Minister Pusić: SAA with Bosnia not only matter of goodwill, but also meeting criteria

The EU Foreign Affairs Council recommended that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Bosnia and Herzegovina should enter into force after the country has met the necessary conditions

The EU Foreign Affairs Council recommended that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Bosnia and Herzegovina should enter into force after the country has met the necessary conditions, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić told the press. She added it was important that the SAA, signed before Croatia joined the EU, was adapted to the present circumstances, i.e. include Croatia as well.

Pusić recalled that the SAA was a gateway of sorts to the EU membership negotiations, as it included many of the criteria required for opening certain chapters. If conditions are not met, she said, the whole process drags on.

“This decision unlocked the SAA between Bosnia and the EU, which had been suspended – in other words, launched the negotiations process,” Pusić said, adding that now it was not only a matter of goodwill, but meeting concrete criteria as well.

Regarding Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's visit to Germany, Pusić dismissed the claims that the two countries’ relations were undermined by the Perković case. “I think that the relations between Croatia and Germany are good, as evidenced by our plans for joint activities regarding Bosnia. Such visits on the highest protocol level are a sign of partners acknowledging one another," Pusić concluded.

Pusić confirmed that the FAC meeting also discussed amending the EU migration policy, as illegal migration is becoming a major problem for Europe. She said the focus was mostly on migrations from the Southern Mediterranean, but that that included people from Sub-Saharan Africa as well, which slip through porous borders, reach the Mediterranean and cross into Europe. She also mentioned the migrations from Eastern Europe into the EU member states, underlining that one of the problems was that the countries on the frontline of the Mediterranean were most vulnerable, but that e.g. Sweden and Germany were often the destination of choice for illegal immigrants.

“This is a problem that has to be solved at its root, but the question is where is that root. Often the emigrants from Libya and not Libyans but Syrians, Iraqis and Malians, for whom Libya is just a transit country,” underlined Pusić, adding that sometimes it was possible to reach an agreement with countries from which migrants were entering Europe, as was the case with Turkey, but that migrants from Libya presented a bigger problem as there was no interlocutor on that side, no single government. 

Press releases