Initiative for Stolac: We hope the EU is aware of electoral irregularities after Croatia's visit

The Initiative for Stolac issued a press release commenting on the visit of a Croatian delegation to this town, writes Patria.

- We perceived the visit of Deputy Prime Minister Božo Petrov and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miro Kovač as a visit from the European Union to Stolac. This is the first member state to make a statement and come to our town to send messages - which are instructive but far from reassuring.

We welcome the representatives of the Croatian government who stated that they want to see "norms respected in Stolac, international institutions involved, the order in BiH respected, and elections held in Stolac - but under the rule of law and justice".

While insisting on respecting norms, the Croatian delegation "slipped up" and, with their unannounced visit, violated international norms of conduct, disrespecting the usual procedures for official visits to other countries. Even setting aside international norms, it is customary to enter someone else's house after knocking, so that the host does not think the guest is arrogant.

We also heard that the message from the European Union member state includes the statement "We will support Croats in BiH", although we note that the member state met only with representatives of one party! We also want to point out that violence, as well as violations of BiH laws, should be determined by the responsible institutions, and only then can someone serious commit to support. Otherwise, they could find themselves in a situation of giving support in advance to someone who, after the investigation is completed, might be found to have not respected the norms and order in BiH.

We hope that the European Union, now after the visit of its member state, is aware of the basic facts about inequality and irregularities in Stolac:

For example, out of the 4 million budget of the Stolac municipality, Mayor Bošković of HDZ, who has been in power for 12 years, has allocated only 5% of the budget funds to citizens who are not of Croatian nationality, even though they make up 40% of Stolac's population. Out of 115 employees in municipal institutions, only 10 are not Croats. All key positions in public companies are held by Croats. Despite this, we heard on Sunday that an EU member state supported the HDZ, which has been in power in Stolac for 26 years, while simultaneously claiming that Croats in Stolac have been marginalized for 26 years. We did not understand.

Meanwhile, our Croatian neighbors from Stolac go to work in Metković as cheap mandarin pickers, because Stolac, under the leadership of HDZ, is one of the poorest municipalities in BiH. We understand Croatia's interest in supporting Mr. Bošković and maintaining poverty in Stolac, so that the price of mandarins in Croatia does not increase. The citizens of Stolac will resist this type of exploitation only by defeating the HDZ in repeat elections - the statement reads.