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Croatian and Bosnian defence ministers meet in Zagreb

ZAGREB, April 21 (Hina) - Croatian Defence Minister Ante Kotromanovic said on Tuesday that Croatia unreservedly supported the territorial integrity of neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kotromanovic was speaking to the press after meeting Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence Minister Marina Pendes, who has chosen Croatia for her first official trip abroad since taking office.

"Croatia fully supports the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and there's no alternative to it, while other messages, either informal or formal, are bad," Kotromanovic said, adding that Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina "are two responsible neighbours who care about stability and security in the region and about our people who live in the two countries."

Kotromanovic said that Croatia, as a NATO member, would do its best to ensure that Bosnia and Herzegovina was granted a Membership Action Plan, the first step towards Euro-Atlantic integration, as soon as possible. In this regard, he welcomed the news from Luxembourg on Monday when about 20 EU ministers, including Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, had expressed cautious optimism about Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"For years the Republic of Croatia has been supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina and its Ministry of Defence on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration," Pendes said, citing the unselfish assistance of the Croatian military during floods in 2014 and wildfires in 2013.

The two ministers said that, other than media reports, they had no information that the State Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo was preparing indictments against retired Croatian Army generals for war crimes committed during two Croatian military operations in September and October 1995 to break the Serb blockade of the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihac.

"I know nothing about it. As a government minister, I have no information that Sarajevo is preparing indictments against Croatian generals," Kotromanovic said. Pendes added: "I have no such information other than press reports. Perhaps it's exaggerating to say that Sarajevo is bringing charges, because we know that generals from Sarajevo were also involved in Bihac."

Pendes and Kotromanovic said that during their meeting they had discussed further cooperation between the two ministries in training, cooperation in times of natural disasters and joint peace missions. Kotromanovic announced a one-off joint Croatian-Bosnian mission to Iraq, following similar joint missions within NATO in Afghanistan.

Pendes briefly commented on the statement by Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Chairman Mladen Ivanic that the country could join NATO only if Serbia also joined the alliance. "Bosnia and Herzegovina is an independent state and applications for EU and NATO membership are applications made by states," she said.

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