Miro Lazović: Božo Ljubić's rhetoric exacerbates relations between BiH and Croatia

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - If Croatia and BiH want to mend strained relations, then Božo Ljubić should be urgently returned to the Orthopedic Clinic in Sarajevo. Even as head of the department from which he left Sarajevo and shortly thereafter, as a great Croat from Široki Brijeg, took a seat in the Croatian Parliament, stated former member of the Presidency of BiH and vice-president of SDP, Miro Lazović.

He reacted to the statement of Croatian Parliament representative Božo Ljubić, who, commenting on the Law on Electoral Units in FBiH, said he feared the disintegration of BiH, and not peacefully.

"I fear that end, you know. I fear that it would represent the disintegration of BiH, because I know that it could not be carried out peacefully," said Ljubić in a show on N1 TV.

The Constitutional Court of BiH ordered amendments to the Election Law of BiH concerning the appointment of delegates to the House of Peoples in FBiH. Political parties SDP, DF, SBB, SDA, and NS are seeking at least one delegate from each of the three constituent peoples in BiH from each canton in the House of Peoples of FBiH, while HDZ is seeking for representatives of the peoples to be elected only from those areas where they are the majority, which other parties assess as anti-European values and new ethnic divisions in the country. Ljubić threatens that the law proposed by SDP and other political parties, if adopted, could lead to the disintegration of BiH, and even conflict.

"While he was in Sarajevo, he was respected, and his views and behavior earned him the respect of the citizens of Sarajevo. Probably influenced by his long stay in Sarajevo, he distanced himself from the extreme line of HDZ, formed HDZ 1990, and pursued a correct policy until his return to HDZ. Today, in the Parliament, with his statements, under the guise of concern for the interests of the Croatian people, he has long been deceiving the Croatian public, polluting and complicating relations between Croatia and BiH," reacted Lazović, reports the Patria agency.

"Croatian officials must finally understand that the criticisms coming from the region, as well as from the EU, that Croatia is dangerously shifting to the right are partly due to the views of Božo Ljubić, whose aggressive and nationalist stances are becoming dominant in Croatia's relationship with BiH," concluded Lazović.