Eurasia Press & News
EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has welcomed the message of reconciliation sent by Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, and stated that the move marks a step towards building better relations across the region.
“The Western Balkans have had a troubled, and painful past. It is important that this past does not act as a break on progress towards a common future as members of the European Union,” Fuele said in his written statement.
Croatian President Ivo Josipovic delivered an unprecedented apology in Sarajevo on Tuesday for Zagreb’s devastating policies in the 1990s, and urged Bosnian and regional leaders to put the past behind them.
Josipovic apologized for Croatia’s wartime policies, which he said have contributed to Bosnia’s current ethnic fragmentation and political deadlock.
“(The creators of) the 1990s policies…. based on the idea that division is the solution for Bosnia-Herzegovina, have sown an evil seed here, but also in their own countries,” Josipovic said in his address to Bosnian lawmakers on Tuesday.
The enlargement commissioner stressed in his reaction that the EU is a community of shared values, which are based on democracy, respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law.
Emphasizing the fact that membership in the EU requires the fulfillment of certain conditions, including regional co-operation and good neighborly relations, Fuele stated that “the words of President Josipovic are important not just for relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina but for the region as a whole”.
