Croatian President Rejects Jerusalem Post Claims: I Did Not Say That About Bosnia!

ZAGREB, (Patria) - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović commented on reports about a statement in which she allegedly said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is ''an unstable country under the control of militant Islam''.

The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported that Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is visiting Israel, said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is "very unstable and that, in a certain sense, it has been taken over by people connected to Iran and terrorist organizations." "The country is under the control of militant Islam, which is dominant in shaping attitudes," the newspaper quoted the Croatian president as saying on its website.

Did you say what the Jerusalem Post wrote? the president was asked on Wednesday during her stay in Israel.

"Absolutely not. I spoke with President Rivlin in the context in which I talk about Bosnia and Herzegovina and our other neighboring countries, and what I, after all, said at the press conferences before my meetings with President Rivlin and Netanyahu, is that I want to see our neighboring countries in the EU as soon as possible.

I did not give interviews and I did not give statements to journalists, apart from those two press conferences," Grabar-Kitarović said, as reported by N1 television.

Asked to comment on the strong reactions from Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the Jerusalem Post article, Grabar-Kitarović said:

"Those are comments on a journalist's comments... I repeat, I did not say that. I completely reject the strong reactions that compare Croatia to fascism; that is total nonsense.

The time has come to think about the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the contrary, unfortunately, recently we have seen a series of steps that Bosnia and Herzegovina is taking towards Croatia that are quite aggressive...

We should talk about cooperation, how we can help each other solve problems... Croatia is here and remains ready to help every neighboring country, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the reform process, so that they can become an EU member as soon as possible," the president said.