- Published: 23.08.2012.
Press Release
“The ratification is our absolute priority and we must not succumb to giving up before the very end”, Pusić said, adding that the Treaty "has been ratified formally by 11 and actually by 12 countries and it is expected to be ratified by nine more by the end of the year”. To step up or complete the ratification, Pusić is expected to visit Great Britain, France, Spain and Finland by the end of the year. She does not expect problems with the ratification, not even in the Slovenian parliament.
"For our relations it would be useful and positive if the Slovenian government sent the ratification proposal to parliament”, Pusić said, stressing that the Ljubljanska Banka issue should not be tied to the ratification.
"The Ljubljanska Banka issue has to be solved and we are ready to talk about it. We also agreed that the issue should be dealt with by appointed financial experts” - Croatia's Zdravko Rogić and Slovenia's France Arhar, she said.
"For Croatia it is also important that the European Commission's main report this October be positive and we hope that after the report the number of chapters on which we submit regular reports to the Commission will be reduced," Pusić said, adding that those regular reports had turned out to be not a bad control model. Many things that were dramatic, such as shipbuilding and the judiciary, are being dealt with, she said, adding that progress had also been noted in EU funds absorption, "but there is still a lot of room there which Croatia should use and talks on interdepartmental cooperation are under way”.
The minister also spoke of the possibility of building the Pelješac Bridge, a project that would link Croatia's south with the rest of the country and solve the issue of transport of people and goods.
"We have received indisputable confirmation that the project can apply for European funds and on September 19 a meeting will be held with EC commissioners at which we will discuss the EU's demands regarding the Schengen requirements. The Croatian government sees an interest here and this is an issue we will solve”, Pusić said, adding that solving this issue was tied to permanently solving the border issue with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The minister recalled that an interim regime was being enforced in that region since 1999 in accordance with an agreement signed by the then presidents of the two countries which the government is expected to send to parliament for ratification this autumn.
"We will talk about that with BiH, of course, and I hope we will solve it”, she said, adding that detailed analyses of the issue had established that the Tudjman-Izetbegovic agreement respected the republics' borders that existed before Croatia and BiH gained independence, and that the isles of Mali Skoj and Veliki Skoj and the tip of the Klek peninsula, under the interim regime, were under Bosnian administration.
To apply for European funds for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, Croatia has to make a preliminary feasibility study, expected to be ready in a few months, and the first cohesion funds Croatia can apply for are those for 2014.
Pusić also underlined the importance of regional cooperation and announced the possibility of meeting with new Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić as well as visits to Macedonia and Albania. “It is in Croatia's interest that the entire region stabilises and that its countries take the European path as soon as possible”, she said.
By the end of the year, Pusić will hold bilateral meetings on the fringes of the UN General Assembly and conferences in Vienna, Cyprus and Bled. In Brussels, she will meet with Bosnian Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdžija and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele. In Paris, she will attend the opening of the Croatian Culture Festival, and in Dubrovnik a European Investment Bank meeting to present the Excellence Centre and the Adriatic Provence, two Croatian projects to be submitted for European funding.
Pusić said Croatia would also focus on projects such as civilian missions that would follow its military peace missions. Croatia has already opened a school for girls in Afghanistan and plans to open a hospital for the training of midwives, also there. “Croatia has profiled itself in multilateral organisations as a state advocating the rights of women and girls in education and employment”, the minister said.
By the year’s end, the Croatian foreign minister will have held 46 foreign-policy activities, of which 22 will have been bilateral and 24 multilateral.