“In formulating the European policy towards migrants, it is important to distinguish between refugees and economic migrants,” said Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić after a meeting of the EU foreign ministers (FAC) in Brussels, highlighting that these two groups’ reasons for coming to Europe were fundamentally different. The eastern migration route, which crosses Croatia, is seeing an uptick in migrants motivated by better economic conditions and they should be sent back based on agreements with their countries, Pusić said.
The meeting also discussed the control of the EU’s external borders, notably the border between Greece and Turkey. Pusić recalled that Croatia had lent a police boat to FRONTEX, the European border management agency. We believe that FRONTEX should be strengthened and include all member states, Pusić said, adding that beefing up forces on the EU’s internal borders instead of strengthening FRONTEX’s activities on the external border was wrong and detrimental to relations between the member states.
In regard to the conclusions on the status of Bosnia’s European integration process, Pusić said that Croatia had played an important role in its revival and should therefore participate in the ALTHEA peacekeeping mission. Said mission is a leftover of sorts from the Dayton Process, therefore it is necessary to alter the regulations so that Croatia, as a member state of the EU and NATO, could continue to take part in making Bosnia and Herzegovina stable and safe, given that the country is in its immediate neighbourhood, said Pusić. “Any idea directed at political takedown of Bosnia is unacceptable to the EU and the country’s neighbours,” she said, adding that destabilizing the political situation in Bosnia when there was a chance of activating the Stabilization and Association Agreement would be a destructive step backwards.