Pusić: EC should represent interests of EU member states

(Hina) - The European Commission should represent the interests of EU member states and that's the only thing that's relevant, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić said on Friday

(Hina) - The European Commission should represent the interests of EU member states and that's the only thing that's relevant, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić said on Friday while commenting on the call by Commissioner Johannes Hahn to the Croatian government to withdraw its decision to block the border with Serbia.

The Croatian government reopened the border with Serbia to all traffic on Friday afternoon. The border had been closed due to the influx of refugees and migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.  The refugee crisis has been affecting relations between Southeast European countries for weeks.

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović said that the blockade had been imposed for reasons of national security, accusing his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić of sending all migrants to the Croatian border in collusion with Hungary.

Responding to questions from the press in New York, Pusić said that the border had been closed only to trucks. "At the same time, about 10,000 people crossed the border from Serbia into Croatia, so the border certainly wasn't closed," she said.

"As far as the European Union is concerned, and we are the European Union, we are also the Commission, the Commission has no right to say anything to any member state in that regard. And as for non-members, the Commission should represent our interests and that's the only thing that's relevant in this regard. The prime ministers (Milanović and Vučić) spoke in the meantime, some harsh words had been said publicly, and reached a certain agreement," Pusić said. "I think that Croatia acted reasonably," she concluded.

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