Izetbegović: Vučić is a pragmatic and capable politician, Kitarović's attitude towards BiH questionable

We warned Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović not to talk about thousands of extremists and terrorists in BiH, and she recently raised that number to 10,000, said SDA President Bakir Izetbegović, reports Patria agency.

He then recalled her statements that Croatia will help BiH in its EU accession, and Izetbegović asks:

- Why would the EU admit a country with 10,000 potential terrorists. Why would anyone invest in BiH, why would anyone come as a tourist expecting a bomb to be planted. What kind of attitude is this from Ms. Kitarović towards this country? We persistently told her, and Minister Mektić, and I, and other officials, that this is not the case – said Izetbegović.

He presented data showing that in the past 18 months, no one from BiH has gone to foreign battlefields, nor has there been any terrorism in BiH.

- The problem of radicalism in this country is clearly declining. Ms. Kitarović is adding zeros, is this a proper benevolent attitude in line with what Croatia claims to have towards BiH.

The SDA Presidency most sharply condemns and fully rejects the Islamophobic attacks that have recently intensified, coming from the highest officials of some EU member states such as Croatia, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Their motives may be different, but the consequences are the same, which is to present Bosniaks in BiH as an undesirable and dangerous element in Europe.

- Bosniaks are a proud, indigenous European people who, even in the most difficult times, have shown that extremism and radicalism are alien to them, despite the mass crimes and the only genocide in Europe since World War II to date committed against them. BiH is a member of the Global Coalition to Combat Terrorism and has fulfilled all its obligations arising from it.

- We call on the officials of these countries not to target Bosniaks in BiH and instead to prevent the spread of neo-Nazism and retrograde ideologies in their own backyards. When it comes to Islamophobic attacks coming from the highest officials of the Republic of Croatia, as well as attacks on the first president of the Republic of BiH, Alija Izetbegović, they have clear political goals, which are to achieve solutions in the process of amending the Election Law of BiH that lead BiH to further ethnic and territorial divisions, as well as to sideline and relativize the joint criminal enterprise in which Croatia plays a significant role and for which the Herceg Bosna para-state's top leadership was sentenced to 111 years in prison by the first-instance verdict of the Hague Tribunal, and for which a second-instance verdict is expected. We call on the Republic of Croatia not to treat BiH in this inappropriate manner, as it could jeopardize and endanger the necessary good neighborly relations between our countries – these are the conclusions of the SDA Presidency.

Izetbegović said that the data he has also shows a decrease in the number of parallel communities in BiH and the activity of people within them.

Speaking about the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on September 7 and 8, Izetbegović said that they will discuss several open issues.

- I see Mr. Vučić as a pragmatic and capable politician who will help calm and improve relations in the Balkans, despite certain crises in those relations, accelerations, and challenges.

Izetbegović also commented on the Declaration announced by RS and Serbia.

- They say it will be a declaration on the rights of Serbs, on their survival, right to language, culture, identity, etc. All we expect is that they grant the same rights to others, the right to the Bosnian language, and I think we will be able to reach an agreement.

He said that they will not be able to find common ground on the border issue.

- We will see what they are asking for, what they are offering, so we can try to find a solution through the work of commissions.

Speaking about the Sarajevo-Belgrade highway route, he said that it should connect Sarajevo and Tuzla and go to Bijeljina, as well as bring Sarajevo closer to Goražde.

- The intention is to reach Goražde in 50 minutes if we break through the tunnel.