Former Croatian President Ivo Josipovic told N1 on Tuesday that all property belonging to companies or individuals on the territory of Croatia must be returned to their rightful owners, in his comment on a law recently passed by the Croatian Parliament.

The new Croatian law on property management allows the state property ministry in Croatia to use and rent real estate belonging to other countries which have been formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

“The matter is quite clear. The international agreements, peace agreements, and other documents saying that property ownership rights cannot be violated, cannot be denied. The real estate properties must be returned to their owners, regardless whether they are companies or individuals,” Josipovic said in Sarajevo, where he will hold a lecture at the International University on the topic of peacebuilding in the Balkans.

“Those are the highest legal acts determining mutual relations at this moment. Disputes need to be resolved, and not made into insurmountable obstacles for mutual relations.”

Speaking about the current state of things across the region, Josipovic said that the peacebuilding policy aims to provide normal relations between countries that were once in conflict, and to make them face the past, and more importantly, look into the future. This type of policy must be spearheaded by the highest government bodies in each of the countries of the region.

Josipovic, who was President of Croatia from 2010 to 2015, was asked to comment on the current relations between Bosnia and Croatia.

“I’d say the relations between all the countries of the region have been on a downward spiral in the past two to three years. However, regardless of somewhat colder relations between Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia, there are people, politicians, businessmen, scientists, and a wide range of people who know what they’re doing, who are working on peacebuilding and improvement of relations in the region,” Josipovic said.

He added that Croatia’s policy regarding politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be such that it does not interfere with Bosnia’s sovereignty. Croatian politics towards Bosnian Croats must be clear and transparent in the manner of fulfilling the obligations arising from the Croatian Constitution. Croatia must also help Croats living in other countries other than Bosnia, Josipovic told N1.

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