Croatia's President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, said on Friday that Croatia is a friend of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that the Croat member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, must realise that he is not only the ethnic but also the political representative of the Croats in that country.
Speaking in an interview with Croatian Radio, Grabar-Kitarovic said that Bosnia and Herzegovina should show respect to Croatia as its friend. She said that from the outset Croatia had extended a hand of cooperation toBosnia, and that threats of a lawsuit over the construction of the Peljesac Bridge were not a good basis for cooperation.
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“You cannot forever substitute a lack of political vision, performance, economic, social and other programmes with aggressive rhetoric and inventing a non-existent enemy. Komsic has to realise that he is not only the ethnic but also the political representative of the Croatian people,” Grabar-Kitarovic said.
Asked to comment on the statement by Bosnia's Security Minister Dragan Mektic that there was evidence of Croatian police using violence against migrants, the Croatian president called on anyone in possession of such evidence to make it public, adding that the Ministry of the Interior would investigate any such case.
She insisted that the Croatian police were doing their work according to the law.
“Sometimes it is necessary to use a little force, not violence, when a group of 50 people or more are heading towards you. But there's no violence, no bodily injuries, no stun grenades, no tear gas or wire fences,” the president said.
Grabar-Kitarovic denied insinuations that Croatia was doing the dirty work for the European Union. She stressed that Croatia was abiding by the laws and regulations, and that it was also defending other European countries on its borders.
