Plenković and Krišto to meet in Sarajevo tomorrow, sign border crossing agreement

The Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Borjana Krišto, will meet tomorrow in Sarajevo with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, with whom she will sign an agreement between the two countries on border crossings.

The Council of Ministers of BiH told the media that the agreement "strengthens bilateral cooperation and provides conditions for easier crossing of the common state border, as well as for a more efficient system of its control."

Krišto and Plenković will sign the contract despite yesterday's announcement by the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH (ITA), which warned that signing the contract at this time would leave Gradiška without a single border crossing, and the north of the country without crossings for the transport of goods subject to phytosanitary and other inspections.

The ITA stated that the Board of Directors of this institution has not yet adopted the Rulebook on the internal organization of the ITA at the new Gradiška border crossing.

"The existing border crossing Gradiška cannot continue to operate due to further rehabilitation of the bridge over the Sava River, due to which international trade in goods has been suspended. At the same time, the new border crossing Gradiška - Novi most will not be able to function in accordance with the provisions of the new contract, because the organizational unit Customs Department Gradiška - Novi most has not yet been systematized in the current Rulebook on the internal organization of the ITA," they pointed out in the statement.

They warned that the start of the implementation of the agreement, which Krišto and Plenković plan to sign tomorrow, implies the existence of a new organizational unit at the location of the new border crossing, which currently does not exist due to the inability to adopt the Rulebook in the ITA.

"There is a real possibility that no border crossings in the Gradiška area will be operational on the first day after the signing of the aforementioned international agreement," warned the ITA BiH.

They assessed that such a situation would have direct consequences for citizens, and especially for transporters and the economy.

The Council of Ministers of BiH also stated that the meeting between Krišto and Plenković in Sarajevo will take place ahead of the start of a study visit and conference on the enlargement of the European Union (EU) organized by the European People's Party (EPP) entitled "EPP Family in the Western Balkans Region", which will be attended by senior European and regional officials.