After his meeting with Presidents Pahor and Van der Bellen, President Milanović states: I hope Slovenia will not block Croatia’s Admission to Schengen
The war in Ukraine and European prospects of Western Balkan countries with special emphasis on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the main topics of the Trilateral meeting that took place on Friday on Brijuni islands between the President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran Milanović, the President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor, and the Federal President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen.
“We discussed two topics, the first one is inevitable, the painful and relentless war in Ukraine where we cannot change anything, but three heads are always better than one. I am in a better position now thanks to certain perceptions and different standpoints. If I speak on behalf of the three of us, our stance is condemnation of Russian aggression, everything else is not in our power. We cannot change things, but we can direct attention to them, hope that the war will end as soon as possible, and that Russia will return to the starting points before the aggression”, President Milanović told reporters after the Trilateral meeting, the first one in his term as host.
As regards the second topic, the situation in the Western Balkans, he stated: “This interests us, Croatia given its position more than Slovenia and Austria since we border with this area, and it is in everyone’s interest for it to be stable, predictable, orderly, democratic, just as it should be for states that are ready to join the European Union. Unfortunately, that is far from reality. Since I am the Croatian president, I had to address the issue of the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, half a million people who are Croatian and European citizens, even NATO members, whose rights have for a long time now been systematically and perfidiously violated. If there is some consolation then it is that it is not possible for the situation to have a violent outcome, but instability, insecurity, life in a disorderly area without any guarantees are the reality for Croats in BiH, and that is something Croatia cannot and will not neglect”.
President Milanović supports the Western Balkan countries in continuing negotiations that are under way in the case of Serbia and Montenegro as well as in starting negotiations for North Macedonia and Albania.
President Van der Bellen stated that the Trilateral meeting has become part of tradition. “There is a long history in our three countries going back several centuries, but first of all we are bound by a common present and a common future. This present and future are in the European Union. I always look forward to trilateral meetings because it is important for neighbours and friends to be in contact, have a good basis for discussion, and openly debate issues that are of interest to all three sides”, the Federal President of the Republic of Austria said, and congratulated Croatia, which will become a member of the eurozone next year on 1st January since “our economic ties will thus intensify”.
Speaking about the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Austrian Federal President said: “Our shock is huge, and I must say that I am one of those who did not predict such a turn of events. We discussed measures of helping Ukraine in this difficult period as well as sanctions against Russia imposed by Europe Union members in a strikingly united way. It is important that there be no divisions between us”.
President Van der Bellen confirmed the importance of EU enlargement to Western Balkan states. “These are six countries that we simply must not lose sight of, especially due to the specific situation of the war raging in Ukraine. For these six countries accession to the EU has been delayed for many years, and in a way this leads to the frustration of the population of those countries that are relatively big. In Austria we are confident that reform processes will accompany the EU accession process, but also that the population of those countries must feel that the process has been beneficial to them during the negotiations themselves – it has to be linked to concrete benefits and advantages”, the Austria Federal President stated.
President Pahor considers the Trilateral meeting important because as he said, “it is good to have friends all around the world, and most importantly that your neighbours are your friends and for this reason these meetings are so important to me”.
“My entire political life I have been and am confident and committed to a peaceful resolution of disputes, and as I told my counterparts, perhaps for the first time in my life I do not see the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the dispute, at least for the moment. Russia has undertaken something very immoral, it was not provoked, it was not forced to, nor had it any justification to attack neighbouring Ukraine, yet has done so. We must strive to not allow any divisions. We must remain faithful to ourselves and to the values that the three of us share as members of the EU family. We must seek ways to stop the war, to put an end to the human suffering we are witnessing, and solve these complex issues through diplomatic channels”, President Pahor said about the war in Ukraine.
He told reporters that “European prospects are the only permanent guarantee for peace and security in the Western Balkans”. “Should enlargement be delayed, we will give room to various nationalisms and politics that will see their prospects elsewhere, and that can be dangerous not only for peace and security in the Balkans, but in a wider area”, President Pahor noted. He also commented Croatia’s admission to the Schengen Area, i.e. the eventual change of policy of the new Slovenian government on this issue: “Croatia’s admission to Schengen is in our mutual interest, and I would not make it conditional on the enforcement of the border arbitration award. That arbitration award is in effect, sooner or later it will be realized, but I would not make it conditional on admission to Schengen.”
President Milanović underlined that he hopes Slovenia will not block Croatia’s admission to Schengen, and added: “It is not up to me to estimate what the Slovenian national interest is, and to put myself in someone else’s position. Croatia’s interest is to be admitted to the Schengen area and the eurozone. This is not a one-dimensional story, it has its challenges, and people should be constantly told that. There are states that have not been admitted to Schengen, yet could or should have, and the whole time are avoiding to meet the criteria, and the convergence criteria in order not to have to enter the eurozone because they estimate it would be better like this. Whoever wanted to be admitted to the eurozone has done so up to now, therefore so will Croatia. As regards Schengen, Slovenian citizens are the owners of a vast number of real estate in Croatia, there are about one million arrivals from Slovenia to Croatia, those who are owners of real estate naturally want to enjoy their benefits, and Schengen will facilitate this”.
Answering questions on NATO enlargement, President Van der Bellen underlined that Austria is a neutral country, and that it currently does not intend to apply for membership. The President of Slovenia has confirmed that Slovenia supports Sweden and Finland’s membership in NATO, and that their decision after 200 years of neutrality speaks for itself about changing circumstances. “I do not have much understanding for Turkish demands, and as for their conditions, I want these states to become full-fledged members without great difficulty and with general consensus as soon as possible,” President Pahor remarked.
As regards NATO enlargement President Milanović explained that he is “conservative towards everyone”. “This is an exclusive, elite military alliance where the most serious existing guarantees are assured. You take responsibility for someone else. Croatia had to wait a long time, it bothers me somewhat that other unrests and fears, other security reasons at the moment are being taken into consideration, that all possible procedures are being bypassed, yet we had to wait for years. There is no malice on my part, but some order and rules should be set for all – for Croatia, for Sweden, for Finland, even for Turkey”, President Milanović said in concluding his statement to the press.
PHOTO :Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Anamarija Katić, Tomislav Bušljeta