\u201cUntil the issue of the election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is solved, until the Americans, the English, the Germans force (Bosniak officials) \u2013 whose policies are not created in Brussels but elsewhere \u2013 to change the election law right now or in the next six months and give Croats their fundamental rights, the Croatian Parliament must not ratify anyone\u2019s accession to NATO. Without the Croatian Parliament and the ratification of an accession agreement, there are no new NATO members,\u201d said the President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 on Tuesday, responding to a reporter\u2019s question about Finland\u2019s and Sweden\u2019s plans to join NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Milanovi\u0107 said that Finland has every right to seek NATO accession, but that Croatia also has the right to ask for the protection of its own national interests. \u201cI would like the Finns to support us in our problems, which deal with security and are important for Croats and Croatia, because Croatia is a border state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Do you want to join NATO? No problem. That is a vital issue for Finland, and for us the vital issue is whether in Canton 10 or in Fojnica Croat representatives will be elected by Bosniaks or by Croats,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the President, \u201cthere is a lot of rude ignorance and neglect for the needs of an ally and EU and NATO member,\u201d as well as \u201cpushing Croatia out of all processes\u201d while labelling it as an aggressor, and there are \u201cvarious civic BiH projects\u201d too. President Milanovi\u0107 also commented on the unequal European integration criteria. \u201cWe have a situation in which Bulgaria and Romania cannot join Schengen, while Finland can join NATO overnight. North Macedonia and Albania cannot begin EU accession negotiations and Kosovo has not even been recognised,\u201d said the President, adding that he had raised the issue of the Croats\u2019 position in BiH with French President Macron, German President Steinmeier and other leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to a reporter\u2019s question, President Milanovi\u0107 commented further on the results of parliamentary elections in Slovenia and the purportedly announced reversal of Slovenia\u2019s policy towards Croatia. \u201cCroatia-Slovenia relations have been really good in the past two years. (Former Slovenian PM) Jan\u0161a also deserves credit for that, but he lost the elections,\u201d the President of the Republic said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will the new government complicate open issues, such as arbitration, or block Croatia\u2019s Schengen entry, reporters asked the President, who said he thinks that \u201cit will not complicate things.\u201d Regarding Schengen entry, he said that in the case of a Slovenian blockade, \u201cit will not be good.\u201d \u201cI hope they will not block us, because it is in their interest that we do their job. If they want to prevent Croatia\u2019s Schengen entry, okay. Croatia won\u2019t go down because of that. They will cause damage to themselves,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107, clarifying in principle that Croatia could in that case stop controlling the border and let Slovenia control the entry of illegal migrants. \u201cCroatia was ready for Schengen in 2015. We could have entered, but it is a political decision. Slovenia will, if it looks after its interests, ask that Croatia join Schengen \u2013 yesterday,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Milanovi\u0107 said that he will meet later today with the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor, who is paying a working visit to Croatia. \u201cWe will discuss relations between the two countries. These contacts are very important, they are constant and that testifies to some personal affinities, which is not unimportant in politics,\u201d concluded President Milanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cUntil the issue of the election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is solved, until the Americans, the English, the Germans force (Bosniak officials) \u2013 whose policies are not created in Brussels but elsewhere \u2013 to change the election law right now or in the next six months and give Croats their fundamental rights, the Croatian Parliament must not ratify anyone\u2019s accession to NATO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16681,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-16693","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n