ZAGREB, November 16, 2018 – The EU enlargement to Southeast Europe will be one of the priorities of Croatia’s EU presidency in the first half of 2020, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković has said in an interview with the Italian news agency Nova.
EU expansion to Southeast Europe is of strategic importance for the stability of the whole of the EU considering the new geopolitical relations, Jandroković said during a two-day official visit to Italy. “Naturally, Croatia’s support will be based on a credible, clear, strict and fair accession procedure, which it went through itself,” he said.
The other topics that will be of relevance for Croatia during its presidency are the continuation of economic growth and employment, with emphasis on young people, consolidation of the EU’s internal and external security, and energy and transport connectivity, said Jandroković.
He said that Croatia would very soon meet all criteria for accession to the Schengen area of passport-free travel and that he expected a political decision to that effect to be made at EU level before the start of the country’s presidency of the Council of the EU.
Answering a question about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jandroković said that Croatia was concerned about the fact that the Croat member of the country’s collective presidency had been elected by Bosniaks while a vast majority of Croats had voted for another candidate.
“It is necessary to amend the Bosnian election law in line with the Constitutional Court ruling on legitimate representation. The amendments must ensure the autonomous election and equal and legitimate representation of Croats, as one of the three constituent peoples,” he said. “We expect the EU and the international community to be much more sensitive to this issue,” said Jandroković.
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