Pusić: If refugee problem can’t be solved at source, it should be in the field

(Hina) - The European Union needs to resolve the problem of refugees in those countries where it is acute, if it cannot be resolved in the country where it originated, Croatia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić said on Thursday in Vienna

(Hina) - The European Union needs to resolve the problem of refugees in those countries where it is acute, if it cannot be resolved in the country where it originated, Croatia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić said on Thursday in Vienna.

“Croatia’s stance is that the European Union should, in those cases where it cannot resolve the problem at its origin, where it emerges, such as the war in Syria now, then it needs to solve it where it currently exists,” by securing people, experts, know-how, aid to the people and financial help, Pusić said. 

Pusić was attending a conference of foreign ministers of the Western Balkans and the EU which was being held in parallel with a summit of those countries’ prime ministers as part of the Berlin Process aimed at bringing the Western Balkans closer to the EU.

There are three groups of refugees heading along the so-called Western-Balkans route: from Syria, from Afghanistan and from Kosovo and there are three countries under the largest pressure - Greece, Macedonia and Serbia, Pusić said. 

Croatia does not plan to build walls if the wave of refugees heads towards it, Pusić underscored.

Croatia would be prepared to receive refugees, however, Pusić noted that the majority of them are heading to Germany or Sweden. She added that the problem cannot be treated by letting people through one country and passing the problem to another.

Ahead of the Vienna conference two important things occurred. Some elements of the Belgrade-Pristina agreement have been set in operation, and Montenegro signed border agreements with Bosnia and Herzegovina and with Kosovo.

“We welcome this,” Pusić said, particularly the border agreements, “considering that the first border agreement signed in the region was between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999.” “Even though that agreement was not ratified by either side, it has been applied for the past 16 years without any difficulties,” she said. 

Pusić added that Croatia advocated for the EU accession negotiation chapters with Serbia to be opened as soon as possible.  She added that countries in the Western Balkans should not be treated as a whole and “whatever we advocated for Croatia stands for other countries too, and that is criteria.”

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