ZAGREB, April 30, 2019 – Croatia and Serbia need to finally resolve the issue of the international border with Bosnia and Herzegovina as soon as possible and that would be the best proof of the readiness of these three countries to preserve peace and regional stability, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Prime Minister Denis Zvizdić said on Monday night after a Balkan summit in Berlin hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
A statement delivered to the media by Zvizdić’s office notes that Zvizdić was explicitly opposed to drawing new borders in the Western Balkans based on ethnic principles and reiterated that territorial integrity, sovereignty and a multi-ethnic society need to be the only basis on which bilateral disputes can be resolved, particularly the issue of borders.
He once again called for the signing of agreements on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s border with Croatia and Serbia “as an expression of respect for the European and democratic principle of the inviolability of internationally recognised borders, but also as proof of good neighbourly relations,” similarly to the way such an agreement was successfully concluded with Montenegro in 2015.
Zvizdić vehemently condemned connecting the solution to Kosovo’s status with the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Clearly referring to incumbent chairman of the country’s presidency, Milorad Dodik, Zvizdić said that he strongly condemned the “anti-constitutional conduct of those who are drafting some new borders across the territory of independent and internationally recognised states.”
Zvizdić’s message to Merkel and Macron was that in the existing circumstances the best support for Bosnia and Herzegovina would be to award it with the candidate status for accession to the EU and support efforts to activate the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP).
He announced that Bosnia and Herzegovina would remain a constructive partner in all regional processes and confirmed that the country was prepared to support an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina that will reflect harmony and will not have any negative consequences in the region, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Zvizdić’s message is that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a source nor a threat of any form of terrorism in the region or the EU and that it remains dedicated to constructive regional processes like the Berlin Process.
More news about the border between Croatia and Bosnia can be found in the Politics section.
