ZAGREB, June 5, 2020 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday in Mostar, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, that he is opposed to a wire fence on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina after the migrant crisis has once again escalated.
Over the past few weeks, the number of migrants coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased once again, and they are trying to reach European Union members passing through Croatia. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Security Minister Fahrudin Radoncic resigned earlier this week due to a difference in opinion in the ruling coalition with regard to resolving the migrant problem.
Plenkovic, who today met with the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union’s sister party in Bosnia and Herzegovina – HDZ BiH, Dragan Covic, said that the solution cannot lie in building physical obstacles on the border.
“I am opposed to erecting wire fences between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are two neighboring countries directed to each other and a message like that would not be good,” underscored Plenkovic.
He believes that it is key to resolve the migrant crisis on the Greece-Turkey border.
Strengthening the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Plenkovic underscored the need to strengthen the status of Croats in that Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We will do everything so that the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not weakened, just the opposite, that it is strengthened. We are constantly working on that and I think that we have more than clearly communicated the topic of the equality of Croats at all levels of the Council of the EU and the European Commission,” he told a press conference held together with Covic.
The Croatian premier added that the most important thing for Bosnia and Herzegovina is that it advances to EU membership and the equality of the three peoples there is a precondition to reach important agreements in the country.
Croatia supports Bosnia’s aspirations for EU membership and for its integration to NATO which is important for the country’s stability.
