Ahead of today’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić talked to the press.
Regarding the recommendation that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Bosnia and Herzegovina should enter into force, Pusić said that agreement was reached to unblock the negotiations, but that it did not mean that criteria would be lowered. Croatia advocates equal criteria for all, Pusić said.
“The SAA with Bosnia and Herzegovina could enter into force this spring,” Pusić said, adding that “criteria have to be met and respected, but they also have to be clearly defined so that a country could progress – this is our goal and we will stick to it in this and and in any other case.”
When asked if the recently-adopted declaration of the Croat People's Assembly in Bosnia and Herzegovina was compatible with the EU's new approach towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pusić said it was not. “Anyone who wishes well to the Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina knows that the European path is what can ensure progress for that country. This path will be taken by the EU and by Bosnia and Herzegovina," Pusić said.
As regards the Ljubljanska Banka issue, Pusić recalled that the courts had reached their decisions. As for the transferred savings, she said there was a possibility that Croatia and Slovenia jointly ask that the proceedings be halted, so that a solution could be found in a two years’ time. “Croatia is ready, has all the documents and is requesting the halting, but the Slovenian side has to do the same. If not, all the proceedings will continue before the Croatian courts,” Pusić said, adding that in the case of individual savings the European Court of Human Rights had passed its decision and there was now a certain procedure between Slovenia and the ECHR.