President Milanović: I Support the Demands of Croats in BiH to be Granted Right to Manage Gas Pipeline, This is in Croatia’s National Interest

Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina are once again being subjected to solutions imposed against their will and, even worse, their interests. The Law on the Interconnection of Gas Networks of Croatia and BiH was adopted in the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina without the votes of the legitimate representatives of the Croatian people and despite their opposition. In fact, it was adopted under political pressure, this time exerted by the U.S. ambassador to BiH. Imposing decisions and laws according to someone else’s will and in someone else’s interests does not help turn BiH into a functional state – as its foreign governors attempt to portray – but instead humiliates and systematically undermines BiH as a state.

And it especially humiliates the Croats, one of the three constituent and equal peoples, who have, for years, been denied their rightful rights or even stripped of existing ones, using the same or similar model. As long as foreign bureaucrats continue to write and impose the laws upon BiH and govern the state as if it were their private governorate, the genuine interests of the constituent peoples, especially the Croats, will continue to be disregarded.

The demand of Croats in BiH to be granted the opportunity and right to manage the gas pipeline that will pass through areas of BiH predominantly inhabited by Croats is entirely justified. Their interest in such a solution is both understandable and legitimate, and as a constituent people, they certainly know best why it is important to them. Croats live and work in these areas and will continue to do so. However, why it is important for temporary bureaucrats, who pass through BiH, to strip Croats of the right to manage their own resources is neither understandable nor legitimate – and it is even less clear whose interests they are serving by doing so.

As the Croatian President, I fully support the project to connect the gas networks of Croatia and BiH. This project is in the interest of BiH, in the interest of Croats in BiH, and it is also in Croatia’s national interest. Croatia must not, therefore, silently stand by and watch this political violence by bureaucrats and Sarajevo unitarians against Croats in BiH, especially since this particular project cannot be implemented without cooperation with Croatia – specifically, without connecting to Croatia’s gas network. If the demands of Croats in BiH are not respected, this will be yet another in a series of usurpations of the right of the Croatian people in BiH to manage their own resources.

That is why it is not enough to merely state that this is an injustice against Croats in BiH, as (Prime Minister) Andrej Plenković casually remarks – so as not to upset anyone. Since this project cannot proceed without Croatia’s participation, I call on the Croatian Government to use all political means to ensure that the interests of Croats in BiH are protected through this project, which, I repeat, are also Croatia’s national interests. Naturally, it is necessary to adopt a statesmanlike stance, not a submissive one.