Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers Chairman Vjekoslav Bevanda on Tuesday said that debates on the European Union's demand that Bosnia should allow customs-free imports from Croatia and other EU member countries after July 1 were mere "media manipulation."
"That was just too funny", Bevanda told a press conference after a meeting of the Council of Ministers when asked by reporters about a letter sent by the Director General for Enlargement at the European Commission, Stefano Sannino, calling on authorities in Bosnia to continue to allow customs-free imports from Croatia and other EU members after July 1, when Croatia joins the EU.
"Sannino's letter was sent to the the chairman of the Council of Ministers and referred to a single technical detail. My response to Sannino consists of just five sentences: that we had referred the matter to the Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Ministry to deal with the problem", Bevanda said.
He added that it was obvious during the meeting that some ministers had been misinformed about this matter.
Bosnian Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Sarovic on Monday said that his country had already made enough compromises with the European Union during negotiations relating to the trade regime and that there would be no new concessions.
Sarovic insisted that some technical amendments could be made to the temporary agreement between the EU and Bosnia which would simply recognise the fact that Croatia had joined the Union, while all other provisions would remain the same.
