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SARAJEVO, May 10 (FENA) - The Zagreb Summit between EU member states and Southeast European countries was a key event in Croatia's presidency of the EU Council when a strong message was sent to neighbors that the EU is ready to support their reform and European efforts, said in an interview with FENA, the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivan Sabolić.
The "European Union - Western Balkans" summit was organized on the initiative of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, recalls Sabolić, and expressed satisfaction that, despite the pandemic, the meeting was held in full format.
Speaking about the content of the adopted declaration, he emphasized that the document confirmed the unquestionable EU support for the European perspective of the neighboring countries, with the common goal of building a strong, stable and united Europe.
"The EU is determined to further strengthen its engagement to support the political, economic and social transformation of Southeast European countries. The level of EU support will depend primarily on real progress in the rule of law and socio-economic reforms in those countries," he said.
The ambassador emphasized that the political legacy of the Croatian presidency will remain that Croatia contributed to the opening of negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, that a new negotiation methodology was adopted during the presidency, and that enlargement topics have been placed on the EU agenda.
"Strong support for BiH was sent at the summit. Prime Minister Plenković reiterated Croatia's desire and interest for BiH to gain a candidate status as soon as possible. At the same time, Croatia's interest in the equality of all three constituent peoples being exercised in practice as it is provided by the BiH Constitution, was also reiterated," Sabolić added.
He emphasized that as an equal constituent people, Croats should be legitimately represented in the highest institutions of BiH, and there are certain preconditions for that, from changing the Election Law to other changes in legislation.
"Croatia will continue putting this topic on the agenda because it is important for the functioning of BiH. BiH has a friend and partner in Croatia ready to help with its position as an EU member, but also with its experience from the demanding negotiation process," the ambassador said.
Sabolić said that everyone in BiH should take part actively and take responsibility within the institutions and their competencies in order for BiH to gain a candidate status for membership as soon as possible.
When it comes to the implementation of 14 priorities from the Opinion of the European Commission, the key role belongs to the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, says Sabolić, whose direct competence is the process of passing the necessary laws.
In his opinion, it is necessary to support and encourage activities within the already established way of joint action on the implementation of all activities related to the process of BiH integration into the EU, i.e., within the mechanism of coordination of European integration processes, in order to avoid misunderstandings or unnecessary obstacles.
Therefore, he welcomed the meeting of the Collegium for European Integration, the highest political body in the system of coordination of European integration process in BiH, expressing confidence that the Committee for European Integration will prepare the methodology for drafting the EU Integration Program and the Action Plan for implementing the priorities from the EC Opinion.
He also referred to the issue of the coronavirus pandemic that has affected the whole world, emphasizing that the Zagreb Summit highlighted that, despite everything, the pandemic strengthened the EU's ties with the countries of Southeast Europe.
"During the pandemic, I visited the most affected cantons and municipalities in the Federation of BiH. I also visited the University Clinical Hospital Mostar, which treats the most severe COVID-19 patients from three cantons. I also visited health workers in the municipality of Čitluk, which was the largest focal point of the epidemic in the Federation of BiH, in order to get informed about the situation on the ground and to express the support of the Republic of Croatia to the cantonal and municipal authorities, and especially to the health professionals," said the ambassador.
He underlined that the EU, as many times before, has shown solidarity with BiH and our neighboring countries. It has approved a 3.3 billion-euro aid package to support neighboring countries, in the form of very favorable loans. To fight coronavirus, the EU has set aside about 330 million euros for BiH, including 80.5 mllion in grants for emergency medical equipment and mitigating socio-economic consequences.
Also, at the beginning of the outbreak of the pandemic, the Government of Croatia passed a decision on financial assistance to health care institutions in BiH, and the organization of humanitarian aid is underway, which the Government of the Republic of Croatia decided to send to BiH in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
Croatia Foreign and EU Affairs Minister, Gordan Grlić Radman has officially informed BiH Foreign Minister Bisera Turković on the matter.
From the beginning of the pandemic crisis until today, the diplomatic and consular missions of the Republic of Croatia in BiH have organized repatriation for 153 Croatian citizens, who have expressed interest in returning to Croatia.
Also, as the embassy of the country holding the presidency of the EU Council, in cooperation with the EU Delegation in Sarajevo, two meetings of local consular cooperation of EU member states in BiH have been organized during the pandemic, where information and agreed activities were exchanged with representatives of BiH institutions.
However, one of the outstanding issues between BiH and Croatia is still the issue of building a radioactive waste disposal site for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant in the area of Trgovska gora, which is located near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In this regard, Ambassador Sabolić reminds that the Fund for Financing the Decommissioning and Disposal of Radioactive Waste of the Krško Nuclear Power Plant has been assigned with the former military warehouse Čerkezovac, where the plan is to establish a Center for Radioactive Waste Disposal.
In order to achieve the conditions for waste disposal at that location, it is necessary for the location to be confirmed by conducting an environmental impact study, and then a series of research work (geological, hydrological, ecological, seismological, geomorphological) and a series of safety analyses to prove that the project will not have harmful effects on the environment, explains Sabolić.
He notes that during this procedure, cooperation will be necessary not only with local authorities and the public in Croatia, but also with neighboring countries, which is in line with the international ESPOO convention, and the ambassador expressed hope that the BiH institutions will be adequately involved in that process.
"If the environmental impact procedure confirms that there will be no harmful effects to the environment, the procedure for obtaining a location and construction permit will follow, and only after obtaining the necessary permits will construction of the facility begin," concluded the Croatian ambassador Ivan Sabolić in an interview with FENA.
(FENA) S. R.
