Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, accompanied by several cabinet ministers, met with Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Prefect Zlatko Komadina, Rijeka Mayor Vojko Obersnel and Opatija Mayor Ivo Dujmic in the northern coastal resort town of Opatija on Wednesday to discuss local projects.
After the meeting, Komadina told the press that the talks revolved around energy issues, including the construction of an LNG terminal off Omisalj on the island of Krk, a thermal power plant at Urinj outside Rijeka, and the dismantling of the Dina petrochemical plant at Omisalj.
Also discussed were possibilities to improve the regional transport network, which includes plans to build a highway, a ring-road around Rijeka, and a container terminal in the Port of Rijeka.
PM Plenkovic was informed of progress in Rijeka's preparations for 2020 when the city will be a European Capital of Culture.
PM Plenkovic was speaking to the press in the northern Adriatic resort town of Opatija where he opened a conference on maritime and inland navigation. He was asked to comment on last week's guilty verdict against six Bosnian Croat wartime political and military leaders for war crimes committed against Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993 and 1994.
When asked about an apparent change in his view, namely that he now accepts ICTY verdicts, while not accepting some portions of them, Plenkovic told the reporter that she was twisting his words.
"Go to the government website, hear my statement and the government statement of that day and you will see that nothing like that was said. You can ask yourself what sort of activity your question is," the PM responded.
PM Plenkovic recalled that in the early 1990s Croatia, being the victim of a war of aggression, had urged the United Nations to set up an international tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
"When it comes to honouring verdicts, being a responsible member of the UN and the international community, we have no doubts about it. We have made it clear that we are dissatisfied with some of the parts and allegations, and that is our consistent position," the PM said.
Asked what Bosnian Croat veterans had told him during his visit to Mostar and why it was necessary to defuse the situation there, Plenkovic said he had visited Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mostar earlier this week to meet with political leaders of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and with all political parties operating within the Croat National Assembly.
"After this verdict, which is relevant and important for the entire Croatian people and war veterans, we talked about their reactions and what will follow," PM Plenkovic said, adding that a high degree of understanding was reached and respect shown for all war victims.
Asked if the analysis of the ICTY verdict, which was announced by Justice Minister Bosnjakovic, would be used as a legal remedy, PM Plenkovic said that the only legal remedy available was a possible review. "In order to initiate a review, it should be first requested by any of the five Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which may then open up political space for the government to get involved."
Text: Hina