Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković assessed today at the Bled Strategic Forum that Serbia is on the brink of civil war, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is under the constant threat of secessionism.
At a panel on the enlargement of the European Union (EU), the Prime Minister said that he advocates enlargement, but that enlargement will not occur without the fulfillment of the criteria of the member states and a favorable political moment.
"We have a blocked North Macedonia, Serbia with more than two years of the largest, strongest and most serious internal unrest and protests, on the brink of civil war, Bosnia and Herzegovina in which Milorad Dodik is again threatening the secession of Republika Srpska," Plenković warned, reported the Hina agency.
In a statement to reporters after the panel, the Croatian Prime Minister further explained his statement about Serbia. He said that after the mass murder in a Belgrade school and the collapse of a canopy in Novi Sad, an atmosphere of protests has been created in that country for more than two years, which is "an unusual situation."
Plenković said that the goal of his statement at the panel was to give the audience that "does not follow all the details of the situation in Serbia a little idea of what it all looks like, especially in recent months," according to Hina.
"Don't think that I'm advocating such a scenario, I'm just coldly describing it," Plenković emphasized.
He also mentioned the Banjska case at the panel, the clash between Kosovo police and armed Serbs near the monastery of the same name in September 2023, which, he added, passed "without serious statements or articulations from anyone in the EU."
"We pretended it didn't happen," the Croatian prime minister added.
"We have to be really sober about enlargement and the changing global context. I am in favor of enlargement, I think everyone is trying to join, but they need to stabilize politically," the Croatian Prime Minister said.
Asked about the situation in Croatia, Plenković rejected assessments that the country is sliding into historical revisionism or promoting Ustashaism, as well as claims that divisions in society are deeper than before.
"If you say that Croatia is worse today than it was in 2013, give me some proof. In freedom of speech? Well, I don't know if we can be freer than we are. Croatia has never been more developed, people have never lived better, never been safer, never been more integrated among the most developed EU countries," the Croatian Prime Minister assessed.
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