FM Kovač: Croats in Bosnia must be engine of country's integration with EU

(Hina) - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miro Kovač said in Mostar on Friday that Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be the engine of European integration processes and transformation of that country towards the realisation of equal rights

(Hina) - Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miro Kovač said in Mostar on Friday that Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be the engine of European integration processes and transformation of that country towards the realisation of equal rights, announcing that Croatia would strongly support that process.

"I believe it is very important that Bosnia will submit its application for (EU) candidacy under the chairmanship of Mr (Dragan) Čović over the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency. This will be a guarantee that Croats will be the engine of Bosnia's integration with the European Union," Kovač told the press before giving a talk to students at the University of Mostar.

He underscored Croatia would strongly support Bosnia's application for EU membership, despite numerous interior problems in the bloc which raised scepticism in Brussels towards the move Bosnia announced for 15 February.

"Croatia will actively support Bosnia's candidacy for EU membership. Nobody should be surprised by the fact that there is no enthusiasm about that in the EU, because the bloc is faced with a series of problems. We have the refugee crisis on our hands, the referendum in Great Britain about its future in the EU. It is logical that other issues are a priority, however it is important that the authorities in Bosnia had showed will to submit Bosnia's candidacy," Kovač said.

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