Sanader was speaking at a press conference in the southern Bosnian city of Mostar after meeting leaders of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party of Bosnia-Herzegovina headed by party chairman Barisa Colak and the Croat member of the Bosnian Presidency, Dragan Covic. The meeting was also attended by Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, who is running in the Croatian presidential race as the HDZ candidate.
Sanader said that the European Council decision revived the EU declaration adopted in Thessaloniki in the spring of 2003, which gave all Southeast European countries prospects of EU membership.
The Croatian prime minister said his government was closely following the latest developments in Republika Srpska, where several government officials have tendered their resignation after international envoy Paddy Ashdown imposed new sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs for failing to cooperate with the Hague tribunal, and even threatened to dissolve the Serb entity.
Sanader dismissed Monday's report by the Mostar-based Dnevni List newspaper, which alleges that during his recent meeting in Belgrade with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, the Croatian prime minister "promised he would make every effort through his people in the HDZ to prevent the dissolution" of the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Sanader said his visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina today was not motivated by the allegations from the article, but that its purpose was to meet Bosnian HDZ leaders to secure support for Kosor's presidential candidacy.
"The politics of Bosnian Croats is not being run from Zagreb but from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia cannot and will not interfere in Bosnia-Herzegovina's internal affairs. We want a stable Bosnia-Herzegovina," the Croatian prime minister stressed.
Sanader said he had spoken on the phone from Mostar with the Chairman of the Bosnian Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic. "We have agreed that Terzic will visit Croatia in January or February for talks on the promotion of overall relations between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia."
Sanader added that he and Terzic had also talked about a recent decision by the Government of the Muslim-Croat Federation which bans companies in majority foreign ownership from participating in privatisation processes in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Croatian prime minister said that the Federation's Government had the right to such a decision, but added that it was protectionist. "That decision is contrary to the principles of a free market, which Bosnia-Herzegovina supports," he said, adding that it was yet to be seen whether the decision would receive support in parliament.
Asked if the participation of Bosnian Croats in elections in neighbouring Croatia was undermining Bosnia-Herzegovina's sovereignty, Sanader said that people holding dual Bosnian and Croatian citizenship had that right under the Croatian Constitution. He added that he would personally encourage negotiations on the Agreement on Dual Citizenship between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
Asked to comment on a 25-year prison sentence handed down by the Hague war crimes tribunal against Bosnian Croat wartime political leader Dario Kordic, which also cited Croatia's involvement in the 1990s war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sanader said that the tribunal was established to try war criminals rather than give judgement on history. "History will be written by someone else, and not by the Hague tribunal," he added.
Sanader dismissed as speculation a report by Dnevni List on Monday which quoted intelligence sources as saying that Sanader was due to have a secret meeting in Posusje today with helpers of fugitive Croatian Army general Ante Gotovina on opening negotiations on conditions of his surrender.
The Croatian prime minister concluded his visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina by touring the aluminium factory in Mostar. The Croatian government participated in the post-war reconstruction of the factory.