Zvizdić surprised: Petrov spoke about entities in front of a larger number of people, not behind closed doors

A reaction from the Cabinet of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Denis Zvizdić, has arrived, which the Patria news agency publishes in full.

-After a very successful first day of the visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina by the President of the Croatian Parliament, Božo Petrov, and after the meeting with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Denis Zvizdić, due to a report broadcast on HRT's Dnevnik, we are obliged, without intending to further debate this topic, to inform the public that the statement is based on authentic statements of the meeting participants.

Today's meeting of Chairman Zvizdić with the President and delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia took place in a friendly and constructive atmosphere, and the conversation was very open and based on mutual respect and a productive exchange of information, views and opinions, which was noted at the end of the meeting by all participants.

In addition to the numerous topics discussed, part of the conversation also referred to the amendments submitted by Croatian MEPs to the Report on BiH, focusing on the meaning and goals of the concept of federalism.

Chairman Zvizdić clearly stated that the concept of federalism is acceptable only if it represents a synonym for the principles and standards of European regionalism based on economic, transport and social criteria, and explained that the principle of federalism in BiH is perceived as an ethno-national principle of new territorial divisions, which would in practice undermine the existing constitutional structure of BiH and thus its reform and European path.

In this part of the conversation, the Chairman particularly emphasized that the proposal to create a new entity, i.e., a new federal unit that would arise from the "federalization of the Federation of BiH", while the RS entity would remain untouched, is completely unacceptable as a model for future internal administrative reorganization of BiH, when and if it occurs, whereby none of the present meeting participants disputed the stated position and explanation, after which the statement of President Petrov followed, which is now being interpreted differently.

Therefore, we are unpleasantly surprised by the unsubstantiated denial of one part of the conversation, or more precisely, the statement of the esteemed Mr. Petrov that he does not support the creation of new entities in BiH, which was made as a continuation of his previous statement in which Mr. Petrov supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH. All of us present, and the meeting was not "behind closed doors" but was attended by a large number of people, particularly noted and emphasized such a statement, and we perceived it very favorably because at that moment it further convinced us of the friendly stance and attitude of the Republic of Croatia towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Finally, it was jointly noted, and this is what is most important, that the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are neighbors and friends, that in their mutual cooperation they fully respect sovereignty, territorial integrity and international legal personality, and that the Republic of Croatia will continue to remain a true partner to Bosnia and Herzegovina on the path to EU and NATO integration and overall development and prosperity.