Statement by Minister Pusić after today’s FAC meeting

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić is attending today a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić is attending today a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. “The morning part of the meeting was dominated by a discussion on Ebola, while High Representative Ashton commented on the election in Bosnia and Herzegovina and EU-Iran talks in her keynote remarks. Regarding BH, she said the country’s new leadership faced a task of quickly responding to the prospect of progress in the EU accession, and that the deadline for talks with Iran was 24 November,” Pusić said.

Ebola was the main topic of the morning part of the meeting. The EU member states agree on appointing an EU special commissioner for fighting the spread of Ebola. “It is a battle that needs to be won in Africa, while the doctors and medical staff have to get treatment in Europe in case of infection. A survey of the member states’ readiness to finance the fight against Ebola has been made, but individual contributions given so far were not outlined,” Pusić told the press.

At a lunch with the EU special commissioner for Libya, the ministers discussed the situation in the country. “There is no other way to resolve the situation other than negotiations between the two sides, the two parliaments. The outcome is not optimistic, but it is the only thing than can ensure a step forward,” Pusić said.

“We agreed that certain countries of the Southern Mediterranean had a strong influence on the situation in Libya, so a solution has to be talked over with them too. The consequences for Europe are equally dramatic. Europe, especially its Mediterranean part, which includes Croatia, is interested in stabilizing the situation in Libya. Europe believes it has to right to seek a solution. Claims that Europe is not interested are completely false,” said the foreign minister.

In regard to the arrest of Zagreb mayor, Pusić said: “This is a judiciary issue and should be viewed as such. The fight against corruption is not just action plans and strategies. Sometimes it is quite dramatic, regardless of whether the guilt is real or not, founded or unfounded. This kind of fourth transition is not pleasant, it looks abstract only in the action plans. In real life, true or not, it looks exactly like it did.”

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