SARAJEVO SARAJEVO, April 21 (Hina) - The Chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, and Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Wednesday reaffirmed their readiness to continue their efforts to further improve
relations between the two countries.
SARAJEVO, April 21 (Hina) - The Chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's
Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, and Croatian Prime Minister Ivo
Sanader on Wednesday reaffirmed their readiness to continue their
efforts to further improve relations between the two countries.#L#
The two leaders met behind closed doors in Sarajevo during a summit of
Southeastern Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) countries.
A statement issued by the Bosnian Council of Ministers said that
Terzic congratulated Sanader on the positive opinion of the European
Commission about Croatia's EU membership application and pointed out
that it was a success for the whole region because it represented a
new way in which Brussels viewed the Western Balkans.
Sanader said that Bosnia-Herzegovina could count on Croatia's
assistance in joining Euro-Atlantic institutions.
The two prime ministers also expressed their readiness to continue
dealing with the outstanding issues between Croatia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina at their next meeting in Zagreb.
Sanader would not talk to the press after the meeting, saying he had
to go back to Zagreb.
Asked if he had discussed with Sanader claims that Croatia now had a
monopoly in Bosnia-Herzegovina's food market as he had recently said
in an interview with the Dnevni Avaz daily, Terzic readily said: "I do
not decide newspaper headlines and I did not mention any monopoly."
Terzic said that the meaning of his comment was completely different
to that of Dnevni Avaz.
Terzic clarified that Bosnia-Herzegovina had accorded Croatia a
privileged position on its market and that Sarajevo now expected the
Croatian government "to show understanding for some commodities that
account for less than two per cent in the overall trade" between the
two countries. He added that this referred only to products of animal
origin.
Terzic said he and Sanader agreed that the relevant ministers would
make the necessary consultations and seek a solution that would be of
benefit to both countries.
(Hina) vm