Plenković: Croatia will not impose sanctions on Dodik

(Patria) - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated in Mostar tonight, after a meeting with representatives of HDZ BiH, that his country will not impose sanctions on Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik.

Plenković asserted that Croatia understands the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina very well.

- Croatia supports Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state. Especially the position of Croats as one of the three constituent peoples. This is a rather serious crisis.

This requires everyone to return to constitutional frameworks and to reduce tensions in a certain way so that no tensions arise, but rather to jointly engage in economic prosperity and the European path - said Plenković.

He emphasizes that Zagreb's fundamental position is that the institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the representatives of political parties that gain the trust of citizens, regardless of their ethnicity, should regulate and stabilize the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- We followed the discussion on the Election Law of BiH at the end of last week. Trust in Bosnia and Herzegovina among all three peoples can exist if that trust is also translated into respect.

And respect is then manifested in the elections of the real representatives of individual peoples, and not that we have a situation that deeply frustrates political representatives and the Croatian people themselves in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

And this has been happening for four times. This is a small step for other peoples, and a big step for the Croatian people. A prerequisite for the harmonious functioning of BiH - Plenković stated.

He emphasizes that he regrets that the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina has escalated.

- Everyone should return to the framework of the BiH Constitution, and we know that it is the Dayton Agreement, regardless of later upgrades. These foundations must be respected.

I would say that all tendencies coming from the ranks of political representatives in Republika Srpska, especially the leader of SNSD, which would lead to the strengthening of separatist tendencies, are bad.

We believe that tensions should be calmed. Return to the right path of cooperation. Croatia has the greatest interest in stability here - said Plenković, reports Istraga.ba.

He expects that the efforts from the European Union on this issue will be directed towards calming tensions and establishing dialogue.

He also spoke about the sanctions imposed on Dodik by Austria and Germany.

- The initiative to adopt sanctions at the EU level will not pass. It is not realistic. As for Croatia, we are not in the same position as countries that are not neighbors.

We are the first neighbors. Banja Luka is an hour, an hour and a half from Zagreb, and from that side we want to send calming messages. Everything else, I think, is not good.

Everything else would lead to greater tensions, weaken functionality, slow down the European path, and ultimately worsen the economic position of BiH citizens. That is what we do not want. We want the opposite - added Plenković.