'Blackmail'

HDZ asks gov't not to ratify Croatia-Bosnia border deal

15.09.2012 u 13:43

Bionic
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The chair of the HDZ's foreign policy committee, Davor Ivo Stier, asked the government on Saturday to abandon the ratification of a Croatian-Bosnian border agreement, otherwise Croatia would agree to a policy of blackmail and tie accession to the European Union to border issues.

"The Bosnian transport minister dared to blackmail the Croatian government that the Peljesac Bridge would not be built unless Croatia ratified the border agreement which Bosnia and Herzegovina hasn't ratified yet and there are no indications that it will do so in the foreseeable future. The government's response to that is an urgent ratification," Stier told a news conference of the strongest opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

He said the government should not agree to such blackmail but continue talking with the European Union about the construction of the bridge and leave the dialogue with Sarajevo open.

Stier said eminent experts had produced arguments against the agreement which he said was based on a falsified document.

The secretary of the party's economy committee, Goran Soldo, accused he government of bringing citizens a higher value added tax and "tax repression" to the industry instead of the more equitable tax burden it had promised.

He said the government had no vision or strategy, and that it had promised to restructure public companies instead of selling them, such as the Croatian Postal Bank and the Croatia Osiguranje insurance company.