJEVO, January 12 (FENA) - Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Denis Zvizdić, in an interview with the Federal News Agency (FENA), said that relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia are quite complex and that they cannot be viewed unilaterally, or through the prism of only the last presidential election in the Republic of Croatia.
Interviewer: Aida Kovač
"There are a few facts we must always keep in mind. The first and most important is that Croatia is our neighbor with whom we share the longest border, more than a thousand kilometers; that we are strategically, geopolitically, territorially, historically, directed towards each other. So our relationships go way back in the past and in that sense it makes sense for us to rely on each other. These are facts that we must not forget," Zvizdić underlines.
On the other hand, he added, we have current political processes and events that give a specific note or define relations between BiH and Croatia.
Zvizdić believes that Zoran Milanovic's victory in the presidential elections in Croatia is based on the fact that he offered a different perspective, above all the development of Croatia, and then the relations in the region itself.
"Therefore, those who voted for Milanović voted precisely for a change in relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina or between Croatia and BiH. This is what we expect. The relations so far, in my opinion, were not on a satisfactory degree, I speak at the level of the President. They were not ata satisfactory degree of mutual respect, respect for the sovereignty and integrity of BiH, but we have seen frequent and unwarranted interference with the internal affairs of BiH and an attempt to unnaturally patronize all the processes in the region and in BiH," Zvizdić said.
He believes that this needs to change and that there are enough topics, enough space "for a normal relationship between BiH and Croatia, where, on the basis of mutual respect, reciprocity, respect for international standards, we can certainly improve relations at the political, economic, cultural level."
"Croatia is one of our most important foreign trade partners. We are historically oriented to one another. BiH is an aspirant to European integration, Croatia is a member of the European Union and NATO. I have to say that in the earlier period, the Government of Croatia, and especially Andrej Plenković, have always been positively oriented towards the European integration of BiH. We could always rely on them as someone who has helped us significantly in this process," Zvizdić pointed out.
He added that, at the same time, there are some topics that still present problems in relations between the two countries, such as "construction of the Pelješac Bridge, the potential nuclear waste site in Trgovska Gora, the use of BiH property, etc..."
"These are the topics should be put out front, they should be discussed on the basis of facts and international law. I expect Zoran Milanović to bring it all back into the institutional framework, to have the visits at the state institutions level, not just at the level of one political party or ethnically based visits. Such visits should be visits to Bosnia and Herzegovina, all its peoples and citizens, visits that will certainly be able to change and improve relations between BiH and Croatia," Zvizdić concluded.
(FENA) S. R.
