- Published: 11.12.2012.
Prime Minister Milanovic says Bosnian Croats won't disappear with Croatia's EU entry
Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday Bosnian Croats would not disappear with Croatia's accession to the European Union in 2013 but remain an important factor in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He was responding to a question by a Bosnian student at Split's Law School about the effect Croatia's EU entry would have on Bosnian Croats.
"The Croats in Bosnia won't disappear. There was a horrible war, a military aggression, ethnic cleansing, relocation, but the Croats... are deeply rooted where they have stayed, spiritually, culturally and materially, because they are doing a good job," he said, adding that although the picture had changed, Croats would stay in Bosnia and notably in Herzegovina as an important factor.
Milanovic said his father's descendants were from Livno in Bosnia and that "the largest number of today's members of the Croatian nation" came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, settling throughout Croatia.
"I am a Croat. My descendants were Croat Catholics, my party is a party of citizens and people of different nationalities, but mostly Croats, vote for it," he said.
Milanovic said he viewed Bosnia and Herzegovina as a different state with a Croat population of half a million who had Croatian citizenship and who would become EU citizens when Croatia joined the Union with the same rights as the population in Croatia, which he said posed a challenge.
"With Croatia's accession to the European Union, the border will be somewhat more closed because of control and it is in our strategic interest that all neighbouring countries become European Union members as soon as possible... which will mean the stability of our investments and doing business, and then the security of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well."
"I wish Serbia and Montenegro too to join the European Union as soon as possible but I can't do more than this because I don't run their policies or influence the actions and statements of their politicians," Milanovic said, adding that EU entry processes were in the common interest.
He said he had no prejudices about other nations, faiths or cultures and that he and his associates had only good intentions, but that they were not naive.
Milanovic said the EU accession of Croatia's neighbours would be more difficult than Croatia's, adding that Croatia had the strictest accession criteria to date.
(Hina)
News
He was responding to a question by a Bosnian student at Split's Law School about the effect Croatia's EU entry would have on Bosnian Croats.
"The Croats in Bosnia won't disappear. There was a horrible war, a military aggression, ethnic cleansing, relocation, but the Croats... are deeply rooted where they have stayed, spiritually, culturally and materially, because they are doing a good job," he said, adding that although the picture had changed, Croats would stay in Bosnia and notably in Herzegovina as an important factor.
Milanovic said his father's descendants were from Livno in Bosnia and that "the largest number of today's members of the Croatian nation" came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, settling throughout Croatia.
"I am a Croat. My descendants were Croat Catholics, my party is a party of citizens and people of different nationalities, but mostly Croats, vote for it," he said.
Milanovic said he viewed Bosnia and Herzegovina as a different state with a Croat population of half a million who had Croatian citizenship and who would become EU citizens when Croatia joined the Union with the same rights as the population in Croatia, which he said posed a challenge.
"With Croatia's accession to the European Union, the border will be somewhat more closed because of control and it is in our strategic interest that all neighbouring countries become European Union members as soon as possible... which will mean the stability of our investments and doing business, and then the security of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well."
"I wish Serbia and Montenegro too to join the European Union as soon as possible but I can't do more than this because I don't run their policies or influence the actions and statements of their politicians," Milanovic said, adding that EU entry processes were in the common interest.
He said he had no prejudices about other nations, faiths or cultures and that he and his associates had only good intentions, but that they were not naive.
Milanovic said the EU accession of Croatia's neighbours would be more difficult than Croatia's, adding that Croatia had the strictest accession criteria to date.
(Hina)