Skopljaković: Opening of offices of certain cantons in Brussels is another perfidious idea of Dragan Čović

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The president of the Croatian Party of BiH, Božo Skopljaković, reacted to the announced opening of representative offices of certain cantons from FBiH in Brussels, announced by the member of the Presidency of BiH and president of HDZ, Dragan Čović.

- The Croatian Party of BiH believes that in terms of procedure, there is really nothing controversial about some or more cantons from BiH opening their representative office in Brussels; the Sarajevo Canton has already done so. However, the leaders of HDZ BiH must explain to the public in detail the main motives for opening the Office in the European capital, the names of the cantons that will submit this request to the Government of the Brussels region, and ultimately the model for attracting investments and the method of distributing projects and funds, if they are ever approved - believes the president of HS.

Given that it is already quite clear that a larger number of Croats would be bypassed in attracting investments and the possible distribution of funds from various sources, because mixed Croatian-Bosniak cantons will certainly not make the necessary decisions to apply for opening representative offices in Brussels, the Croatian Party warns that this is another perfidious and unfair idea of HDZ BiH from which only one area would benefit, while Croats from Bosnia would only wait for possible charity, as is the case with the distribution of grants and financial reserves within the country.

- The leaders of HDZ BiH are again using false promises in the election campaign. They are not capable, nor do they want to, for the cantons where that party rules to make a concrete contribution through the coordination mechanism to speed up BiH's European path and for our country to get that desired candidate status. Who can still be naive enough to believe that such untrustworthy and undesirable leaders, who have opened a conflict with Western countries, will open representative offices precisely in the European capital. Well, the HDZ BiH government has brought the Croatian cantons to financial collapse and cannot finance basic Croatian cultural, educational, media, and sports functions of social life, let alone pay for an expensive representative office and lobbying in Brussels.

Such cheap political tricks no longer work and will certainly not cause any euphoria among Croats. So, if they already have money in cantonal treasuries, let them direct it towards the return of Croats to RS and FBiH. Unfortunately, unnecessary attention and weight are given to a manipulation by some Sarajevo parties and individuals who carelessly compete in attacks on Dragan Čović, thereby doing him a favor and free advertising.

No parallel diplomatic network is possible without decisions from competent state institutions, and the leaders in Sarajevo should know that, as well as the fact that their canton had a representative office in Brussels and that was not controversial - says Skopljaković.